The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1889-12-13
Trials Pu, Upon the semsahib by Hss
Hauseful OF Peculiar Native Servants.

The memsahibs housekeeping re-
solves itself much into close scrutiny
OF accounts aud watching OF supplies.
This is easy, since she does not feed
her numberless servants, and orders
her substance only through one, He
is the khansamah. the head butler,
usually person Of great pomposity
and spotless raiment. with q digniiied
capacity for robbing you of annas and
pice which would qualify him any
where TO represent municipal ward
Especially when visitor arrives does
the heart of the khansa,nah rejoice
within him, for then is his glorious op-
portunity Lines every day for the
visitors bathl But the visiting memsa
hib has ordered IL, according 10 the
khansamah, and you cannot very well
ask her. The towels, even the sheets Of
the visitors bed, disappear the day OF
her departure The khansamah looks
sorrowful and deprecating, but thinks
the visitors ayah must have been an
extremely dishonest person. And the
unhappy visitor has probably had one
lime for her bath during the entire
length Of her stay, and the towels
have brought two annas apiece ut the
bazar, which goes into the secret
wallet of the khansamah.
Next in rank comes the kitmutgar,
who brings the dishes from the
kitchen. helps TO wait at tables, but is
an inferior person. A favorite term
of obloquy among Anglo Indians Is
He looks like kitmutgar. which is
much worse than being compared TO a
khansamah. The baburchi is the
cook, and he has mental in the mus
salchi, who washes the dishes. Bear
err" is more or less general term, but
when you call the bearer among your
household staff you mean the man
who trims the lamps and dusts. lie
will not sweep-not hel-you must
have mater to sweep, who is OF very
low caste indeed.
The ayah is the memsahib's maid,
and she cannot get on without one,
The durwan is the gate keeper, who
sits all day long beside the door to at.
tend to callers and messengers. and
does nothing else Beside these the
sahib must have syce-groom--for
each horse. No syce will take double
pay and attend 10 two borses-that is
not the Aryan way And Il there Is a
| garden there must be malice To take
care Of il. and for the mos. menlal
work of the house there is beestic or
water carrier. whose name is admira.
bly APPROPRIATE. and who skulks about
his business under the opprobrium OF
all the rest
The dhoby is the washcrman, whose
peccadilloes are Interestingly 'naife.
| He has been known, for instance, TO
dismember certain garments OF the sa-
hib and send them in separate legs, IN
order TO show the proper number on
his list and yet retain a shirt or a
handkerchief There is the dhurzie,
too, who is a joy in India, and who
comes and sits and sews all day on
your veranda for fourpcncel Very
initiative. indeed, is the dhurzie, moi
to be trusted with anything, even to
bodices and skirts, for which he has O
pattern.
Anglo-I India tempers are short, and
the khansamah knows their brevity
better than anybody in the world. A
favorite expression OF abuse in con.
nection with ID" cgone mutton per
haps. is in exc.ing Hindustanet
''Son Of pigr" which hurts the gen
tie Hindoos feelings as much
as anything, But the gentle Hin
doc usually replies conciliatorily
in some term Of deep respect ant
admiration and certainly the uncon
scious khansamah got the best Of it
who replied to this expression on thu
lips Of his irate sahib, "Sir, you arr
my father and my motherl"-Garti
Grafton in Montreal Star.
MunLeu IL for n Dividend.