Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-01-09
ANalo-lNolAN HoUsekeePeRs.
Trials Put Upon the Memsahib by Her
Hous.fuI of Peculiar Native servants.

The memsahib's housekeeping re-
solves itself much into close scrutiny
of accounts and watching of supplies,
This Is easy. since she does uot feed
her numberlcss servants, and orders
her substance only through one. He
is the khGEsgmah, the head butler,
usually II person of great pomposity
and Spotir>s Ellmcnt, with a dignilied
capacity iur ruhbing you of annas and
pice which would qualify him any.
where To represent u municipal ward.
Especially when a visitor arrives does
the heart Of the %khansamah rejoice
within him, for then is his glorious op.
%poYtunlty. Lines every Gay for the
| visitors bath, But the visiting memsa.
bib has ordered il, according 10 the
khaus2Tuh, and YOU cannot very well
ask her. The towels, v the sheets of
the visitor, bed, disappear the day Of
her departure. The khanSmah looks
sorrowful aud d]eprecatimg, but thinks
the visitors ayah must have been AN
extremely dishonest person. And the
unhappy visitor has probably had one
lime for her bath durin" the entire
length of her stay: and the towels
have brought two annas apiece at the
bazar, which goes into the secrc'
wallet Of the khansaumh.
I Next in rank come the k.tmutgar,
who brings the dishes from the
kitchen, helps 10 wait at tables, but il
an inferior person. a favorite term
Of obloquy among Anglo Indians is
"lle looks like "A kitmutgar," which is
much verse than being compared TO a
khausamah. The baburchi is the
cook, and he has a mental in the mus
sa.chi, who washes the dishes. Bear
err is a 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. He
will not swecp-not he.-you must
have a mater 10 sweep, who is of very
low caste indeed.
The ayah is the m~emsahib's maid,
and she cannot get on without
The durwm 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 asyce-gruom-fOI
each horse, No syce will take double
pay and attend 10 two horses-that is
not the Aryan way. And il there isa
garden there must be n malice To take
care of it, and for the most mental
work of the house there is q Gpcstic or
water carrier. whose name +, adniya.
bly, approximate. and who sEulks about
his business under the opprubrium Of
all the rest.
The dhoby is the washermam. whose
peccadillOcs are Interestingly ''naife. "
He has been known, for instance, 10
l]ismeilber certain garments of the sa-
nib ana send them in separate legS, in
order &c 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 fourpence. Very
initiative, indeed. is the dhurzie. not
TO be trusted with anything. even to
bodices and skirts, for which he has a
pattern.
Anglo India tempers are short, and
the khansamah knows their brevity
better than anybody in the world. \
favorite expression of abuse in con.
nection with undergone mutton per-
haps, is in exciting IIindustanee
son of a pig" which hurts the gen.
tie llindoo's feelings as much
as anything. But the gentle Hin
doc usually replies couciliatorily
in some term of deep respect and
admiration and certainly the uncon.
scious kIEausanah got the best of il.
who repiiad 10 this expression on the
lips Of his iraic sahib, Sir. you are
my father and my mother!'-Garth
Grafton in Montreal Star.