The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1891-05-28
the PEOPLE OF INDIA.



Aehsn0sdaas Explslsd.
I'm some respects, says Rev. !. Z.
Hausor, 70 tho Chicago News, ''tho
Hindoos are tho most intellectual race
II the world. In all tho passive 4acul-
ties Of the mind, In contemplative phil
osophy and in memory they far excel
tho European. This intellectual capac-
ity II not surprising when II IL ~
membered that the Hindoos since about
the timo Moses crossed tho Red sec
have lived according to . system Of
rules regulating their life and habits
quite - exacting - that Of tho Mosaic
Law. They drink no spirituous bever-
ages. Il = forbidden BY their religion.
0luttony = unknown among them.
Abstemious and chaste habits Of Me are
The rule among them. and have been
Tor countless generations. Tho influ-
enos Of this. both physically and intel
lectually, has been Ia develop : typo 20
which every individual u conformed
They are not strong physically, but arc
perfectly formed and In certain sense
handsome. They are totally lacking
In tho inventive faculty but strong in
tho initiative. They are intelligent,
shrewd, polite and hospitable.
'They are as polite as the French, !"
said Mr.. Hauser. mo matter what
blunder Of speech European makes in
using their language they never betray
the fact that they notice it. II Euro
pean asks one Of them whether he has
not made blunder in speech the reply
he will get will be, 'Sahib speaks like
m angel from heaven or 'Sahib speaks
like one born in the land
This characteristic belongs to the
Mohammedans as well. I remember q
young Methodist minister who came
out as q missionary. His wife was one
Of these assertive, managing sort Of
women, with just touch Of the har.
ridan in her makeup. Native shrewd-
ness was not long in finding this out.
Now the Mohammedan word for such O
woman is sboo-ree-yah,' with the accent
on the first syllable, and the word for
evil Is 'boo-rah-ee,' with the accent on
the second syllable. The young mis-
sionary was anxious to get to work as
soon as possible, and to that end soon
learned or thought he had learned the
Lords prayer in the vernacular. This
accomplished, at the very next gather
ing In the mission church he made use
OF It. But he fell down. as believe
you call 1t here, on the accents, and
used the wrong word, thus praying to
be delivered from his wife instead Of
from evil. Though the mistake was
most ludicrous in native ears, there was
not the least sign given that it had been
noticed am quite sure as much could
not be said II such blunder should be
made in this country.
"The Mohammedans, or, as we call
them, 'Moohummedans,' are as distinct
In appearance from the Hindoos as they
are In religion. Physically they are q
much larger and according to western
ideals handsomer race. In the north,
toward the hills, many Of them arc sir
feet tall, straight and dignified in bear
Ing. They are not nearly 50 chaste .
people as the Hindoos, their religion
holding up to them different ideals.
Many both Of the Mohammedans and
Hindoos are refined, cultured and edu-
Gated ALI are civilized and not the
savages or barbarians find SO many
people here think them.
"You hear much Of the poverty Of
India. 1t is true. Sixty per cent. Of
the population never have quite enough
to eat. Yet have never seen in India
the pinching, degrading poverty I have
seen in London and New York. The
people Of India are poor because the
population is SO dense, the methods Of
production SO inadequate, partly due to
the existence of caste and because the
taxes are SO enormous. But with all
this poverty the mass Of the people find
it relatively about as easy to make .
living as people in Europe and America.
OF course, on the average, they do not
live as well. But quite as dark pic
ture of life in America or England can
be written-indeed, has been written
rs any that can be written of India.
The difference is that our own eype-
rience and observation relieves the mel
ancholy of the picture in one case,
while in the other we have no other
knowledge than the picture gives us.
''Ihesc stories of mothers throwing
their children into the Ganges is all a
fake never saw it done, or anyone
who claimed to have seen it done, or, in
fact, ever heard there of its being done.
It is only in England and America that
/ ever heard of it. Children are loved
there just as much as they are here.
Motherhood is honored more.
Tho story Of men throwing them
selves into the Ganges in fits Of reli-
gious frenzy is another fairy tale. It
probably originated from the fact that
at the great festival held where the
Ganges energies from the mountains
into the plain, called the Gate of God
in tho crowds that press down to the
river to battle it happened formerly
that some were pushed or crowded into
the stream by accident and swept
away. The government now takes pre-
cautions to prevent such casualties.
That such things might easily happen
you can see for yourself when tell you
that saw at the great festival in 1854
over two million people there, accord
ing to the government estimate, at one
time. When you remember that this
festival was to celebrate the completed
course of the consultations of the
zodiac through the heavens, and that
the ceremonial of bathing in the river
was to be performed at a sign from the
priests that the course Of the constella-
tons was completed, you viii Won
der that such casualties were not fright
ful in their extent.
1.-THE natives of India have no respect
for European who adopts their Gus.
toms or marries native wife. Such
men are looked on good deal as
'squawmen' arc among the Indians. II
IS for this reason look on the method
pursued by the salvation army Of
adopting native customs and dress as .