The Red Cloud chief., 1892-12-09
LIFE IN EAST INDIA.
Tiny Servants Required to Run
an Ordinary Household.
The Punkah erase which Prevails Among
h Foreigners In he Oriental Coun.
try where tho Hired Giri nas No
overwhelmingly Low Wages.
ESPECIAL bombay fnttcr.l

ISDFClni DOuDul AStttTf
The deep respect and wv In which
che native population Of the British
East Indies holds the numerically 20
insignificant European colony there Is
In n large measure due 20 the fact that
every member Of II literally leads the
life Of q prince. Nowhere else In the
world, in fact, Is the mode of living Of
the white man so uniformly luxurious
rs In India. A simple clerk, for in.
stance, whose services would be re-
enumerated In Chicago ut the rate Of
scqucntly, could certainly not afford TO
employ q valet, n cook, u barber and
bnirdrcsser, a waiter, etc, for his own
personal use, will In India have q reti-
nue. Of servants In which the above ore
but q part Of the whole. His earnings
will average ut least five times rs much
as they would In England. And take
this sogcther with the further fact that
nowhere II native human flesh and la-
bofheld 40 cheap rs In India. and the
slavish Difference showed the European
there, the unbridgcd chasm that d.
'vides therct the mai with q white skin
from the man with the yellow or brown
skin will readily be understood.
The houses In which the Europeans
in India reside always contain large
and high rooms, are surrounded by
tasteful and carefully kept gardens and
are nearly always stylishly furnished
and luxuriously appointed. Flowers in
profusion ornament every table, and al
mcaltime each dish excels the preced.
ing one. Good eating and drinking, In
fact, Ia one Of the main amusements OF
the European in India; and, with that,
Che appetite and digestive powers dis
played are usually of q high order.
Perhaps the most amazing feature,
though, Of the average European house
hold Is the singularly elaborate domes.
tic service. This one meets with every.
where, even In the households Of soil.
tary bachelors. Soon, however, the so.
hutton o. this mystery imprcsscs Itself
on the mind. The caste spirit is 70
sponsible for this inflnitcsimal division
OF labor. The servant who assists his
master ut the toilet and the one who
takes care Of his clothing and keeps /,
constantly In excellent condition "a
2 bplcre Vi WOTk IOT WHICH TIE lilnuOO IL
particularly adapted) never by any
chance wait on him ut the table, be
cause they hold the food of their master
- un~clcan-in u religious sense.
Tho table servant agnin-always q
Q Mohammedan-will never condescend
y 20 swing the punkah (thc largo fan tina,
= is suspended from the cciling) or to pre-
pare q bath for his master. For these
things special servants have TO DO hired
a well ~ others for the carrying Of the
water supply used for the scrubbing OF
cleaning and washing Of certain room,
In tho house. These are tasks which
dcvolve solely on persons belonging t.
I the lowest caste. Then we have tn,
& cook and his assistants, as well rs tn,
coachman (for every well situated Eu
ropean keeps coach and horses) and
special groom for each horse. Lastly
there Is the gardener and his underlings
Thus IL happens that European house
holds In India with from twenty to ffty
servants arc rather tho rule than tn,
exception.
At dinners and banquets each CUES
brings his wi servant along, and tn,
same is expected and paid for as ut tn,
hotels. During my stay Mt Bombay
which happened to be in the reguln