The Forrest City times., 1892-02-12
H.Npoo supRAs.
Life o' tn, Lowest ef the Four Great
 Castes in IudlA

Csstss in IndIa-
 We often hear of the wealth of h. dia- and are of the opinion that the Hindoos are all very rich people writes Anna NJ. Barkley in the Mem- phis Commercial; but this is quito er- ronoous. Hindoostan is rich in un- developed resources but all the people are not wealthy. Indeed, India is . country of the few rich and many poor with a poverty of which we
 havo no conception. The poverty of
 India is not the same as that of Amer
 ica. In America c man is called poor who has only his daily wages upon
 which to support his family. In India man with $2 or 6 day would bo living in luxury.
 In America, if laboring people do not have meat at least onco Q day, they are said to be very destitute Yet many
 Sudras who form the lowest of the four great castes of HindooA getting what they consider very good wages, can not afford meat once year. The daily food of 8 Sudra consists of rico steamed and salk and IS . relish ba- nanaa If he has bcen very successful in business and becomes very extrava- gant he will buy .pice." one-fourth of cent worth of dol or parchod peas for dessert
 His clothing is as poor as his diet
 It consists of nothing but . pair of sandals piece of white cotton cloth around the waist and gay turban.
 One suit answers for day and night
 fo. he sleeps in the same clothes in
 which he works At night he un- winds the cloth about his waist draws one end over his head. tho other
 around his feet and 1t does duty for
 bed covering and mosquito net Ten
 cents would no doubt buy the entire outfit of tho average Sudra
 His house IS built of sun dried
 brick laid in mud has never had any other than mud floor. no windows and but one small door, closed at night by a bit of mating For . large family there is never more than one room The entire furniture con- sists of three legged stool or two and a raised platform covered with reeds which serves forsa bed. The house has no chimney and no fire is used except the small amount needed for cooking the rice, which is always done outside the house
 Although the character oi the Su- dras food has been described one may
 b. curious as to its cost 1t Is a usual thing to see little child going with a few c.' and bamboo platter to purchase the supplies for an evening or morning meal and the average cost of meal as has been described for ten persons is not more than cent of our money. 1 am convinced from a five years residence in India and . st, ly of the habits of the Sudras that
 D. ably l. 900. 900 of people live on a iooa consumption of not moro than 70 cents per month. This may seem im- possible but it is believed to be we'll within the limits of the fact They have but two meals each day and drink palm juice or cocoanut water when thirsty.
 or course there is direct and close connection between the cost of food
 and the price of labor. Tho man who sweeps your room is paid 1 rupee $ annas per month--S0 cents; the one who brings water, rupees. This meager sum must support man. his wife and perhaps three or four other persons The writer has cften hired a man to go as a bearer with . heavy load; walking all day in the hot sun, for cents-
 They are all caste" people. and will do but one kind of work. The
 water bearer will not touch your food the groom would not in . matter of life and death give a man . glass of water.
 The Institutes of Manu do not recog- nize the Sudras as having any rights
 which the higher castes are bound to
 respect His title if he has any should express contempt; his dwelling should be on the outskirts of the vil- lage or city; his clothes should be sec. ond- hand; his dishes should be broken; his ornaments should be of rusty iron;
 his only property dogs and donkcys.
 Thousands of Sudras earn their liv-
 ing by carrying small packages. With
 the cent thus earned they have food
 enough for the day. and refuse to work
 again until hungry Around railway
 stations and bazaars in India one can
 see hundreds Of Sudras their half. naked bodies we'll oiled. sleeping on . sand bank in the hot sun. Not until driven by hunger will they work, ns matter what price Is offered. Many live all their lives near starvation. and the failure of work for one day meant failure of food.
 In their domestic life they are help full to each other and afectionate. The parents have great love for theii children. particularly the boys Good care is always given 10 the old and the sick. Life has some pleassnt pie lures even in the mud hut of tho