New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-20

mr. cent Of the whole population. and thsy CO
IN one sense aliens, the defendants OF those tail1
full Zoroastrians who refused to accept the cree
AZ Mahomet, and were In consequence exiied frou,
their native Iran. One might almost call the4
the New Englanders Of India, for they cana b
Bombay In search OF freedom to worship Co..
and they have exhibited many of the traits thAt
we're conspicuous In the colonists OF Plymouth
and Massachusetts, Bay. Surrounded by over
whel,ning hosts of Hindoos and Mahometaas
and ruled politically by Christian England. they
have preserved their faith ana torn
Of worship intact. Usefulness Is "
day, as in the days OF Zerdusht' IL
keynote OF their creed wherefore 'ney snow
q diligence In business and a broad and gen.
eral philanthropy that challenge the admin.
ton OF the world. Despite their eager
keeping pace with the foremost moden
progress, they cling to every detail OF their
ancient faith Still In their temples they maintain
their undying altar fires. and at morning and evens
ing they salute the sun, as the source OF light and
fire and the best physical symbol OF the One God
whom alone they worship. Still. too they maintain
their Towers of Silence, on which the bodies Of the
dead are laid to be resolved again into their es-
ments These are five round towers each about
twenty five feet high, In walled compound In the
suh,rbs Hitler the funeral train comes, all clad
IN white At the foot Of the tower two attendants
take the corpse from the bier and bear 1t to the
summit Otner peinB dilo"eu W ioiio". III an
iron grating ut the summit Of the tower. the corpse
,s laid naked and quickly becomes the prey Of
vu,t,,fes The bones fall through the grating into
ue,, below The attendants are carefully gloved,
rd .crunulously avoid contact with the corpse. and
f,er nerforming each melancholy duty they battle
,h.n calves and destroy the clothing they had
u,orn Like the embalmers OF ancient Egypt they
torr, q class or caste, apart from the rest OF the
community.
Here then. in this imperial city. meet the
adherents of four of the greatest religions the
world has known, whose numbers, curiously. range
in inverse ratio to their political. social and In
dustr,aI Importance. Scarcely per cent of the
neople in Bombay Christians. yet they dominate
The CITY and the empire. Less tnan per cent
are Parsees, and they rank second In all the es-
ments Of power. About ~ per eehf are t Manom s.
were once the playthings OF their c9nauerng
might And nearly - per cent are Hindoos. who
hopelessly dstanced III me ruc , LOT suprem,
a. the citv is about 100000 1t is the greatest
cotton mart OF the East. both In manufactures
and in commerce; and as shipping port and rail-
way terminus 1t has is ba indian Enp rse'
bombay is the capital city Of the great Presi-
dency OF the same name which has a population
of nearly 300oo.Ooo. 1t includes kuirraenee Hyder-
in1portant districts. while among the great feuda-
tory native States are Clutch. khairpur and Khola-
pur The important State Of Baroda Is adjacent TO
the Presidency, but is feudatory 70 me e. CALCUTTA
In btants is the summer capital OF the Presidency.
lying up the hills ll9 miles southeast Oh BON.
bay Ahmedabad place on s sn,sndS I citv srst
With now il5OOo inhabitants. was the chef port OF
India in Mogul days, and was the site or the trst
English factory in India. The police force OF Bonn