Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1895-11-05
BURMAH AND RANGO0N
Life In the Rising Province OF
the East
Water IL Abundant and the Heat Tntepse
Domestic Habits of the European
or American sojourner-In
the Jungle.


Burmah is the rising province OF
the east--a triiie out of the way,
perhaps, but none the less an entry
not to be ignored. That old, old
story Of the difference between Ran
goon and Hades is worth telling
again, says the st. Louis Globe Dem
ocrat, If only for an illustration of
the climate. "Hades and Rangoon
are so similar that, if it were not for
the abundance of water at the latter
place, they might be one and the
same. ST non vero, e ben trovato,
Rangoon is hot. When you have to
take your bed--or have it taken for
you, (for you never do anything for
yourself in these hot climates)on to
the roof, aad sleep there, surrounded,
of course, by mosquito curtains, the
summer heat in New York seems in
significant. Taking off your clothes
land you wear very few OF them-is
a relief; taking off your skin would
be infinitely preferable. Your Bur-
mese servant, if you are lucky
enough to have Burman, is treas
ure, but he can only bring yes your
whisky and soda and tell the ''boy"
outside to work the punkaha little
faster-that is, if you elect to sleep
inside the house. The houses, in
deed, are built to suit your every
little fad. Now and then you may
run across ground floor, but as
rule the private houses are built on
piles from one to twelve feet high.
This is rendered necessary by the
rainfall, which often registers one
hundred inches year This inces-
SAINT rain is terrible element of de-
struction. Books and clothes are
rendered useless in very short
time unless they are carefully looked
after, and your photographs are COW
cred with mildew.
The first floor of your house is the
house itself. 1t comprises your
drawing-room, your dining-room
and your bedrooms. Your kitchen
is situated away in the compound"
the term used for garden and
your servants sleep-well, goodness
knows where they do sleep. You
make no provision for them. AS
long as they are at your beck and
call, what matters it2 Your 'bear-
er" (Anglice valeD sleeps outside
your door on mat, and the rest of
your establishment may take their
rest in Jerusalem for what you know.
They seem, however, to be always
on the spot You do not pay for
their board. They live on two or
three rupees month, and apparent
ly only eat rice, which they throw
into their mouths, eschewing spoon
or fork, as if it were q part of their
religion to do so. And, truth to
tell, this religion, or rather caste,
is terrible nuisance. A modestly-
sized household will require dozen
or more servants. Your ''bearer"
will attend to your personal wants,
will wait on you at your table, and
stand behind your chair when you go
out to dinner, but he will do nothing
menial. The man who grooms your
pony won't bring the grass or water
to the stable, and so on from high
to low. They all seem to be of a diff
ferent caste" and will only per-
form those duties which their
''caste" allows them to do. This is
what makes living so expensive.
Their individual wages are not ex-
cessive, but taken in a lump sum
they mount up to respectable fig
ure.
AS rule you rise at six o'clock a.
M, or at all events, you are called
punctually at that hour by your
''bearer" or boy" who brings you
a cup of'coffee and some hot buttered
toast. This is called "chota hazree,' y
or little breakfast" You then don a
negligee shirt-the older the better
and are driven downtown to busi-
ness; or if you are so fortunate as
not to have any cares of life in that
direction, you go for drive, or a
ride on one of your Pegon ponies.
There are, it may be mentioned, very
few horses in Rangoon; most Of the
locomotion is provided by ponies
from the Shan village. At nine
o'clock or thereabout you return
home, strip yourself and indulge in
a cold bath, and then dress properly
for the day, A substantial break
fast follows, after which you again
drive downtown for the business of
the day. You may possibly, and
| probably. have luncheon or Griffin f"