The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-09

] which are slfcA4 a-1A9 the " a4 W 10 al
] cutta.
] glanced along the banks OF the stream
] Tables had been set for twenty thousand
I beggars whom SIR. ChOota choose 90 en-
] terfalu On this occasion They came from
I far and wide. The scene battles descrip-
/ ton. The iostliug. the pushing. the shout
/ ing. the almost maui1ca- rush pI Feet
/ brought back 90 my mind the terrible dis
/ aster that had recently occurred in Mos
COW a. the public banquet given by the
| czar
! I was afraid that something similar
I would happen. But when 7 mentioned my
I fears 20 those present they replied with
I a shrug or the shoulders on. that Is
] might be so- These people are Of no use
l 10 themselves or 10 anybody else. They
/ infest the country, and 70 would be better
/ u all Of them could be killed Of al one
/ fell sw0oD
/ As English ideas Of government prevail
/ here, of course nothing or the kind could
/ happen. As 10 was. tolerable order was.
after while. restored. But how hey did
/ feast and chatter. and laugh as soon as
/ The liquid came on, mainly consisting Of
I ale lu abundance, and by the cask-
! There were here all sorts OF men-nOt
/ conditions. perhaps tfor they are all OF
| similar One) but from old 20 young. and Of
] both sexes Some were filthy. others COM
/ parauNely clean. some women with a GER
| tain cOquettsnness OF apparel that sug-
/ gegtcd that. had they chosen. they might
/ have done something better than begging.
/ But begging here is almost CraZe-not
/ disgrace In any sense. There are so
many members Of the family. and only
/ portion can be supported on the bit Of land
I possessed by the head Of the family In
some portions or the country. the women
90 filling the soil; in others they go beg
I ging. And this Is particularly the char
acteristics Of the lower part Of Bengal
| At any rate would not have missed this
sight for a great deal shall never see
ANYTHING like g.
The trip from Calcutta to Benares the
sacred city as IL Is known proved 10 he
"A I haT
I found comfortable sleepers on the FIRST
class cars; they also had sleepers on
the second class. And there are two other
classes. So you can imagine the mix
ture Of castles among the people on one
| train. At one end It Is a babel OF noise.
| and the people are packed in like sar-
dimes; AT the other II is a digni1ed. con-
temptuOus silence.
The trains run slowly. The tracks are
not OF the best-nOthing like ours for in
stance Nor does the patronage, 1 suppose,
permit Of very much better.
At Benares I began to see Hindoo life
as II really IS. But. though there are
many English here. # is curious how few
members Of any other nationality one
meets excepting the native population
no French, no Americans no Germans
The English have their solid hand on ev-
eerything and they do not propose to
But was enabled to perceive how differ
ent. In this languorous. phlegmatic atmos-
phere, life passes here, with hardly a
also Mohammedan, Parses and Hindoo
priests everywhere. The city is a mass
of mosques, temples and kiosks. Rever-
ence seems to fiji the air
The second morning after I arrived
here one OF my servants every European
has about fifteen of them) came to the
door and told me in tolerable English
that man wanted to see me. / said:
"All right; show him in" I was in bed at
the time. But that Is nothing Every
body receives In bed here And even a
rNnHr aFrra
doc servants (men) working about the
room while she sleeps.
This man explained as well as he was
able. that there were snakes in my room
| 1 laughed at him. He pointed to my he'd
and said, Snakes therer' While not be-
| heving word that he said, / jumped out
OF bed with more alaerity. than think
/ ever showed In my life before-immedi-
| ately after condemning my own timidity
But by this time, the man had a flute
| at his mouth. and he was playing some
| sort Of a weird air. AT the same time
| another man entered the room. Before 1
could recover from my astonIshment a
/ monstrous cobra reared his head from
/ under the clothes on the bed, and follow
/ ing the sound of the flute, unwound it
| self, descended to the floor, and, Kissing
moved toward the door
The sound of the flute continued, and to
! my surprise-yes, amazement-one snake
after another and of various kinds
| Though principally cobras-the most dead
! ly of alD emerged from various corners
]
| rearing themselves as If to strike, but
Invariably following the sound of the
| flute.
| AS they got to the door a man with a
| sword, as they reared up. cut their heads
| off and LETT their writhing bodies for a
| few moments at the entrance door; then
| removed them in a sack.
l hesitated to go back to bed
after this, though knew that
/ 1t was trick and con
fess that for one, l began to believe
/ hot F1a frf. - F.lr
are more real and more worthy of Tecog-
milton than some of our very wise people
who have visited the east have cared to
say.
How those snakes were produced from
| the various corners of the apartment
even from the bed l was sleeping inland
/ how, TO all appearances, their heads were
/ cut on, 1 am not prepared, at the present
| moment, to say. Possibly, in some other
letter, l may know. But, so far, it re-
/ mains a mystery.
In this hotel, wnere I am stopping I
! had the pleasure of meeting an English
| Indian officer whom l originally became
| acquainted with during the Worlds Fair
| season in Chicago, and who was there on
| some military mission connected with the
! canadian government; and here / found
/ him again-back to the old plantation, so
I to speak-and enjoying life he told me-
/ better than he could in any other portion
Of the world. He had become acclimated,
/ and India was his home. He expatiated
/ on all the joys of the country, and was
kind enough to invite me to share in some
of its enjoymentS. He suggested, among
other things, pig hunt and a tiger hunt
/ l do not fancy the latter much. 1 came
TO study India in the interests of my art
For, after all, the black art is art, and
! mas detted time as successfully as the
| best. The human mind forever delving
after mystery, is always drawn towards
| that which it cannot comprehend. Tricks
! may be simple. But they seem wonder
| tul until they are understood l confess
| myself conjurer But l am just as mucn
! interested in what I cannot see through as
! the Veriest schoolboy.
And that is why l have come to India
/ Not that there is much danger in the tiger
| hunt. have never heard yet of a Euro
/ pean being seriously damaged. These
! hunts are so carefully managed that IL
/ anybody is hurt, it is always a Hindoo-
! stanee-not a Christian You remember
| the pictures that we often see of the tiger
I striking his fangs into the impotent ele-
/ phant. But, as a matter of fact-as they
| told me here-it never gets that far It's
! enemies are too many. Besides. l should
! nave TO go several hundred miles especial
| ~ for this purpose, and then ii is very
doubtful If we find the tiger. The ROYAL
! Bengal, like the American Bison, is grad
4 hsf frNrr efv,..~