The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-08-20
VISITING IN INDIA.
The Maiden SOfOurnfnE in That
Country May Count on Having "A
Good Time.

/ NuuhAFs AAs NouhN on hANAhS "a
Good Time.
From Madame.
Missy Sahib, chota hazri tayar haf'
| breakfast is ready. and the daughter.
who has just come home to join her father
OF mother in the far east realizes that at
/ last the long sea voyage and land journey
are over and her first day in India has real
/ " begun.
! a dusky.white-robed ayah has brought a
/ tray. with tea, toast, and fruit TO the bed
I side. and pulled up the white net cur
| tains that protect the sleeper from the
I bloodthirsty mosquito and now waits to
Z assist at her mistress toilet. 1t is s O'Clock
! and time to begin the day. Unused 10 the
/ services of a maid at home. the girl ex-
/ periences sense of luxury in having her
/ stockings put on her-even though one is
/ sure TO be inside out She also begins TO
realize a sense of her own importance,
/ for In India she is distinctly a parsonage.
/ and women are probably at a higher prem
| ium there than in any other civilized coun-
! try. The arrival Of a new spin" las the
unmarried girl is collcquially termed is
| the cause of much excitement in an Indian
1 station, and everybody is on the alert to
/ see the latest addition to feminine society
/ The day usually begins with a visit to
/ the badmnton courts, and there the girl
will run the gauntlet of criticism from
/ large portion of her neighbors, for it is "a
| faVorite meeting place. The ladies eager
| " sean every detail of her dress; being
I fresh from home she must, Of course, have
/ the newest fashions, and later on they
! VIII ask her for 'blouses, etc. as patterns
There are also plenty of candidates Of the
! opposite sex, eager to teach her badmintOu
/ and every ones racket is at her disposal.
] At 9 O'Clock it is too hot for further play
and they drive home for bath and break
fast. The bath, with its water colored
| in large earthenWare jars, is delightfully."-
| refreshing, and the thin mug wherewith
| to bale it over ones person is distinct
/ novelty. Breakfast is a meal of many
| courses, commencing with pOrrdge and
ending with fruit.
After breakfast the housekeeping has
! to be seen to, and this seems an easy mat
ter to the girl accustomed to that duty at
| home, for it simply consists of giving or
| ders to the numerous servants and dealing
| out the timed Europe stores. Then there
| are flowers to be arranged, and at II
| o'clock callers begin to arrive. The ser
| want in the veranda inquiries If the mem
sahib be lat home and brings up pile
| of cards on a salver. Carriage follows car
! riage in quick succession, for everybody in
the station is anxious to make the new ar
| rivals acquaintance. Only the governors
| wife and the generals do not come, for il
/ will be the girls duty to leave cards upon
these important personages. The bach
elors of the station arrive in groups of
| twos and threes, thereby lending each
other their moral support should they feel
nervous, but they are all eager to meet
and converse on current topics with the
spin" They inquire whether she dances
or is fond of riding, and If the answer be
affirmative, beg for a place on her card
at the first ball and put their ponies at her
disposal. BY O'Clock tif1n, a repetition
of breakfast, is ready, and after this meal
people retire to their rooms to read and
a siesta is generally INDUCED in.
After tea everybody goes out. They
drive to the band stand, where the regi-
mental band plays; there is lawn tennis
for the energetic or garden parties at the
club or mess house, and the new arrival
will be struck by the all-pervading air of
luxury. Servants are in constant attend
ance, the carriages are filled with comfort
able cushions. and every tennis player has
a small dark boy at his elbow ready to
hand him balls. At o'clock dinner takes
place, and when there are no dances or
evening entertainments every one goes
to bed early.
Certainly the daughter of India has a
very good time. Invitations to dances,
dinners and entertainments come rap
idly for acceptance, and If she can sing
or act she will be in great demand. Ev
erywhere the preponderance of men
strikes her and they vie with each other
the races and shooting matches they ask
her to nominate them, when, If her
nominee wins, she will receive the prize.
The constant balls and dances are rem
dered gay by innumerable uniforms, and
the large proportion of men makes that
hardy perennial the walfiower an i'm
possibility and every girl with the faint
est idea of dancing has her card filled
to the twentieth extra.
Before the hot season. with It's scorc'h-
ing winds, makes an exodus to the hills,
she will have had several proposals to
exchange her position of daughter for
that Of wife, for though spins" on
their first season are plentiful, those in
their second are rarer, and those in their
third are hardly to be met with. Marriage
is thriving in India in spite of the vanish
ed rupee.
Although the life of a girl in India is
frequently a round of pleasure and little
else, 1t used not to be so, and though
there is not much in housekeeping to
occupy her energies, there is vast
amount of other work to be done. She
will win the heartfelt gratitude Of the
chaplain's wife by interesting herself IN
the Sunday school for soldiers children
and visiting their mothers in the regi-
mental lines. Then again, If she takes
the trouble to study the language and
| learn more than the few sentences re-
! duired for ordering servants 1T opens up
a world of interest too little known to
| Europeans. Hidden away behind the pur-
| dab In houses of well-to-do natives are
, women whose lives are spent enclosed be-
tween four walls, and they gladly well
come any one who will devote little of
her time to visiting them and taking an
interest in their affairs, and the daughter,
| will find the gratitude of her Indian sis
ter well worth the sacrifice of an occa,-
! siOnal tif1n party or picnic.