The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-02-13

of cleanliness: "The Hindu, no mat
ter what his privations. must have his
bath every day" But if you could see
the bath, There is such Il thing as
bathing in very dirty water of the con-
sistenCy of pea soup. Hindus often
perofrm their Yirtuous ablutions in
sticky black mud, impregnated with
garbage and other pleasing ingredients,
germs of course existing in cohorts and
serried ranks. one of the sacred wells
into which devout Hindu pilgrims
plunge on reaching Mecca in order to
purge themselves of their sins is a foul
smelling and Ioathsome-lo looking mOrass
1t is called Manikarnka, because once
when Nishnu, the god was looking into
it to view his own personal charms, his
earring fell in, Manikarnika meaning
earring. He couldn't see himself in it
nOWi
Another holy abyss in the Golden
Temple at Benares-hOly enough to be
the residence of a submerged god in
deeds not only a vile Stagnant pool,
but it is also filled with the rotting resi-
dunn and eXudes the fearful efluvium
of the continuous floral tributes with
which pous Brahmins pelt their hidden
idol Add to this the interesting ad
junct of many "Brahmir" bulls prone
nading at will through the temple, and
you may imagine the hygienic condi-
tiOnS.
The Monkey Temple, another horror,
is actually inhabited by halloWed apes.
one may picture the cleanliness of this
sanctuary and the inducements it offers
| to epidemics. OF course, epidemic is
present there always and inevitably in
| n mi nrla Irip1.pt Ia .tp ts
are hardly wide enough for an elephant,
knee deep in mud and refuse. And the
| city is under British rule!
| TWO KINDS OF ANIMALS.
orthodox Hindus, besides the daily
"bath," are often lauded for their
kindness to animals. No Hindu will
kill a living creature, not even an in
sect. The effect of this chronological
philanthropy upon the persons and
| beds of the humane may be imagined.
An aneodote of a not altogether fas-
tidious tenor may be cited to show the
cleanliness of the Hindus a poor
man was arrested for Il debt The
judge in court asked him if he had no
| means of support. He said he some
times earned 1 annas Q2 cents) a day
charpoys (twine beds) of Hindus. Jpon
being asked to explain, he did so. He
| furnished food for the bed bugs which
infested the cot, so that its owner
could sleep at night! And this is not
a Benares, but a Calcutta incident. 1t
shows, at any rate, the conditions un-
der which orientals live, and explains
the facility with which pestilence gains
access and foothold.
Newspaper statistics from Bombay
issued Jan. 19, showed that in the
Bombay presidency altogether Mo-
hammedans had suffered most from
the plague. They are, perhaps, dirtiel
than Hindus in their lower castles, foI
nothing is enjoined or forbidden these
by religion, and the sweeper caste eats
poisoned or deCayed food with enjoy
ment. Low caste Hndus come next
to MOhammedans, and I9indus of 9th
er castles next. The death rate among
Brahmins was 4l.O7 in the thousand.
ORIGIN OF THE DISEASE.
DIR. James Camille, lately returned
from Hong Kong, where he Investigate
ed the plague from beginning to end
has delivered a lecture on the subjec
before the archaeological society OF
London, in which he announces the
conclusion that originally the disease
must be imbbed first from the soil
In the stomachs of rats that hav,
spread the infection and died of i
there have been found after deatl
sand and dirt.
The inevitable deduction appears t.
be that soil, undrained for ages, be
comes thoroughly permeated with tn,
decaying vegetable and animal matte
thrown or left upon it, and is instan
pollution. And according to Bomba!
, authorities themselves the only trou
bic with their perfect system" of mu
nicipal drainage is that it is not fin
ished! An Englishman who vistet
Bombay lately for the purpose of eX
amining carefully into the matter
being a sanitary engineer-summed VI
!, ! his report thus to the commissioners