The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1897-05-11
WOMEN,s CLUBS IN INDIA
Ihey are Not Devoted to High IDEALS anu
Social Lin s are Marked Plainly.

In India club women do not aim at
realizing lofty ideals. There comfort
ana amusement are the avowed obJeces
Vi all women's organizations. Debates
are never held, papers are never written
ana therefore never have to be listened
uo' anu the gravest problems discussed
are ohe probabilities of Capt. K. s marry
ing Miss B. on his small income, the
WONDERFUL power that Mr.. x has over
the deputy Commissioner, whose wife
lives at home" that is, in England,
and the scandalous report that Gen. u. S
great-great- grandmother was clark. }"
A person who has never been in India can
not comprehend the gravity of this last
matter. Such an accusation is worse
than saying that a man had no great
great grandmother at all.
The club house is a large, roomy bum
galow, the most attractive thing about it
being the broad gallery which extends all
the way around and is inclosed with lat
tice work. The bungalow includes four
or five rooms, by far the most important
being bar where refreshments, princi-
pally liquid, are served The largest
room is-whisper it not in woman club
dom-devoted in the main to dancing. 1t
has parquet floor, and at least once a
week dance is given by the club mem
bers This room is also let to people
wishing to give balls, and here bachelors
| and grass widowers are permitted to give
their women friends little dinners or
theatre supper parties.
| Another DOM, much smaller, is used
| as library. 1t is furnished with tables
covered with the latest magazines and
newspapers and a couple of bookshelves
| filled with novels of the day, and such
works of lightweight science and philosO-
! ply as have made stir in the reading
world. To say that woman has read
the last is equivalent to saying that she
has something in her. A drawing room
for such a thing as residential club for
women is still unheard of in India. A
brown, bespectacled native sits on duty
at table on the yeranda. His function
is to keep the accounts and to send
around the subscription book every
month when collections are made.
| The club women all go in for athletics.
Attached to every club house is large
hall with an earthen floor. This is COW
cred with mating, and here that most
exciting game, badmlnton, is played in
the cool of thesmorning and afternoon.
| Sometimes tournaments are held. On
dance nights this court is utilized as a
promenade, when it is lighted with Chi
nese lanterns and decorated with potted
plants. Tennis courts are also frequently
attached to the building, and a regiment
of small boys in uniform is on hand to
| get the balls.
The club house is invariably located
where the regimental band plays on GER
tain evenings. On such occasions every
one sits at small tables on the lawn eat
ing ices, drinking cooling beverages, and
discussing the coming races or the pros
poets for the next season at Simla. Chill
dren are admitted on these days. though
ordinarily placard tells them plainly
that they are not wanted.
This is the smart women's club. An
other variety of club fourishes in India
at big stations, and is devoted to women
who are not quite at the top notch Of
Anglo-Indian swelldom. Its membership
consists of those who attended the big
balls and general gather ings at the gov
eminent house, but are left out in the
cold when it comes to the Sunday dinners
and small dances. The wives of the cav
airy officers and those who value their
reputation as belonging to the upper
crust shun these Murghie Khanas, as
| UllCy tiIC CtllSu, tllo UlICiI lLGllDtIS DIS
they would the plague itself One who
enters such club will find that the COM
pany consists of crowd of women en-
gagged in discussing domestic affairs, such
as which is the best soap for washing
dish cloths or how to keep babies fan
nels white. When q woman becomes do
nestle in India she becomes very domes-
tic. There is no betwixt and between.
Her horizon is a narrow one. Art, liter
allure, and the affairs of the nation have
no place in her mind. Into such club
man rarely ventures. If one does stray
in it always turns out that he is after
one of two things-a new after dinner
story or volunteers to do some work, such
as decorating the church for example
Subscriptions to women's clubs in In
dia vary from seven rupees up, according
to the station and reputation of the club
There is an admission fee, and members
are elected by ballot. 1t is said that the
temptation to drop in black ball as a
form of revenge for some former slight,
real or fancied often overcomes a mem
Der, but woe to her if she is discovere d,
for her sister members make it hot for
her.
| Ravenua on DisfiIIed Cniritc