New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-08
rur CITY OF THE PLAGUE.
,,.v AND ITS STRANGE CONTRASTS,
40 ORIENTAL AND WESTERN LIFE.
.,,r.p OF THE PLAGUE AND THE GRAVE
FEARS FELT FOR THE sAFErY
OF EUROPE

-. SPREAD OF THE PLAGUE AND THE GRAVE
FEARS FELT FOR THE SAFETY
OF EUROPE
10 -. We have all known for some time that the
SUI SUI. nlague was raging In the chief city and
:, western India but II was only the other
-. mat the full significance OF tho pestisence was
snsht home TO with the news mat all mails
.,re from Bombay were 20 be held IN quarantine
,ssible sign that danger is apprehenoed al our
-. doors And we are forciby remindcd--as prac-
W. W., all the Indian mails and tho greater part OF
,",.,s exports pass through the same port-that
n s.rxer OF imported pestlence menaces even
e. erayely the whole OF Europe. and especially
- Mediterranean cities; so that we may In reality
-, the eve OF a universal devastation. the ike OF
,,.A VIC have not seen since the Black Death CT
me Middle Ages A. :.
rs,a appeared last year In Hong Kong. and
..aAire thence 10 Singapore and the East Indian
"As anpeared soon after In Bombay. Thence.
80 its course Is stayed. II may be expected 10
..nou the great trade route-a ready-made PAIN
-.v followed by all epidemics-to Alden ana the
81 s4s and thence to the Mediterranean ports.
.rs how much further we cannot even guess
No EFFEcTuAL MEASURES TAKEN.
,,fe was done in Hong Kong and Singapore to
.,,e.t the westward progress OF the scourge. and
exef
,.o,u,i means are being adopted there. All we
80 heard Is that it was proposed TO surround
n.nhav with a military Gordon TO keep the plague
,,o the rest of India but this still re-
,,,ns merely a proposition. and We hear of nothing
s,,,v done toward checking the more formidable
Danger OF an extension westward TO Europe ana
america And the almost total apathy which has
O.. .hovn hy the Indian Government In dealing
.,h the dire catastrophe Of famine gives us little
-. hat more energetic measures will be taken TO
avert this other danger
The European community In India is almost TO-
,suv isolated by interest, habit and inclination
,-on, the life OF the natives, and, so Ions as the
AneloIn Indians themselves escape. we may conn
ssn,ly predict that nothing effective will be done
s,S,es the Indian Civil Service, which is resron-
mi. for The entire Government OF India. Executive
I'D Judicial alike IL so small in numbersless than
"A, ooials for population of 800 ooo6o-that even
Nth the hes, Intentions. II is wholly unable to cope
With such exceptional disasters. And the occur
,,no. OF famine and pestience is unhappily. not
,,ch an exceptional thing that the Government Is
pkev 10 he stirred any special efforts; for not
,s,son Passes without local epidemics OF cholera
rbus A. least 100000 Of the population are in
,.,. of chronic starvation. Add 10 this Englands
100 great readness-now beginning 10 be univer-
ssJv recognized-to sacrifice the interests ana even
N. lives Of her subjects In other lands 10 her own
Immediate material or political interests. ana we
left little hope that me ln1penuhs 'an""''
vii, be checked by any endeavors Of hers II II Is 10
be checked at ell.
THE CITY OF THE PLAGUE
.,s 20, g would seem. at first sight. that the
thysieal situation OF Bombay would make 1t easy
"A take enectual measures. Like New-York. BON
h,y is on an island Its population is about hat that
OF New York. all but mere fraction being nauVes
O, India who are besides isolated In position from
N. Furopean quarters. But them Hong Kong and
Singapore are also islands equally easy OF ISOLATION
ana no means taken avaiied 10 prevent the plasue
spreading westward from them.
The form of the island on which Bombay Is built
q ike a lobsters claw on the longer claw OF "hlcn
"a the native town. while the shorter claw, which
hesrs the name Of Malabar Hill. is almost Wholly
taken up with English houses. or the dwellings, OF
wealthy natives who live In the European styie
Bombay Itself is very beautiful. the brilliant oiue
o. the sea and sky hills overgrown with palms and
hnanas and the rich vegetation of the tropics, all
AZ tbe most vivid green while the foothills on the
.snIsnd across the bay rise in paln-frinsed ridges
IN 20 the majestic heights OF the Western Ghats.
TIE city has been compared 10 Naples but the re-
femblance hardly goes beyond the fact that IN ooth
there Is the wide circle of sea, overshadowed by
mountains. In Bombay the whole scene is incom-
parably more vivid and of brighter hues the houses
OF the native town-in general substantial buildings
Of two stories-are full of colorand Oriental fancy
making Bombay one OF the most picturesque ana
BEAUTIFUL cities OF the East
Though not very extensive the native city Is IN
habited by dense swarns OF people-a population or
more than three-quarters Of a million Mahrattas
IN picturesque. pointed turbans and bright colored
cotton coaks; Parsees, with their shining black
tisras Jewish faces and yellow skins; manual
laborers craftsmen and artisans OF the darker races
OF Southern India: bullock carts OF bamboo, or
heavier wagons. drawn by biue-black buffaloes,
with yelling. gesticulatng drivers, make up the
n II Attxr ha
native police for the most part dusky Mahrattas
red-turhaned and in TUNES and knickerbockers of
coarse blue CLOTH add the noise and confusion by
out-yeing the others.
IN these crowded streets are rows OF open-fronted
shops rich with Oriental wares gorgeously woven
and embroidered shawls and scarfs from Kashmir,
brght-colored musns from Bengal, beautiful stuffs
from Madras richly decorated with gold lace and
,ris-hued beetles wings: traced brasswork from
Benaree Guns patters, water-bottles and pitchers,
CLEANING like gold: blue and white pottery from
Mooltan in Rajputsna; vivid enamelled work from
Delhi whether with floss silk on muslin and CLOTH
or with bright Indian enamel on copper and silver
add 10 these the heaps Of Oriental fruits, manages
.or which Bombay Is famous; bananas, green and
yellow and red: custard-apples. lychees melons
pumpkins Of every shape and hue. and scores OF
other strange fruits for which we have no name
and you have, In the native town. picture OF ORR
entail life which for vivid color. tireless movement
and incessant noise has equal in or out Of India
THE ENGLISH COLONY ON MALABAR HILL
Hardly a bowshot from the native city. yet
whole world apart in sympathies and lie. Is the
European colony among the palm trees OF Maaoar
H!n When Bombay first became an English pos
session. as part Of the dowry which Charles II re-
csved with his Queen. II was at once seen that on
this beautiful peninsula of red volcanic rock there
wac an unrivalled site for European city Here
are the houses of the Governor or Western India.
his Commander of the Forces and Ministers ana
the chief officials Judges. magistrates officers of
revenue and police. of Bombay itself ana the sur
rounding districts. Here. also. dwell the wealthler
merchants in state hardly less luxurious than the
Governor OF the province himself; and, lastly here
the homes and temples of the wealthier Parsees
The officials have huge houses with deep piliared
porlicos shaded with screens Of finely spit pam
boo. 10 shut out the blazing lncian sun; ana IN
every room great fanke punkahs are Kept swing
Ing from the ceilings for eight months OF the year 10
~ ctIItrt DAY ard night alike. In