Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1900-03-15

--~-
ne Dieyole ues Nearly Bnentipatsd
'ri& ~ he Parui Wonsu. " HfmeI
The most peculiar people OF india
are the Parsis Tor "Parsees," meaning
|"PersianS9. who reed their dead 20
the vulturcs upon the Tower OF 81
lence. They fled to India from Persia
when that land fell into the hands OF
the Arabs twelve centuries ago. Their
men are the drst very singularipers
the traveller sees on board the ship
which takes him to India, their SIN
gularity consisting In their long slll-
low faces and large eyes. their shay.
patent-leather-looking. tubular bats and
their long and ugly coats They are
most numerous In Bombay, but one
meets then In other cities on the 'Bom-
bay. side" and In Madras and Calcutta
on the other shore. They are the rich
est natives or India, and have made
and still make money In trade lrAal
They are the only indians, who, as a
body. admire and cultivate Western
progressive IDEAS. who treat their
women fairly well according to our
ideas). and who permit their widows
to marcy again. Their first rule Of
life Is to practice beneyolence. and
no people do this more literally, They
maintain nearly two-scorc charitable
Institutions in Bombay alone. They
are the only people in the world who
do not smoke. and this Is. because they
will not trifle with fire. which Is sacred
In their belief. They never spit and
they will not in any way contaminate
the earth or water or sdefile the trees
and flowers. That is why they destroy
their dead without burning the bodies.
They have no beggars among them;
they are monogamlsts; they are not
caste-ridden Tor rottedD, like the Hin
docs, for they acknowledge two classes
the priests and the people. They
keep New Year day. not only as relig-
ious fete day but, much as we do. as
a day for general visiting. Their wom-
en- are not imprisoned with their sery-
ants or otherwise degraded. but may
be met anywhere and everywhere to
the same extent as English women In
India. So often are these women come
ly. and so beautifully are they clad
in such soft and exquisitely colored
silks-that. as one writer says. they
appear as houris floating about the
earth in silk balloons, with a baliasting
Of anklets. necklaces, earrings and jew
elry." 1t is no more than fair for the
Parsi men to let this be as 1t is. for
they are the ugliest men that crawl
upon this globe.
An English lady advised me to 60
and see the rich Parsi young women
riding bicycles on the road beside the
sea at o'clock Of any afternoon.
What an idea! The bicycle has so rev.
olutionized young womanhood In Eng
land that men who return there after
a short absence can not credit their
senses as they note the change in the
maidens and their home government.
What will 1t door not do-in India
Truly that understanding toy has
worked as much Of the change in this
swift-booted century as many Of our
most important inventions. 1t has
proved a steed which leaps the highest
bars OF prejudice, runs away with the
deepest-roote5 conventions-even out.
PAGES the plans ve wor,en for their
own emancipation. try to fancy what
1t may do In India, but, after all, 1t has
only n few thousands of Parsis upon
whom to work.-Harper's Magazine. I