The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-18


meath the axle at the rear of The cart and
hangs on for dear life. In barouche the
driver and a native occupy the front seat,
while two footmen stand upon small steps
at rear The chief attendant shouts at
those blocking the vehicles progress. The
footmen run ahead of your team shouting
and demanding right of way, especially az
street corners and curves The native
people all but fly from beneath the horses
hoofs and accidents are of frequent o.
eurrence.
The water carrier supplies all the bath
rooms and the kitchen, besides watering
the shrubs and flowers. BY hand he pulls
the water from a deep well. Another
man, the sweeper, looks after the rooms
and keeps them clean" At night these
menials scatter to all the plague spots"
of town, TO return perhaps with sufficient
conta gion for the whole family.
A stranger in India need never feel
friendless. for at his departure from each
hotel he is surrounded by a delegation of
farewell wishers. delegation of twelve TO
twenty servants, including those afore-
mentioned. They each know of your in
tened departure, almost. before you do.
Three-fourths of them you have never seen
before, but they all expect ''backsheesh'
from you, and 1t is useless TO try to get
along without paying 'backsheesh' at ev-
cry turn. You may engage gharry ami
pay the driver twice his legal fare, yet he
and all the attendants will ask for back
sheesh.'
The Punlsabs.
Ten months of every year life would be
intolerable to Europeans in India without
the punkahs, which are in every room of
hotels and residences, in all offices, shops
and public buildings. The churches have
elaborate systems of punkahs, and they
present an odd appearance with these
huge fans swinging to and fro.
Every one sleeps beneath punkah. and
at ell hours of the night are heard the
cries of both sexes OF Europeans at the
sleeping "punkah wallah," who since dark
has been almost ceaselessly pulling the
punkah, while seated, all but naked, in
draughty hall upon the tiled floor or upon
a mat or cotton cloth on the ground. 1t
is q common sight to see the punkah wal
labs upon the roofs of houses and back
buildings, Juggling away at long rope
that passes over pulleys to the punkahs
in the rooms through some hole bored in
the brick wall or frame of door or win
dow. During the day q different wallah
pulls the punkah, and each guest at ho-
tells must employ two punkah wallahs,
one for day, and one for night service.
A Sort of Bondage.
The majority seem to think they have
bought the poor coolie, and this idea of
property right in human flesh seems to in
crease the longer the individual remains
in India These poor native servants re-
ceive, besides frequent brutal kicks and
cuffs, the equivalent of cents, sometimes
less. for a days work of twelve hours,
and with these wages they must feed and
clothe themselves and those depending
upon them. 1t is needless to state that
they do not wear much clothing, only a
yard or SO of>cheap cotton wrapped about
hen.
sYour boy. a 'fMahamed," makes your
bed, and after you spin on the cycle or
game of tennis, he rubs you down. dresses
and grooms you. He polishes or whitens
your boots and sun helmet, and does sim
liar work, but he will give up his situation
instantly, though he be ever so needy,
rather than empty basin of water. carry
a small handbag OF parcel downstairs to
the carriage, pun a punkah, sweep a room,
or bring hot water, etc. It's not his work,
he says and he would lose caste by doing
1t.
A coole who carries heavy cases of
goods all day point blank refuses to post
a letter for his master In street letter
box a few yards from the door, or to do
the most trivial thing if it is not his
work" Each duty calls for a different
servant.
Native Home and street Life.
Nine-ten of the natives live in one
story huts, made of mud, contalng one
room without window or chimney. For
cooking a fire is built in a hole dug
in the floor the smoke escaping as best 1t
can.
The villages are like a series of caves,
the streets forming a five-foot sloping
ditch. The majority of native schools pre-
sent some twenty children grouped in a
cavelike room, whose door Is a two by four
foot hole. There are neither windows nor
seats. Here bright-eyed children study
Sanskrit and old states filled with exer-
cises in mathematics.
Native shops are usually a mere hole,
three by five feet and four feet high, into
which the clerk crawls and cannot stand
erect. All shops are open on the street
and operations are conducted in full view
Of the passers-by.
The natives sleep anywhere, everywhere
and at all hours Calcutta's sidewalks in
front of European stores look like a huge
hospital, especially after 6 p. m. Scores
of sleeping natives lie at full length in
rows for blocks, some on cots, most on q
dirty cotton cloth spread on the ground.
r the night is cool which is a rare
thing, they cover head and body with the
dirty cloth and look like bundle of rags.
One must have keen eyesight to avoid
stumbling over sleeping natives in daytime
as well as in these dimly lighted streets
at night. In small towns they even lay
IN the roads ana teams nave 10 AVOID
them. A group Of a dozen will squat in
the streets of native towns and chatter,
oblivious of the stream of bullock carts
and traffic.
Roadside scenes.
Roadside merchants unpack and spread
their stock of goods upon a three by four
foot cloth or a sack and complacently sit
waiting for buyers.
The BARRIERS on the pike scrape their
customers without lather, while the victim
watches operations In diminutive scrap
of a mirror. A portion of the men wear
the hair short, but thousands wear IL
long. In flowing ringets. They call one
another by opening and closing the hand
while outstretched, palm downward, on
level with face.
The Hindus seem neither energetic nor
ambitious. They work leisurely. as a
rule, many only for a few hours daily to
get their penny for buying their rice and
curry. All apparently have abundant leis-
ure for worship lettering about, loung-
ing. strolling or sleeping a third or more
of each day.
II