The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-18
A TRIP THROUGH INDIA.
HOTEL LIFE AND EXPERIENCES OF
TOURISTS WITH SERVANTS.

street. and Roadside scenes - \
Starved Race Under British Rule.
The Curse of Caste and Foreign
Oppression-In the Holy River.
From the Baltimore Sun.
Hotels in India are wretched affairs.
The rooms are swept by a filthy coolie,
who with a bundle of switches like a
South Sea Islander, whips the mating and
fans the dust into corners, but does not
clean the room
Towels are unchanged; SO You carry
your own towels, and lock them up to
prevent the coolie from drying his feet
upon TIM while tidying the ROOM 1t is q
notorious fact that they do use your
bath room and anything convenient, such
as hair brushes, soap, dentfrice, towels,
etc
All articles broken in the dining room
or elsewhere are charged to guests. and
twelve hours one day.
Birds hop about the dining rooms and
roost in crevices at top of each room,
the ceilings being usually very high and
without much finishing, with rsfters Wis
ible. Lizards crawl undisturbed about
the apartments, and the guest may be
thankful they are not snakes.
| Salt is heavily taxed. on the principle.
probably. that such taxation reaches the
poorest of the poor, and none can escape
it. 1t is a crime to extract salt from earth
| or sea, for il is a government monopoly
and yields more revenue than the I'M
| mense liquor and opium traffic of India.
Hotels grind salt with flour to increase its
| bulk until ii loses its SAVIOR
The Hotel Menu.
| The hotel menu each evening contains
veal, chicken or mutton outlets, consist
ing of remnants of meat and made into a
| coarse sausage-lke cake. In each cake a
| ''second-hand'' bone is stuck then 1t is
| fried and served. Chocolate cream Is on
| the bill of fare as dessert a sort of chloe
| olate-colored pudding made of scraps of
! bread, served with sauce; and this same
| dish will masquerade each evening under
| a different name, while the band plays in
| great style. Calcutta hotels, al least, have
| one night per week a guest night" when
a band plays, and it is safer to invite
| friends to dinner on that night, as there
always is a chance of getting some real
ice cream, or the like. Yet these hotels
have the audacity of invariably bringing
forward a book in which you are asked
to write and sign a f1etterng testimonial,
overlooking with praise for the manage
ment.
The Servants.
India is the land of many servants"
The head servant IS called the bearer -
he has the responsible control and general
| management of all the servants except the
cook. The cook, the next in Importance,
not only cooks, but buys all the provisions.
At the big hotels, he contracts to feed the
guests at a rupee (S2 cents) or less per
head day. Another resignedly placid in
dividual sits on his feet in the kitchen
and washes the dishes.
The gardener cares for the lawn and dec
crates the table with flowers at every
meal. The Waterman has duties peculiar
to housekeeping in India, and shoVts at
frequent intervals during the night to
prove he is awake; but he has been. known
to shout in his sleep. The ayah, or lady's
maid, is the only woman servant in Eu-
ropean households in India
If man keeps horse, five or more eX-
ira servants are required. One Is for driv-
ing the horse, another to see that he does
drive it, one to cut grass, The food of the