The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-31
WILL SHE LOSE INDIA!
Boer War May be Followed
by One in Hindoostan.
PEOPLE TAXED TO DEATH
And Another Famine Coming
--DiScontent Universal.
PEOPLE TAXED TO DEATH


empire in India The terrible famine o
two years ago is about to be followed, s,
the reports say, by another, and the tenn
per of the vast masses of the people il
growing more and more hostile to Eng
fish rule. It is believed that there is alsc
danger from Russia
! Duuing the last two generations tn,
Russians have been SLOWLY but surely
worl1in g their way down toward Hindoo
stan. Their military railroad, which was
built Fl ON the Caspian Sea to Samarcand
now enables them to send an army by
| rail to within few hundred miles of the
| BOUNDARY of India.
During the last famine the Russians
gave great deal of money to the starry
ing Hinddos, and the English stated at
the time that this was done With the hope
of creating Russian sentiment among the
East Indian people. There IS now dis
affection and mutiny in many quarters of
Hindoostan. The silver question and the
misery which has come from increased
prices are bl.rmed upon England. The
short crops and the faIhine are charged
to English rule, and there is a gullen hat
red against the English everywhere. The
fighting which has been going aon period
ioally more or less for some years, and
which promises to break out again at any
moment, is WIKI the Wild tribes of the
Himaiaya Mountains, bat the disaffection
exists in all parts of the country, with
out regard to caste, race, or religion, and
if combination can be effected the East
Indians can undoubtedly drive the Brit
ish out of the country.
Such a combination, however, pre-sup-
poses a union of the different Indian re-
llgious sects, and this is hardly possible.
The Mofkammedans and the Hindoos
hate each othep and the Hindoos them
selves are divided into countless casts.
During my stay in India few years ago
1 saw large army of native troops COM
manded by English officers near the city
Of Delhi AS I watched their maneuvers
I asked one of the English colonies
whether he did not fear that the natives
might combine against the few officials
and organize nlutiny like that which
brought about the horrible Sepoy massa-
ere. He replied:
"I think there is no danger now. The
and we are now able to control our native
troops through their religious prejudices
There is no place in the world where re-
ligion means os much as here. The Mo-
hammedans and Hindo os hate each other
We make up regiments of both sects. We
mix the different casts among the Hin
dos together in such way that they
won't combine. I verify believe that this
is our only safety. If there were no casts
in India there would be no English here"
Englands control of India is especially
interesting just now from our situation
in the Philippines. India, you know, is
nearly half as large as the United States.
1t is almost an equilateral triangle. each
side of which is about as wide as the
distance between New York and Denver,
and it contains about four times as many
people as we have, or more than go, 900 900.
To control this vast population there are
less than $1,000 English soldiers, or about
one white soldier to every $500 natives
In addition to this there are about 212 900
native soldiers in the English army, but
these troops are only a handful in COM
parison with the vast population. About
one third of India is governed by rajahs,
each of which has an independent army
and which all told have almost 500. 600
troops. which could be massed against
the British in case Of war. The British
troops are largely made up of Sikhs |
These Indians are born fighters. 1 saw
them everywhere travelled throughout
Hindoostan.
They are tall, fne-looking dark-skinned |
men, with handsome faces, which show
out under great turbans wrapped around |
their heads. The most of them have |
heavy black boards, and they look much |
more soldierly than the English them |
selves, many of whom wear little caps as
a part of their uniforms. The Sikhs form
a part of the camel troops of India, and |
they fight on elephants as well as on foot. !
They are used by the English in all parts |
o fIndia, and you find them acting as po- |
ncemen in the English sections of Hong |
Kong and Shanghai. 1t is the Sikhs who /
largely protect the little English colonies |
which are scattered over India There are |
garrisons near all of the large cities. and |
the English scatter their troops so as to |
protect the chief centers
The railroads Of India have been great |
~ increased within recent years. You can /
now visit almost every part of the PENN
sula of Hindoostan by railroad. There |
are more than 1900 miles of iron track /
in the country and roads can carry troops |
10 Quota. Simla, and to the Khyber pass.
The elephant and camel troops are car
ried in some cases by rail, but a large /
part of the travelling has to be done upon |
foot The baggage is carried on all sorts /
of
Ocks, as we'll as elephants. are loaded /
down with military equipment The army |
in fact, makes a mighty caravan. which /
raises a dust that can be seen for miles.
The heavy artillery is LARGELY drawn by
elephants, one of these beasts being able /
to pull a single piece Of artillery and 1
some OF them being loaded With howit- /
zers- Each elephant has a native sitting
astride his neck. who directs him which
way to go. jabbing him now and then
with steel prong or hook
Very little is known OF the Indian
tribes which have caused the English the
most trouble. They are not unlike some
OF the savages Of our new possessions IN
Asiatic waters. Some OF them live in the
wtlds OF the Himslaya Mountains. and
they form part Of the vast population
Of that country Of which but little is
known I met in the Htmslayas buring a
trip which made to Darjiling people
who looked for all the world Ike our
American IRdtnas. They had high cheek
bones, eop9er-coIored faces, and straight
black hair The girls would have made
typical Indian sqa2ws. and they painted
their faces in much the same way - 90