Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1900-03-28
MOST PECULIAR PEOPLE.
The Bicycle Has Nearly Emancipated
the Parsi Women.

the Parsi Women.
The most peculiar people of India
nre the Pnrsis Tor "Parsees," meaning
.'Persians'), who feed their dead to
the vultures upon the Tower of 81
lence, They fed to India from Persia
when that land fell into the hands of
the Arabs twelve centuries ago. Their
men are the first very singular persons
the traveller sees on board the ship
which takes him to India, their sin
gularity consisting in their long sal
low faces and large eyes, their shiny,
patent-leather-loolSing tubular hats and
their long and ugly coats. They are
most numerous In Bombay, but one
meets them In other cities on the "Bom-
bay side," and in Madras and Calcutta
on the other shore. They are the rich
est natives of India. and have made
and still make money in trade.
They are the only Indians, who, as n
body, admire and cultivate Western
progressive ideas, who treat their
women fairly well (accordlng to our
ideas), and who permit their widows
TO marry again. Their first rule of
life Is to practice benevolence, and
no people do this more literally. They
maintain nearly two-score charitable
institutions in Bombay alone. They
are the only people In the world who
do not smoke, and this Is because they
will not trife with fire, which Is sacred
In their belief. They never spit and
they will not In any way contaminate
the earth or water or detlle the trees
and flowers That Is why they destroy
thyr dead without burning the bodies.
They have no beggars among them;
they are monogamists; they are not
caste-ridden Tor rotted), like the Hin
docs, for they acknowledge two classes
the priests and the people. They
keep New Year day, not only rs n relig
ious fete day, but, much as we do, rs
day for general visiting. Their wom-
en- are not imprisoned with their serv
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 hourls floating about the
earth In silk balloons, with ballasting
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 go
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
q 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 modest-looking toy has
worked as much Of the change in this
swift-booted century as many of our
most important inventions. 1t has
proved steed which leaps the highest
bars Of prejudice, runs away with the
deepest-rooted conventions-even out
PAGES the plans Of women for their
own emancipation. try to fancy what
1t may do in India, but, after all. 1t has
only few thousands Of Parsis upon
whom to work.-Harper's Magazine.