The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-22
THE SIGHTS OF JEYPORE
A MAHARAJAH's CURIOUS AND COST
LIZ METHODS OF ENJOYMENT.
He Keeps a "Zoo" on a Large Scale,
Supports Colleges and Is Liberal
and PopuIar-A Lively City.

Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal.
JEYPORE, India, Feb. 15.-Jeypore is a
small province in Central India, made up
mostly of sand and mountain. 1t numbers
2,50O,0O0 people, mostly beggars, and yet its
capital, Jeypore, city of 10000 people,
thanks to its maharajah, is by odds the
liveliest city in India. In the first place,
'.Maharajah" means very tall rajah. This
last is the Indian and Hindoo name for
king, but the sufix makes him king of
| kings. Let us, first of ALL dc justice to this
particular Maharajah, who does nothing by
| halves He has caused Jeypore to be laid
| out in American rectangles, and the main
| streets are 140 feet wide and beautifully
paved. The city is lighted by gas-the only
| one save perhaps Bombay, in India 1t
| has also first-class water works. All its
| buildings upon the main streets are,
rule, three and four stories high and
| painted pink. with white and green trim
| mings; thing unknown in any other city
| in the world Then there is a big public
library museum and public gardens that
are unexcelled by anything in India. The
Maharajah's college has 1000 students. L
| called upon its master and he showed me
! last years examination papers Gall in Eng
lish) and they are fully equal to those of
| Yale or Harvard. In short, right here, in
| a country that is the exact counterpart of
| Arizona in its desolation and vegetation, is
| first-class city with all the modern i'm
| provements save street cars and tele-
| phones.
The main thoroughfare of Jeypore is not
| unlike Washington street in Indianapolis,
save in it's motley crowd of Asiatics. AS
| remarked, this Maharajah does nothing by
halves. He is liberal with his passes. and
| often honors the guests at the hotels
| (Which are all outside of the gates) with
| elephants to assist in their locomotion. The
first of his establishments that we visited
were the stables Here are 800 beautifully
kept horses, with all the accessories there
| to belonging. 1t is a veritable Hotel de
| Hoss,'' where these splendid animals enjoy
| all the delights of aristocratic life. One
| queer thing is that they are all tied, not
only by their heads, but by their heels as
| we'll Around each hind fetlock is an in
genious halter attached to a long rope-the
first thing of the kind l ever saw. Every
| variety of the horse family is here repre-
| scented, from the fiery, fierce Arab charger
| to the diminutive Shetland pony. From
these gigantic stables, covering five acres
| of ground and employing 800 men, we
| passed into the elephant quarters. Now an
elephant is a very delicate and a very ex-
| pensive animal to keep, and of but little
use to any one. An English officer told me
that it costs $500 or $500 a year to keep one
of these huge beasts, and that his govern
| ment finds them too expensive, except in
time of actual war, when they are very
| useful to haul heavy siege guns. All the
same, the Maharajah of Jeypore keeps the
| best assortment OF these giants in India.
| And this is by means all. He is the
proud and happy owner of 800 dogs To
| keep this pack of dogs in health. he en-
ploys physician (none of your scrubs, but
| a graduate of one of best medical col
leges) at an annual salary of 5000 rupees,
| which for India is a very great sum of
money. AS we were making the rounds in
the palace gardens, thirty or more of these
| dogs came out for their evening airing
| They were none of your common dogs but
each one wore delicate blanket. They
were of the small variety. had two keepers
| and showed all the marks of high life and
aristocratic society.
| THE MAHARAJAHS ALLIGATORS
| This is by no means all. The Maharajah
keeps at least half dozen pet alligators
| in huge cut-stone tank filled with rich
| mud, both dry and wet. and with aristo-
| cratic wallows and deep and very dirty
water these curious pets bask in the smiles
Of royalty and his many wives. These al
ligator wallows are in the rear of most
| beautiful gardens, so that all night long
these saurians enjoy the notes of the night
ingales and all day the fragrance of a
| thousand roses. What a bear is for HUI
has lots of fun in him) an alligator is in
his world. To bring out this humor our
guide purchased quarter of fresh goat
| meat. AS soon as we entered the inclo-
sure the alligators smelt the savory NOR
sci and started in all directions for their
| share of ii. Several of them were very
| old and lazy. These came up more slowly
! than their competitors. AS they came and
| turned their rascally and cruel eyes upon
| the bait l saw how marvelously true to
| nature is the ''nugger" talk, beginning
| with Respect the Aged in Rudyard Kip
| ling's Jungle Stories" Their keeper stood
| upon a pair of stone steps and threw
out to the pack portions of this meat at
tached to a strong cord. Each had a huge
| mouth, set with cruel teeth. but the mouth
was as white and clean as fresh milk He
had them under control, and at a word
| from him, aided by bow upon their
heads, the alligators would stand still with
| mouths wide open, those same mouths that
would just as soon have swallowed the
| man the meat. One of them climbed
up on the steps and stood ready for his
| share of either. Respect the Aged"
| While all this fun going on the VEN
| cradle father of the brood Law asleen nm O
| neighboring mudbank. When the strife
was at its best he awoke and started for
the fray. Winking his scoundrelly old
eyes as only an old 'mugger'' can wink,
he plunged into the muddy water and
slowly swan to the spot. Diving under
the whole pack. he came up just where
the meat was, and, with snap, took 1t,
cord and all. and. as much as to say, This
is the way to do it, my children" swal-
lowed ii and went off.
hes Nv