Evening star., 1901-12-21

hands, and which In times past have work.
ed against the government. Not long ago
one of these organizations had a member
ship of 10000 in Singapore alone. while
there We're 10000 members of the same So
clety in the nearby city of Penang.
There are poor Chinese as we'll as rich
They manage the boats in the harbor,
pay Chinese 2R cents ride as he takes
me from place to place in his jinriksha, and
1t Is Chinese who cooks the food 1 have
at the hotel
HindoOs and Sikhs.
Next to the Chinese, outside the Malays,
the East Indians form the most important
Of the Asiatics of Singapore There are
10000 of them embracing the chief busi-
ness tribes Of Hindoostan. When landed
1t was Hindoo who forced himself upon
me as a guide. He spoke English as we'll
as l do and insisted so hard that 1 needed
him that had to take him. He goes with
me everywhere and believe he gets a COM
mission on everything I buy.
There are large number of Kings here
engaged in banking and money changing.
They also come from Hindoostan. They are
as black as the ace of spades and go about
clad in little more than a sheet but thew
are the thriftiest usurers of the far east.
Ihey lend money to the Malays and other
natives and consider l per cent a month a
low rate. There are. "a large number of Ar
menlans here selling jewelry, embroideries
and silk goods There are 1900 Tamils
and $500 people from Bengal
Among the bankers are the Parsees who
represent large houses at Bombay CaIcutta
and elsewhere. There are 800 Arabs and
quite number of merchants from Ceylon
some of the finest looking East Indians are
Ihe skins, who are employed upon the DO :.
lice force and in the garrisons They are
very TALL straight, brown men, who wear
turpans and dress in an Indian military uni
form which makes them quite imposing
Spectacular Extravaganza.
The streets Of Singapore are, in fact,
spectacular extravaganza You see queer
costumes and people at every turn. Come
out on the sidewalk and look! There Is a
yellow Chinese jinriksha man clad in
short blue drawers. He Is bare to the
waist and his conical straw hat sits side
wise on his topnot. Next to him swaggers
brown Malay, wearing a velvet cap and
red gown, and behind comes a black king
from Hindoostan in a white sheet and tur.
ban. wa
Let US walk down the Street, We nass
Mohammedans in red fez caps and long
gowns, looking as though they had come
iron, from an Egyptian bazaar. We go by tall
and Red wearing snd sIrbans IS Of black yellow
comes a helmetted Englishman in q shit
OF white duck and there is a parsee clad
ike prea cher, in black, with a hat which
iliahes me think OF an inverted coal scuttle
The king Girls of Singapore.
The women are even more interesting
than the men. They are Of all colors and
costumes Some are as black as coal and
the white sheets which they have wrapped
around their bodies make them look
blacker. Some have holes in the lobes of
their ears as big around as the end of your
thumb, and in these holes are great plugs
of gold set with jewels. Those are king
women who come from southern India. See
and ankles! Notice how their ears are
riVetted with gold, little gold bolts being
put through them with two nuts on the
ENDS SO that each ear, from lobe to tip is
very pin cushion of gold.
There comes one now with a gold ring In
her nose and screw rings in her most rils
The nose ring is as big around as the bot
the precious metal is all the brighter
for the black face behind it. Turn
your eyes now to the rest of the cos
| tune. Each woman wears only a skirt.
fastened tightly above the hips and faIline
to the knees. and cotton scarf stretched
around the shoulders over the breast and
under one arm, and tied in a knot at the
sides. None wears hat or bonnet, and
four yards of cotton would make dress
for any one Of the party. Those are the
| wives Of King bankers and their husbands
have money to burn.
| Behind them comes a Malay woman hall
! hiding her face, for she is Mohammedan
| and further back still is a small-footed
| Chinese maiden with well-plastered hail
| and rouged face tottering along.
Moving out and In through the crowd are
white-faced ladies from Europe, and there
| is girl whose features are entirely ameri.
| can. She is from New York, and is stop.
ping at Singapore on her way around the
| world.
| Carts and Carriages.
| The vehicles are as gay as the people
They are Of every description. Let us TAX.
the jinriksha, pulled by that bare-legget
| Chinaman, and go down to the wharves
We pass rich business men riding In Ian
daus with prancing Australian horses, ant
| go by scores Of bullock carts. dragged alon,
by Indian cattle as white as snow The,
have straight horns and humrs ON thef
| shoulders. Here Mammon alone is su
preme, and those animals, which are wor
SHIPPED in the Indian temples, are used t,
haul bales Of cottons, bundles of rattan
and bags of sugar and coffee. They ar,
driven by black-faced Kings with red rag