Evening star., 1901-09-21

ana Tor this reason they discourage the
pilgrimages to Mecca which are now and
then made by the Hadjis. 1t is found that
the people look up to such men after their
return. They think they have supernatu-
raj powers. and the Hadjis use this feeling
to create trouble with the government In
fact, nearly every rebellion In Java has
been fomented by these men. Every Jaw
anese village has It's priest who acts in
some matters as judge. He has to do with
marriages, divorces and funerals and also
with the crcumcsions which are common
In many parts of the country.
The Native Chiefs.
find that there are distinct ranks of
society In Java. The country has it's rich
and its poor, its aristocrats and plebeians.
The lower classes respect the upper and
allow them to rule, and the Dutch have
taken advantage OF this by working entire
ly through the chiefs. Right next to the
mosque Is the home Of the native regent
of Bandong, a Javanese who receives from
the government 1900 guilders, an amount
equal to $3.50 Of our money per month, as
we'll as many presents from his own peo-
pie. don't know how large his total in
come Is, but 1t must be great. He has the
disadvantage, however of having to sup
port all his relatives. Whenever a native
gets a fat office or makes rich strike Of
any kind his poor relations from every
where come and squat down upon him.
This is so In many other parts of the far
east. 1t is especially so in China, where a
rich man often has to support hundreds.
In Canton, for instance, / met one million
aire who was keeping 400 of his sisters,
cousins and aunts, and their little ones,
and gritting his teeth as he did SO.
How a Native Nabob Lives.
The regent of Bandong has large col
ony Of buildings about his house for his
relations. He gets as many of them as he
can in the government service, thus re-
himself q T
ture spends the greater part of his income.
There is a race track outside the city
which probably enables him to get rid of
some of it. 1t is a mile track with fine
grand stand and hundreds of bamboo sheds
or shelters on poles nearby. In these sheds
the natives sit cross-iegged to watch the
races. The grand stands are largely given
up to the rich, the mobiles and the Euro
peans At the races the chief purse is 1000
guilders and horses from all parts of the
island take part. Some of the native
chiefs have their own stables, especially
the sultans of Solo and Djokja. There are
The horses are Australian horses and
ponies from Java and the surrounding is
lands. The ponies are found best for or
binary travel and they are largely used
by the army. They can travel over the rice
lands where the heavier horses will sink
through. 1t may be that we shall have
to use ponies in the Philippines for the
same reason.
Leads the World I'm Roads.
And this brings me to the roads Of Java.
They are by all odds the best of any coun-
try of the world; and that notwithstanding
Java is on the edge Of the equator in one
of the rainiest parts of the globe. What is
needed more than anything else for the de-
velopment of the Philippines and Porto
Rico is good roads. The Dutch found Java
much as the Philippines are now. They or
ganized a system Of road building and
forced the natives to carry It out. certain
amount Of labor had always been given to
the chiefs by the natives. This labor was
applied to road building. Each man was
required to work SO many days year on
public improvements and the result is the
good system Of highways found in Java
today. Most Of the roads are macadam-
ized. They are ballasted with broken stones
ground to the size OF q nut and rolled
| smooth with heavy iron rollers.
How Drained.
Each side Of the road has It's gutter In
which there are openings every here and
there for the water to flow off. The road
| drainage is perfect. There are culverts un-
der the highway and in some places In
| order that the irrigation system may not
be disturbed the streams are carried across
| high above the roads,
+ During ride with Controleur de Groot
of Bandong I passed many piles of volcanic
pebbles which had been gathered from the
streams and brought to the roadside. ]
eur told me that they were for repairing,
He pointed out that each pile bore it's num-
ber and that the controleurs knew to a
cubic foot just how much each contained
This ride was behind team of high-step-
ping ponies on road as smooth as floor,