The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-04-05
AN ENGLIsHMAN's OBSERVATIONS.
MIR. Harold weddIe Pays a High Com
pIiment to American nm

81 am frank to say that if L should marry
/ would try to marry an American girl"
remarked Mr.. Harold Weddle, a handsome
young English bachelor, at the Hotel Eng
lish last night. Mr.. Weddle registers from
London, England. With his brothers he Is
engaged in raising tea in India. and came
to the United States for the purpose of as
certaining the adaptability of this country
TO the growth of tea. He was largely in
huenced to make this inspection on in
formation that the general government, I'M
der the energetic effort of Secretary VIII
son. of the Department of Agriculture. was
making an effort to show hat tea can be
successfully grown here.
Mr.. Weddle is an observing young man
and an entertaining talker. Continuing his
discussion of American women he said:
Il don't want TO speak disrespectfully of
my own sisters or the women of my own
country, but / am bound to acknowledge
that the American woman is superior to the
English woman as a help-mate to her hus-
band. The English woman confines her
self strictly TO her home and is Oftentimes
totally ignorant of her husbands business.
The American woman is a born diplomat.
/ do not wish to be understood as stating
that she has no interest in her home. How
ever. L believe her inclination to take an
interest in her husbands affairs and in
the affairs of the world is due to the self
reliance that is taught her without the
necessity of a chaperon, which to-day is
considered essential in England. L have
noticed American women in moments of
embarrassment that may be experienced
by all women at times, but L have not yet
seen them when they failed to be masters
of the situation. The American woman to
my mind is an absolute partner in her hus-
bands career and takes an equal interest
with him in his daily life. l can mention
such cases as that of the Hon. Joseph
Chamberlain. foreign secretary of Great
Britain: Lord Randolph Churchill, the
Duke of Marlborough and many other lead
ing men in public life in Great Britain who
have married American women. If only
our English women would broaden them
selves as the American women have done
| believe that eventually my countrymen
would be better able to surmount those
obstacles that we now stumble over, and
by that means retain the markets of COM
merce in the world instead of giving way
to the enterprising Americans as We are
now doing Speaking of Lord Curzon,
viceroy OF India, who married Miss Letter,
of Chicago, MIR. Weddle declared the belief
that the young man owes a great part of
his success TO his American wife.
Mr.. Weddle has been to Pinehurst, an
estate i'm South Carolina, where expert
ments are being made in tea raising by
Dr.. Charles Shepard, with the aid of the
Department Of Agriculture. Mr.. Weddle
this estate and see what the Americans are
doing. THE cultivation of tea is undoubt-
edly feasible In America" he said last
night, land IL carried out on a large scale
and the expense of labor saved there is no
doubt that in course of time it would be-
come a great and paying industry. One of
the important facts is that the tea plant
lives longer than a human being and can
be gathered from when over 100 years old.
ION our plantation i'm India" he contin-
ued, 1--WE have about LOO coolies employed
during the busy season. We pay them on
an average of about s cents a day, Ameri-
can money. In addition to this the British
government requires us to provide these
people with sufficient ground for them to
raise rice, which is their main food. We
are required to furnish them rice in case
of brought. Another requirement is that
when hey are Ill. Those people do not re-
Quire a great deal of money. The women
VIII spend their last penny In buying silver
bangles TO place on their arms and ankles.
! IL is extraordinary how they will try to
surpass each other i'm the way of jewelry.
The men gamble a good deal of their money
away The gowns of the women are mat
tiers of small detail and they merely conine
themselves to buying strips of calico. which
they bind about their person somewhat
after the Egyptian style of dress. Some OF
the women, the more thrifty sort. buy
silk"
Mr.. weddIe says the average life of the
whit man in India is twenty years. The
country has a population of about 330. 000, OOo
people. The British army in India con-
sists of about 100000 troops. he says. only
10000 OF whom are Englishmen. The re-
mainder are natives selected from the diff
ferent tribes in India and placed with the
Britishers. I'm this the British govern
ment shows a great deal of tact" said
Weddle. Native princes are allowed to
rule over the different provinces. They
usually finish their education in the Eng
lish colleges. When they return to Eng
land 10 visit. bringing their large suites as
they frequently do. we make a great deal
OF fuss over them for the purpose of max
ing an impression on their country. With
oat being egotistical l think can say that
we are masters in the art of colonizing in
different countries. The natives of India
are born tricky and we are compelled TO re-
sort to tact and strategem in ruling them
rather than 10 severity and force"