Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1902-02-28
TORTUREs oF RINpoos.


i0NNi4t N NAA5 NllJcC Dldi ~
jungle adventures in India is 50 en-.
/ crossing in interest has written a let
ter to a friend in Carlstadt, N. s., re-
garding the mysterious and powerful
influence Of caste among The native:
Of India ard the fortunes Of punish
ment which they sometimes undergo
for infraction Of rules.
"There are" he says, 2S9, 100000
natives in India Toa European (all
white men are STYLED Europeans)
there seems to be a countless number
Of castles. The two principal creeds
are Hindoo and Mohammedan The
highest Hindoo caste arS the Brah-
Minis. This caste include .hepnests
and principal officeholde= Brah-
Minis are vegetarians ard sever know
the taste Of meat Thf trades OF pro-
fessions are the same csca trade hav-
ing its separate and distinct caste
and as the caste is hereditary ii fol
lows, Of course. that ihe trade must
also be.
"These castles are distinguished by
various signs The Brahmns paint
their forehead withled OF whiieraint
to denote which God they serve; some
others wear a string Of beads on the
right arm, while even the folding Of
a turbapi. indicative a something
"To describe even ons-leptl Of
them would be impossible as The
meaning OF the marks is known only
to The Hindoos themselves Tie ia.
kris are distinguished BY peculiar
coIored robe they wear. a sort Of saf
from yellow The, are about the most
grotesque and hideous looking ob.
jects ! have ever seen A native is
not pretty light al the bes; oftlmes
but when that man is crowned with a
head ofIong. dirty, unkempt hair and
is smothered from head 10 foot in
wood ashes Gas these Fakirs are) be
becomes positively rs7ulsiye
The power Of the priests over the
natives is unlimited Shouldanative
be so unfortunate as to lose his caste
by eating a prohibited food, by using
a vessel or utensil which has in any
way come in contact with an inhde
or person Of another caste, or by al
lowing an infdeI or person Of another
caste to use caste vessel for drinking
purposes without Immediately de-
stroying the same, or should he per-
nit the infdsI or person Of another
caste to pass by at meal time so that
the shadow touches his food, not to
mention some hundreds Of other for
hidden acts, then the priest fixes the
amount of the fine he must pay OF
punishment he must undergo to re-
gain his lostcaste
Should the offense be beyond pal
liation the priest condemns him to be
an outeast, oftentimes for life.
THE punishment inflicted by these
priests upon outcasts is to an outsider
severe a cruel ordeal un-
dergone merely for the sake Of a re-
ligion whose visible benefits are nil
and whose final reward is promised
to be absorption into the Divine Is
sence-Brahm tGod) Yet among
the 24O.000,000 Hindoos there is not
one who would Fefuseto obey and car
ry out a punishment in obedience to
the viii Of his priest for any Offense
against the Hindoo deities
81 saw one af these uufortunates at
Bareilly. Hehad been condemned for
life to wander on foot throughout
Hindoostan. resting only for a Ger
tain length Of time daily, with his
arms stretched to their full extent
above his head Day or night, walk
ing or at rest, he must forever keep his
arms in this position
This does not sound very awful,
perhaps. but try it for five minutes,
and then you viii get an idea Of what
it must be like for life When saw
him he had been undergoing this tor
ture for six years His hands were
held erect above his head, palms
turned inward, the whole Of the arms
bandaged
"The hands, arms, in fact all the
muscles Of the shoulders and arms had
become paralyzed through being kept
in this position Even though the de-
crees Of the priest condemning him tc
this punishment we're revoked, it
would be impossible for him to bring
his arms TO their natural position at