Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-05
TRIP TO MAADALAY
Long Ride on q Marrow Gauge
Railway.
SCENES AT STATIONS
WHERE THE REAL BURMESE ARE
TO BE FOUND.
The Native Prefers Country Life, Is an
Ineurable Loafer and Is Given
Much to ssPwes."
|ENEs AT STATIONS
BY WILLIAM 4. CURTIS
speciai Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.


special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
MANDALAY, Burma. April B. 1904
Ii is 3s6 miles from Ragoon to Mandaiay.
The train leaves Rangoon at o'clock IN
the afternoon and reaches its destination
about o'clock in the morning The track
is tf,ree-foot gauge. The cars are SINH
lar to those used in India. Trayeiers are
required to take their own bedding. and
are given a bunk similar to those in ca
bosses on freight trains in the United
States, free of charge. II one prefers a
hard bed to q soft, he Will be grained,
and will enjoy night upon Burma rail-
road. II he is devoted to luxury he will
consider it uncomfortable. The point OF
view is everything. People who come to
these countries must not expect to have
the comforts of home. but they will not
suffer hardships.
During the afternoon the train passed
through long succession of rice farms
where the harYests had been gathered and
thrashed, and were piled up In immense
stacks of bags, on both sides of the track
at every station. You would not suppose
that there was SO much rice In the world.
but the rice eaters outnumber the wheat
eaters two to ore.
They told US that the railway company
did not have sufficient cars to accommo-
date the traffic, and this rice was waiting
for transportation. After we passed out
of the delta of the Irrawaddy, which has
soil of amazing richness and is closely
cultiya ted, the train entered an entirely
different country. Hills began to arise
from the plains around u.s. and between
them were jungles of most luxuriant yege-
tation, groves of palm trees and bamboos
and great far-Spreading teak trees, which
bring SO much wealth to this country The
summit Of each hill was crowned by a
~~,lx l1xl L.
bamboo huts were placed in picturesque
locations around them.
The bamboo Is the most useful of trees
1t has thousand uses. and nearly all the
houses of Burma are built OF that ma
terial. The builders need nothing else.
The larger trunks furnish the framework
and Orders: the smaller trunks the rafters
and the hoesr: the roof is matched with the
leaves and the walls and partitions con-
sist of sheets or mats braided of strips
or split bamboo. The tree not only fur
nishes shelter. but food for the people
BY rubbing two pieces together they ignite
a hre OF bamboo twigs. Then they pick
the tender shoots and buds from trees
and cook them in a hollow section of baru-
boo trunk.
Scenes at the Stations.
At every railway station we saw crowd
of natives-men and women, dressed in
the gayest of colors. They wear strips of
plaid silk wound around their legs. fast
ened at the waist and reaching to their
ankles, and jackets of white cotton newly
washed, starched and ironed, and turbans
as gay as Jossph's coat Everybody told
us that We could see the real Burmese in
the interior better than at Rangoon which
scored to be fact. The native does not
take kindly to cities, but prefers country
life, and is an incurable 1oafer. His great
est pleasure is to gossip with his neigh
bors and entertain at a s'pwe'-a sort of
outdoor evening party. Whenever Bur-
mese gets a little money ahead he will
either build a pagoda for the benefit of his
soul or spend it in hospitality, inviting his
neighbours to "pwe" whenever there is
the slightest proyocation. 'Pwes'' are
given when a child is born, when a daugh-
ters ears are pierced or after boy is
tattooed, on a birthday OF marriage an
piversary or on any other occasion that
will furnish an excuse. They are always
given in the open air, and If the host has