Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-22
IN THE TWO DOMDAYS
Foreign and Native Districts
Are Much Alike.
THE LATTER CROWDED
FORMER HAS GROVES, GARDENS
AND PLEASURE GROUNDS.
Some of the Peculiar Customs of the
City-Calls Made in the Hottest
Period of the Day.
THE LATTER CROWDED
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
ociaI C,rrasropJan.a NJ Tho Evaniuy Star and


Chicago Record Herald.
BOMBAY February 4. 1904.
There are two cities in Bombay, the nat
! i've city and the foreign city. The foreign
city is spread out over large area, and,
although the population is only small per
| cent of that of the native city, it occupies
| a much larger space. which is devoted to
groves. gardens. lawns breathing places
and pleasure grounds. while. as is the Gus
| tom in the orient. the natives are packed
away several hundred to the acre In tall
| houses. with overhanging balconies and tile
roofs. which line the crooked and narrow
streets on both sides. Behind some of these
| tall and narrow fronts. however, are dwell
| ings that cover a good deal of ground,
| being much larger than the houses we are
| accustomed to- because the Hindus have
| large families and they all live together.
| When young man marries he brings his
| bride home to his ia Tiers house. unless his
motker-in-law happens to be a widow.
| when they often take up their abode with
| her. But it is not common for young
couples to have their own homes. and hence
the dwellings in the native quarters are
packed with several generations of the
same family. and that makes them an
easy prey to plaques. famine and other
agents of human destruction.
The Parsees. who love air and light. and
many rich Hindus have followed the foreign
colony out into the suburbs, where you
find succession of handsome villas or bun
| galows, they are called, half-hidden by
! high walls that inclose charming gardens.
Some of these bungalows very attract
| i've. some are even sumptuous in their APP
pontments-veritabIe palaces. filed with
costly carvings and ornaments-but the ell
mate forbids the use of many of the Great
ure comforts which American and European
taste demands. The floors must be of tiles
or and h. f.fr h.yv nl.nf ha-
cause hangings. carpets rugs and uphOls-
| terry furnish shelter for destructive and
disagreeable insects. and the ann OF every
| body is to secure as much air as possible
without admitting the heat
Fro three miles and half the boulevard
which | described the other day and its
several branches are bounded by these
| charming residences which overlook the
bay and the roofs of the city.
The Government House.
Malabal Point at the end of the drive,
the extreme end of the island upon which
Bombay is built. is the government house.
the residence. of the Lord Lamngton. who
represents King Edward VII in this beau
uful city. 1t is a series of bungalows. with
large. cool rooms and deep verandas. shad-
ed by immense trees and luxurious vines,
and has accommodations altogether for
about 100 people. The staff of the governor.
is quite large. He has all kinds of aids-de-
camp secretaries and attaches, and main
tainS quite little court. Indeed, his quar-
tiers. his staff and his style of living are
much more pretentious than those of the
President of the United States. and his
salary is quite as large. Everywhere he
goes he is escorted by bodyguard of
splendid looking native soldiers in scarlet
uniforms. big turbans and long spears
They are Silks, from the north Of India
the greatest fighters in the empire. men of
large stature. military bearing and I'M
SWorVinR iOValfV to the Rriti1lT
Sikhs make the finest looking soldiers you
ever saw, and when the governor of Bonn
bay drives in to his Office in the morning
or drives back again to his lovely home
at night. his carriage is surrounded by a
squad of those tawny warriors, who ride as
well they look.
About halfway on the road to the gov
eminent house is the Gymkhana, and ven
ture to say that nobody who has not been
in India can guess what that means And
If you want another conundrum, what is a
chotahazree? 1t is customary for smart
people to have their chotohazree at the
Gymkhana, and think that you would be
pleased to join them after taking the beau
tiful drive which leads to the place Nobody
Knows what the word was derived from,
but 1t is used to describe a country cluh-a
bungalow hidden under a beautiful grove
on the brow of cliff that overhangs the
bay-With all of the appurtenances golf
INKS, tennis courts. cricket grounds rae
qCet courts and indoor gymnasium and
everybody stops there on their afternoon
drive to have chotahazree which is the
local term for tea.
Bombay's Peculiar Customs.
There are peculiar customs here. The
proper time for making visits in Bombay
and all over India is between, IL am and
$50 pm, and fashionable ladies are al
ways at home between those hours and
seldom at any other. 1t seems unnatural
because they are the hottest time of day.
one would think that common sense as
well as comfort would induce people to STAY
at home at noon and make themselves as
cool as possible. In other tropical coun-
tries these are the hours of the s.essa, the
MONDAY nap, which is as common and as
necessary as breakfast or dinner and none
| but lunatic would think of illng upon a
| friend after Ii in the morning or before 3
| In the afternoon Ii would be as ridiculous
| as to return social visit at 3 or O. clock
| In the morning, and the same reasons which
| govern that custom ought to apply in India
| as well as in Egypt, Cuba or Brazil But
here ladies put on their best gowns order
that carriages. take their card cases and
| start out I'm the burning noontde glare to
| return visits and make formal dinner and
party calls. Strangers are expected to do
the same. and If you have letters of intro
J duction you are expected to present them
| during those hours. and not at any other
| time.
| In the cool of the day after S o'clock.
everybody who owns or can hire a carriage
goes out to drive. and usually stops at the
Gymkhana In the country at the Yacht
| Club in the city for ckotahazree 1t Is a
| good custom to admit women to clubs as
| they do here. The wives and daughters of
| members have every privilege, and can give
\ tea parties and luncheons I'm the club
| houses, while. on certain evenings of the
| week band is brought from the military
! barracks and everybody of any account In
! European society is expected to be present
| Tables are spread over the lawn. and are
| engaged in advance by ladies. who sit be-
| hind them. receive visits and pour tea just
| as they would do in their own houses. 1t is
| a very pleasant custom
Calls on the Governor.
All visitors who intend to remain in
| Bombay for any length of time are ex-
| pected to call upon the governor and his
| wife. but 1t is not necessary for them to
/ drive way out to Malabar Point for such
| a purpose. On a table in the reception
room of the government building down
| town are two books in which you write
your name and address, and that is con-
sidered equivalent 70 formal visit. One
book is intended exclusively for those who
| have been presented and by signing it
| they are reminding his excelency and her
| excellency of their continued existence and