Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-09

January o. 1904
voyage to India nowadays is con-
tinuous social event The passengers COM
pose house party, being guests of the
P. and o. Steamship Company for the
time. The decks of the steamer are like
broad verandas, and are covered with COM
Portable chairs, in which the owners
lounge about all day. Some of the more
Industrious women knit and embroder, and
l saw one good mother with a basket full
of mending, at which she was busily en-
gagged at least three mornings. Others
play cards upon folding tables, write let
ters with portfolios on their laps and we
have several artists who are sketching the
sky and sea, but the majority are reading
novels and guide books and gossiping AS
birds of feather flock together on the
sea as we'll as on land, previous acquaint-
ances and conaenial new ones form little
circles and clques and entertain them
selves and each other, and, after day or
two, move their chairs around so that they
can be together The Americans and Eng
lish do not mix as readily as you might
expect, although there is nothing like cool
ness between them. 1t is only a natural
restraint. They are accustomed to their
ways, and we to ours, and 1T is natural for
US to drift toward our own fellow country
men.
In the afternoon MEETINGS are hung
around one of the broad decks and games
of cricket are played. One day it is the
al my against the navy; another day the
united service against a civilian team and
again the cricketers in the second-class
salon are invited to come forward and try
their skill against a team made I'D of first
classers In the evening there is dancing
piano being placed upon the deck for
that purpose, and for two hours it is very
gay.
Vulgar Display of Jewelry.
The ladies are all in white, and several
English women insist upon coming out on
the deck In low-cut and short-sleeved
gowns. 1t is said to be the English fashion,
but 1T Is not half as bad as their cigarette
smoking or their DESTINATIONS display of
Jewelry that is made on the deck every
morning. 1 believe 1 mentioned that habit
IN previous letter, but on the Mongolia 1t
ia worse than ever. Several women and
some of them with titles, sprawl around in
steamer chairs, wearing necklaces of
pearls, diamonds, emeralds and other pre-
cious stones, fit for only a dinner or a ball
with their fingers blazing with jewels and
their wrists covered with bfticelets There
seems to be rivalry among the high life
on this steamer as to which can make the
most vulgar display of gold silver and pre-
clous stones, and 1t occurs to me that these
English women have lived in India so long
that they must have acquired from the
Hindu their barbaric love of jewelry
My attention was called not long ago to
a cartoon in British Illustrated naner
comparing the travelling outfits of Ameri-
can and English girls. The American girl
had car load of trunks and bags and bum
dies, bunch of umbrellas and parasoIs
golt sticks, tennis racquets and all sorts of
queer things, and was dressed in a most
conspicuous and elaborate manner She
was represented as striding up and down
the railway platform covered with dia-
monds, boa fashy hat and fancy finery,
while the English girl in a close-nttine III
Ster and Anime hat lea nr1ia fI.,,,
her umbrella near a small box" as they
call trunk over here, and modest trav-
cling bag.
But that picture isn't accurate Accord
Ing to my observation it ought to be re-
Versed. / have never known the most yul-
gar or the commonest American woman to
make such display of herself In public
place as we witness daily among the Wo-
men of the British nobility upon the p. and
o. steamer Mongolia, bound for Bombay
Nor is 1T exceptional Whenever you see an
oVerdressed woman loaded with jewelry in
pubic place you may take it for granted
that she belongs to the British nobility
Germans, French, Italians and other wo-
men of continental Europe are never guilty.
OF similar Vulgarity, and in America il is
absolutely unknown.
AS l told you in a previous letter II ia
customary for everybody to dress for din
ner, and, while the practice has serious OH
Jecuons IN stormy weather. it is entirely
permissible and comfortable these long
warm nights on the Indian ocean, The
weather, however. is not nearly as warm as
we expected to find it. We have been four
DAYS on the Red sea and six days on the
Indian ocean. and have been entirely com
Portable except for two days when The
wind was so strong and kicked up So much
water that the portfolios had to be closed
and then 1T was very close and stuffy in
the cabin While the sun is hot there is al
ways a cool breeze from one direction or
another, and the captain tells me tina, it is
customary at this season.
The Passengers.
The passengers on our steamer are mostly
English. with a few East indians and
Americans. You cannot board steamer IN
any part of the world nowadays without
finding some of your fellow couutrymen
They are becoming the greatest travellers of
any nation and are penetrating 10 uttermos.
parts of the earth. The American colony
on board the Mongolia consists Of Craig
Heberton of Philadelphia and Mrs. Heber-
ton, who lived on the North Side in Chi
eago before her marriage. and Their daugh-
ter; Mrs. COckrell and Mrs. Melvin also
from Chicago; Mrs. Merritt O! ST Cath
crimes, the daughter of United States Con-
sui General Patterson at Calcutta; Miss
Kendall of Boston: F. F. Prents, manu-
facturer of Cleveland: Clinton Bailey. a
merchant of Winona, Mimi. and the Curtis
family.
Many of the English passengers are army
officers returning to India from furloughs
lilies who nave been spending the hot
months in England. We have lots of lords
and sirs and lady dowagers, generals, colo
nels and officers of lesser rank, and the
usual number of brides and bridegrooms,
several on their wedding tours; others are i
officials of the government in India, who
have been home to be iffarried. And we
have several young women who are going
out to be married. Their lovers have not
been able to leave their business to make
the long voyage, and are waiting for them
in Bombay, Calcutta or inl some of the
other cities OF India. But perhaps the lar
gest contingent is composed of civil serv-
ants" as employees of the government are
called, who have been home on leave. The
climate of India is very trying to white peo-
pie and recognizing that fact, the govern
ment gives it's officials six months leave
with full pay or twelve months leave with
half pay every five years. In that way an
official who has served five consecutive
years in India can spend the sixth year in
England or anywhere else he likes.
We have several notable natives, includ-
ing Judge Magyar, judicial magistrate at
Madras who has gained eminence at the
Indian bar and was received with honors
in England. He is a Parsee, a member of
that remarkable race who are descended
from the Persian fire worshpers He
dresses and talks and acts exactly like "a