The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-05-29

William Jennings Bryan.
otherwise employed lie puts in his
time eating.
The elephant. Notwithstanding his
huge bulk and massive strength, is a
very timid animal, and can be put to
flight by a dog, or even by 4 rat. a
short time ago a drove of ~ItangOOn
elephants was stampedcd by al auto
mobile and, it is well known. the ship
! ping of an elephant is a difficult task.
The elephant has a small hole resem-
! bling q knife cut on the side Of the
head. and at times a watery fluid is
discharged therefrOm. For some rea-
son. apparently unknown, tho animal
Is subject to frenzy during the period
of this discharge and must be kept IN
confinement.
= - So = = q i
Mandalay, h second city Of Burma,
IS $50 miles north Of RangOon by rail,
and is situated on the lrraWaddy river.
kipling in his poem declares that "thc
flying fishes play" on the road to Man
dalay," but he has been guilty of using
poetic license. The captain OF II Of
the steamers warned us in advance
that no flying fish would be seen on
the river, and one Englishman went
SO far as to say that the poet had
never been in Mandalay. We planned
to take q ride up the river, but u
purpose was thWarted by a sandbdr,
which detained our boat from noon
until the next morning, SO hat our
view OF the river, WnIie very thorough
1t hat point, was not very extensive.
Most tourists GO to Mandalay by train
and return as far as Promo by boat,
but the scenery is finer in the defilcs
above Mandalay.
In going by land from Rangoon to
I ,1l ~ ~ ~ coo. -ant ia~ l1. ,T1p
but this is piled along the road in
seemingly incXhaustible quantities.
one is reminded of the wheat and corn
States of our own country as he sees
the piles of sacks and loose grain
awaiting shipment. While there are
other industries in Burma, the rice
fields and the piles of teak wood are
most in evidence. In northern Burma
there are some rich ruby mines, and
the jcWclry stores are as fascinating
as those of CeylOn.
The songs Of Mandalay are famous
throughout the world for richness of
tone, and carving in ivory, teak and
sandalWood gives employment to many
artisans. Elephants and images Of
Buddha in wood, brass and alabaster
are exposed for sale in all the shops
and the silks are delicate in texture
and beautiful in color II design.
! The Burmese have a large mixture
Of Chinese blood, as is shown by their
eaturcS and traits of character, but
they are darker in color. They are a
cheerful and docile people. ana their
women have never been the victims of
the seclusion that burdens the life of
the women of India. Both men anl
women wear gay cOlOrs, which lends
picturesqueness to the scenes of the
street. In China and Japan we were
amused at the small pipes used by the
men. In Burma one is amazed at the
enormous clgarCtteS-siX inches long
and an inch thick-Which the women
smoke.
In Burma, as in other Oriental
tries the stream are the WaShtubs of
the nation. II q flat stone takes the
place Of q dashboard 1t was wash
day On the IrraWaddy when we started
on u boat ride, n the bank of the
river looked like a flower bed, 50
bright and varied were the olo of
the turbans and dresses of the long
rows Of washers, swinging the clothes
high above their heads and beating
them upon the stones.
Burma is the home of the pagoda;
one is never out of sight of them, but
they differ in shape from those seen
in hin and Japan The Burmese
pagoda is usually circular, though
sometimes octagOnal The largest Of
these Is known as the ShWe DagOn pa
CODA at RangoOn. 1t is a sOlidly built
pNramddal cone, with gradually dilnin-
ishing outlines, and is surmounted by
a Ii or umbrella" spfre Of cOncentric
iron rings from which hang little bells
which tinkle when moved by the
breeze. This naoOda has a circumfer-
encc of 1855 feet at the base, risen
to a height of $40 feet and stands upon
terraCed mound which is itself 100 feet
above the level of the country around.
The upper part of the pagoda is
CJlded and its base is surrounded lN-
many elaborate ShrineS, containing
images of Budha. Here the faithful
offer their devotiOns during the day
and evening. and the vendors of can
dies. incense and flowers do a thriv-
ing business. Here also. assemble the
lame. the halt and the blind, to gath
er their penny tribute from the pas
serby.
M~andalay is still more literally sup
piled with ~pagOdas. At the largest,
the Aracan. n sees repeated the
scenes of the ShWe Dagon, only the
beggars seem more numerous. At this
pagoda there is a filthy pool in which
live q number of sacred turtles. and
they must have charmed lives to live
at all in so foul q place. They rise TO
the surface when food is thrown into
the water. but they are so slow in
their movements that kites which how
er about the place, generally match
up the morselS before the turtles
reach them.
Far more beautiful than the Ara
con pagoda is the group known as the
$50 pagodas. This remarkable groupe
which actually numbers 100, stands
at the foot of Mandalay Hill and was
built by an uncle of King Thebaw. In
the center of the group is the usual
pagoda, and around it. in parallel.
rectangular rows. are small square pa
goda&. each terminating in q graceful
tower and containing a slab inscribed
on both sides. These slabs together
.icontain all the writings of Budha. and