The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1907-09-19
Missouri Man Tells of
Deals With Rajalls.
EXPENSIVE TRAVELLING
Elephants staple Article of Com
ucrcc Nere--Thc Servant Problem
an the Far East---India's Wealth of
Servants and How IL pays--Brecd.
ins Snakes for Bounty.

tigers, monkeys, boa constructors
and other gentle animals which de-
light the heart of the American small
boy and some Americans that are not
smell.
My dealing was with Rajahs,"
said Mr.. Hall. Things went some
thing like this: When the Rajah
wants to start on an expidition OF
any Kind he calls his men at arms to-
gether.
Tho sons of thunder and light
ming Will meet you on yon peak at
daylight with their spears and battle
axes commands the RaJah In stem
toriRn tones. Have the horses and
elephants ready and provisions for a
three days march. Then aside to
the secretary: About right. en-,
Jones?'
That's the stuff. your Majesty
replies the emissary of Great Britain.
The India elephant is the Guest
in the world and is easier to traln
than the big beasts Of Africa. -Eey
are getting scarce IN India now, aaI
that Is why | had TO travel so far to
make arrangements for u sufficient
supply for the American market. A
well trained elephant In America TX
as easy to sell as a good horse.
There are many ways of trapping
the animal. One Is to dig O. great
pit on the mountainslde, one side OF
which slants In. When the bottom
lands are wet the elephants 20 to the
uplands and slide into these Pits. A
large. docile elephant is chained to
the prisoner and hauls him up the
incline.
Another way involves q greater
risk to the life Of the hunter. The
pits are excavated on the lowlands,
near the forest. Around the pit Is a
strong fence, having two wide gates.
One of these gates is left open.
THE hunters go into the jungles
and beat up the quarry. The ele-
plants charge out into the open,
bent on murder. One man is selected
to toll the enraged beast into tho
fence.
The animal follows fiercely dart
Ing into the open gate, and falls into
the pit. The hunter runs around on
the edges through another gate.
which he opens and closes like flash
Of lightning. The elephant Is a pris-
oner hard and fast. But should the
hunter stumble or fail to get out of
the way quick enough the great mass
Of flesh tramples him into the earth.
"One Of the peculiar features of
India is the requirement to maintain
large staff of servants II you desire
to appear as man of any sort Of
degree. You ought to have at least
fifteen or sixteen. You can get that
many about as cheap az you can get
two or three.
when a servant enters your en-
ploy he wants to know, before maxi
ing terms, whether he will be per-
mitted to place the orders for sup
plies. You see. he gets commiss-
ION from the shopkeepers. I found
1t cheaper to make that concession
than to attempt 10 purcase things
myself.
Each servant has his own particu-
lar department to look after, and will
not raise his hand to do any part OF
another servants work.
AT all the large stations In India
the traveller u met by reception
committee Of some two or three
90 hry
is anxious to tote his baggage to the
gates, but no further. At the gates
OF the station you settle up with the
FIRST lot Of coolies you have en-
ployed and enter into q contract with
the next gang to take your grips to
the carriage.
IF India could sell her snakes she
would be the richest country on the
globe 1t Is said that more than
$4,000 Hindus passed into the great
beyond last year as result OF snake
bites
They won't Kill the reptiles: they
are confident some highly respected
ancestor has Isssed into them. 1t
would be better TO be bitten TO death
by an ancestor than to kill 'em, and
thus go to the bad place. So reason
these people.
There are other sects. however,
which do not entertain the same re-
spect for the deadly crawlers, but
they will not take the trouble to kill
them unless paid for It, Some time
ago the British Government offered
good price for the scalps of deadly
snakes. The people OF this class
instantly got bnsy and began breed
ing snakes.
1T is said that while that reward
was in force all other businesses
were laid aside in order to take ad-
vantage OF the munificence of the sm-
pire OF course the Viceroy soon
learned Of the Inflated condition OF
the snake industry and the reward
was withdrawn"