The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1908-01-24
Calcutta, India.-Beautiful, dirty;

such are the contrasting adjectives
which one may apply to this third
largest city in the British empire,
seated on the banks of the Hoogli
river, whose shifting currents are her
best defense against an invading feet.
It is a city of color, from the fat,
shiny, black babu, scantily clad only
In few yards of purple cheese cloth
and dazzling yellow shoes, to the pale
and immaculate Briton, in top hat and
frock coat. 1t is city of historic in
terest; everybody goes first to see the
famous Black Hole.
But to all the world that is In any
way interested in missions this is re.
membered as the scene of the labors
Of William Carey, the father of mod
ern Protestant missions, who did his
lifework at Serampore, few miles
from here. In the cathedral also one
sees a fine statue of Reginald Heller,
the famous missionary bishop of the
Church of England, and author of the
most widely-known missionary hymn,
From Greenland's Icy Mountains
Dusky "Europeans."
My work deals with today, so must
Introduce the reader instead to the
most curious company of Europeans"
he has ever met, as they are gathered
for worship, several hundreds of
them, in the fine big church Of the
American Methodist mission. These
dusky Europeans" are mostly half
castles, Eurasians, but they dislike the
latter name and are at all pains to
claim identity only with their white
ancestors. Thus a dark brown man.
three-fourths native, will speak osten-
tatiously of going home" to England,
though he never saw England, and
only one Of his forbears for centuries
past has ever been outside of India.
This very pride indicates that the
Eurasian has certain qualities which
go with white blood, and this self-sup-
porting, aggressive church, with re-
nnement written on the faces of many
OF Its members, indicates the impor-
lance of this branch of the Methodist
Episcopal mission. The Methodists
have been very successful throughout
India in this work for Eurasians. and
for the whites who have married ma.
tive women, thus losing social caste.
In addition, other white people who do
not care for the established church
services, attach themselves to these
churches for Europeans.
The Really White Europeans.
II the blended brother is a problem
IN India needing the missionary's at
tention, no less is the simon-pure
white man. And I must say that, so
Tar as l could learn, the life of the Eu.
ropeans las all Caucasians are desie-
mated east of Suez) is more whole
some and normal in India than in the
far east. This is doubtless due to the
fact that British influence is alto.
gether dominant, and British ideals
have followed the flag. The white
people generally attend the estab.
lished churches, just as at home. as a
matter of course.
For the young men-who are every.
where the crux of the social problem
II found the Y. M. c. A. doing q con-
sp1cuously successful work. In the
farther east it has been a failure so
far as the white men are concerned
although its work for the natives. as
these articles have reported, has been
OF a high grade. Here, however, the
association is good FORM" and the
larger Indian cities have fine build
1ngs, veritable gentlemen's clubs. with
chambers for any number of men
from a score to hundred, and in gen.
eral doing sort of Christian work
which deserves great praise. It would
cause an American secretary to lift
his eyebrows were he to see the mum.
Der OF men in evening clothes 0nclud.
Ing. OF course, the local secretary him.
SELF to be found of an evening in the
Calcutta or Bombay association.
Therein, though, Is sign of success,
for that is the very crowd that the
association needs to reach here. The
work for the native Indians, conduct
ed In separate buildings, of course, is
CNu0lIy uOldU1c.
There are white women in the east.
as we'll as native and half.caste wo.
men. needing the peculiar sort of help
which the Y. w. c. A. affords. l was
greatly struck by the hold that this
organization has taken in India; there
is sanity, careful, confident facing
of actual conditions, and an effective
aggressiveness about it which should
place the association very high in the
rank of missionary agencies.
One sort OF work open to the Y. W.
c. A. is illustrated by the following in.
cident. Every ship sailing to India
from England carries young women
going out to be married, and to live
with fathers, brothers. or other rela.
tives. Not always do the relatives
turn up, or the bridegrooms prove
available; in which case the young
woman sadly needs womanly help and
safe shelter. On the ship in which I
went to Calcutta were three such
young women: one of them discov-
cred that her uncle had gone to Japan
and she was penniless, half a world
from home. At the first opportunity,
after learning of the efficiency of the
Calcutta Young Women's Christian as.
sociation. l put the secretary into
touch with the stranded girl, but al
most too late, for day later she at-
tempted suicide.
"7ehind the Curtain"
High-class Hindu and Mohammedan
women are kept "purdah," that is "be-
hind the curtain" The precautions
that are used to keep them from the