The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1909-11-23
By Editor Daily
to

BY FreN SillfpiCti, FoTHcTIS Eu'toi "
to Bagdad
Bagdad, Turkey, Oct. 9, 1908
Two months ago I rode down Market
street. and peered for the last time at
the windows of the managing editors
Office. for was leaving San Francisco
for Bagdad, the once stirring scene
of sinful old Sinbad's famous frolics.
For sixty days l journeyed, day
and night. and seventeen thousand
miles rolled under me, and lost them
selves on the back trail. For we did
not come direct There is no main
road to Bagdad Travellers who real
" wish to arrive come as | did
through the Suez canal to Ceylon.
thence up the Indian coast, across
the Persian gulf, and up the Shat-el-
Arab and Tigris.
Picture postals never come from
Bagdad, so few folks know where 1t
is. Like a man lost in the Arkansas
backwoods. l had to inquire my way
more than once.
Paris was wet and chilly and had
cold this summer; so hurry over
the way with me, east of Suez. From
burning. blistering Alden, out of
which a barefoot man could walk into
Hades and never feel the heat, we
sailed for Ceylon, the original isle
OF Spice" For six dubious days the
big boat. tumbling us about the In
changing monsoon battled with uor
dian ocean with all the fury Of a
tornado. But the Germans are good
navigators. and the 'PrinZ Fried
erich" made Colombo harbor only one
day overdue. The sea still ran high,
powever, and over the stone break
water the great rollers broke in walls
OF spray 60 feet in the air, resem-
bling the "Old Faithful geyser Of
Yellowstone hard at work.
4 "Perehera."
Lord Kitchener was in Colombo,
en- route to Australia to talk Dread
naughts to the Wallabies, and the
fighting sahib's visit was made the
occasion for a great Singalese cele-
bration called a "Perchera." Count
less elephants in gaudy trappings,
native chiefs in wonderful puzzle cos
tunes. and overdressed Indian prin-
cesses enlivened the event. Snake
charmers and the Omnipresent fakil
fingered on the edge of the crowds
which thronged the streets Of Handy
and added to the gayety of nations
Thousands of natives poured in tC
enjoy the spectacle One Tamil boy
drunk with excitement. drowned him
self in the lake in sight OF a thousand
merrymakers. The whole pageant
made 10 order for Kitchener, brought
rushing back to memory the good
old American circus of 90 years ago
In ages gone by the Singalese Per
chera was an event of interest to al
India-a semi-religioUs Orgie o.
splendor and magnificence. But the
native. crushed under benevolen
British influence" no longer finds {
full measure of Joy in this ancien
Jubilee. Still the one we saw was
a quaint and lurid spectacle TO a mar
from the western world. Dew
dancers" were the leading men
nude natives of giant build, theil
skin fantastically tatooed. who LEI
the Perchera parade. Whirling an(
dancing on hands and feet, they
bounced along on the ground jus
ahead of the elephants. With amaZ
ing endurance they kept up this ex
traordinary dance for over an hour
ieaping high in the air and falling
PROSTATE before the elephants, con
tinually emitting the most piercing
shrieks. In the baleful red glare O
the tOrcneS the scene was unSpedh
ably wierd The Devil Dancer!
themselves are said to be raving mac
and kept in actual confinement ex
cept when needed for "societ!
stunt"
Picturesque temples, ages old
adorn the enchanting island Of Cey
lon-but they're another story ant
belong to Stoddard. Besides, Bag
dad is still thousands of miles ava!
beyond Bombay, beyond the Per
sian Gulf, 600 miles up the Tigri
river. So the next boat north tool
me. surrounded by the mountain o
baggage which the white sahib o
caste must carry in the Orient.
Bombay. with its million people
is the market of the east-with rail
way and ocean connections like Sal
Francisco. Traders say goods arr
bought cheaper in Bombay than any
where else in the world. American
sewing machines, bicycles, graphic