The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1909-09-02
BILKINS IN BURMA
The Burmese Women Are
Good Looking-But They
Smoke Cigarettes.
RANCOON Is THE CHIEF CITY

One Of the Buddhist Stronghold
The Burmese Probably Are OF
Chinese Origin-The Burmese wo-
men and Their Habits-Mandalay
the Second City. and How Kipling
Made 1t Famous-The Burmese
Are Ingenious - Elephants and
What They Can Do-what II
Means to "Have an Elephant on
Your Hands"-The Pagodas.
Rangoon, Burma, Aug. 81, 1909.
Correspondence of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
In goin' from Ceylon to Calcutta
you hev ter pass near the coast ov
Burma. Az this small but in
terestin', country occupies a part ov
the east side ov one ov the great pen
tnsulas that stretch down from Asia
into the Indian Ocean you might
think that hit IL a part ov India. But
hit IL not. Burma IL too small ter
cut much ov a f1gger, an yet hit liz
a powerful country an IL one ov the
strongholds ov Buddhism; in fact,
this strange religion or superstition
IL probably more fully developed In
Burma than in India. for India liz
now under English rule. while Bur-
ma IL not. But hit IL only a matter
ov time in my opinion, when England
will take Burma. An why not?
Burma IL merely a small farm ad-
joinin' India. one ov Englands big
farms. The reason she didn't take
Burma when she got India wuz be-
cause she knew that Burma couldn't
get away, an she knew that no 9TH
er country would attempt to grab
Burma rite under her nose. Hit
would be discourteous in the first
place. Then the fact that England
hez large army in India an strong
division ov her navy in easy reach at
awl times leads her to believe that
Burma will be rite thar when need
ed. An hit will.
Rangoon IL the seaport ov Burma,
an IL the chief city. Hit IL built
on river ov the same name an IL
erbout twenty miles frum the coast.
The buildin's air large an substan-
tial. some ov the public buildin's be-
In fine. There air some beautiful
parks here an the roads near the
city air very guide, the people prob
ably havin' caught the good roads
fever from Java and Ceylon, coun-
tries I recently described.
The Burmese people hev a mixture
ov Chinese blood In their makeup,
az IL shown In their features an
traits ov character. But no one seems
to know how hit came erbout They
air darker in color than the Chinese
an air cheerful friendly people.
Many ov the buildin's, especially the
temples, look very much like pictures
ov buildin's in China, az seen in
books. The Burmese women air fair
ly guide lookin'. But they smoke Gig
arettes an that IL ennuff fer me. The
custom seems awlmost universal an
hit IL CRATE pity. Outside ov that
they look very we'll an behave well
SO far az / could see.
Mandalay IL the second city in
Burma, an IL situated $50 miles
north ov Rangoon, bein' located on
the Irrawaddy River. Kipling, the
English poet, got Off a lot ov stuff
some years ergo to the effect that
''the fiyin' fishes play" "on the road
to Mandalay." I saw no fyin' fish
durin' my visit thar, however, though
they air plenty ov other sites worth
lookin' at in Mandalay az well az al
Rangoon. In passin' between the
two cities you see vast quantities ov
rice piled here an there. Rice and
teakwood air the two principal prod
ucts ov Burma. though rubies an
other gems air found In the northern
part ov the country.
The Burmese air smart In a wa,
and turn out fine carvings In ivory
teak and sandal-wood. They max,
many images of Buddha In wood
brass and alabaster. an they air fe
sale in nearly awl stores.
In Burma, az in India, the ele
phant IL the horse and the wagon
too. Elephants air very plentiful
an the quantity an variety ov worl
they can do IL surprisin'. eat Ran
goon, where there air great lumbe
yards. fer the shippin' ov lumber 1
really an important work in Burma
you see elephants at work handlin
heavy timbers. They air we'll train
ed an each elephant does the wor
ov several men. Ov course, each ele
phant hez a trainer or keeper VIII
directs the work. They air usual
trained to this work when quit
lyoung. Then they air easily mar
aged and soon learn to perform
great amount ov work. They eithe
lift or push the pieces ov timber, u.
ing the trunk. an they can be trair
ed to pile or stack" lumber az car.
fully az man can. The elephar
hez plenty ov patience, an he wi
not give it up until hit liz done rit
the sides ov the pile ov lumber beil
perfectly straight. Some ov thes
elephants weigh as much az for
; thousand pounds each, an az the
! consume erbout one-fifth their ow
weight In food per day, when at haI
work. 1t means erbout 800 pounds {
? havy an other provender daily. II
livery first man who captured q
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