Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-01-21
NOTES OF A TRAVELLER
What | Saw in ASiatic India. and
Darker Africa.
LAND OF FIRE-WORSHIPERS
BOMBAY CONTINUED.

tlltiilStINtS bi lllt opportunity 10 SEE
the home of wealthy native so as 10
contrast it with the dwellings of the
poorer classes. Before reaching the
house we passed through u spacious
garden which was kept in excellent
condition. Servants were in attend
ance to assist guests from their car
riages and to escort them to the sit
ting and reception rooms The lat
ter evidently was the living room Of
the family. Here we saw exquisite
hand carved furniture, oil paintings
ON the walls, and some fine Speci-
mems Of ncedlework and carved ivory.
In glass cases were beautiful silver
articles The floor was marble, but
previous to our arrival it had been
covered with brussels carpet. Pre-
Sumably the host thought we vould
prefer carpet to the smooth marble
floor, but the majority would have
liked the marble better. One of the
party who had visited the home the
previous day said it was a handsome
floor The host and his sons spoke
excellent English, even though they
had not been away from India. After
we had seen the beauties of the place,
the ladies OF our party met those of
the house; luncheon was served. 1t
consisted of an extensive variety of
things made without animal grease
or meat. In fact it was strictly Il
vegetarian meal. 1t was prepared
10y the Hindu caterer of Bombay. |
could not have tasted all of the things
| that were To eat, and even if | could.
had not the desire. for while some of
the nut preparations were al right,
others did not strike responsive
chord on my palate. As the orthodox
Hindu will not eat what we low-caSte
creatures touch, all that remained
had to be thrown away. This gentle
man who entertained us, was cX-
trcmcly anxious we accept his invi-
| tation and came to the hotel in his
| motor-car to urge our partaking of his
hospitality. In speaking of the Eng
| lish. he said they gave good govern
ment, and rs rulers they liked them,
but that individually they were cold, /,
| lundemonStrative, and seemed to ig-
more their presence, while, on the
other hand, in the Americans he found
an energetic and enthusiastic people,
who were anxious to come in contact
| with them; and because of this fact
he was specially dcsirouS of being of
some service to our party. He was
one of the largest mill-owners in
Bombay, and his home represents
one side of life here. OF the other |
will now write.
Men and women work side by side
at all kinds of work. 1t was COM
mon sight to see Il woman carrying
on her head a basket of mortar for
use of the man at the top Of build
ing. | asked one of the educated ma
tiveS what wages was paid the COM
mon labOrerS, and he said four annaS
for the women and seven or eight an
mas for the men. As an anna is equal
| to about two cents in our money, it
will be seen what they get. He also
told me that up to four or five years
ago, women received two annaS and
men four a day. Out Of this they
have to provide their own suStenance
and clothing. Just think of eight
cents a day for womon to live on.
and that is not for every day either,
for during the monsoon season un-
doubtedly, there is nothing going on
in the way of building. We accepted
the invitQtion of Il newspaper man to
to visit his plant. Modern machine
ry was in use in all departments eX-
ccpt type setting. He said no linco-
types have been made for their native
tongue. The type-Setters work II
hours IA day and receive eight dollars
a month. Talk of misery! | never
had any idea of the wretchedness of
human beings until came here In
dia is certainly the land of contrasts
in wealth and poverty. We took the
trans, as the cars are called, and
rode around the city quite little.
Coming hom" at night. right on the
principal streets. and in the business
section could be seen men. women
and children asleep on the steps with
no covering under or over them
other than the few rags they use for
clothes in the daytime Often a
board or stick of wood served for Il
pillow, but in the majority of cases
they we've lying fiat on the stones.
| Again YOU would see them asleep On
the stone or earth walks and if any
of them had anything between them
and the stones or earth, it was never
more than an old sack. We even saw
worse than this. as when driving
| through the native parts OF town
they slept out in the street While
driving one evening our progress
was checked by an excavation, and
right where we stopped was an entire
| family asleep on the cobble stones of
the street. Between them and the
hard stones was Il sack. There were
two children able to walk around and
one baby the mother was carrying.
These three and the father and
mother all slept out there. The man
was so sound asleep several calls
were made by the woman before he
woke up, but as soon us he saw the
horse was not going to tramp on him
back to sleep he went. This was not
an isolated case for we saw many
others Just as bad In fact We got
used to seeing them sleeping on the
walks and steps. Often they would
be up on top of the stone fences pre-
Sumably so as to keep away from the
dampness and malaria, but if ! had
to live like they do, death would be a
welcome relief. Truly one-half of the
world does not know how the other
half lives, or exists" would be bet