The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-07-31
pARsEEs. ARE EISANo1AL KINGS INDIA

lars in public charities, and almos:
two millions in private aims. She gave
Bombay its first hospital for native
women at a cost of over 50, 100000,
and. notwithstanding all this, left a
big fortune to her descendants.
Parsce aIiIlionaires.
These gifts suggest the wealth OF
the Parsees. The Petits might be
called the Rothschilds Of the country
save that they are by far more gener-
Gus. One of the men of the Petit
family to which belonged the girl who
has just donated her jewels for G
girls orphanage, founded a boys' or
phanaee to perpetuate the memory Of
his son, who was cut off in his prime.
These Petits have made their millions
in cotton. One OF them erected the
first spinning and weaving mill for
India
This was over fifty years ago. 1t
was a great success, and its founder
added others, SO that he became the
cotton king Of the country. A large
part of the Wadia fortune was made
in cotton, as were also those OF tho
Tatas and the Jeejeebhoys. Other rich
families control the Parsee banks In
the various cities Of India and In other
parts Of the Far East. and big steel
industry has just been started ny the
Tatas But of this / shall write in the
future
A Religious Trust.
Before mentioning some tenets Of
the Parsee faith. want to tell you
about the Punchayat or religious
trust which manages It THIS con-
trnis moro property than Trinity
Church III New York 1t has charge
OF all the church funds amounting to
more than two million dollars an?
other holdings In real estate which
are of great value. Tho Pupchayot has
recently figured in some trials acre at
bombay. which have created great ex-
element throughout the Parsee world.
The Parsee Church is close corpora
ton. The members are liberal to a
fault, and give more to their faith
than any sect; know. AT the same
time they are conservative. and want
to control what they give by keeping
out of the fold converts who are not
Of pure Parsee blood.
Not long ago one Of the Tatas. a
millionaire member of the community.
took unto himself French wife. She
became converted to her husbands
religion, protested the faith of Zorro
aster, and was taken into the church.
Thereupon, the bigots of the faith OBJ
iected. and the trustees of the Pun
chayat decided that they could not al
low any interest in the church money
to go to outside converts. nor would
they permit such converts to warm
their Souls at the holy fires or upon
death Ito have their flesh torn from
their bodies by the vultures on the
towers of silence The French lady
has insisted upon her rights and she
has now brought suit to enforce them
before the courts at Bombay, The
judges have decided In her favor, and
converts are now to have the right to
come into the church under certain
restrictions However. there was a
minority decision. One of the jus
tices suggested that the aliens might
have separate temples and burial
towers, and another has protested that
the verdict might open up the church
to undesirable aliens and ruin the
prosperity of the Parsee community
The Faith of the rarsees.
And this brings mo to the faith, OF the
Farsees, You have often heard them called
worshipers OF fire. In sense they are SO
They have fire always burning in their tenn
pies, but they worship II. as one Of them
told me- only as an emblem of the sun and
aa the highest visible type of the Creator
II Is so with all religions supposed to be
purely idolatrous. Upon Investigation one
the representative of a deity who creates
and rules, and not as sticks and stones an
Idowed with supernatural powers. There ~
no religion upop earth that does not contain