The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-04-17

You all know its location. Better
perhaps than the Bostonian. who. when
asked Where II was. replied:
Burma. Burma. OF course l know
where it is. have a cousin out there.
but no calls 1t Bermuda"
The Burma from where am writing
Is away off here on the opposite side
of the world. 1t lies near the eastern
hundred miles south of the Himalaya
Mountains, and just across the way
from the Peninsula of Hindustan. on
the north IL runs close TO Tibet; and
on the east it skirts the Chinese prov
ince of Yunnan and French Indo-
south. The country is as long as from
Canada to the Mexican Gulf. and wider
than from New York 10 Cleveland. II
Is bigger than France, Germany or the
lation of 100000, of whom 100000
are the proudest, best dressed and
most loYable people OF Asia.
On the IrnwndI.
came into Burma UP the frawadi
River. The capital, Rangoon. from
where write, lies ABOUT twenty miles
from the mouth of one of the streams
forming the delta. The Irawadi is one
OF the greatest of the worlds great
rivers. 1t rises somewhere in Tibet
and lows 1000 miles through this
country before II reaches the sea. II
carries uOWH SO iIluCu Sllt kHdl tHS
blue waters of the Bay of Bengal are
IN In coming i here wo Travelled for hours
through what looked like pea soup
before we caught sight of land. and In
the river itself the water was as brown
as oatmeal cruel and almost as thick.
Ii left a rich sediment in the bath tub
OF the steamer and gave the atmos
phere yellowish tint under the tropi-
cal sun. The deposit is so great that
the shore creeps on into the sea sew
eral inches year. Immense sand bars
are created and pilots have TO direct
the steamers this way and that. Inc
dredges are always kept working, and
the government is now contemplating
building a series of jetties like hose
we have at New Orleans These VIII
coniine the waters to a narrower cha
mel ana the force of the river Will scour
the course clean.
Coming up to Rangoon the stream is
often several miles wide and the shores
at the mouth so far apart that as we
Rugged the north bank we could hard
ly see the land on the south. We
Company has its enormous reflneries,
and then steamed up toward the city,
which, with it's lumber yards rice mills
and shipping, looked more like one of
the great ports of Europe than Asia.
Long before the town came in sight
Golden Pagoda. and as we steamed
closer another shaft of gold came into
view. 1t was that of the Soule Pagoda,
a Burmese monument which rises high
out of the business blocks In the very
heart of the city. Our ship came right
into one OF the queerest crowds TO be-
found IN all Asia.
Cosmopolitan Rnngoon.s
This city is more cosmopolitan than
Calcutta, Cairo or Constantinople. IT
is East Indian rather than Burmese,
OF almost every tribe OF the Aslatic
continent.
It has 10000 Chinese: large mum,
be-. of Malays, 5000 Europeans and
more than 100000 Indians from al
carts Of liindustan. The people are Of
brown, and they wear all sorts Of cos
tunes. The East Indian coolies are
naked. except for a cloth around the
waist and red or white turban. Their
black skins shine like jet under tho
tropical sun, Many of the Chinese are
rich, and they are clad In silks or fine
cottons, While the Burmese strut about
In silk skirts of the NEST delicate col
ors, their heads covered with gorgeous
SILK turbans. They wear Jackets OF
IKE human butterflies mere and there
through tho crowd. In addition there
aro tall hatted,G long coated Parsees
from Bombay, worshipers of fire. who
are devoted to banking and trading,
and lean. skinny black Chetties, money
lenders from Madras, who wear only
a sheet of cotton wrapped around their
bare persons, There ale Indian bows
in caps Of gold thread, cotton Jackets
and waist cloths; Hmdoo women with
rings In their noses, and Burmese girls
clad In cotton or silk, with plugs in
! their ears, The costumes are so many
l cannot describe them.
On the Streets.
The traffic about the wharves and
through the city is carried on bv
strange. animals, and in strange vehi-
cles. The passenger cab is tine gharry,
yellow or black box hauled by an
Indian pony and driven by a IIindoo
Tor BGrnlanS The heavy freight is