El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-09

lOdd up plank. InereupOn the manager
| asked one of them 10 try it. He did
So getting the bag on his back without
very much trouble. He was able to make
his way across the room. but when he
tried TO go up the incline the weight
pulled him over and he fell with the
rice TO the floor.
This same college crowd tried to pick
out the broken rice grains in competition
with the Hlndoo girls. thinking they
could work quite as fast, but had to give
up in despair. The rice is of various
grades. according TO the broken grains
| in ii. and every shipment has to be test
ed by counting the number of whole
grains in a fixed quantity. 1t takes keen
eyes and the Harvard boys failed in the
test.
Polished Like Silver Spoons.
1t seems strange to think of polishing
rice like your best silver spoons. But
that is what / saw them doing as
went through this mill. The machinery
paddy or rice in the husks IS first win
moved and then carried to the top story
where it is passed through grinding
stones so carefully set that they pare off
the husk without breaking the rice. The
stones are of a composition harder than
iron, and they have to be roughened ey-
cry week by skilled HindoOs who I'M
derstand how to fix them. After this
process the rice is again winnowed. 1t
goes through countless fans and shak-
ing sleeves being again carried to the
top of the mill and descending by grav-
ity from floor to floor. shaken, grated
and cleaned ut every turn. After the
huSk is off. the kernels are polished
| This is done with cbamois skin, the
grains being thrown back and forth
against a roller covered wit this ma
terial. The chamois cylinder goes
around a the rate of 500 revolutions
-
fl ON it it is as clean and white as the
first tooth of your baby.
1t now falls through chute into bags
and is sewn up by indian girls, when it
/ is ready for shipment abroad. Much of
the export is to England France, Ger
many and Holland, but a great deal
gees to India. China and other parts of
the far east. The Burmese rice is much
better than that of Hindustan, and il
brings such high prices that the ma
tlves ship their own product abroad and
eat the cheaper imported rice which
is sold in the markets.
The Hindoo invnsion.
Speaking of the coolies III this mill
brings me to the Hindoo invasion of
Burma The East Indian coolies are
being brought here by the shiploads.
They are carried across the Bay of Ben
gal, a distance of 1000 miles or more.
for less than dollar. and by the mail
steamers they can come here from Cal
cutta for about "a cents In other words
the passage costs them about one
twelfth cent a mile at which rate one
could go from New York to Washington
for less than a quarter and from the
Atlantic to the Mississippi for about
a dollar.
The Burman does not like TO work. He
despises money: and>when he gets a lit
tie ahead he acquires merit by giving
ii out in charity establishing drink
ing fountain or putting a plate of gold
on some Buddhist shrine. The HindoOs.
who work for almost nothing at home,
can earn as much as So a month here,
and the land seems an FL Dorado to
them As it is now more than half of the
population of Rangoon is East Indian.
and there are thousands of Hindoos in
every large town
East Indian Money Sharks.
The invasion is not confined to the
laboring classes. There are many In
dian merchants and entities. or Indian
bankers. The latter do about all the
loaning to the individual farmers. They
lend at from % to 30 percent a year to
the Burmese, taking mortgages on
their crops. The laws here are such
that the Hindoos cannot own land: but
the crops can be mortgaged. and the
see that he gets his loan out of the
sales.
These entities are the queerest look
ers imaginable. Our ideal of that pro-
fession is a fat, sleek. well dressed
man who looks prosperous and has the
finest house in the town The ordinary
dress of the Hindoo banker would not
cost an American dollar, and he lives
in a howell His black skin is bare.
with the exception of q rag Of thin
cotton around the loins. and a calico
Jacket which ends at the waist His
shaved black head is often free Of
turban or cap, although he may havs
ashes smeared over parts of it to show
his caste or religion. The entities
come from near Madras. Their Only
idea is to make money breed, and they
save every cent. Some of them are
quite wealthy all are said to be hon
est, and their word is accepted by the
banks for large sums. Some start in
Rangoon as clerks at s12 a month.
They viii live on one-third that
amount ard loan the rest out at in
terest. When they have accumulated
10000 rupees or so they go back home
and live economically on the interest
of their holdings thereafter.
Outside the Hindoos the most of the
banking is done by the British VINO
have four large banks in Rangoon.
These are the Hongkong and Shankhdi
bank, the Chartered bank of India
Australia and China. the National bank
of India and the Bank of the Neither
lands. All these do a general banking
and exchange business their interest
rates varying according to the season
of the year. They get from 10 to II
percent, receiving the most at the
planting and harvesting of the crops.
Rurnia's Foreign Trade.
The trade here is almost altogether
in the hands of Great Britain. The
officials protect the British merchants
and favor them where possible, al
though the Germans. Japanese. Bel
gians and French try to compete.
As to our trade. it is small. usually
amounting to less than a million dol
lars year. and consisting mostly oil
machines canned goods and kerosene
oil Within the past year or so we
have established consulate at Ran
coon. and the man in charge E A.
Wakefield, is doing much to push
American trade. He thinks we should