The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-09-11

other in the winter, when the centre
OF all is Calcutta The latter season Is
SO lively that 1t even attracts debu-
tantes and post-debutantes of Great
| Britain. There is an influx of young
maids and old maids several hundred
well-bred girls coming annually to
stay with their friends or at the
| hotels
These girls have good letters of In
PRODUCTION. and they angle for hus-
bands. I am told that about fifty sue
coed in their fishing. The others 60
! back. and the Calcutta beaux seak of
them as returned empties." AT the
| first of each season a list of this in
vading army Of Amazons is made up
by the social detectives. Each girl is
assayed. and her pedigree and record.
including the amount of dot she Will
bring, are set down in cold type the
list is secretly passed around to the
bachelors of the army and civil society,
and the competition Is free for all.
They tell me that marriage is an ex>
pensive luxury in India. and especially
SO in the cities. House rents in Cal
cutta are high. an establishment OF
ten or twelve rooms in a good location
costing about 5000 per month. A fash
tonable wife will need plenty for en-
W. IoAh'hS' anu SIS Will nave TO llhV6
her long summer vacation to the Him
alayan resorts. including, perhaps.
Simla, where social demands are about
as great as at Calcutta. On the other
hand. she may be of sporting ten
dency. In which case the outfit costs q
great deal, although camping out is
delightful.
Housekeeping Matters.
II lo,ro IN I,dy, ,,a,,,, lat,oo :.
until you understand the conditions.
Servants charge almost nothing In
comparison with this class in the
United States. One can get good cooks
for So month and house men for less.
The trouble is that the Englishman has
to hire a dozen servants in India.
where he has one at home. The caste
regulations are such that each man
will do only one kind of work. The
man who washes the dishes will not
make the beds, and he who makes the
beds will not sweep or carry the water.
The cook will not act as scullion, and
SO 1t goes on. If you keep horses. you
must have groom to each horse. and
to every two horses man to cut grass
for them. Every child has its own
nurse. and the result is that you need
many servants. The servants are
nearly all men. the women acting only
as ladies' maids and sometimes as
nurses. With the other sex the same
rules prevail; the maid who waits
upon your wife will not walt upon you.
and your own body servant must run
your errands.
AS to food, it Is high when the
quality Is considered, Animal meats
are Invariably poor. but the fowls arc
excellent and the eggs occasionally
fresh, although not larger than the
big white alleys with which we played
marbles In boyhood.
The Everlasting Squeeze.
One of the big items OF expense In
India is the oriental squeeze. which
one must pay upon all he buys. It 10
the same In Japan. China and In all
parts of the orient. Your servants
have a rake-off on your purchases and
hey make more out of such things
than their salaries. II you order can
your servant wants his commission, and
II the cabman takes you to native
merchant he expects to get his per-
centage on what you purchase. IN
rtdlnF' thSaugh the eitx.-Y9u wiu fra-