The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-06-05

ionable residence quarters. the homes
/ of the British, where money flows like
the Gauges and fortunes are spent In
one season.
wish L could show you the better
parts of Calcutta. It's a city OF palaces
with immense parks and wide open
spaces. 1t covers about as much ground
as Chicago in proportion to its size. run
ming along the Hooghly. with the great
suburb on the opposite bank. The city
has lakes and lawns, botanical and
geological gardens, and a public park
known as the Maidon. which runs
through the fashionable quarter. AT
the beginning of this Is the palace OF
the viceroy. mansion as snowy as
newly Stacked lime. and several miles
beyond it, at the opposite end, is the
big house of the lieutenant general OF
Bengal. Both are surrounded by beau
tiful grounds, and the latter has a
banyan tree surpassed only by that
In the geological park OF which, per.
haps. you have heard.
The MADAM is bordered With club.
muses. and mansions The most fash
ionable homes OF Calcutta look out up
on 1t and 1t forms the social heart Of
the city. 1t has a race track with a
two mile course In which now and then
polo matches are played. and also ten
MS courts and grounds for cricket and
golf. The band always plays there of
an evening, and the people come forth
and drive about in handsome turnouts
The viceroy and Lady Mimic, may some
times be seen In their carriages with
their retinue and with native soldiers
as outriders. There are other officials
and also rajahs with coachmen and
footmen in livery. There are Euro
peans. Parsees and many Eurasiars.
Every one rides in his carriage and ev-
ery carriage has its liveried coachnen
and footmen. The coachman is usually
a bearded man with turban and gown;
he is always barefooted. The footman
either stands on the step behind the
carriage or squats down there and
holds on The latter position is preca-
rious, and often wonder why the man
Is not jolted out in going over gutter
or rut In the road. In addition to
such turnouts there are many automo-
biles. There are eight hundred In the
city. and the most have seen are tour
Ing cars which at home would cost sew
eral thousand dollars apiece and which
go like the wind. Do you wonder that
the hungry IIindoo whose lean shnnks
have to fly to get out of the way is mad
when he contrasts his condition with
| that OF the man in tho car?
The Palaces and the Black Hole.
He feels the same when he compares
his howell to the mansions on the MADAM
and the big government buildings Of
| tho British officials. The mansion
where Lord Mimic holds forth is Of
about the Same age as the White House
at Washington. 1t Is far more magni-
| ticent and its surroundings have ten
times the style. West of 1t is the town
hall, q Dorc building which was fin
ished under the instructions OF this
viceroy's grandfather in 1873, and near
| that the magnificent buildings of the
! high courts, which compare in size
| with those of our government depart
ments at Washington. Another fine
| structure is the post office. which faces
the lake In Dalhousie Square. I went
Through 1t to-day. and as came out
stopped at the corner and read on a
tablet the following:
The marble pavement below this spot
was placed here by
Lord Curzon. Viceroy and Cover
nor-General OF India. in 1901, ...,,
10 mark tho site of tho prison in
Old Fort William, known as the
Black Hole,
| In which 1i6 British Inhabitants Of
Calcutta were confined ON the
night OF the 2oth June. 1866.
and from which only 20
car1e out alive.
The pavement marks the exact d.
mensions Of the prison and near It Is
an Obelisk erected by ono of the sur
vivors,
The Black Hole is a monument OF
one OF the most terrible tragedies OF
| the Unrest of India $50 years ago, Tho
nabob, or native ruler ordered the IN
carceration of these victims and then
drank himself Off to sleep. The LAG
British who We're Nthrown In We're
largely officials, They We're driven at
the pont OF tho sword Into dungeon
Twenty feet square. 1t was in the heat