El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-06

! the mother does not seem to matter
The code of Monu declares that Su-
dra woman alone can be the wife of
Sudra; in other words, dishwasher
| must marry a dishwasher and a slop-
| carrier a slopcarrier. 1t is the same
with the Vaisyas and the Kshatryas.
I Some Caste Prejudices.
| The laws also provide that only per-
sons of the same caste may eat togeth-
err and for a person of one caste TO
! touch the food of another defiles it,
| stopped today before an itinerant sweet
! meats peddler and began to finger some
! Of the candles on his table. He grew
| angry and told me to keep my hands
| off, as the Hindus would not buy any
thing a foreigner had touched. This
| Is especially so of the natives of the
| higher castles. In the jails of India the
| cook Is always a Brahman, for other
! wise the prisoners of the lower castles
would not eat the food. 1 am told that
| prisoners have been flogged and have
starved to death rather than eat Wet
uals cooked by low-caste man.
During my travels in the far east 1
have frequently been upon steamers
| with Hindus of one grade or another
| Those of the higher castles carry their
! cooks with them. They bring their
| own water on board and never come to
! the general tables. When the Rajah of
Jeypore went to England not long ago
| he had a full retinue of servants and
his own kitchen. which could be en-
tered by none but his own people.
The other day in visiting a temple
/ here at Benares L met a Hindu with
| beautiful brass bowl. He had just come
up from the Gauges, and placed the bowl
| on a ledge and was sitting beside it.
L picked it up, thinking TO buy it
Thereupon the man grew angry, and my
hat I had oflrp tod an
pardonable sin
He said the man could not use the
bowl until it had been heated red hot
| in the fire and thus purified.
Effect of Western Innovation.
The Hindus will not touch water
which has not been drawn by their own
! people, and they must not eat food
cooked in water supplied by different
castles. This fact for a long time him
| dered the use Of the water works which
the English have introduced into some
of the cities, but by a special dispense
ton granted by the Brahmans they are
now raising the ban as to water on
tap This is one of the things tending
to modify caste. At first the Brah-
mas and others of the higher castles
wanted cars of their own They could
not get them, and now all must travel
together. The schools of the govern
ment admit pupils of all castles and the
/ Brahman boys now sit in the same
rooms with the Sudras.
The BrahmanS have also changed
certain caste rules as to drink The
stores are full of new things from
| abroad, and these are desired by all
castles in common 1t is allowable now
to use patent medicines and soda wa
ter without losing ones soul man
is not damned IL he buys ice made by
| foreigner, and he can eat soda crack
ers without being polluted. 1t is the
! same with ginger ale and other soft
| drinks.
1t is different as to meats The flesh
! Of the cow is sacred. and any Hindu
| who would eat the liquid extract of
! beef would be damned. and a ham
| sandwich is a passport to hell. 1 re-
! member asking my Hindu guide the
| price of tenderloin steak. He refused
| 10 defile his mouth with the word, ana
| would have lost caste had ne handled
the flesh.
One Million Fakirs.
l have before me the government
statistics OF the chief castles of India
| as they are today. This divides them
into about 100 different classes. some
numbering millions and some but a
! few hundred thousand. L am surprised
/ II see that the fakirs, or religious
! devotees. have caste OF their own
and that there are more than 1,2OO.0 900
! in India. l see them everywhere. I'M
! dergoing all sorts of modification of
| the flesh to attain merit and conse-
| quent salvation. l photographed one
| today sitting in a handcart which was
pushed from place TO place by his ad-
| mirers 1t was a rude three wheeled
! affair. open all around and decorated
| with flowers. The fakir was the most
| horrible figure / have ever seen out
side catacombs or medical museum.
| He was a living skeleton. almost stark
| naked with great round. staring eyes
! and long. frowsy brown hair. His
| hands lay over the dashboard of the
| vehicle: they were claws. His shout
| der bones almost protruded, and his
| knee bones. over which the flesh was
| tightly drawn. were fitted under his
| armpits so that he sat erect with his
knee actually under his arms. His
face and body were smeared with ash
| es. and his great eyes alone showed
the soul behind.
Horde of Dirty Fanatics.
I have seen many of these men dur
ing my travels in India. They never
| wash and pride themselves on their
uncleanliness. Their methods Of tor
ture are legion. I have seen some who
have sat or stood until their bodies
/ nave SlHeneO. ana IneN could hardly
move If they would. Some hold their
arms erect until the nails grow into
the flesh There are fakirs at Be-
mares who never sit down and others
who lie on beds of spikes or nails OF
upon masses Of broken stones
Some try to acquire merit by refus-
ing to sleep, and others by eating all
sorts of vile foods. Such men carry
about human skulls as drinking cups
Among these religious frauds are
those who claim they can remain bur
led underground for a time without
dying. Others are able to walk
through fire, and at every holy fair
one may see a half dozen or So, under
going the ordeal of the five fires The
fakir sits almost naked. with four fires
about him. just far enough away to
prevent the flesh from sizzling He Is
out in the open. and the fifth fire is the
tropical sun, which blazes down on his
| head.
You have all heard OF the Jugger-
naut car That is fraud that was
| carried at one place In India Among