The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1910-07-27
LESSONS FROM
A WORLD TRIP
General lie Fevre Says Ameri.
cans Spend Too Much.
ExTRAvAGANT IN EVERY way.

ETRAvAGAnT IN every way.
Former Ohio Congressman, Who Has
Been Globe oirdiins, Contends That
W. Ought to Eat More Ries-AIso
That India's Architecture 10 the Most
Beautiful Of All.
General Benjamin LIE Fevre, for
many years a representative in con.
gress from Ohio, who arrived at New
York recently from a ten months trip
around the world, made some interest
Ing statements concerning his tour.
Having covered the western part of
Europe, the general went to Vienna
n Budapest and thence went through
Bulgaria, Roumania and Servia.
Il found Hungary beautiful" said
General LIE Fevre, "but the Balkan
countries are the most desolate I ever
visited. The soil is poor, and the peo-
pie seem poverty stricken. MY next
stop was in Turkey. I spent two
weeks In Constantinople and was i'm.
pressed by the ~devoutness Of the peo-
pie. When l was there it was the
month of religious services, and ev-
erybody was praying. Next I went to
Smyrna and into Palestine, where I
spent several weeks visiting most Of
the places of interest. In Jerusalem I
stopped three weeks, getting a peep
into the wonderful cave from which
Solomon took out the stone for the
temple. Next I went to Port Said.
American Works In Parsss Libraries.
BOMBAY was my next objective
point, and I must say that l found In.
dia very interesting indeed. There is
no question to my mind that the archi-
lecture Of that country is the finest
In the world. The Tai Mahal hotel at
Bombay Is certainly of the most
beautiful structures of the kind any,
where. 1t is owned by a Parsee. l
got to know some Parsees, and I was
admitted to some Of the libraries in
private houses, where l found the
works Of Mark Twain and some other
American authors. The Parsees truly
lead the simple life. OF course l WIS.,
tied the Tower of Silence, where the
Parsees dispose of their dead. There
wa a flock of 400 or 500 vultures
about waiting for bodies to be put on
the tower. There had been a funeral
two hours before l reached the place,
and l was told that within from two
to ten minutes after a body is exposed
not a shred of flesh is left. The Par
sees, l was informed, are now investi-
eating cremation, and there is a posi-
btlity that they will adopt it instead
OF the ancient method of disposing of
their dead.
"Of course l. %journeyed to Delhi
and at Agra saw the wonderful Tai
Mahal. Lucknow and Cawnpur l WIS.,
tied on my way to Benares, the sacred
city, where I stayed several days. l
saw them taking corpses and dipping
them into the Gauges and then burn.
ing them on piles Of wood near the
river bank. 1t costs about $2.1O for
the wood, which is a tremendous sum
for the ordinary Hindoo, and when
the flames have consumed the major
portion of the corpse it's father or
o OF other near relative takes a long
pole and reverently pushes the head
and feet upon the Goals.
Families Living on Five Cents a Day.
"In Calcutta, which is a wonderfully
beautiful city, l took a great deal Of
interest in looking into conditions in
thu rroot i,,fo wills, vrl3o1 o,opJo,
$1,000 people. These mills are said to
furnish the most permanent work that
is to be had in India. OF the number
employed the experts receive wages
of IL cents a Gay. The others draw S
and 10 cents.
I'm spite of these wages I found
that a family Of five or six persons
can live on s cents a day. Their
food, Of course, is rice. Their houses
are Of mud and bamboo, and those l
looked into were clean and comfort
able. The workman puts aside half
Of his wages, his ambition being to
own his own house.
"Now, what l saw In my trip, and
especially in India, impressed me with
the extravaganza in living in our coun-
try over any other. We are extrav-
agant In every respect. In every phase
Of our life we have gone to the very
extreme. I think it is not too much
to say that one-half Of the people Of
the world are living upon rice. A man
can live upon from / to 2 cents
worth Of rice a day. When on my
trip through Louisiana and Texas
saw warehouses all piled full Of rice
and no sale for it and asked why II
was. I was told there was no demand
for it. If we would use one-half OF
even one-third as much rice for food