Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-01-14
4 ROUND THE WORLD
Il = WITH PROF. PARKS

carefully the proprieties and convention
alities Of social life. This is shown not
only by the evening dress at the din
ner hour, but also by the fact that the
Englishman rarely walks on the streets.
He feels that the dignity of his position
requires him to drive in a carriage, at
tended usually by a footman.
A young Englishman at the hotel told
me that "at home" Gondon) he was veIy
fond of walking, but that at Bombay he
hesitated to walk about the city for fear
that he would be criticised. or considered
parsimonious, or lose his social standing.
However, dress suits and carriages are
cheap in India, and even the poor clerk
often tries to conform to the social de.
mands.
I found the English people refined, po-
lite, and courteous, but inclined to be
snobbish and to put considerable en-
phasis on dress and station. After din
ner one evening, while the orchestra was
playing in the parlors of the Tai Mahal
hotel, l happened to be sitting near two
young Englishmen and I enjoyed their
critical comments regarding the visitors.
Most of the Americans were in conven-
tional evening dres, but some yielded not
to fashions yoke but with characteristic
American independence and individuality
dressed as they pleased IN white, black
or brown as comfort and convenience die
tated. The young critics adjusted and re-
adjusted their monocles, giving more at
tention to the costumes of the strangers
than they did to the music Their COM
ments ran as follows:
How odd" Really, how curious"
Indeed, how very odd" "Only look at
the man with the red tie" "See the fell
low with the white coat and dark trous-
ers." 1T is very strange how shock |
ing "
One morning. visited several educa-
tional institutions in Bombay. First Mo-
hammedan college was visited. The prin-
cipal was good looking. polite extremely
courteous, and seemed very intelligent
The class work was in the native language
so that l could not understand, though
1 noticed that all students and teachers
rose to their feet whenever the principal
appeared. The boarding halls were at
tractive in architecture, but the living
arrangements were under filthy and UNI
sanitary conditions. The natives do not
seem to have an eye for cleanliness. but
they live with apparent satisfaction in
the midst of dirt. How such polite people
can live in such filthy rooms, 1 cannot
understand.
Next a visit was made to a Catholic
college and high school. where over 1000
students are instructed. The buildings
walls were adorned with large and ele-
CANT pictures representing famous build
ings and scenes in different parts of the
world A large, fine looking European
principal, called father by his associ
ates was very kind in his attentions In
one class room. in response to inquiry
1t was found that among the native stu
dents, there were nine Christians one
Jew, seven Hindoos, four Mohammedans
and six parsees. All of the teachers were
white men italian, French, Spanish), and
they seemed earenst, intelligent, strong
and successful.
Lastly, inspected the government high
school. The building was large and state
ly The principal was a young English
man. Among the teachers were a Chris
tian, Parsee, a Jew, a Mohammedan
and Hindoo. The students were study
ing In order to stand civil and govern
mental examinations for positions. Fail
ing TO recover such positions, I learned
that there were but few openings for
them, and that many highly educated ma
tions would accept clerical positions pay
ing five or ten or fifteen dollars a month
In Bombay there are practically two
cities, one is the foreign section and the
other is the native. The Europeans oc-
cupy nearly half the city and yet they
form only very small part of the pop
ulation.
In the European section, Bombay is a
modern city, with electric lights, electric
cars, with paved streets with groves.
gardens lawns and pleasure grounds, and
with magnificent public buildings. The
principal driveway is one of the finest
boulevards in the world-broad, we'll
shaded with beautiful trees, adorned with
statutes, fountains, flowers, and with ele-
CANT and stately edifices. Among the
, imposing buildings are the courts of JUS
, tice. the University of Bombay, the Holy
Trinity church, the high school, st.
Xavier's college. Wilson college, Eliph-
istone college, the Times (newspaper)
building and the Victoria railway station
The Victoria station is very beautiful and
commanding. To my mind it is not so
fine as the new railway station at Wash
ington, d. c., or the new Pennsylvania
station in New York. but for years it had
the reputation of being the finest station
in the world.
In the native city, the conditions are
very different there are narrow streets,
small shops, crowded tenements and
streets teeming with thousands of moving
people. The streets are dirty and the
shops and homes often full of filth. Some
rich Hindoos and many rich Parsees live
in the suburbs with five homes, but the
mass of the people are crowded together, |
hundreds to the acre.
The little shops are often no bigger than
q piano box. In these small shops open |
ing on the streets, the half clad Hindoo |
merchants sit waiting for customers. In
some of the narrow streets there are ba- |
Ears of brass, silver, gold, wood carving, |
ivory carving, embroidery, ETC., where the
tourist delights to find rich and unique
souvenirs of India. There is no fixed
price on anything and these willy mer-
chants are avaricious and deceptive. |
They price their goods high, declaring |
in all earnestness and apparent sincerity, |
that positively no lower price can be |
made With many words, and alluring |
gestures they describe the excellence OF
their goods, but finally If necessary they |
will often take less than one-half or one |
third the original price. These merchants
are great liars, but they lie 30 smoothly |
and with such soft and enticing ways, |
that the tourist is amused as well as pro- |
voked by their insincerity. But bargain |
ing is the fashion in the Orient These |
people have many words in a trade; they |
even bargain on the wedding dowry and |
on the funeral arrangements.
On the streets or Do-ody there IL a |
variety of vehicles and animals. There |
are automobiles, electric cars, horse cars, |
bicycles, all sorts of English carriages |
and coaches, bulloch coaches and two |
wheeled ekkas. There are a great num- |
Der of automobiles. most of them being !