The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-03-30
FAMOUS POLICE IIIISIEEIFS


~ - D. w. !.tu6 tWGbtoTu .PFoelue4SS
!. !. !. !. !. !.
~ Of India, Is the home Of
the finest Of the Indian
e races. The pride Of the
inhabitants and theIr
Szzs$Ns consciousness Of superb
MFl M GRITTY to the tribes Of
1 other distrlcts-for the
eN ON sMahrattas have in their
SS2Sitlme conquered all India
.--makes them peculiarly
stiseebtible to the claims Of family
pride, and this in turn has given rise
totragedies Of an abnormal aud often
liorrifying character.
one Of the crimes that thrilled the
whole country, and incidentally nearly
Drought to the gallows an innocent
man, occurred shortly after the ter
iifnation Of the American Civil war
nafing the progress Of this conflict the
native cotton growers had accumulated
enormous profits owing to the block
ade Of the southern ports. Cotton was
III a premium everywhere, and mil
lions Of rupees poured into the Nah
rata country from the sale OF the sta
pie. Cultiyators who had formerly
eked out a precarious existence sud
denly found themselves enriched be-
yond their widest ambitions. In fact
their chief problem was how to dis
5pose OF their wealth.
Among, the most prosperous Of these
farmers was .YellapRo Pate, who had
one son, Bussapa. The boy was the
pride OF his old father and had been
educated IN much better style than
was the custom among people OF his
class. When the family suddenly be
came enriched through their cotton
sales Bussapa easily persuaded his
father to launch out into the widest
8extraYagances in order to save the
{, " face Of the family among the neigh
isbofs All the cultivators We'd with
one another In display. Sarees, or pet
tlcoats Of the most expensive tissues
loaded upon the women and gold
and silver ornaments HIgh.priced
trotting bullocks were purchased, and
carts with silver tires, and harness
with silver yokes and silver mount
ifgs. The blooded bullocks were
y matched against each other in trottlng
races at which the whole countryside
3Jiattanded; and the entire population
of the district blossonied out with red
sill sunshades, which were sent out by
an enterprisihgi English Arm and
promptly purchased wholesale. Bran
dyg GIN and champagne now made their
appearance FOR the first time among
the sober country folks. Riotous de-
bauehes began, and first among the
u reveters always was YelIaps, who was
=, rarely sober during the last few
months OF his life and, outdotng his
son, forced him to become a drunkard
also. i7ngS % la2 If =.
Yellapa Patel died when hewar'was
at Its height His son Blu ssapa plunged
into nven wilder extravaganza. Why
shdliId he think of'fmoney1 when
wealth kept pouring in? Indeed; the
only persons who did not share the
public prosperity were the money
lenders, who had always previously
X held mortgages upon the crops and
were the acknowledged masters OF the
sland. Dewchund, the Village banker
had no silver tires 20 his carts, no trot'
ting hullocks: and he went about with
a long face, looking Indignantly upon
his neighbors and hoping for the time
when the price Of cotton would sud
denly. ttimble-a time which the long
eer;headed persons among the Mahrat'
tas had already begun to foresee.
Bussapa Patel had one link that
bound him to decency. This was bis
little son BLOW. Bussapa was Nah
rata and Dewchund, the mohey.lend'
er, a despised Wanna; but their fami
lies had been intimate for many years
and had had business Transactions to
gettier, and they we're as friendly as
persons Of their respective stations In
lie could be. Little blow was an al
most daily visitor at pewchlnd's booth
In the bazaar, where he was always
N4 kWT6fQI .DGlub klNSn 6OA'V a"SSNAASSNS
or a handful Of nuts or some other
de,icaay dear 10 childhood. As Bus
sapa gave himself up more and more
to his drunkenness and his violence
Increased, little Blow began to spend
nearly all his time outside school
hours with DewChund, who al'7ays pet
ted him, while 5ussapa's violence
Enlightened him
Bussapa was not slow to see the In
ereasing intimacy between his son and
the noney.lender, but he dismissed
the subject from his mind. he had
nothing against Dewchund; indeed. be
derided him because the banking bust
ness was at so low an ebb, and con
temptuously dismissed him from fur
ther thought.
Dewchund. in the meantime, sal
waiting in his booth. After while
business gradually began to pick up
agaia, for the Civil war was at an end
andsthe price Of cotton went down
ward, at fifst almost imperceptibly
then more and more swiftly. A series
81, bad seasons set in; the monsoon
failed and drought parched the cot
Ton HeldS. On top OF this came a
Ilngue of rats which destroyed the
crops. The silver tires and silver