The Ordway new era., 1919-08-01
4 HE day Of the bazaar in In
dia has long passed without
hope for any return of its

hope for any return of its
glory. Yet the visitor. In
search Of novelty, may still be fairly
well satisfied with the results of the
effort he must make to see what re-
mains of the curious life in those
places which are different from every
thing in this land; their nearest paral-
lei being the French market in New
Orleans, or a county fair, says the
Christian Science Monitor.
The stranger to India should take
as guide and physical protector of
thoroughly competent interpreter,
one who is conversant with at least
half dozen of the numerous dia-
lects spoken In India's commercial
circles, and who-when 1t comes to
buying or rejecting-knows ut a
glance "a hawk from herneshaw"
because, as decidedly cynical Eng
glishman said. "Nine-tenths of the
stuff displayed in those Indian bazaars
are spurious, and the remainder utter
ly worthless rubbish" An exaggera-
tion, of course, yet it is hard matter
to find the few gems that may be
there; and, at any rate, IL the pur-
chasable inanimate Is lacking, the al.
most endless variety of the recum-
bent or animate human denizens is n
rich reward for the fatiguing hours in
a bazaar.
In Search Of the Picturesque.
1t is great pity that civilization is
so very inconsiderate toward the pic
turesque, the stranger. and the racial
ly attractive Tin spite of its dirD
which are so different from the life
and the people we know and are so
tired of, their inartistlc dirt especial
ly, that we often rush off to the antip-
odes to find something artistic and
interesting. When we fail In our
search, we are apt to abuse the writer's
who tell us-not what they really did
see, but what they had predetermined
they were to see.
1t Is not many years since that the
bazaar at Delhi, to take at random
one of the many, was truly wonder
full place. It occupied large extent
of ground, covered with all manner of
ramshackle buildings, the ground
floors of which were open stalls some
what like those seen in the illustra-
ton accompanying this article. There
were a few fairly broad thoroughfares
which traversed the section from side
to side In a serpentine course, but the
really Interesting and attractive shops
were reached by many narrow, wind
ing lanes, forming veritable laby-
rinth, into which the unwary stranger
who ventured alone was quickly lost ;
and when he betrayed his misfortune
pounced upon by a flock of human vul-
lures bent upon getting his last rupee
in exchange for their wares. and heart
less as to whether or not he got back
to the meager civilization Of Delhi's
then wretched hotel.
In the main avenues there were
shall we say canals, or streams, or
bitches? Well, there was something
in whichever we call them that pos
sessed the motion of liquid, and there
was one, or perhaps two, rows of dis
couraged-looking trees. But in the
narrow alleys there was no Disgusting
the fact that those bitches were sim
ply open drains. usually so torpid in
their flow that the stencil was almost
overpOwering, and the visitor from
abroad wondered how any human be
ing could breathe the fetid air all day
and all night as complacently as did
the bazaar denizens.
Occasional Bargains Found.
Nevertheless, those were the days
when it was quite possible to pick up
really rare and precious bargains for
song, plaques hammered out from
brass or other metals, true gems OF
many kinds, jade ornaments deftly
carved from jade in minute patterns
making them almost literally worth
their weight In gold" and many other
treasures such as nowadays never
reach a bazaar stall, for they are snap
ped up by professional dealers the
moment they leave the hands Of theiI
original owner. whom want conpsls