Imperial Valley press., 1919-01-15
Glimpse Into:
India Giuen By
Hindu Writer

Press:
Ny intention in writing this article
is not to establish Indian supremacy
or condemn ayone, but | am attempt
ing only to explain the facts, and &y
if | can, to remove some misunder-
standing concerning the Indians
tHindus, as the people of India are
generally called here).
The Country
India. as nearly everyone knows, is
a peninsula in Asia, south of Russia
and southwest of China, and it runs
down in a cone-shape in the Indian
Ocean, The entire area of India is
1,766,642 square miles and it is, there
fore, about one-third of the size OF
the United States. The northern
boundary of India, the Himaliya (Hi-
mall i-ya) Mountains, lies at about
the same latitude as the Pixies Peak
in Colorado state, and the southern
point lies at about the latitude OF
TIE Panama canal.
Himaliya, as every student of geo.
eraphy knows, is the highest noun
tain in the world India, therefore,
can boast of having the first three
highest peaks-Mount Everest, which
is 29.009 feet above the ssa level;
Kinchinjunga. 2S,156 feet above the
sea level: and Jumnotri, 25,500 feet
above the sea level.
The climate of India varies with
elevation. The southern part is hot,
especially in summer, but the north
ern part is cola in winter and warm
in summer. The higher north you go
the cooler the climate you will find.
There is no snowfall in India except
ing up in the mountains. AS matter
of fact. the high psake of the Hlmal-
iva Mountain are covered with snow
and ice all the year round. In the
northern planes it gets very cold IN
winter. and sometimes it freezes llt-
tie, and at some places 1t is quite
foggy. The homes are heated IN VIM
ter and the people put on heavy over
coats. The cold and chilly winds OF
the mountains and CULTS bite the eX-
posed ears and nose of the people. AS
compared with the climate In the I'M
perial Valley, the climate OF Northern
India is much cooler both in winter
and in summer. but it is similar IN
some respect to the rise and fall OF
the temperature during the twenty
four hours; ie., the days are much
warmer than the nights.
India has four distinct seasons
winter. spring, summer and rainy sea-
sons. The winter and spring seasons
are from the 18th of October till the
18th of April; the summer season is
from the 18th of April or from the
18th of May till the 18th of July; and
the rainy season, from the 10Th OF
July till the 18th of October. This Is
an approximate division; as the sea-
sons do vary in some years and al
different sections of the country. Inc
heat of Central and Southern India
is very much tempered by monsoons
and ocean breeze of both the Eastern
and Western coasts.
In spite of the large population OF
Inia (315,000,O00) large and thick
forest still cover considerable area
India has large amount OF timber
deodar. sandalwood, babul, mango,
bamboo, teakwood, oak, etc. Beng a
semi-tropical country, India grows
every kind of fruit, both citrus ana
nut varieties. Thousands of acres are
under crops of rice, wheat, mllet,
pulse, corn, maize, gram, sugar cane,
coffee, cotton (both long and short
staples), tea, fibers, jute, spices, IN
digo. etc. So far as the flowers are
concerned, India is flower garden
all the wear round, especially North
ern India, and it is not unusual to in
hale perfurled air in some places.
Thousands of varieties Of animals
birds and insects are found IN India.
In this respect, India is In itself a
geological garden. 1t is life-p -produc-
ing and life-preserving land. Every
thing seems to be full Of life.
India has coal, iron salt, gold, cop
per. silver. lead, antimony, tin, CO.
halt and saltpeter and petroleum
mines and wells. Iron and coal is
found in great abundance. 1t goes
without saving that India IS land Of
precious stones. :
Some people are quite unaware OF
the fact that India is a large manu-
featuring country. Fine textiles such
as silks. muslins, shawls, rugs, etc,
are manufactured in large quantities;
1t has large woolen mills, leather ana
leather goods factories, cotton mills,
flour mills, jute mills, sugar factories,
brush factories, foundrles, iron ana
brass works, railroad factories, paper
mills. electric and gas power plants.
etc.
India has pretty nearly as much
railroad mileage as France has, and
railway cars are designed after Eu,,
ropean cars, that is, they are opened
at the sides instead of at the ends,
thus facilitating getting on and off Of
the passengers and saving time. Fur
thermore, like the steamships, rail-
roads have first, second, intermediate
ana third classes. India has about
SO 900 miles telegraph line, and itI
also has telephone lines. The larger
cities have street cars ttramways as
they are called there) run by eleetri-