The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1919-08-30
. HE day Of the bazaar in In
dia has long passed without

hope for any return Of its
glory. Yet the visitor, in
scare. 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 county fair, says the
Christian Science Monitor.
The stranger to India should take
the precaution to secure the services
rs q guide and physical protector of
a 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 it comes to
buying or rejecting-knows at a
glance "a hawk from a herneshaw"
because, as a 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-
ton, Of course, yet it is a hard matter
to find the few gems that may be
there; and, at any rate, If the pur.
chasable inanimate is lacking, the al.
most endless variety Of the recum.
bent or animate human denizens is a
rich reward for the fatiguing hours in
. bazaar.
In Search Of the Picturesque.
1t is great pity that civilization is
30 very inconsiderate toward the pic
turesQue, the stranger, and the racial
ly attractive Tin spite Of its dirt)
which are Sc uirefcn. from the life
and the people we know and are SO
tired of, their inartistic dirt especial
", 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.
It Is not many years since that the |
bazaar at Delhi, to take at random |
one OF the many, was truly q wonder
ful place. 1t occupied a large extent
Of ground, covered with all manner Of |
ramshackle buildings, the ground |
aOors Of which were open stalls some
what like those seen in the illustra-
f1on accompanying this article. There
were few fairly broad thoroughfares
which traversed the section from side
to side in serpentine course, but the
really interesting and attractive shops
were reached by many narrow, wind
Ing lanes, forming a veritable laby-
r1nth, into which the unwary stranger
who ventured alone was quickly lost
and when he betrayed his misfortune
by act or word, was sure to be
bounced upon by flock Of human yul-
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
Ihall we say canals, or streams, or
ditches? Well, there was something
ID whichever we call them that pos
Dessed the motion Of liquid, and there
vas one, or perhaps two, rows Of dis
couraged-looking trees. But in the
narrow alleys there was no Disgusting
he fact that those bitches were SIM
ply open drains, usually so torpid In
heir flow that the stencil was almost
empowering. and the visitor from ,
broad wondered how any human be-
ng could breathe the fetid air all day ]
md all night as complacently as did ,
he bazaar denizens. Ia
Occasional Bargains Found.
Nevertheless, those were the days !
vhen It was quite possible to pick up Z
eally rare and precious bargains for /
! song. plaques hammered oct from '
'rass or other metals, true gems of U
many kinds, jade ornaments deity '
arved from jade in minute patterns, s
making them almost literally worth q
heir weight In gold" and many other
reasures such AZ nowadays never
each bazaar stall. foe they are snap
ed up by professional dealers the D
loment they leave the hands Of their b
rieinal owner. whom want compels Il