Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1927-03-24

haps, that the size Of his crop helps
determine how many natives are to
be employed. and that the least failure
of the crop affects the Jute mill work
ers. Potatoes are, in the large part,
handled In jute sacks. More than
S125,000000 worth of jute products
are exported from Calcutta annually.
Docks Of the Hooohly.
A little farther up the Hooghly, the
docks which stretch ten miles along
the river front come into view. Some
OF them are the finest In the world.
equipped with the latest devices for
handling cargoes. They are filled
with articles Of commerce, and roar
with activity. Jute. rice and tea APP
pear to be the staple products for
shipment. The tea exports from Ben
gal help India to keep Its reputation
as the chief tea exporting country In
the world. Perhaps that reputation
Is, in part, due to the fact that Hindus
and Mohammedans are not tea-sippers
and nearly the entire production Is
available for foreign markets.
Calcutta includes Calcutta proper,
the trading center, MADAM, the resi-
dental section, and Howrah, on the
opposite side of the Hooghly, the
manufacturing center and terminus Of
three large railroads Together they
are called Greater Calcutta and have
a population greater than that Of De-
troit
In sharp contrast to the commercial
and industrial districts, MADAM is a
place OF elegance with beautiful parks
and lakes, and fine residences and
| government buildings. While thou
sands of Indian natives who seldom
| enjoy a square meal throng the streets
| Of other sections, Maidan's beautiful
houlevards are paraded by the veal
| thy and traversed by luxurious auto
mobiles driven by Inverted chauffeurs.
In the center Of Madam is d park
that Is one OF the few breathing
| places In the vicinity of Calcutta. It
ranges from three-quarters TO mile
and quarter In width and about two
miles In length. The palace or the
| governor of Bengal is at the north
| end. This Is mansion Of white
stone, twice as large as the American
| White House and much more mag
| nificent and impressive. Here the
governor of Bengal presides over the
destiny Of his province with all the
pomp and splendor OF European
monarch, partly for his personal COM
fort and partly to impress upon the
| ignorant subjects the dignity and
| power OF the British.
Maidan's Dress Parade.
New York has its Fifth avenue
dress parades and so does Madam
with the Indian contingent far more
rich and colorful. The Madam pa
rade sometimes includes the viceroy
when he happens to be In Calcutta
| Then there are other high govern
ment officials, rich rajahs Of the sew
eral hundred native Indian states In
| their gorgeous robes and jewels, and
Anglo-Indians, as the offspring OF
British fathers and Indian mothers
prefer to be called.
Calcutta owes its beautiful govern
ment buildings to It's distinction as the
capital city of India prior to 1912
when the seat Of government was re-
moved to Delhi.
Nearly all Bengal Is a fiat fertile
plain from the Sundarbans to the
foothills Of the Himaayas. This foot
| hill country Is reached after day
and night of rough train riding from
Calcutta. A narrow-gauge railroad is
then taken to reach Bengal's roof,
Darjeeling, perched 1000 feet up
among Himalayan peaks.
Darjeeling's reception committee
consists of an army of porters who
take the place of express trucks. They
are not men, but Tibetan women who
are famous for their strength.
Most of Darjeeling's inhabitants are
Bengalese, Nepalese, Bhutanese and
Tibetans. All the native women seem
to try to "outjungle" one another in
wearing ornaments. Even those who
look as If they had never had square
meal are bedecked with earrings.
anklets, bracelets, and necklaces Of
silver, glass or turquoise.
Darjeeling is also trading post be-
tween the mountain people and the
Bengalese OF the lowlands Sunday is
the favorite trading day Foreigners
bring skins, tea. salt, wool, musk and
cattle to the Darjeeling markets and
return to their countries with ivory,
indigo. cotton goods, dried fruits and