The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-03-14

cessional way and the other avenues
will be embellished by monuments and
gardens.
The architecture is not an imitation
Of Indian styles but it is combina-
ton of classical European and Eastern
motifs. And outside the new capital
the Eastern note is echoed by the
splendid and majestic tOmbs and
mosques of the Mogul emperors which
surround it. Together they speak of
the greatness of the India of yesterday
and the India of today.
Lahore is the capital of Punjab
state, and one of the important cross
roads of India. Not many curious
travellers are found there, for the city
is off the beaten paths of tourist travel.
bay and perhaps the interior cities
between them. but Lahore, lying about
200 miles northwest of Delhi, is bit
out of the way. Yet trains from i'm
portant southern Indian cities connect
with lines to the city; railroads from
the foothills of the western Himalaya
mountains touch it; there is a line
from Lahore to the Afghan border on
the north and from the west come
trains from Karachi, popular landing
field for Europe-ASia aviatOrs.
Lahore Is CoIorfui.
Lahore is about as old as the Chris
tan era and in some old, walled p0r-
lions of the city there has not been
MUCH change since the city was first
built Some of the streets are so mar
row that sightseers who engage ele-
plants for a tour watch the natives
scurry into doOrways and, as the ele-
plants pass flatten themselves against
the wall of unattractive houses that
flank these byways.
Every house has at least one en-
closed balcony or bay window and no
two adjoining houses seem to have
them protruding from the same floor.
And no two balconies are the same
size. This feature of Lahore house
construction, and the further fact that
Lahore's early builders apparently
SdNC hO liOuSHt " al CNSh
line, make the native thoroughfares
tumble of uneven masonry and wood.
There are few women on the streets
of Lahore but no matter how many
windows a house has, nearly all of
them frame. brOnzed feminine face.
Some of the women wear shawls,
others adorn themselves with trinkets
-stOne-encrusted disks pierce the left
sides of their nostrils, beads nearly
cover the bright waists and brOnzed
necks of the wearers, and earrings
dangle from the ear lobes to the Shout
ders.
At the bazaarS, the travellers mingle
with colorful horde who watch crafty
merchants drive home sales of ham,
mered metalware and earthen vessels
of all shapes and sizes. jewelry, and
many other products of local manu-
facture.
Calcutta Huge and Busy.
Calcutta is one of the most progress
sive cities of the East, with all the
modern devices to handle its tremen-
uOuS ShlCitdlh ITO ia
tive and foreign population. In less
than $50 years it has become the larg-
est city in India and second only to
London in the British empire.
When Job Charnock Of the East
India company set up trading station
at Kalikuta in 1000 the insignificant
native village occupied narrow
stretch of dry land on the left bank
Of the mud-laden HoOghly with fever
infested swamps surrounding it on the
three other sides.
Charnock knew the products of the
rich Ganges and Brahmaputra valleys
could be routed through Kalikuta and
the swamps would protect his station
from unfriendly Indian neighbors, but
his widest imagination, perhaps, did
not lead him to vision the Calcutta of
the Twentieth century.
Today three important railroads con-
verge at Calcutta. The treacherous
shifty channel Of the Hooghly is a
parade ground for commercial vessels
of all sizes. flying flags of the world.
Nearly tel IllHeS VI
and warehouses, equipped with all
modern devices, receive and export
many millions of dollars worth of jute,
tea, hides, Oil seed, lac, cotton. coal
and other products Of Bengal and sur
rounding provinces. And many acres
of the old swamp land have been re-
claimed, forming beautiful parks and
sites for government buildings, and
palatial residences of "jute kings" and
"tea kings"
To the traveller who approaches Cal
cutta by water. it's growth is mys-
terry. At the mouth of the HoOghly.
the indigo blue water of the Bay of
Bengal turns to a dirty brown. For
much of the S0-mile trip mud flats and
water-logged forests form the river
side scenery with no evidence Of civil
cation save for the commercial craft
plying the river. Only the most skilled
,ilot can steer vessel up the shifty
'''nnel.