The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1931-01-22

prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington. d. CT
ID URMA, which has been hereto
ID fore governed as a part of In
da, is now to be made a do
minion of the British empire on
its own account. In many ways the
country and its people differ
markedly from India.
Though the same can be said for
nearly every little-knoWn country,
1t is especially true of Burma, that
there are two: the Burma known
to the superficial tourist who visits
only the beaten paths like that
from Rangoon to Mandalay," and
that known to those who live in
the country or journey more init
mately among its people-the true
Burma, little affected by the civili-
cation of the West.
To the cities have flocked hordes
of Indians and Chinese and many
Europeans and Armenians. The
Burmese of the larger cities, too,
have in many ways taken on, at
least specifically, the ways of the
West.
1t is when one reaches the Bur
mese back country that the sus-
PIGEONS he has gathered in the cities
are confirmed and he sees that in
many ways Burma is utterly unlike
many other eastern countries. The
blighting caste system as such,
which he is likely to look upon as
the curse of India, is almost wholly
lacking. There are members of
certain classes, to be sure, who are
looked upon as degraded because
of their occupations or those of
their MISUNDERSTANDING of pa
coda slaves, grave diggers and beg
gars-but the people above them
are practically of one level.
There is none of the yelling of
the women as practiced in the Mo
hammedan countries, none of the
seclusiOn of India, and not even the
modified seclusion of China. The
women are freer than in most orr
entail countries, and may come and
go as they please, just as men may
in the houses and temples, on the
streets and in the bazaars. Won
en-, in fact, keep shop in many of
the bazaar stalls, and are better
business men" in every way than
the Burmese males. The observer
from America feels that Burmese
women approach much more nearly
the freedom of the women in his
own country than he was ready to
expect.
Some Wild Tribes.
There are numerous tribes in
Burma, having different customs
and speaking different languages
but for the most part they are of
the same racial stock. All seem to
have a strong element of Monaghan
blood. The Burmese are dominant
numerically, in influence, and in in
telligence. Some of the tribes of
Upper Burma, notably the Chins
and Kachins, are quite wild. The
Karens, less numerous than the
Burmese but numbering almost as
many as the Shans, live mostly in
the uplands, but since the British
occupation they have migrated
more and more into the lowands.
They are most interesting to West
erners because of the relative ease
with which they have been concert
ed to Christianity. Unlike the
Burmese, they are not Buddhists
Their religion consists chiefly in
the propitiating of nature spirits
with offerings.
There is a gaiety and lightness
of manner among the Burmese and
a love of bright colored clothing
and music not found among the
more sober and somber Indians,
which has earned for the Burmese
the title, "Irish of the Orient" AT
the same time they are inclined to
Incidence to a greater extent than
the Indians. But at least there is
not the keen economic urge to in
dustry in Burma that there is in
India proper. In most parts of Bur-
ma the soil is rich, the rainfall
plentiful and in some areas more
than abundant. The Burmese have
long been free from worry over the
threat of famine. There is in the
country little real property, and on
the other hand, no great wealth.
Not Easy TO Chrstianize.
Because the Burmese are a happy
rather than a taciturn people, be-
cause the social life of the women
is not hedged about with artificial
barriers, and because their religion
insists that they be temperate, re-
frain from killing animate things,
and that they give aims, it would
seem that this portion of the popu-
lation could be more easily ep-
preached and more easily won over
TO Christianity than almost any 9TH
err oriental people. But to Chris
tianize them is no easy task. Mis-
sionary work has been carried on
among them since the days of Adon-
IRAN Judson, who first went to
Burma in 1914. Although there has
been success among the Burmese
members of the population it has
In