The Daily Alaska empire., 1936-01-21
BOMBAY-A STUDY IN CONTRASTS


 man and assistant to James A. Farley, Chairman of the Democratic National Com mittee, of those making the recent interesting trip to the Philippines for the inaugural ceremonies of the Philip pine Commonwealth On the journey, MT. Huja able writer, prepared exclusively for The Empire series of articles covering the voyage. the ceremonies and the inter- esting places enroute. He and Mrs. Hurja con- tinued around the world from the Philip pines and he tells graphically of the coorful places they visited. The twelfth of the inter esting articles is presented herewith:
 By EMIL HURJA
 SOMEWHERE EAST OF sUEz. Enroute Bombay to Cairo-Leaving Ceylon ship took three days to round the tip of India and edge along the coast to Bombay, chief port of the Indian empire enl- pire with little than half the of the United States but with than three times population Bombay, fine metropolitan city with million and quarter population, was study in contrasts, tre mendous wealth alongside of the dres kind of poverty; one group in gaudy silks and satins and another in dirty rags; group living palaces and mansions of marble, another sleeping in the streets.
 Living in New York, frequently gets the picture of homeless and forsaken people but situation home doesn't begin to hold a candle to what we saw in Bombay. Marlen Pew well known editor was so
  rife indictment of social system that would permit of such wholesale and misery as we witnessed in this great port of India. Mir Pew wrote in part:
 ITO night a sight has seered my eyes
 sight that all Gods love denies;
 On Bombays reekng pavement stones,
 Sheeted bundles of skin and bones
 Ten thousand homeless wretches lie
 Ten thousand such as you and l.
 
 Dragging their rags, staring in fright
 Showing their wounds, wailing their plight
 Scratching their sores, skeleton palms
 Wildly outstretched imporing ams"
 Gateway of India, to be sure bringing to the world all of the products of rich and varied land of many resources, all through man-made harbor that has become one of the worlds greatest ports Bombay was originally group of islands the pirate coast of East India; the Portuguese the first owners and were given brides dowry when Catherine Braganza married Charles II of England in 1861 The King found the place white elephant, and in 1868 gave it to the East India company at an annual rental of ten pounds.
 Today it is the second city of India It is poygot metropolis, of many and many creeds and wise indeed is the foreigner who tell tribe race from another India has caste system, which is at perhaps the salvation and of the country The caste system started when some of the Aryan groups years ago closed ranks to further admx- ture of native blood principle of superiority thus established and castes and sub castes formed, which has been followed down through the generations A member of caste may not marry ol have social intercourse with the member of another caste and today we are told that there literally art four thousand castes and subdivisions of caste Coming into the inner harbor of Bombay. witt modern docks and facilities is much like going through the locks of the Soo Michigans interake canal tht inner harbor level being six feet higher thar