Evening star., 1948-09-08
Correspondent Wills
In Attempt 10 Battle
CaIcutta's 5 Humidity
By Douglass N. Allen. Jr.
North American Newspaper Alliones

CALCUTTA, Sept. 81 have
been in several hot and humid
places, but Calcutta is the first
where, for "a hours day, I've felt
like crouton in soup.
The temperature here rarely ex-
ceeds s6 degrees, but the humidity
rarely falls below an equeal percent
age and, as you may have heard, it
isn't the heat.
Since you could brew tea with
what flows from the cold water
spigot of a Grand Hotel Bathtub,
there is no relief unless you have
access to a swimming pool, which I
have not.
When I asked for iced tea in
the hotel dining room the French
headwaiter replied, with the grave
and slightly patronizing dignity:
But m'sieur. one does not drink
iced tea here this month during
the monsoon, the cool season Z.
next month :"
Fan Is Some Comfort.
The only possible comfort for a
hotel inmate in this climate Is the
overhead fan under which he can
lie in bed and sometimes feel slightly
less than waterlogged At best it is
mixed blessing because it gives
him a dreadful cold and, of course,
sustains it. At worst it is like the
original fan in my room, model
which appeared to have been
brought to India by Robert Give.
It's top speed when it ran was some
thing under five revolutions a min
ute, and it broke down completely
at 12-hour intervals.
Each time it stopped, I COM
planned and wild-eyed Hindu with
a seven-foot stepladder came in
and, balanced precariously between
my bed and my typewriter table,
worked over it for half an hour or
so, grunting and mumbling to~him-
self. He was invariably followed by
group of room boys, or bearers, as
they are called here, who stood at
the base of the ladder, watching HIM
in awe and signing like fireworks
spectators. They had seen the same
operation, a thoroughly dull one.
countless times, but they never
ceased to marvel at it-until I
started throwing shoes.
At the conclusion of every repair
the wild eyed electrician would dis
mount his ladder, approach me with
small piece of what appeared to
be thick pencil lead in his hand and
say triumphantly: See! carbon!
broke!"
Loses Enthusiasm.
After five repititions of this game,
I lost my enthusiasm for see! car
bon! broke!" and when the fan
stopped for the sixth time, just as
I was getting in bed for the night,
I called the manager, and in the
moderate tones and terms of first
sergeant demanded a new one.
An hour later the new" one ar
rived, escorted by a crew of three
electricians and an audience OF
bearers who, as it happened this
time. didn't see fit to stay around
long enough for me to count them.
The new fan admittedly was new
er than the old one It looked like an
early Kipling model. The three elec-
tricians struggled to replace the
old one with it, two standing on
the ladder and one, barefooted as
always, on my pillow. 1t was the
first time I had ever wished some
one would put his shoes on before
standing on my pillow.
After hoisting the new fan into
place they worked at it for approxi-
mately 80 minutes with bits Of
string, old rags and wires. Finally
they turned it on and I had to ad-
NIT 1t was wonderful. 1t raced like
the prop of fighter plane. I went
through the See! Carbon! Broker
routine patiently as they explained
the fault and then tumbled hope
fully into bed
Twelve railroads converge on the
port of New York.