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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 1906)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOUENAU PORTLAND', SUNDAY MORNING. JUNE 10. KZ3 ' dm II - a M -If ay- . 1 ... I IT i ; ti .'II . , t 1 I ' 'T y naa .1 - J . ! . Lmrm WwwM mmmmcMi v .bbl ,-sw - sseaBBSk , y f a j , n 1 BBI m . t. Is).- ...... ..... . . a . m B . W T . , , - By William Jennings Bryan. : rlsbt la Greet Britain. All Bights Reserve.) BEFORE beginning, th trip through the Interior paragraph rnunt b given to Indian travel. There . are no Pullman aleepera In thl country and tha tourist must carry hla bedding with him. Night tralna hava compartments containing broad seat which can ba used as couches and hang--r shelves upon - which ono may 11a. the travaler carries hla own blanket, pillow, aheet. towela, soap, etc. and OC ceelon)ly baa to rely on tbeaeat hotels as well aa on tha trains. Tha ran -are entered from the eld, and -one must take hla chance of awakening at the right station, for there la no of ficial to give him warning. ' 1 In India it la customury for foreign, era to take an Indian servant, who acts " aa Interpreter and looks after tha bag gageend looking: after baggage Is no easy task in thla part of tha British era-1 : plre. -After we had made one short trip without assistance we were Clad to yield to the custom andGoolab. a Calcutta Mussulman, proved an invaluable aid In dealing- with tha baggage coolies whose language we cpuld not understand and whose charges varied from tha legal rata a the minimum to three pr fur times that if tha tourist, shows himself a novice at the business.' . - The hotels of India are declared by if A Hindu Fakir Fads in tjic -From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. - fm HIEF" tnnoyaneo to.tho-car -of a ' m . . . thoughtful atudent of language Vj , la middle or past middle Ufa la j. J- : in the training - after novelty . which aubatltutea for word and phrases that do their: whole , work with "clear nesa. force and elegance," to adopt the refrain of our teachers - of rhetorical mechanism, other words which -add nothing to any of these qualities. The substituted worda are generally -good enough English, -. and fill a place In speech, but they are not the words that come: apontaneoualy to the mouths of cultivated people, and consequently they have an air of would-be smartness, as If tha writer waa above common folks' ' talk. ' - .... Some Inatances of. theae fantaatlcall ttea will explain my meaning better .than any atatement of theory. To be ' alii with, then hava our ladles given : up wearing JewelsT- And have both exes given, up wearing clothes? One would think' so to read the way In which decorative metal work and bodily raiment are generally described. , It Is all Jewelry"' and clothing."." Now Jewelry and clothing are sll right enough aa descriptive of the article In Massachusetts.7. A'dealer in Jewelry, or .,. a dealer in clothing, when large stocks -of ornaments and" garments are-tobe ...obtained, are correct terms. But to aay a lady waa robbed ot her Jewelry." " when the value of all her Jewel a together waa not nearly 1100, or that a trunk of clothing wa left at a station, when It contained a alngle auit pot worth $16, la too silly. T Does nobody evr wake' up "nowadays?. Or doe he. never " wake' anybody elae ' up? Or, letting - 'lone prepositions. which are running riot in cuirent ung- h... tumbling In. And jfaoppl riiOutby no rule, does nobody ever waktv.or wake another person? It Is all "awaken," aetive or neuter. Half the world "awakens" and. then It "awaken" the other half.' Now here .again, "wake," awake," and "awaken" are all good Kngtlsh words; perhape the second of the three- haa the largest usage among the more aerioua writer. But to thrust that extra yllabl upon every unfortun ate mortal who haa to be a hero In the . tiever remitted tragedy of ' getting up frlelng," or perhaps even "arlelng," I suppose soma of . my prim spinster friends will prefer I should say) Is too ponderous a - pedantic Ben Jonson C'sttlln told his Mends to "wake"; Mil ton's Satan told him to "awake"; neither could wait for that extra eyllable. Under the Influence, ft much Carlyle, an elaborate Latinising went on In our languaae, pld Baxon storks were dug xip and new German grafted oa them. - Hence we-got 'standpoint"; bad enough, but better thn viewpoint." - Tbera ar no mere "result" or "event" except in athletic apurte: all I "outcome"; ther ere no uwr "prospects." all are."out- laoks" where'a the faint the guide books to be bad. and one does not feel like disputing these authorities after having made the trip. I do not mean to bay that there la no difference between them. for. in several placea we found comfortable rooms and in some placea palatable food. Everywhere we were so interested in what we saw that we could endure almost any kind of ac commodations, but at one place the fare was so unsatisfactory that we were re duced to eggs and toast. Ooolab, over hearing some mutteringa of discontent, took it upon himself to report In the hope of securing soma improvement, and the clerk asked me for tartif ulars. I told him - that I had.-not Intended to make any complaint, but that aa bo was good enough to Inquire, I would aay that we did hot like the cooking, that the crackers ' were sometimes mouse-eaten and that we found a worm in tha cab bage.. He thought that the mice were inexcusable, but, aa if tha question dis posed of tbo matter, asked: "Tha worm waa dead, wasn't itr.;l wa compelled to admit that it waa Leaving Calcutta we sought -tha an cient city of Benares, which beara the dlatlnotlon of being tha center. Of Hin du ism. . In fact. It has been the re ligion capital of India for 1. 000 years or more. , ;. 1 At Barnath. Just outside Benarea, standa the flrat Buddhist pagoda, aaid to have been erected nearly 100 years A- i 4. . i i... :(.t,;.Wii';: i .-i'i. . S at Benarea. Use oi Words T 1,1. flnnt inn nit - , . . mat jti t nil lnvui iuii ui uci man cuui' pounds there haa been a vast gain for thoae-writere-whe-are paid by the mod ern system of words. - I have an article of 1,600 worda to write; there is a cer tain idea which In ordinary talk would require four worda; let me turn it into one compound word, and I have left 1,4ft for my other ideaa Inatead of only M. v '- -' ; - . ; - ' Who Is the - priggish person who ordered us old fogies to descrlmlnate between "healthy." "healthful" and "wholesome," a distinction that I regret to aee la favored by ao thoroughly sen sible a writer aa Professor A. B. Hill The old authors use them Indiscrimi nately, or rather,' feeling the great ad vantage of possessing synonyms, used them to differentiate sounds rather than sense. "Forceful" Is no doubt a legitimate word, aa far back aa Shakespeare; but for genera tlona nobody naed It except poet a under preseure of meter. The fa miliar word, also aa old as Bheaespeare, wa "forcible," to which "forceful." if used at all, waa hardly an equivalent; now most writers utterly disdain the fa miliar and seek to give force to their writings, making every man and thing "forceful"; decidedly suggesting s modification of'v 8lr John Falstaffs pnrase, truiy xney aeserve 10 oe caiiea, "O most forceful Feeble." - It look, too, 'If "maaterly" 1. e., In' the tyle .of a master would ba wholly- banished to give way to "maaterful," which mean Imperious.- L "Conservatlvel an excellentand necessary word In ts true sense. It first won' extensive currency about ISIS, when th Tory, party In England had been knocked fiat by the flrat reform act, and -Sir Robert .Peel rallied what was left of them and in no long time built up the new7 and vigorous Con- aexvatjOwiyr-a party prof enedly not averse to all change, but Insisting thaT Jill . f 1 the sake of a bath In tha waters of tha k , V " JT - .... - - ' x - 1 It f II i i J rl being used where the relativea can af-1 fe3 i1 ,"" ' . r ' ' 'f 3 ' ' jP"3 ' change shall be made with a view of preserving and not destroying the essen tials of the English constitution. A con servative atatesman, a conservative policy, al-conservative . temper. . ar phrase plain, simplex, , and -Indlapen-aable. - But now cornea a new set of writers I believe the innovation started In the stock exchange who Use the Word to mean timid, cautioua, moderate, reasonable a whole gamut - of mean ings, not one of which properly belongs to the original word. '.'Symphony hall waa open to the public last night for the flrat time. A conservative estimate put the euaience at 4.000." Conserva tive' of what,. In tha name of Runkin or IO well? As if a conservative politician waa not often reckless and .unreason able in temper, and a conservative policy wholly undlecernlng! My - objection to all these - words Is definite; they sre most of them legiti mate English, of no surreptitious coin age, and to be found In good diction aries;. but they have been taken tip In the lsst few year purely aa fads' and fashions,' tortured and strained out of '-.j -v :.:.-:..;,- before the beginning or tna jl nrtstian p,,. .Mlwt r . - ""-if-nftjiCif " -xjr jj- y1, . eve to commemorate a apot in the deer 1 - . - ' tv . - park where Buddha taught his disciples. , 77" n 7 "m.. ....y . " '" "T r --r- -? .-r i Recent excavations" near -there have iN i ' ' - ' . t , ' V . -. - '.., . j . - :.:.! .i " brought to light one of the Aaoka i ' . - ' ' " - v. f . - '' f pUlara which, though unfortunately " ' 4 ' - ' ' ' " fca " broken, aUU beara testimony to the V" ' .'- . I "V ' skill of tha sculptor aa well aa to the , JJ - '' - - .ni' :S: . i J ' ' " 1 ; ., seal . of the great Buddhist king. But ?-g t ' ' ' - ' I iJ these ruins are alt that there la left of , t: - - ' ' , Buddhism in thla Vicinity where Bud- sS L ' ' i JL j ..' dha lived and taught and where hla - & :' doctrines were once . triumphant, , for 4ri ' I Hinduism ,haa virtually rubbed . out . ' S v ' r ' . V ' 1 '1 Buddhism, adopting, it Is said, tha de- , f 'w-. ,. vj , 1 bjrf 1 7 vice of miking' him one of the Incar- y I ' " .,,":.:. : ... I fx nations of their own god. , - ' : " ' ' ' ' ' , , v 1 I 13 At Benarea one sees 1doltryln Its groasest and moat repulsive forms, and It Is therefore as interesting' today to tha student of tha world'a religion as to tha devoted Hindu who travela hun dreds of miles over dutsy roada to bathe In the Ganges, whose waters ha considers sacred. Benares.- la built up on the north bank of the 'Ganges,-and It Is estimated that each year It Is vis ited r a million- pilgrims. When more than J00 mi lea from tha city, wa a caravan of ono ot the Ma haraja (Maharaja la tha title borne by. native princes) on its way to the river. There .were five, elephants., a doaen camels and-io or 10 bull carta besides numerous - pack animals and horses. Tha trip could not be made In much lesa than two months, and all thla for the sake of a bath In tha waters of tha sacred riverl Cremating the Dead. The' bank of the Ganges Is lined for a long - distance wth - bathing ghats (as the atepa leading to the river are called), and at one point there la a burning ghat -where--the bodleo-of the dead are cremated.- Cremation Is uni versal among tha Hlndua,- sandal-wood being used where the relatives lean af ford it. Taking a boat, as It custom ary, wa rowed up and , down the river 'in the early morning, and such a sight! Down the steps aa far as the eve could reach came the bathers. atepa-wette-a eonstant--stream -of thoae who had ttntahed their ablutions. " Most of then carried - upon their .- beads water" pots of shining brass and some carried bundles of wearing apparel. Xte a.yii.nE Ji .dona. jsiBureiyaa, Jt ac. cording to a ritual, with frequent dip pings; water la poured out to tha aun and prayers are aald. Tha lama, tha halt and tha blind are there.- soma picking their way with painful step. others assisted ' by friends. " Here; a leper sought healing in, the atream near him a man with emendated- foem mixed hla medicine with tha holy water, and not far - off a fakir with matted hair prayed beneath his big umbrella. On one of tha -piers a young man was cultivating psychic power by standing on- one leg while he told his beada with his face toward tha sun. .. . Water la Far From Clean. ..- . Dresslnr and undressing is a simple matter with the mass - of -the people. Men and women emerging from tha water throw a- clean robe - around themaelvea and then unloosen the wet garment, wring it out and are ready to return. . Those who bring water pots fill them from the stream out of which they have so recently come and carry them away aa If some divinity protected the water from pollution. 'As the river contain countless dead and re ceives the filth of the city as well aa the flowers cast Into It by worshipers, It requires a strong faith to believe it free from lurking disease and aeeds of pestilence..',' '!.'-'. When we reached the burning ghat, we found one body on the funeral pyre and another soaking in the water aa a. preparation for burning. So high ly la the Qangea revered . that aged people are brought here that they thelroriglnali. meaning, supplying no real need, but ousting , other words which have had currency alike In ele vated and In familiar etyle for genera tion. Their prevalent use I owing to ajflf ir io.be. .amart toputa ltttle extra point and anap into 'What Is and must be commonplace, howevejr solid and useful. Their uee-tehrlches. neither sense nor. music, and only gratifies their authors, . who feel, after auch word hava dropped from their pen. that they have dona something fine.. - Veer to nature's XeerV . ' . From the Newark News. ' A $76,000 automobile rolled through the f (0,000 bronse gatea and up the 136.000 winding avenue to te $20,000 marble '"steps. - ,'v . i1'-'?.'J-i!?'. ..Descending from the machine, - the billionaire paused a moment - to view the smiling $600,000 landscape. Across the $90,000 lawn a $126,009 silver lake lay Bleeping In the shadea of early aummer evening and beyond it rose a lordly $80,000 hill, whose crest, cloaked with forest at an expense of $$00,000, glowed in the last golden rays of the setting sun. The billionaire sank luxuriantly Into a ii.ooo ivory porch chair, and rested his feet on the rosewood railing of the lico.oua veranda. , .. "It la pleasant," he observed, "to get back to nature once in a while. After the care and worries of the business dsy, I certainly love to run out to this quiet, little $80,000,000 country club of ours and taste a. bit or almpie life, it la good to keep in touch with the soil; for what is msn but dust, after all?" Feeling restored, he passed In through the $400,000 doorway to hla $1,60 din- Vtr ru Tara West oiat. Several army officers were sitting Wa New Xork hotel recently discussing old times at West Point ' The talk turned on how Edgar Alien Poe left-the mill- taey eanege.. It waa as much of a crime in those daya aa now for a cadet to be off limits without permission," said one. "It meant dismissal. Poe, being an untamed spirit,1 couldn't resist the temptation to take a chance now andthen and run down to a resort at Highland fall He and four other cadets atole off late one night and were having a high old time when they heard a squad from tha Point coming down the road. Ton can im agine the wild scattering. Two cadets sought. yhe cellar, and. two more the rooms above;. Poe was small and waa lifted Into a convenient sugar barrel. The four other fugitives were quickly discovered. It waa aa afterthought on the part of the lieutenant In command to lift up tha lid of the, sugar barrel. He dragged Poe out and marched him with the others, off to the guardhouse. He had offended before and was regard ed aa the ringleader In the escapade, and so his career as a soldier came, to an end."," 1 'And a mtahtv rnemA thine--it waa" exclaimed one of the listener. "Xcrt$t wnrlH . I.tt.nl" - , wor. 1 I I v.ra.l amnna- tha Hindua aandal-wood Ifeil r . . 1 . i - . I ' J" . . ' I - . J ISil c . i ; 5- - s . ' -..-' '" . . l. . ., S - . f- .. . v- r. . , ,' . . i i i i" ' ;.:...,.. i....'...-;-,.::-.... ; ' ' J A r ' 4 . " ' ' ' " t.V - , . T g .p.iMMw"-...V - rriirAmmmm may die, if possible. In the water. While-we were watching, a third body waa prepared for the burning, and - it was ao limp that-death' could not have occurred long ; before. -. While the flamea .were consuming those three corpses, wo saw somlng down the steps a man .carrying the body of a child. apparently about two yeara old. wrapped In a piece of thin cotton cloth. (The children of the poor are burled In the stream because of the coat of Burial aay in- tha River. . The man bore ; hla ' llfeleea burden to a little- barge and made Che corpse faat to a heavy stone slab.. The boatman- then- puahed out f rot the shore and when the middle -of the stream waa reached tha man In charge of tha body dropped it i overboard., and tha burial waa over. ; , ''. No one ha seen India untl he has seen tha Oangea; no one haa aeen the Oangea until ho haa seen It at Benarea; and.no one who haa seen the Oangea at Benarea will ever forget It. ' i . In the suburbs of the city standa the Durga . temple, better - known asf the Monkey temple because it is the home of a large family- Ot monkeys which are regarded aa sacred. Photo graph of thla temple present rather an attractive appearance,- but the original is -anything but beautiful.! and tha monkeys and general filth of the place The Moon 'ft - ft-'- t: m a ROM the time when the first pair - - of lovers looked upward and saw the silvery dlak. floating through ' the dark mystery of the awes, the moon haa been favored by those who would a-aweetheartlnc ge. There appears to be some marvelbtia alchemy In moonlight, which acts upon the tender hearts of youths and malda. and renders them unusually succeptlble to 'the wiles - of tha delighted god or love; and many are the quaint customs and the curious . superstitions, which show, how .strong la the belief that the moon and Cupid have entered into co partnership for the. undoing of bachelor men and maids.' ' Walter Bcott. In "Tha Heart of Mid lothian," haa one of his characters give voice to this when she uttera the fol lowing Invocation- :..,.;--"Good-even, fair moon, good-even to . . thee! . - - - . . I prithee, dear moon, now shew to me The form and the features, the speech -"' and degree, - Of man that, true lover of mine shall ; '.. be." j ;, .; v ; ': '; The ' new moon, especially the first new moon of the new year, Is the best beloved by. lovers; and Is supposed to have remarkable powers of divination in all thlnga relating to the future doing of Cupid. , In certain 1 parta of England It la the custom. of maidens, on tha first appeerance ofa new moon, to go outdoora. and, looking up at the moon, say .toe following rhymer.; J "New moon, 'new moon, I hall thee! By all the virtue in thee, ... Orant thla flight that I may see -'He who my true love will be.'i.tzrr. Having ssld this, the maidens go to bed, feeling aasured that before morn ing they will aee their, future huband In their dream. The Lunar Prophet. - cT-?. - If a maid wishes to know how many years It will be before she will marry, aho g advised to look at the flrat new moon of the. new ' year through a ilk handkerchief ' that, haa never been washed, making use of this invocation: "New moon, new moon, I hall thee! -New moon, new moon, be kind to me! If I marry man, or man marry me, , Show me llow many moons it shall be." ' Tha number of moons the maid sees through the handkerchief j&e threads multiply the vlskm tell her how many years it shall be before she will marry. Another method is to look at the first new moon of the new year In a mirror. The number of moons seen in the glaa tall the number of year before mar riage. In Devonshire. England, the. young girls have a curlou custom.' When they flrat se the .first new, modh of the new year, they sit down on a stile, take off their shoes and Blocking, and run to the next tll In -their bar feet. If Cremation of Bodiea deprive 'It of all appearance of a place of worahlp. ' .,. one most visited by tourists, . and H The olden- temple, however.. ia the would be difficult to.plcture a less In viting place. The buildings are old and greasy, and tha narrow streets are filled with 'Images and thronged with beggara. One find his Interest .in missionary work quickened If he wan ders through these streets and aeea the offering; of incense to the elephant god and. monkey god, anV to Images Innumerable, - ... f i -ci - . The air is heavy-wlthipferfuma and Jostling., the Sacred Bulla y the odor of decaying flower, and one Jostles agatnat the sacred -bulla aa he threads his way through the crowd, We have not seen in any ether land auch evidence of superstition, such effort to ward off evil spirit and to concil iate idols. Tha educated Hindus, and thero are many learned men among the Hlndua, regard these Idols aa only vis ible representations of an invisible god, but the masses seem to look no farther than the ugly images before whloJr thay DOW. - : . -vt - It was a relief to find near this dark pool of idolatry an Institution of learn ing, recently founded, which promise to be a purifying spring. I refer to the Central Hindu college .of which Mrs, Annie Besant. -th well-known theoso phlst. is the head. -Although the school and Lovers fortune Is -kind, on -their arrl vah at -this tile they will And between, two of their toeg foair, whloh vlll be of the sain color aa tha hair, of to . man. they ar to wed.- A bachelor ha the right to claim a kiss and a pair of gloves, as a reward, from the first girl iff t he meets while walking under the new moon, providing he announces the new moon first. Un fortunately, thla pleasant custom pre vails only In rural districts of England. ' If tha first lovs kiss is given and th flrat love vows ar spoken under th light of th new moon, it Is said that (Dan Cupid will see that the love 'thus pugniea snail never oe ougntea. Alas: that so many proposals are now mad by gaslight . - . Aa a MUchief-Maker. Byron's poetry, filled with the spirit or youth and love, contains some beau tiful lines upon the. Influence of th moon upon the heart. Here are two stansas from "Don Juan't: ' ' "The sun set, and up roae. the yellow ; , moon; ' . - , - The devil's In the moon for mischief; ' they -.- S .,. ..... Who called her chaste, metblnka, began too soon " J ' ... . Their nomenclature; there . la not a ' day, -, The longest,'; not the twenty-first of : ' June,, - ,-, .- ' ' Sees half th business In a wicked way ... On -which.-three single hour of moon shine smiie 1. f And then she looks ao modest all th while. - - t : There l"a dangeroua-silence In that hour, - -' - ' - , . , .. A stillness, which leavee room for th full soul. . , T6 open all Itself without the power 1 Of calling wholly back Ittf'self-control; Tha silver light which, hallowing tree - and tower, ' - - - - Shed beauty and .deep softness o'er the whole, Breathes also to the heart and o'er It .- throws . A loving languor which is not repose." .... Lover have never . cared, and never will ear, how the aclenttat describe th moon. It- may be a burned-out world, "the corpse ' upon th road of night." folded fleeolly In 'her winding-sheet of cloud. Th problem of It relation to th solar system. Its age, and composi tion will be left to be worked out in laboratories. To lovers it will always be both an aid and. an Inspiration. , . v' wrttlnr, Their FoUtiea. It is rumored that Meredith Nichol son, the author of "The House of a Thouaand Candl," will be put forward by the Democrats of his' district aa a candidate for congress. . Authorship In Indiana aeema to be a favorite stepplng ston to political preferment. . by tha Cangea. V 1 but seven yre old,' It already. In clude a valuable group of buildings and has eonie 600- students. Among; the professor are several Englishmen who serve without compensation,' finding sufficient reward In the consciousness of service.. ' .. - . - -r.-t T Next- to - Benares, - Allahabad -Is the moat important Hindu center. The city Is on the Oanges. at Its Junction- with the Jumna, one of its longest branches. There Is an old tradition that another river, flowing underground, emptlea Into th Oangea at thla point, and the place Is .referred to. a . th Junction of the three river.. .. .. V, .-, ; , Mogul Akbar'a Fort. " V The great Mogul Akbar built a splen did fort where- the Oanges and the Jumna meet, and probably on this ac count Alahabad la - the capital Of tha united ' provinces of Agra and Oudh. Within the walls of the fort there la another of the Aaoka pillars, a very well preserved . one. . 4 feet high and bearing numerous Inscriptions, among which are the famous edicts of Aaoka issued p 340 B. O. agalnat tha taking of Ufa Wlthlnithe fort in a subterra nean room la another object of Interest, the Akhshal Bar or undecaylng banyan tree. As this tree is described by a Chinese pilgrim of the seventh century. It Is either of remarkable antiquity or has been MnewedJromlmet.tlm The religious Importance of Allahabad Is largely due to a fair which la held there every year and which' on every twelfth year becomes a national event lt-s -called the Mela and last January brought to the city a crowd estimated at from on and a half to three million. Thl every-twelfth-year fair brings to gether hot only" the devout Hlnlus, who come aa a shatter of religious duty, and Innumerable traders who at auch times find -a market -for -their warea. but-it draws large numbers of fakir (pro nounced fahkeera, with tha aecant upon th last syllable) or holy men. Long Hair and Short Clothea. ; They wear beard and long hair and no clothing except the. breech clout They put ashen and even manure upon their heads, and their hair and whiskers ar matted, and discolored.- These men are supposed to hsve raised themselves to a high spiritual' state by asceticism and self-punishment. - They undergo all sorts of hardships, - such a hanging over a fire, holding up the arm' until It withers and sitting -upon a bed of splkee. - We saw many fakirs at Be nares' and Allahabad and . aome else where (for they are scattered over the whole country), and at the latter place one accommodated u by taking hla seat upon tha spikes. . ... . -. ,, .- At the recent Mela 600 of theae fa kirs marched In a procession naked, even the breech cloth having been aban doned for the- occasion, and ao great was the reverence lor tnem that their followers struggled to obtain, the sand made vacred by their tread, a number of - people meeting their death In the crowd-. These- fakirs - are supposed 'to have reached a atat of ilnleasneas, but one of them seised a child slong the line of march and dashed out its brains In the presence of its mother, claiming to be advised that the sods desired a hu man sacrifice. He waa arrested by the British-officials and 1s now awaiting trial on the charge pf murerj Fakir . Catiiea Murder.. instance In which a fakir waa the cause of a murder. He, was consulted by a woman who had lost several children and waa anxious to protect her pros pective child from a like fate. The fakir tdld "nef " that the 66uld Tnsure her .child's life If, sh would herself bathe In human blqpd. and ahe and her husband' enticed a seven-year-old boy Into their home and killed him to se cure the blood necessary for the bath. : The fakirs ar not only a danger to th . community In some Case and . a source of , demoralisation at all times, but they are a heavy drain, upon tha producing wealth of the country. Add ing nothing to the material, Intellectual or moral development ot the country, thsy live upon the fears and 'credulity of the people. . , " The Hindu religion claims something more than $00,000,000 of human beings within Its membership; It teaches tha transmigration of the soul or rein carnation, aa it Is generally called. The Hindu mind takes kindly to the met a- Bhi'sk-al,' and the Hindu priests hav evolved an Intricate syitem of philos ophy, in support of their religious be lief. Reincarnation Is set s forth a a T , theory .necessary to bring God's plan T "lnto accord with- roan'a conception of-;. justice. If a man is -born, blind, or born. . ' into unfavorable surroundings. It I ex-c: plained on the theory that he Is being " - punished for sin committed during a former existence; if he la born Into a " favorable environment, he la being re warded for-virtue previously developed.;. Tha Hindu Trinity. ' "J "It'--l- nor quite certain whether the - Hlndua have many gods or many forms of one 'god, for the ancient Ved as -'apeak ef each of several gods aa If they - were ' v supreme. ' The moat popular . god Is a . sort of trinity, "Bramah, the creator, Vishnu, the preserved, and Blva,- the' destroyer, being, united " In -one.' : Some- r" time the trinity I spoken of aa-representing creation, destruction end reno-' vatlon, in which - Krishna -appear aa -' , -th principal god. - Out of this system, have sprung a multitude of gods until th masses . bow down "to stocks and , stones." . - '.,. ....,',, .'. V -. - The most pernicious product of the . Hindu religion is the caste system. In- ' fant marriage Is terrible, but that will ; succumb to education; the seclusion of the women - la benumbing but It wilt give 'way before the spread ; of Euro- . pean and American Influence, and .with ' . it will go the practical servitude' of i widows, sa the practice of suttee (the " burning of widows) has practically gone. But the caste system, resting upon van-v -tty and pride and egotism,' is more difficult to eradicate. Nowhere In the ww Id is easts so Inexorable In Its de mands or ao degrading In its Influence. The line between tha human being and t the beast of the field -la-acaroeli distinctly drawn than th line between -the vartoua casta. The-Brahmins be long to the priestly . class end are sup. posed to have sprung from the mouth . of Brahm;,the Valayaa, or merchant -class, are supposed to have sprung " -from' th thighs of Brahnu while the -r.-; Sudras, or laborers, ar -supposed to, - -hava sprung from f ha feet of Brabm. '..: Ther are - numerous aubdt visions of thee castes, and beside these ther are outcast, although there doe not seem to be any room below the Sudras -for any other class. The caste system , not only afreets social intercourse and t,.,' political -progress, but" It complicates llvrng. A high- caste Hindu cannot ac- - cept food or drink from a low caste and must purify his water bottle if a low caste touches It. . - '-( - The Sjritem of Caste.'-' i'ji-rj About 70 years ago a reform In Hln- -duiam waa begun under the nam of Brahmo SomaJ. It waa built upon, mo notheism, or th worship of on god-,, for which It claimed to find - authority In the Hindu - sacred hooka. It drw to Itself a number of strong; men, among them Mr. Tagor and Mr. Sen, the latter ; -making a . trip to England to present the principle of the new faith before prominent rellglou bodies there. The A rye SomaJ, another reform sect. "' sprung up later. Both of theae have exerted considerable influence upon the - thought of India, far beyond their nu merical, strength. 80 far,- however. - -Christianity ha made greater inroada upon Hinduism than any of the reforms- : - : tlona ' that hav been attempted from within. 7 ;-',-,s ii ' t ' . '.r Christian Collegea for Boys and Girls. At Allahabad 'w found two Chris- " college for men . and th Wanamaker school for girl. -Dr. A. H. Ewlng Is at th head of the former and Mlaa Foteman, th daughter of an early missionary, at - the head of the latter. Both of these achools have been built' with American money, Mr. Wanamaker having i been the most liberal patron. They.ar -excellently located,' are doing a splendid work and ar affiliated with' the Presbyterjan church. - Fifty dollars will, pay for the food, , room, clothes and tuition for one boy., while $30 will . provide for one girl, and Interested -Americans have already established -i. several scholarships, but money Is badly needed to' .enlarge th facilities ', ' a or Dotn these schools. . . ., -- We pent the Sabbath . at Allahabad ' and,Vlalted both of these aqhool. and our appreciation of their work "Waa enhanced by our observation at Ben area It aemed like an oasis .In tha desert. . Surely those "who . hav helped - -to create thla gren spot may It ever , widen will find Intj-nje satisfactions 'in -th good that thV,4hoola ar doing rr. and wilt ,4o. 'W-- ' . . ' ' ,''. ''..' ' - V' "'', ' : '''' ..'..' . .','.." -". ; , ':.'.": V-V; t ': ;.. ,; ' . r ?!' '' ' ' .' 4 . : -..1 t
