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Show Miss Kingsbury on Customs in India Miss Mary Kingsbury, a missionary of tho Christian church at Bllnspur, India, who la in the city visiting her sister, Mrs. ISmrna P.ecd, in the Progress apartments, while on a leave of ahsenco from her duties, du-ties, talks In an entertaining way about the people of India and the work of the missionary there. In an Interview for The Tribune she said: Many changes have taken place In India since I went out In 1SS2. Thu system of railways was not so extended ex-tended then as It Is now. In order to reach Bllaspur, the new station wc were to open up In the central provinces, prov-inces, 320 miles of the Journey had to bo made by cart road, at least a hundred hun-dred miles of which lay through typical typi-cal Jungle. Bllaspur is a town of about 25,000 Inhabitants, but It Is the head of a district of the samu name containing con-taining a population of over a million. mil-lion. Ninety per cent of the -people In India In-dia Hvn In villages or small towns. They are largely agriculturists. Great poverty and Ignorance provall. The higher clnsses and castes are moderated moder-ated well off a few are Immensely woalthy. hut the mass of the people are verv poor. More than one-fifth of the population popula-tion cpnstantly suffer hunger and hence fall easy victims before drouth and famine awl the tropical diseases prevalent, NIno-tenlhs of the poople subsist on rice and lentils, or cakes of wheat and lentils, with now and then a few green vegetables and very little oil and butter. Most puople try to provide two meals a day, hut many millions often fail tp do so. The common people wear scanty garments of cheapest cotton cot-ton fabrics. The clothing of an average aver-age child does not coat more than 50 cents a year. As a rule children, until un-til they aro 3 Qr 4 years of age, wear no clothing. India may be said to be a rich equntry Inhabited by very poor people. peo-ple. Somo of tho causes of poverty ure. The Insane passion for Jewels, litigious spirit of the people, marriage expenses, funeral expenses, pilgrim-ages pilgrim-ages to distant shrines ln.volvlng offerings of-ferings In the temples and fees to the prlcstH, Then -1,000,000 of professional profes-sional beggars, the majority of whom are religious mendicants, extort from the poor by threatened curses. Many thousands of pilgrims pass through Bllaspur every year on their way to the shrine of Jannntli. They go' In the hot weather and return after the festival In the rains. Their sad and depleted condition on tho return Journey Jour-ney h very noticeable, Many die on the way home. Tho position of women Is a sad one altogether. They have bean degraacu so long that they often cling to their own fetters and oppose all progress. The lot of the poor Is better In some respects than that of the rich and well-to-do. The higher classes of women are obliged to live secluded lives In the inner apartments of tho Hindu home, and the visit of tho missionary lady is often the one bright thing they have to look forward to. In the average av-erage Hindu home there are threo generations parents., sons and their wives, and grandchildren. It Is a strange fact that where womanhood Is downtrodden and despised, de-spised, the mother's authority is supreme su-preme over the son's wife- The Hindu Hin-du 'brings his young wife to hlB father's fa-ther's home, where she must remain under tho ahsolute sway and authority author-ity of her mother-ln-law. A Hindu wife Is not permitted to eat with her husband. Boys eat with the father, girls artorward, with their mother. , The wlfo never walks with her husband, but always behind. This Is unlvcrsal among all classes. Polygamy Polyg-amy Is nulte common. Sometimes these women live under the same roof, sometimes In separate houses, but the result Is always strife ana unhapplness. Girls aro married in early c.illd-hood, c.illd-hood, often to boys not much older than themselves. The ceremony Is a legal one. Should the hoy-husbnnd die, the little girl, whatever her age, Is a widow. There are said to be twentv-Hve millions of widows In India Nine millions aro child widows under fifteen years of age. Tho wrong that is done these children pursues them through life. They are not onlv regarded, but treated as guilty of some sin or wrong act committed, com-mitted, perhaps In a previous birth, because of which the curse of widowhood widow-hood was sent upon them. They are the household drudges, performing tho coarse and menial tasks. The sat I, formerly practiced, but now not permitted by government, tells the whole story of tho utterly selflsh and cruel Ideal which Hinduism Hindu-ism has long cherished concerning women. The faithful wife or wlvos must prove their devotion and fidelity fidel-ity by suffering a horribly cruel death oti the husband's funeral pyre. In many places tho landscape Is dotted with Utile monuments or shrines, each marking the spot where some wretched woman, or perhaps several of them, wore burned with the bodies of their husbands. In Mahobn I counted nineteen of these little monuments, monu-ments, called Hall piles, in an afternoon's after-noon's walk, and one wns pointed out to me as being the spot whore fourteen four-teen princesses were burned on tho funeral pyre of their husband, a prince who wns killed In battle. Tho work and aim of tho lady missionary mis-sionary In India Is to bring the blessings bless-ings of the gospel to the women of that land. We have Zenana and medical work, girls' orphanages and boarding schools, also day schools and normal training schools for femalo teachers, village schools, and, of course, Sunday school?. H Tho Influence of the lady doctor is "H very great Medical work aids great- ly In opening many houses of tho lH conservative classes to 'the visits of the Zenana teacher and Bible worn-an. worn-an. At present less than 1 per cent of the women of India can read, lH The value of educational work is iH recognized by everyone. It Is true lH that the hope of tho church In India, H as elsewhere, is in Its youth, and It idfi Is becoming moro and more evident that the lauor spent upon this gen-eratlon gen-eratlon of young people in India will bear the most abundant fruitage. 3r Our orphanage and other educa- SJovM tional work and our work for the de- H pressed classes is helping to solvo S1H the caste prohlom, which Is undoubt- jH edly the greatest problem India has jH to face. The attitude of the mission- JH ary toward caste Is always an un- .ut -H compromising one, aud it Is most JH gratifying to see I he results of our t.9--l work In this direction, 1 have seen with my own eyes young people from fH the lowest and most despised and de- 1' H pressed classes grow to a new. a IH broader and a nobler life than their IH ancestors ever knew. Moro than that, nncl I have seen them overcome the preju- jH dices of their hlgh-casto neighbors to an astonishing extent, and not onlv iprH win, but maintain their respect with- ' IH out effort. The Increased intelligence IH and self-respecting character of the itH chlldron of low-caste converts and r IH thelt ability to win respect from all Is the power that will, In time, break lln-H tho tyranny of caste. The spirit of li Christ Is the spirit of Justice and mercy. iiH |
