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Show BRITAIN USES ' DURBAR ; ... TO TEACH INDIA LESSOR Visiter From Glasgow Says Natirc Princes Arc Awed by Display ef Wealth and Power. The privilege of witnessing such an array of wealth and splendor as was Jfecently displayed , at Delhi, India, at the Durbar, the fete at which King Edward Ed-ward VIL of England was proclaimed Emperor of India, was accorded to comparatively com-paratively few English-speaking people. peo-ple. Of these many are returning to their homes In Europe by way of the United States and are visiting Salt Lake on their way. Among last night's arrivals at the Knutsford were John Wilson of Glasgow Glas-gow and Smith Dawson of Edinburgh, Edin-burgh, two large manufacturers, who are returning to Scotland in' company with their wives from Delhi. The Durbar, they say, excelled in the splendor and magnificence of the native Indian Princes, who were present, and in the magnitude of the celebration any event in history. Mr. Wilson declares that although in previous travels he has seen many valuable val-uable Jewels and displays of great Vealth he never before saw anything that approached in grandeur what he saw at Delhi during the two weeks of the Durbar. "I saw Rajahs who were literally covered cov-ered with diamonds, rubles, emeralds, sapphires and other Jewels of priceless value," he declared. "When I arrived at Delhi, beside the 200,000 residents : there were encamped in, a city of tents that extended as far as the eye could reach in all directions about 290 Indian princes, each with a retinue of from 200 to 300 men and women, wo-men, 40,000 British and native troops, 3000 civilian visitors and a vast army of native visitors whose numbers could not be even estimated. "The celebration commenced December Decem-ber 29th, with the triumphal entrance into the city of the Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon and Lady Curzon, formerly former-ly Miss Letter of Chicago. "'Gold and precious stones covered everything. The costumes of the princes and the trappings of their elephants ele-phants represented millions of wealth. To us . who consider extravagant per-' per-' Eonal adornment in poor taste, it was a' sight unique as well as gorgeous. "You can imagine what a gorgeous sight that procession was. Each Rajah and Maharajah . attended by a large number of the finest men and women from his province. Each of these to the last man was gorgeously dressed. "The soldiers of the princes were armed with their native implements of war. Many of the hill chiefs had never before seen a company of British soldiers sol-diers and knew nothing about the modern mod-ern rifle. When they saw the 40,000 Indian In-dian troops they were greatly impressed im-pressed with their own comparative weakness. 'By 12 o'clock on January 1st, more than 2000 people had gathered In a horseshoe-shaped building, erected for I the purpose, to listen to the reading of !the proclamation declaring Edward VII. Emperor of India. "Col. Maxwell read the proclamation and the troop fired the royal salute. "The day following Lord Curzon formally for-mally opened a great fair, arranged for the purpose of displaying the arts of the country, many of which have become be-come nearly forgotten. The object of this was to encourage the people to continue in the practice of them instead of trying to pattern their work after more modern ideas. "Every day was occupied" by some ceremony, but the grandest of these and the most spectacular was the ball that took place early the following week. At this our eyes were dazzled by the display of wealth. No description could ever do Justice to It. "Many have criticised the . British Government for putting India to the reat expense of this celebration. These critics do not realize what a great good was accomplished by it. Another Indian In-dian mutiny would be impossible. The ruling princes never before knew what a great power they were dealing with. They were impressed with the strength and equipment of the royal troops and returned to their provinces well satisfied satis-fied with the Government. Impressed with its strength and extent of the British Brit-ish empire and proud to be subjects of our King." |
