INDIAN SERVANTS.
A somewhat widespread opinion prevails in this country that our Anglo-Indian friends, with their handsome rupee-reckoned salaries, are in the habit of living more than comfortably, if not luxuriously, in the far East. But, in reality, whatever may have been the case formerly, in what were called ‘the good old times,’ this is not so nowadays; and we should remember that what in England may justly be considered to be a luxury, in a tropical climate like India often becomes a necessity. Our countrymen now—unlike their predecessors, who lived like princes, spent their money freely, and made India their home—wisely adopt the opposite course, and look forward to the time when they may retire on a pension, and pass the remainder of their days in old England.
Perhaps the chief cause which has given rise to the erroneous impression above referred to is the number of native servants which the young Anglo-Indian usually entertains on first taking up his appointment in the Civil Service, the military profession, or other line of business, as the case may be. His mother and sisters are astonished to learn by the first letter received from Jack or Harry—fresh from school, and perhaps hardly out of his teens—that already he has enlisted into his service no fewer than seven or eight attendants; and not comprehending the rights of the case, are apt to moralise on youthful extravagance. This, however, is a mistake on their part, which we will endeavour to explain, at the same time offering a few remarks, for the benefit of our countrymen daily leaving our shores for India, on native servants in general, their duties, peculiarities, and the best way of treating them to meet with success. But before taking them individually, it is with regret we feel compelled to allude to a practice not unfrequently indulged in by the young and thoughtless, of constantly using native terms of abuse to their attendants for the most trivial faults. This is a habit much to be deprecated. The natives of India are extraordinary judges of character, and quickly lose all respect for a master who demeans himself in this manner; and no native servant of any worth will permit himself to be cuffed and knocked about, and, rather than submit to such treatment, will give up his place immediately. The submissive air and humble gait of the natives of India should alone be sufficient to disarm a European, and prevent him from ever lifting his hand against one of them, even when provoked to the uttermost by some gross act of carelessness or stupidity. A little patience and kindness, coupled with tact and firmness, will generally produce the desired effect, and is much to be preferred to harshness and constant scolding.
The young Anglo-Indian, on reaching his destination at, we will suppose, some up-country station in the North-western Provinces of Bengal or the Punjab, will, generally speaking, require the following servants: a bearer or personal attendant; khitmutghar or table attendant; bheestie or water-carrier; dhobie or washerman; mehter or sweeper; syce or groom; and a grass-cutter to provide fodder for his pony; and throughout the hot-weather months, two additional coolies will be necessary to keep the punkah moving throughout the exhausting nights of the tropics.
On first landing from the steamer at the end of the voyage, the young Englishman is sure to be met by numerous applicants for service. The door of his hotel will be thronged by eager candidates for situations; but unless under exceptional circumstances, such as a fellow-countryman travelling homewards, and anxious to obtain a place for a really good servant, he will act wisely to defer making a selection until he has reached his journey’s end, when, probably, he will have more time to look around and make his selection.
The first and most important servant to procure is a bearer, and it is by no means an easy post to fill up satisfactorily. He should be a Hindu of not too high a caste; nor, on the other hand, of the opposite extreme, a very low caste. The latter is almost certain to prove a failure. There is much to be learned from the personal appearance and style of dress of native servants. Certificates to character should be carefully examined and received with caution; for not unfrequently these documents are forgeries, or borrowed for the occasion; sometimes copies from some genuine certificate supplied to another individual. The applicant for a place should also be questioned on the why and the wherefore of his quitting his last situation. As to caste, perhaps the kahar is the best for a bearer. Taken generally, the kahars are an industrious, quiet race of beings. One of their chief occupations is carrying palanquins; but the opening of railways throughout India has in a great measure done away with this mode of travelling. It may be mentioned that the title kahar many years ago was also the distinctive appellation of a Hindu slave.
As head-servant of the house, the bearer should always be well dressed, more especially so as one of his chief duties is to receive visitors at the door. He should never appear without wearing a turban, nor ever enter the house with shoes on his feet. These two latter remarks apply to every class of servant. Nor should a plea of forgetfulness for neglect of the same be ever accepted. The bearer is responsible for his master’s clothes; he has charge of the keys. He should be the first astir in the morning, and call the ‘sahib’ at the proper hour to dress for parade, the early walk, or ride. He dusts and arranges the different rooms while his master is out; and on the latter’s return has the bath in readiness. With the exception of an hour or two about mid-day, when the bearer disappears for his dinner, he remains in the veranda or within call. He keeps account of small household expenditures, again attends his lord on the latter retiring to rest, when the bearer makes his final salaam or obeisance, and takes his departure.
The next in importance among Indian domestic servants is the khitmutghar or table-attendant. It need hardly be mentioned that he is invariably of the Mohammedan religion; and great care is necessary in choosing this particular servant, for among their ranks are many low, dissipated characters. A single glance at one of these latter will generally suffice to make one aware of the fact. Old graybeards, though of course less active than younger followers of the Prophet, yet often prove to be better servants in the long-run. When questioned, these gentry almost invariably deny all knowledge of the English language; but, generally speaking, the Bengal khitmutghar, as he stands with folded arms and imperturbable countenance at the dinner-table, readily follows and fully comprehends the topics of conversation carried on by his English masters.
The duties of the khitmutghar commence at daylight, when he puts in an appearance bearing the morning cup of tea. Unless otherwise ordered, he is only expected to be present, properly dressed, at each meal. One of his most important duties is to be able to cook fairly well when called upon to do so, more especially when his master may move into camp either on the march or on a shooting expedition. Then he is expected to show his powers in the culinary art; and, generally speaking, Mohammedan cooks acquit themselves admirably in this respect. They are especially clever at making omelettes, soufflets, and such-like. It may be here mentioned, however, by way of warning to the uninitiated in such matters, that the native method of preparing a meal is not always too nice to our ideas, so that it is well to avoid visiting the cooking-tent immediately before dinner, or not improbably you will there see something or other going on not calculated to give one an appetite.
Next in our list comes the bheestie or water-carrier, also of the Mohammedan religion; but altogether a less troublesome mortal to deal with. Generally speaking, the Bengal bheestie is a good, willing, hard-working servant, seldom giving trouble or requiring reproof. His chief duties are to supply the house and stables with fresh water from the best well in the neighbourhood. It is the special duty of the bheestie to keep the chatties or earthen jars of the bathroom filled with water. Where a garden is kept up—and in hot climates there is nothing so refreshing to the eye as a few flowers and bright-green shrubs around the house—it is the duty of the bheestie to assist the native gardener in watering the plants. He also, morning and evening, sprinkles with water the flooring of the verandas, footpaths, and dusty roads in the vicinity of his master’s abode. This has the effect of laying the dust and cooling the air—no slight boon to exhausted Europeans during the terrible months of April and May, just before the first rainfall.
The dhobie or washerman is another important individual in the Anglo-Indian establishment. The great majority of dhobies are Hindus; but in Eastern Bengal, Mohammedan dhobies are often to be met with. Though given to assuming airs and importance, the dhobie is of low caste, generally speaking; a mild inoffensive being, plying his trade industriously, and giving little trouble to his master. There is a proverbial saying that obtains among the Hindus which pronounces a dhobie as untrustworthy; but in reality he is no worse than his brethren in this respect. The dhobie is one of the first to bestir himself in the early morning, and accompanied by a small bail or bullock, carrying his bundle of clothes, he may be seen making his way in the direction of some tank or distant pool on the river-bank. On reaching the scene of operations, he strips himself of superfluous clothing, girds up his loins, and proceeds to business. Soon the air resounds with the heavy thwacks of some article of raiment, which, twisted into a small compass, the dhobie again and again whirls round his head, and brings down upon a flat piece of wood or stone placed on the margin of the water. Each blow is accompanied by a grunt from the operator, as if to give an additional impetus to the stroke. This somewhat rough treatment is liable to wear out fine linen all too soon, and to make buttons fly; but considering that the dhobie has no mangle to assist him, nor any of the ordinary appliances of a laundry, and, generally speaking, only a small smoky hovel—probably filled to overflowing with his wife and numerous children—wherein to complete his work, it is astonishing how well he acquits himself of his task; the well-starched, snow-white shirt-fronts bearing witness to his skill and painstaking. Unless articles of clothing are plainly marked, the dhobie has a tiresome habit of sewing coloured pieces of cotton into the corners of every shirt and handkerchief, to distinguish them from others, which practice has anything but a beautifying effect. The dhobie considers himself so far independent that he need only appear at stated times, to receive or make over his master’s clothes from the hands of the bearer. He will never take service as an indoor servant in the house of a European.
The duties of the mehter, sweeper or ‘knight of the broom,’ are so commonplace as to require only a brief notice. He is always of low caste; and though often addressed as ‘jemadar’ by the other servants, he is always looked down upon, more especially for his habit of eating or drinking anything left from the table of his master. It is his special duty to take charge of and feed his master’s dogs. He supplies them with food at a fixed rate, takes them in the early morning for a bathe in the nearest tank, and towards sunset, produces for inspection, in separate iron dishes, the food which he has provided for each one of his charges.
It is amusing to observe how well-bred English dogs despise and turn up their noses at their native attendant, permitting the latter to lead them about and wash them when necessary without a growl of disapproval, but at the same time clearly showing by their outward bearing that no familiarities will be permitted.
Next we come to the syce or native groom; and in a stable where a valuable Arab horse has to be cared for, he is a most important personage. A really good, trustworthy syce is nowadays seldom to be met with. There are Mohammedan syces throughout Northern India; but the great majority are Hindus of low caste. The duties of the syce are, to groom and feed the horse he is put in charge of—a separate syce is necessary for each one of the horses comprising a stable—to be ready to accompany his master to the parade-ground, the band-stand, or for wherever he may be bound; and to keep the latter in sight and follow him any distance, no matter at what pace the sahib may choose to ride. It is astonishing what powers of endurance these native grooms display in this respect; for however far the distance or quick the gallop, he is seldom left far behind, and nearly always makes his appearance soon after his master draws rein.
A Bengal syce worthy of the name can hardly in any country in the world be surpassed at his work. He is a most excellent groom; and by means of hand-rubbing—which he often practises for hours together—he brings out the muscles and sinews of a horse till they are as tough and hard as iron. It is a good custom to inspect daily the allowance of corn or grain provided by the syce for his charge, as not unfrequently dishonest grooms steal a portion of it and grind it for their own food.
The ‘grass-cutter,’ the last in our list, is a humble individual, who, as his title tells us, supplies grass for the horse to which he is attached. Hay is seldom seen in India; but horses thrive well on a particular kind of soft green grass, which the grass-cutter cuts, or rather digs up with a small iron instrument called a koorpah. It is well, every now and again, to examine the quality and quantity of the grass supplied for each horse, or else lazy individuals will likely enough bring in coarse hard stuff quite unfit for the purpose. In large stations, a grass-cutter who performs his work properly has often to walk many miles before reaching a spot where soft tender grass is procurable. The grass-cutter is under the immediate orders of the syce, and usually receives four rupees a month as pay for his services.
In conclusion, it may be mentioned, that one of the most important rules in the young Englishman’s household should be that each native servant regularly receives his pay on a certain date in each month. Without this being steadily acted up to, matters never work smoothly in an establishment, but will cause constant bickerings. Whereas, when paid regularly, and treated with kindness and forbearance, these poor people speedily become attached to their master, and exert themselves to meet with his approval.
J. H. B.
THE MONTH:
SCIENCE AND ARTS.
According to Nature, the much-dreaded scourge of the vine, the Phylloxera, has made its appearance in the vineyards of the Cape Colony. Some years ago, the most stringent regulations were made to prevent, if possible, the importation of these unwelcome guests. The Cape government even refused to allow consignments of beech-trees from England and tree-ferns from New Zealand to be landed in the colony, and fixed a very heavy penalty as a punishment for any infringement of the law. But by some mysterious agency, two or three of the vineyards are swarming with the Phylloxera. The most approved insecticides, carbon disulphide, &c., have been telegraphed for, for they are not at hand in the colony, and in the meantime the affected vines are being uprooted and burnt.
A curious instance of tenacity of vitality in low forms of life has been discovered by Professor Leidy. Upon examining a block of ice which formed part of a large quantity stored at Moorestown, N.J., and had been so stored for more than twelve months, he found it riddled with air-bubbles and drops of water. Upon melting a portion of the block, a number of worms made their appearance. They died almost immediately when liberated from their frozen prison. The worms cannot be identified with any known species, and Professor Leidy believes them to be of a form as yet undescribed.
It is satisfactory to note that the Emperor of Brazil has given orders for a photographic astronomical apparatus like that employed so successfully by MM. Henry of Paris, in order that Brazil may do its share in the proposed photographic survey of the heavens initiated by the French astronomers named.
Lloyd’s agent at Athens has recently reported some information as to the progress of the canal which is to cut the Isthmus of Corinth. Out of a total of thirteen million cubic yards of earth which must be dug out before the canal is completed, nearly three millions have been removed. The canal is to have a surface width of twenty-four yards, except at the entrances, which will be widened to between fifty and sixty yards. One thousand men are at present employed upon the works, which, at the present rate of progress, should be completed in five years.
The Austrian government offer a prize of one thousand ducats (nearly five hundred pounds) for the discovery of a system of working coal in fiery mines without shot-firing. The method must not be more expensive than that of ordinary blasting. It must not be capable of igniting fire-damp or coal-dust, and it must not leave any injurious products behind it. These are the chief conditions.
An improved method of etching metallic surfaces has been invented by Mr A. Piper of Wolverhampton. The metal surface is first of all coated with gold, silver, nickle, brass, or any other metal desired, in the ordinary electro-plating bath. The design is then drawn upon it in some resinous or other acid-resisting medium, and the metal is immersed in an acid, which eats away the coating, and at the same time produces a dead or frosted appearance upon the exposed metal beneath. The resinous drawing is now removed by any suitable medium which will dissolve it, leaving the design in relief upon a frosted ground. If desired, the operation can be reversed by leaving a groundwork of plated metal, while the design is bitten out by the acid.
A new stationary buffer-stop for railway stations and sidings was recently described in a paper read before the Institution of Mechanical Engineers by Mr A. Langley of Derby. This buffer-stop consists of two hydraulic cylinders fitted with pistons. The piston rods carry in front buffer-heads to meet those on the locomotive. There are also projecting rods behind the cylinders connected by chains with counterweights, to return the pistons after pressure to their former position. The pistons have a stroke of four feet; and it is calculated that this amount of depression would effectually stop a train without jerk or damage even if it were moving at the rate of eight miles an hour.
Gases inclosed in iron cylinders under enormous pressure are now used in various branches of science and art, and are supplied commercially by many firms in various countries. The gases most commonly used are hydrogen and oxygen—for the lime-light—carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide—this last being much employed as an anæsthetic by dentists. Hitherto, there has been much difficulty in controlling the outrush of gas from these cylinders, for the internal pressure often amounts to six hundred pounds on the square inch. By the aid of a new regulator, invented by Messrs Oakley and Beard of London, this difficulty is at once obviated. The regulator consists of a small india-rubber bellows inclosed in a brass box, which screws upon the nozzle of the gas cylinder. By an ingenious device, as the bellows top rises with the pressure of the gas, a screw valve descends upon the opening in the cylinder. In this way the user of the gas can regulate the outflow to his requirements. We understand that it is in contemplation to adapt the same principle to ordinary gas consumption in houses, so that the supply may always be adjusted to the number of burners in actual use.
Habitual drinkers of aërated beverages were some time ago startled by the report that the original source of the water used in the manufacture did not much trouble the attention of the vendors, and that micro organisms in fabulous numbers might find their way to the consumers of these apparently innocent fluids. According to Dr T. Leone’s researches, aërated waters are peculiarly safe from such contamination. Taking a typically pure potable water, he tried how many micro organisms could be developed in it in a given time. In five days the water contained immense numbers of organisms. But when charged with carbonic dioxide, as all aërated waters must be to give them their effervescent quality, the number of living creatures was at once diminished. Water so charged contained at the end of fifteen days only a mere trifle of the original organisms. Dr Leone therefore concludes that the longer aërated waters are kept, the less chance is there of bacterial contamination.
The greatest living authority on bacteria, M. Pasteur, has by recent experiments proved that water containing only two per cent. of concentrated sulphuric acid possesses the property of destroying these organisms. He recommends that this acidulated water should be used as a disinfectant for floors of stables, mangers, courtyards, cattle-sheds, &c. The compound has certainly the merit of extreme cheapness, for about twelve gallons could be prepared at a cost of twopence. We may mention that M. Pasteur’s inoculations for hydrophobia have met with unlooked-for success. He recently told the Paris Academy of Sciences that out of three hundred and twenty-five cases of inoculation for this terrible disease, only one had proved a failure, and that one he attributed to delay. It is suggested that an international hospital should be established for the reception of patients from every country.
The all-seeing microscope has very often played an important part as an accusing witness, more especially in the identification of blood-stains. Recently in Illinois the same detective agent was instrumental in hanging a murderer; but the method of conviction was novel. Here is the case: A. had been found murdered while sleeping on a pile of sawdust in a certain icehouse, which we will call No. 1. B. was suspected of the crime because particles of sawdust were found on his clothing and on his boots. He accounted for this by pleading that he had been sleeping in another icehouse (No. 2) which was far away; and declared that he had not been near the No. 1 house. It was proved that icehouse No. 1 contained pine sawdust, and house No. 2 hardwood sawdust only. The microscope showed that the clothes and boots had attached to them particles of the former only. The man was convicted and executed.
Professor Vogel has lately brought forward the curious fact that the generation of alkaloids in plants is dependent upon sunlight. The hemlock plant which yields coniine in Southern Europe contains none in Scotland. Again, the tropical cinchonas, from which quinine is obtained, will yield very little of that valuable product if cultivated in our weakly lighted hothouses. Professor Vogel has examined many specimens of the plant from various conservatories, and has been quite unable to obtain the characteristic reaction of quinine, although the method of testing is a delicate one, and sensitive to minute quantities of the alkaloid. It is curious to observe that although sunlight seems so necessary to the formation of quinine in the living plant, it acts most injuriously upon the alkaloid in the stripped bark. In the latter case, the quinine is decomposed by it, and assumes the form of a dark-coloured resin. Because of this, in the manufacture of quinine, the bark is always dried in the dark.
The recent severe weather must have led many a half-frozen traveller to wonder if our railway and tramway Companies will ever hit upon some method of heating public conveyances. With a steam-engine as a necessary adjunct, it would seem to the disinterested inquirer that a method of warming by pipes fed from the ‘exhaust’ would be a comparatively easy way of managing the business, and would at the same time save much labour in doing away with the filling and distribution of inefficient foot-warmers. In Chicago, a new method of heating tramcars is being tried, and it promises well. The apparatus, which is placed under the floor of the car, consists of a brass cylinder filled with coal-oil, which, under pressure of a strong spring, is forced into a small super-heater, where it becomes vaporised. This oil-gas is ignited in a fire-clay combustion chamber, and although there is no flame, the fire-clay is brought to a white heat. The outer air passing over this hot box becomes well warmed, and a constant stream of fresh, warm air is assured to the passengers. The only visible evidence of the stove is a grating in the floor of the car through which the hot air rises. When will our tramway Companies consent to a small reduction in their high dividends, to afford their patrons similar comfort?
The use of wood pavements in Sydney has been very strongly condemned by a Committee appointed by the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales to inquire into the subject. It had been alleged that these wood pavements exerted a deleterious influence on the health of persons living in their proximity, and the conclusions arrived at by the Committee would seem to justify these allegations. Analysis showed that the blocks in actual use had absorbed a vast amount of organic matter, even though they had only been laid down a comparatively short time. It was evident, too, that complete impregnation of the wood was only a matter of time. In the words of the Report: ‘So far as the careful researches of your Board go, the porous, absorbent, and destructible nature of wood must, in their opinion, be declared to be irremediable by any process at present known; nor, were any such process discovered, would it be effectual unless it were supplemented by another which should prevent fraying of the fibre.’ It should be noted that this strong condemnation is applied to the hard wood-blocks used for the purpose of paving in Sydney, and not to the soft wood used here at home. These latter are so thoroughly impregnated with tar, that it is difficult to imagine that room could be found for anything else, organic or otherwise.
The cable tramway which is situated on the historic hill at Highgate, London, has worked without hindrance during the recent frost and snow. This is due to the fact that the working parts are underground. But of late a new use has been made of the system. Heavy vehicles even with six horses attached could not be moved up the hill during the recent frosts. Many of them were therefore fastened to the tramcars, and were pulled up the steep incline—one in eleven—at the rate of six miles an hour.
In his recent lecture at the Royal Institution, Mr A. A. Common, the treasurer of the Astronomical Society, pointed out that the old method of eye-observation in telescopic work would probably in the near future give way to automatic records on sensitive dry plates by means of photography. He also pointed out what extreme variations existed in the amount of light emitted by different celestial objects, contrasting with the blinding glare of the sun the small quantity of light received from a faint star. The latter he described as being equivalent to the twenty-thousandth part of the light given by a standard candle seen from the distance of a quarter of a mile. It is not a matter for wonder, therefore, that the most sensitive dry plate which would yield a photograph in daylight in the smallest fraction of a second, should require an exposure of two hours, or thereabouts, when used for recording the existence of one of these distant orbs.
Signor Ferrari, after making observations on between six and seven hundred thunderstorms which occurred in Italy a few years back, has noted that every thunderstorm is connected with a barometric, hygrometric, and thermic depression. A German scientist who has interested himself in the same line of inquiry, states that the danger of a building being struck by lightning has increased in his country during the past half-century from three to five fold. He attributes this increase of danger to impurities carried into the atmosphere from factory chimneys, the number of which is constantly increasing.
A new electric alarm-bell for use in places where highways and railways cross one another has been invented in the United States. On approaching such a crossing, the wheels of the train depress a heavy trigger placed by the side of the rails. This trigger sets in motion a flywheel sufficiently powerful to turn the armature of a small magneto-machine. The current thus generated rings a bell at the cross-road, so that wayfarers have an audible reminder of the near approach of a train. Of course the same result might be brought about with an electric battery. But the magneto-machine has the advantage of requiring no attention, and of not being affected in any way by changes of temperature. Its bearings can be provided with oil-cups, so that it will act for months together without supervision.
Professor Ewart lately read a paper before the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh, in which he stated that from examinations of specimens of ‘whitebait’ sent into the London market during the past year, he had come to the conclusion that the much esteemed little fish consisted of sprats and herrings, about sixty per cent. of the former to forty per cent. of the latter. The origin of so-called ‘whitebait’ has always been such a disputed point that the Professor’s remarks are particularly interesting. He also pointed out that in Canada, sprats are extensively tinned as sardines. As we some time ago pointed out in these pages, a similar trade has been for a long time carried on at more than one place on the south coast of England. We may mention that the authorities of the South Kensington Aquarium are about to introduce herrings into the tanks under their control, in spite of the fact that all such attempts, in inland places at least, have hitherto failed. We trust that their endeavours will be crowned with success.
Messrs Fairbairn and Wells, Manchester, have lately much improved their screw forging machine. By this method of making screws, it is claimed that much greater tenacity, ductility, and durability are obtained in the finished product; for the fibres of iron, instead of being cut through, are pressed and bent round to the shape of the thread. In short, the machine rolls out the screws, instead of cutting them out. We have lately seen photographs of some of these screws which have been partially eaten away with acid, for the purpose of showing the fibrous nature of the metal. It is curious to note how the fibre is bent in and out as it follows the direction of the thread on the screw. This method of manufacture is said to present advantages apart from better quality. The screws can be more quickly produced at a less cost, and there is a great saving of material, for nothing is cut away to waste.
The results of a curious but very important test as to the accuracy with which chemists, druggists, and others make up prescriptions committed to their care, has recently been presented to one of the London vestries. Fifty prescriptions were sent out to ordinary druggists, to co-operative stores, to ‘doctors’ shops,’ and to certain traders styling themselves drug Companies. The mixtures made were afterwards analysed, to find out how nearly they agreed with the prescriptions they represented; but in order to give a liberal margin for error, it was resolved not to put a black mark against any one, if the chief constituent were within ten per cent. of the right amount. Notwithstanding this margin, no fewer than seventeen out of the fifty mixtures were incorrectly dispensed. In one case the principal drug was less by eighty-five per cent. than the amount ordered, while in another it was fifty-seven per cent. in excess. The chemists and druggists came out best in this strange competition, as only six per cent. of their prescriptions had to be called in question. Next came the co-operative stores with twenty per cent. of error; then the ‘doctors’ shops’ with fifty per cent.; and lastly the drug Companies, who are credited, or rather discredited, with seventy-five per cent. of errors.