12:! 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feu. 



a hair is allowed to grow. They wear no turban 

 or head gear of any kind, unless an umbrella 

 can be so classed. They indulge in a few orna- 

 ments, which ara generally very costly. They 

 are often seen wearing a deeply engraved pure 

 gold ball set on the outer lower lobe of the ear, a la 

 mndc of our western belles. Sometimes a diamond 

 sparkles in the gold. The deep yellow of the gold 

 and the white light of the diamond present a rich 

 and striking contrast to their dark skins. If they 

 are very well-to-do they wear a similar ornament 

 held in place ou the front side of the neck by a fine 

 gold chain or a silk cord. Sometimes coatly rings 

 adorn their fingers. 



The white streaks on their foreheads, arms, and 

 breasts, are at once a caste-mark and a toilet requi- 

 site. They are easily washed off, and are dally re- 

 newed. Their sandals are of a pattern much worn in 

 the Bast. Their entire suit, if a name so dignified 

 may be applied to their abbreviated garb, costs lit- 

 tle'more than a dollar and a half or two dollars. It 

 may be said, that these fellows could with difficulty 

 wear less. To the untutored American, the propo- 

 sition seems more than true; but not a day passes 

 that we do not see scores of municipal coolies hand- 

 ling the pick in street repairs, that are, to all in- 

 tents and purposes, naked. Most of them get twen- 

 ty cents a day; and two or three yards of four-cent 

 cotton or calico makes them a fine suit. It is 

 wound once or twice around the loins, and extends 

 from front to back. These poor fellows are better 

 off here than they would be in India, for there their 

 daily wages would not exceed eight or ten cents, 

 and they would be very glad to get moderately reg- 

 ular employment at that price. You can see from 

 this that poverty is unknown in America. The 

 poorest man in Ohio would be a nabob alongside 

 the outcasts of India. Their diet is confined to 

 cooked rice and a little curry made of the common- 

 est vegetables, flsh, or the cheapest meat. No 

 bread, no drinks, except water, no meat. Can I be 

 believed, when I say that millions in India go to bed 

 hungry every day, because they do not get enough 

 of this severely simple fare to eat? 



I remember how ray heart ached when I first 

 comprehended that these low castes of India have 

 little or nothing but simple rice and curry to eat, 

 from one year's end to another. These are the 

 people our missionaries in India are trying to save, 

 and they are beginning to come by the hundreds 

 and thousands. Last year, in our North-India Mis- 

 sion, fourteen hundred of these poor villagers were 

 baptized, and as many more were denied this sacra- 

 ment until they could be more perfectly taught. 



I hope the readers of Gleanings will think of 

 the poverty of these people when they sit down to 

 their heavily laden tables, and look at their well- 

 fllled cellars and barns, and not withhold the tithe 

 that belongs to God by right, and along with it give 

 something to evangelize the heathen when the mis- 

 sionary collection is taken; for all our home 

 churches have such a collection. 



The Chitties are a difficult class to reach in India, 

 and no effort is made to do It here. In Singapore 

 there are a hundred thousand Chinamen, fifteen or 

 twenty thousand Malays, and at least as many 

 " Klings,"or low-caste natives of India. The Chitties 

 can be counted with three figures. Our work here 

 is mostly among the Chinese. The Chitty is without 

 oul, or as near it as a heathen can be. 

 One instance will suffice to illustrate their rapaci- 



ty wheu dealing with men in a helpless position. 

 The pastor of our English congregation related 

 the following almost incredible tale at the tea-table 

 a few days ago: 



A poor man in the town fell sick, got in arrears 

 with his rent, and was at last driven by his landlord 

 to either pay up or vacate. He went to a Chitty to 

 learn upon what terms he could borrow a hundred 

 dollars, and this was the best bargain he could 

 make: The Chitty said, " T will loan you a hundred 

 dollars on these conditions: You write me jour 

 note for a hundred dollars, to be paid in monthly in- 

 stallments of ten dollars. I must charge you thirty 

 dollars for the use of it, and I will deduct the inter- 

 est and pay you seventy dollars down." 



The poor fellow was between the upper and 

 nether millstone of a merciless heathen landlord 

 and a more merciless heathen Chitty; and how 

 could he escape being ground to powder? 



Will some of your readers tell me the rate per 

 cent this man had to pay? It Is a puzzling problem 

 that confuses most of the victims of these Shy locks. 

 I make out that he paid no less than 12S^%. He 

 receives $T0 for his .f ICO note. In one month he re- 

 turns $10, and has f60 left. He has had the use of 

 $70 one month. At the end of the second month he 

 pays the Chitty $10 more, and has $M remaining. 

 He has had $6.''> for two months. At the close of the 

 third month he has $40 remaining, and has had the 

 benefit of $70 for one month, .$65 lor two months, 

 and $00 for three months. Follow this out, and you 

 find his principal continues to decrease at a com- 

 pound ratio, until, at the end of seven months, he 

 has returned the $70 he borrowed, and still owes 

 the $30 interest, so that he has had $40 lor seven 

 months, or $28 for ten months, and pays $30 for the 

 use of it! Compound interest with a vengeance! 

 Nor is this an uncommon occurrence. 



The Arabs and Chinese are quite as unscrupu- 

 lous; but as the former are landlords and the latter 

 merchants, we hear less about it. Any man who 

 knows not or fears not God, and is unrestrained by 

 public opioion, would do the same. The unscrupu- 

 lous stock gambler and speculator, the trust-maker, 

 the bank defaulter, are what they are for the same 

 reason that the Chitties are what ihcy are. The 

 remedy for all of them is the gospel of Jesus Christ, 

 which teaches, "All things whatsoever ye would 

 that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 

 Ralph W. Mitnson. 



Singapore, S. S., Nov. 25, 1889. 



Amen, Bro. Munson. Jesus Christ is the 

 remedy, and the only remedy, for all sin and 

 extortion in every form. In some places in 

 California I witnessed a similar custom of 

 extortion. It was only amon^ people, how- 

 ever, who were in tight places, and where 

 the money-lender had to take the risk of 

 getting undesirable property on his hands. 

 Those who were well-to-do had no difficulty 

 in getting money at eight or ten per cent 

 interest, or perhaps a little more than we 

 have to pay here. I am deeply interested 

 in these Chitties you tell us about; but I 

 confess I can not quite understand why you 

 say they are without souls. The love of 

 money is, I am well aware, a hard thing to 

 deal with ; but for all that, most human be- 

 ings can be taught, sooner or later, that 

 there is a better thing in this world than 

 even money. 



