21 



not iiiteuded for him, the letter is confiscated and the coolie is sent 

 to jail. Xo coolie is allowed to leave the estate during the year and 

 visit another estate, or go to a neighboring city without first getting 

 a written pass. The color of the pass is pink, while the discharge letter 

 is a light green. A pass is usually issued for from one to ten days. 

 Whenever a coolie is met on the i)ublic highway by a police official his 

 pass is demanded, and if it is not shown he is confined in jail until the 

 police can find out from what estate he has come. A reward is offered 

 of $2 or -^3 to the guard who returns the person, and this amount is 

 charged up to the coolie himself. Notwithstanding the strictest pre- 

 cautions, there are many who run away in Sumatra and are never 

 brought back. Any manager belonging to the planters' committee 

 engaging a coolie without a proper discharge letter is liable to a heavy 

 tine from the committee. 



THE DRYING SHEDS. 



There is generally one dryiug shed (fig. 3) for eight fields. These sheds 

 are usually 72 feet wide by 180 feet long and 36 feet from the ground to 

 the ridgepole. The sheds are placed, if possible, near the main road of 



n \ □ 



□ 1 □ 



□ i n i n^ 



I2ft. ^ lEft. X 12ft. >^ I2ft. >^ \2ft. >^ I2ft 



Fig. 3. — Front elevation of drying shed, windows 4 by 5 feet; door 9 feet high. 



the estate, and are nearly always built from north to south, to protect 

 them from the heavy winds which frequently prevail in Deli. The 

 material for the construction of these sheds comes almost entirely from 

 the jungle, with the exception of the covering for the roof and sides. 

 There are seven rows of posts. The row in the center has posts 36 

 feet high; one row on each side has posts 28 feet high, and on each 

 side of this there is a row of posts 20 feet high, and on either side 

 again a row 12 feet high. In each row there are 31 j)osts. They 

 are commonly sunk 4 feet in the ground. The building of the sheds 

 is frequently given out by contract to Malays. Sometimes the material 

 ifcj all furnished by the contractor and at other times by the estate. 



