TOO PUNCTUAL.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue XIX, 7 May 1898, Page 591

TOO PUNCTUAL.

The Hindu places a clod; in his showrooms. not because he ever desires to know' what the hour is, but because a clock is a foreign curiosity. Instead, therefore, of contenting himself with one good clock, he will perhaps have a dozen in one room. They are signs of his wealth, but they do not add to his comfort, for he is so indifferent to time that he measures it by the number of bamboo-lengths the sun has travelled above the horizon. , In the country police stations, where the European division of the hours is observed, time is measured by placing in a tub of water a copper pot in which a small hole has been bored. It is supposed that it will take one hour for the water to leak into the pot so as to fill ami sink it. When the policeman sees that the pot has disappeared lie strikes the hour on a bell-like gong. If he is smoking or dozing, the copper pot may have disappeared several minutes before he discovers the fact—but the hour is when he strikes the gong. A writer in ‘ Temple Bar,' from whose article we have gleaned, tells an amusing story to illustrate the Hindu's indifference in this regard. When the railway was first opened in a new part of India, it took a long time and many bitter experiences to convince the natives that a train always started on time. Shortly after the opening of the new line, a Deputy Commissioner sent his native servant with his letter-bag to put on board the mail-car. Presently the man returned with the bag, having missed the train. * if on had not half a mile to go, and you knew that the train left the station at three o’clock,’ said the angry eommis sioner. 1 Yes, truly,’ answered the native, in an aggrieved tone ; ‘ but, sahib, when it strikes three here, the train goes from there !’ Such sharp practice the native had never known before, and he did not think it creditable to the company.