Carrie Chapman Catt - Diaries, India, January - February? 1912 (Box 1, Folder 5)

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...around. It watered and then crept through the brook and sat in it. A wet baby creeping an hour on a stone floor would be a dead one soon were the baby white. I should like to know how this one came out. The death rate for children here is tremendous. At 8:30 we got our train. It was our first night in India. The compartment was suprisingly lage. There were four berths but we had it to ourselves, so we were exceedingly comfortable. We arrived in Madras at 7 am got to our hotel, Brind's Hotel, breakfasted and were in a carriage ready for a morning stint by 9 am. We went to the P.O. and the bank for mail and then drove five miles out of town to Anne Besauts Hindoo School. It is beautifully...

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...located in the midst of a big tropical garden, brilliant with bloom. It is called the [Adygar?] library. We entered a large hall used for assemblies. We found the secretary, an intelligent, nice Parsee, dressed in European white linen suit, with bare feet on sandal soles. Here we learned what theosophy is, and that they have 23,000 paying members. The officers give their tim. this gentleman gives all his income except that needed for his family to the work of secretary. The libary has a rich collection of books, hand written on palm leaves in [illegible] and Sanscrit. A group of fat, sleek, bare bodied Brahmins were classifying...

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...etc. All the people there are theosophists. Here they instruct them so they may lecture for the faith. We were provided with reports, which show that there is some organization in most countries, and had a pleasant, instructive talk with a very intelligent gentleman. We got back in time for lunch. After that we rested a bit, each took a bath, put on clean garments and we went out again, taking a drive all around the town. There is a beautiful drive all along the shore where there is music at night and the fashionables come. The city, except the native town, is modern and European in character, but so hot I wonder a Westerner can endure it. That night at 9 we took our train again for Bombay where after one day and two nights...

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...we arrived. We ought to have stopped at least a good sight seers would, but we wanted to get away from the heat. We arrived at Bombay on Wednesday Feb 7, at 6 am. We came to the Taj Mahal, said to be the finest hotel in Asia. It is a fine big building and there are plenty of bath rooms, but the meals are horrid, and the management bad. We spent the morning in our rooms. I mended my clothes and made ready my bigh laundry, which here includes sheets, pillow cases and towels, washed my gloves, boiled water etc. After lunch we rested a bit and then drove to the [illegible] Hospital for women and children. Here Dr. Bunson is in charge and we expected help from her. She was not at the hospital and we went to her house. It proved...

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...office hours and so we just begged her to dine with us that night. She reluctantly accepted. We discovered in our evening conversation, that she has been in India 17 yrs, that she has been much occupied and is not at all in touch with things elsewhere and not informed about most things we wished to know. She has made a great success herself being head of a great government hospital. She has a nice apartment and rides in her own motor. Thursday Feb 8. We drove to the native town, but first I called upon Mr. Cunningham, the American Consul, nearby, and found him polite and obliging, but utterly...