SU FACTS ABOUT GAEGUT TA National Board of the Young Women’s Christian Associations of the United States 600 Lexington Avenue, New York 1914 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2023 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/factsaboutcalcut0Ounse FACTS ABOUT CALCUTTA The City. Eighty miles from the Bay of Bengal and on the Hooghly River is the city of Calcutta, formerly the capital of India. Differing from many of the cities of India, Calcutta possesses substantial public buildings, clubs and business houses, which make it more European than any city of India except Bombay. Through contrast with the modern city there is apt to be an impression of meanness and squalor as regards the India city, which comprises a large part of the thirty- two square miles occupied by Calcutta. Climate and Vegetation. Spring and early summer in Calcutta bring flowers brilliant in color and heavy in fragrance. Some of the streets are bordered by palms, and luxuriant trees abound everywhere. Golden sunlight is followed by the deep mystery of tropical night. The summers are full of incessant, quivering heat and during the monsoon season the days are storm stressed. The winter season is exceedingly pleasant. It is a time of social pleasures. Races and Religion The races of Calcutta are Indian, European, Anglo Indian, Chi- nese and Armenians. The Indians number 896,000, of whom 288,000 are women, the excess of men being due to immigration. The Europeans and Anglo Indians are ap- proximately the same in number, 13,- 500, while the Chinese number 18,000 there are less than 1,000 Armenians. The religious classification designates Europeans, Anglo Indians and Arme- nians as Christians, and of the Indian population 11,500 are included in the Christian faith, The Mohammedans number 241,000, the Hindus 604,000. The Chinese are followers of Buddha and of Confucius. Among educated Indians are many wholly agnostic in opinion. Indian Dohbi-Man. Population. The center of the city is very thickly populated by the poorer Hindus, whose living expense is thereby very high, but who find the central location of advantage for the securing of food supply, medi- cal aid, police protection and for easy proximity to the river, by whose shores are conducted many religious services. The richer por- tion of the population are to be found in the outskirts of the city, as they are more able to pay for transportation from their homes to the business section. The section of the city occupied by the Euro- pean population has wide streets, electric lights and modern sanitary improvements, while the Indian population is crowded into small mud huts or thatched-roof houses in streets twenty feet in width and having narrow lanes which never admit the sunlight. The heavy rains and dampness produce conditions favorable to epidemics. There is, however, in this Far Eastern city a “woman sanitary in- spector’” and a “corporation midwife.” The Indians’ observance of “purdah” makes necessary separate quarters for men and women in their houses, the women passing their lives in rear rooms badly ven- tilated, damp and dark. Employments of Women.* One-fifth of the women population is engaged in some kind of remunerative work. Of the 73,000 women there are in domestic service 22,000, as prostitutes 14,000, in industry 11,000 and in trades 8,000. In the employment of typewriting and stenography, almost as many women as men are employed. Among the Anglo-Indian population 37 women for every 100 men are at work. Among the Europeans 13 women for 100 men are at work. Among the Armenians 29 women for 100 men are at work. Among the Indian Christians 29 women for every 100 men. Among the Chinese 1 woman for every 100 men. Among the Hindus 15 women for every 100 men. Among the Mohammedans 4 women for every 100 men. The average wage of the women ranges from $5 to $50 per month. It is interesting to note what the husbands of the women do. Among Indians, they are engaged as artisans, traders, domestic *From the report of the investigations of the Social Service Committee of the Graduate Union of the Young Women’s Christian Association of Calcutta. This report has been widely used in all data herein. servants, contractors, clerks and cashiers, and in public employment. The Mohammedans monopolize the butcher and baker trades, and are engaged in building and tobacco trades, while a large number of them own horses and are drivers of carriages. The Hindus are more numerous in the professional employments than the Mo- hammedans. Indian Students’ Mission School. Education. Calcutta is the largest educational center in India. There are in the primary schools 5,376 pupils and in the higher schools there are 8,587 pupils, ‘while in the collegiate and normal institutions there are 250 young women. The number of illiterate women is appalling ; 250,000 out of 280,000 are totally illiterate! The lack of education among the Mohammedans is greatest; the Hindus being next in illiteracy. The Young Women’s Christian Association. The Young Women’s Christian Association is definitely engaged in in- ter-denominational, inter- national and _inter-racial work. The board and sec- retaries are British and American. In the member- ship are included Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Brahma Somaj, Hindus, Moham- . = medans, and Buddhists. Calcutta Building. Building. The building of the Association is modern in its construction, providing, in addition to club rooms, drawing rooms, class rooms, etc., the residence for several secretaries. The Association has also a boarding home for transient guests, students and residents. Drawing-Room, Calcutta Association. Religious Work. Twenty-seven weekly Bible classes are convened, some in the cen- tral institute, some in the boarding home, some in schools and others in outlying sections of the city. Eight of these classes are conducted in the Indian vernacular. Educational Work. The classes of the Association include nursing, English literature, Hindustani vernacular, first aid, cooking, dressmaking, hygiene and commercial branches. In the latter 123 women are enrolled. There is also an employment registry. Physical Work. In the rear of the building there is the large recreation ground, which, on account of its situation, makes it possible to hold there classes in physical instruction. During the summer time a cottage at the foot of the Himalayas affords for the membership a wonder- ful change from the heat-burdened life of the city. Student Work. Education has disturbed the old régime of mechanical home life. The Association is attempting, through hostels and class work, to pre- pare students for the changing conditions. In the student work are enrolled 405 of the 1,200 members. An Bible Class. Intercollegiate Day of sports is observed. Bible classes are held in various mission and government schools. A splendid work is being done by the Social Service Committee of the Graduates’ Union. These are women who have graduated from the colleges and univer- sities of India, Great Britain and America. They have made an orig- inal and comprehensive investigation of all phases of women’s life in Calcutta. Their published report is a model which any city may fol- low with profit. Secretaries. Calcutta has a staff of from three to seven secretaries. The United States has in Calcutta the following: Mary E. Rutherford as General Secretary, Margery Melcher as Student Secretary, Beatrice Cron as Business and Membership Secretary.