Page:Works of Tagore from the Modern Review, 1909-24 Segment 1.pdf/54

Rh sorrow began to ring within the girl's ever-silent heart; none, save the Searcher of hearts did hear it.

This time her husband examined with both the senses of ear and eye and brought home a bride gifted with the power of speech.

HERE was a time in Bengal when it was considered degrading for any bhadra-lok or gentleman to engage in industrial pursuits. His highest ambition was to be a lawyer or a "Deputy" or a Doctor, and failing that, to have the comfortable post of a teacher or a clerk. These professions becoming overcrowded, and other openings being practically shut to him, there has been great difficulty for him in obtaining a living. If there is an advertisement for a clerk on Rs. 20 a month, hundreds of applications pour in with piteous tales of distress, but if it be for a skilled workman on Rs. 30 a month very few will be found to apply, and those who do apply will dictate their own terms. The difference in treatment on the part of employers is also very noticeable. In the case of workmen agreements are taken and care is taken to see that they are contented and stick to their posts, while in the case of clerks no such care is taken. There have even been cases of clerks being assaulted and pulled by the ear.

Since the impetus given to swadeshi and other things by the partition of Bengal, the aversion for industry has given place to an anxiety to do something to promote it, and it is now universally accepted that the only way out of the distressing situation, lies in the industrial regeneration of the country. Unfortunately the moneyed classes in Bengal, with a few honorable exceptions, have not joined the movement, and continue their investments in land and Government promissory notes, and much of the swadeshi business of the country is suffering from want of financial support.

In such a state of things it is very gratifying to find any new and promising industry being undertaken by men of education and position. Mr. Basanti Charan Sinha,, a vakil of the High Court practising in the District Court of Muzaffarpur, and enjoying a good reputation in the bar, has been a genuine and quiet worker for swadeshi. His admirable earnestness in everything he takes up coupled with his high character, commands the respect of all who know him. Last year Mr. Sinha in communication with Mr. A. B. Sircar, who was then studying Fruit Chemistry in the Stanford University, California, made some experiments in canning the Tirhut mangoes and lichis and his general scientific knowledge (Mr. Sinha is an in science) helped him materially to carry out the experiments successfully. The preserves were highly spoken of by European gentlemen, and Mr. Maude, the Commissioner of the Patna Division, in his opening speech at the Behar Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition held at Bankipur in February last, spoke of "** canned fruit exported from Muzaffarpur, possibly in the near future to places all over the world." He was awarded medals at the Bankipur and Dhubri Exhibitions.

No doubt the preservation of fruits in sugar is an ancient industry in India, but in the process employed and the excessive amount of sugar used, the fruits lose their flavour and do not last long. While the fruits preserved by the modern scientific method, retain their flavour so well, that it is often difficult to say that one is not having the taste of the fresh fruit. Some fruits, such as the pine-apple, improve in flavour in canning. Of course the fruits will last as long as the tin will last.

Muzaffarpur is famous for its mangoes and lichis, and with such good raw material