kinds of temperature—drenched in perspiration one hour, shivering with cold the next, hauling his 'rickshaw in all kinds of weather, inadequately fed, smokes and dissipates. His activities are irregular—he may have work several days in succession, then lie idle for as many more, to be suddenly called upon for a renewed strenuous task—and in general his mode of life is exactly opposite to that of the college athlete, who is required to keep regular hours, fed the most nourishing foods, forbidden tobacco and spirits, is bathed, massaged and runs for fixed periods of time, gradually increasing Ms performances under the careful eye of an experienced coach. It is extremely difficult to obtain definite information concerning the jinrickisha man. No traveler whose works I have read has been sufficiently interested to publish ininformation of the kind that would be valuable in connection with our inquiry. At the most, but casual reference is made to him as one of the picturesque features of the flowery kingdom. Mr. E. G. Babbitt, American vice consul-general in charge at Yokohama, has been good enough to answer my inquiry, and his letter throws more light upon the subject than I have been able to obtain from any other source. He writes:
The imperial government publishes annually an elaborate report (statistics) concerning movements of the population, but the number of deaths, etc., are given by "age" and not by "occupation," and it would be a very difficult matter to find the death rate among any particular class. Each prefecture has its own laws and regulations concerning the jinrickisha men and in one of the prefectures the age of the applicants for the jinrickisha's man's license has been limited to fifty-five; in Tokio, this age limit came into force in 1907, at which time it was reported that there were over twelve hundred jinrickisha men over fifty-five years of age. Most of these men were healthy and strong. During the year 1907-1908, this consulate-general had two old janitors, both of whom were jinrickisha men over twenty-five years, they said. The superintendent of police of this district whom I interviewed on this subject attributes a comparatively high death rate among them to their irregular diet and excessive use of liquors, to which vice they appear to be more addicted than any other class of laborers.
Dak and Kaliar Runners.—In attempting to investigate the dak or post runner of India, I came into possession, through the courtesy of Mr. G. Lockwood Kipling, of information of especial interest concerning the Kahar caste, also known as Jhinwars in the Punjaub. Mr. Kipling writes that this caste "has for many centuries been village servants, appointed to be carriers, runners, watermen, fishermen, basket makers, water fowl catchers, etc.," and are trained runners from generation to generation. Mr. T. C. Lewis, late director of public instruction, United Province, India, in enclosing to Mr. Kipling the story which follows, writes:
