' Page Six

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SCARLET AND BLACK

Reiier Finds Ceylon Crowds Mysierious, Exciting

By Becl' Reitcr

The downtown area at Colom—
bo is called the Fort The prin—
ciple government buildings and
the large dcpaitnient stores are
locatcd in this area. Most ot the
buildings in the Fori. are not
over two stories tall, The main
streets, although not spacious,
are wide enough to handle trai-
tic ‘

The department stores are
similar to the

almost anything in them, ltluwA
ever, they are not nearly as
luxurious. and the service is
rather slow. Sometimes this
slowness is due to the tact that
the merchandise must be passed
through so many hands,

Even one small package is
handled by three dittercnt peoa‘
ple. First, there is the person
who actually sells the article.
"Even If one is paying cash. he
,must write out a bill of sale.
Then the purchase. thc money,
and the bill are given to another
person who runs off vvith the
lot. He, in turn, gives everything,
to a third person at the exiti
who wraps the package and re-
turns the change.

In addition to this timescon-
suming process 1 have discover»
ed that it is very difficult at‘
times to get the clerks to show
one the dittercnt sizes, colors
and varieties of any panicular,
product. One asks if such and
such a product is available. The
answer may be ”yes,” but that
is the end of the matter A no
attempt is made to show the
product to the customer.

The next question is;r”May
i see it, please?" Then the
customer is shown one exam—
ple. This goes on and on, the i
customer asking to see each

diffenm color and each par- ,walk in the streets, and traffic sea. Between (our and 51x every

tieular size or shape. The solus i
tion to this problem is just not i
to lie in a hurry.

Scattered in and among ,-,e narrower and more oowoled; the renegiung artsy the heat or the

SIT s ’

Contr from p. 2 i
actions have created a contlict
of interest on legal grounds cons
cerning individual rights. “The
-sit.in' and our arrest," thev
said, “have iaised this very cliia
ticult question. Does a pi' atc
businessman who invi s cos!
toiners from the gene dl public

have a right to exclude Negrocsi LAC Skid

from [he use and benefit of
some Of his soi’vtces and facil-
ities while he Seeks their ‘bLISIr
ness in other areas uf the Store7
We Wish to question whethel
this open demonstration of pre—
1udiClal discrimination on the
basis of race is entitled to the

full protection of what is pi‘e-‘

gently the ‘law.

Legally, the issue rests on the
type of counter at which the

large stores in,
the States in that one can buy‘

‘ displayed

are small shops
tourislsiypo pics
ducts are sold. siieli piodiicts
consist ot cai-i-cd woodcn cl —
phants and precious or SCnils
precious stones. Tlicsc shops
are crowded close togethcr and
almost cover the sidewalk

As one passes these places, thc
shop own s lcan out {mm the
,dark inter rs ot the stores and
ask. "ch, plCasc’” Their tone
has always seemed rathcr sinis—
‘Ier to me, and as yet, i can-
not get over the fccling that
they are asking people to come
in and buy opium, help smuggle
towels or something oi a simi-
lar nature

Hawkers also crowd the Sides
walks in the part They cith
walk around cairring
waies or spread them on the
pavement in iront ot the large
stoi- _ The hawkers‘ lend a hit
of atmosphe'e, ioi- they shout
out their u res continually in
staccato voi l-iowever, they
sell rather uninteresting items
such as ball-point pens, hand
hei-chiets, socks, combs and toys.

Next to the nut is another
shopping center called the Pet-
tah. The Pcttali is the true
buying and selling center tor
the inhabitants of Colombo,
,In the Fort there is too much
catering to tourists to he au-
thcntic.

The Pettah is a virtual jungle
ot commerce. A low large storcs
bravely face the Fort; but be.
hind this facade lies a maze of
small. twisting streets and
crowded tiny shops. Articles-are
outside the
making it seem as if the cone
tents of the store have spilled
out onto the sidewalks.

The pedestrians are forced to

4 larger stores
where mostly-

barely crawls along. As one
ocnetratcs deeper into this
Jungle the streets become olirtier,

heat is almost unbearable and
the air stifling The uhole ctlcct
is one or too many people
crowded into too small a space
and all wriggling to get out.
It is very interesting to enter
a same shop. (The saree is a
piece of cloth six yards long

tlieill

shops ‘

that is worn hy the women)
These shops sometimes
stocked to the ceiling with stacks
of sarccs oi ci'ury conceivable
color. The sarccs are pulled out
by tho dUZDnS lor the customer
and quickly untoldcrl and spread
out over (he Caunlcr
person is hiiiicd in a mountain
oi briilanlly colored material,
One can haggle over prices
in t~.e traditional Eastern style
in the Pettah. This usually
involves more patience and
perseverance than any Wes-
tcrncr has.
, In addition to the Fort and
Feiiah, there are small shopping

Friday. March"|7, l96l‘

Iii/l DancersPo‘l

until a ’

t

iccntcrs scattered throughouuthc ‘

city These places are
small, occupying only one street
or halt or a street Food is ii-
quontly sold and it is interest-
ing to watch olol women sitting
on the sidewalk shelling cashew
nuts or preparing hetcl. Betcl
is local ”chew" made of hetcl
Ieai‘, bctcl nuts and lime.

i King coconuts arc also a com.
,mon ware, These are large,
iyellow coconuts With a smooth

quite ‘

skin The trip is hacked oil lhe_‘

‘coconul. and tilt: mill: drunk
iroin the shell, it is, rather di ,
ticult to drink out 01 the shell,
but the people got around this‘
lnicely by throwing back the,
ihcad. opening the mouth wide
and pouring the contents down
the throat. Ono's mouth need
never touch the shell.
There is another
‘ )Ient feature oi CoInmho that
must he mentioned even ,
though it is not connected
with comincrcc. This is the
l Gallo Face Green.
3 The Gallo Facc Green is at
strip of grassy land, adiacent to
the Fort, which runs along that

promi. l

evening, the citizens of Colombo
ﬂock to the Green to enjoy the,
sea breeze and to relax IL is

day to sit quietly in the cool
air and watch the sun go down,
i The Green is rather like the
,bach-y‘di’d tor people in Column
‘bo Such a place is a pleasant
reliet aitcr thc selfsconsctousp,
ness one otten feels in the pro
cncc of strangers out here.

‘brush rollers

changed with a flick of the
lighting tech man's ringer for

Next Thursday, in connection
with WRA, sevcn women's halls
will present a program 0‘ d3m°i this presentation
Inuammala at 8 Rm m Darby' Japanese workers, Geisha girls
Poems tl-om Winnie-Hw-Pooh‘and Samurai soldiers will dance
will be uscd to narrate Pine thmugh the panems of Hams:
Tree's theme. Mcars’ Bedlam on Eon Odor; Read Wm New“ its
the Bureau Will present th an'ldevelopment of a Picture at an
tics of a powder puff, mU‘l'Oli Exhibition, Loose has

and lipsticks Almatle dcfiniie plans.
leather duster will lie the dan-

ccs together.
The pony tail, page-boy and
French twist arc action cells ,
ters tor Mitin's theme, Hair ‘
Flair. The eyes will take over
with a glow in James’ Jccpers
Crccpcrs. Eye shadows will be

All Kinds of
Nil A5 All N'E‘S
wqchoiol Supplies

~Tobaccos

 

l l

i !

Negro asks for service In Nash- V

ville, Negroes and whites 110 to
school together. govern together,

Tide buses together, shop togeth-

er. even try an the same clothes
in Stores. But they slill cannut

eat together at the lunch coun.,

ter in downtown department,
variety and drug stores or in
the two bus terminals.

The per—rii_sive acts are the
result at specific legal action
and changes in custom. The
forbidden act stands iuntla»
mentally on custom under the
guise or interpreted legal pro-
prictyi
The students have indicated that
they will not compromise with
their basic goal of complete and
equal treatment at lunch couns
Ters. However, their action has
encompassed not only lunch
counter ' , but kneel-ins,
wade-ins ns and recent-
]yi jail-ms, which point out the
man l pes of legal and social
discrimination Negroes encoun-
ter in the United States
The cttectivene. or their pol-
itical and social gains ‘Tn 1950
has Encouraged lhc development
or student 0 icntation to ideals
and the ti-ansrormalion oi these
ideals into action
Future movements will be an
attempt to build upon these
gains not only with sustained ace
tion at a local level. but also
attempts at
atecl programs.

ilalioilally»uool‘(lili-I

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The Latin Amen an Conference

inroiip liaiiehis ii; We

 

y group concerned with

Latin American and United States diplomatic relations meet in

Loose lounge to discuss and rev

iew the \erk it has done in the

past few weeks. The group is led by Joseph Wall (historyi and

chairman Ray Horton.
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Available

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Thursday, April zu — 7:30 at 9:30

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lisale at Armstrong’s and (Inc
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‘comci Enclose stamped, selt—
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