Memoirs of Meredith Worth [‎5r] (9/12)

I called leading business men. Sirdars Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. and wealthy landowners to a
meeting in the Town E*ll in Quetta, to decide on a programme of events and
to prOTide funds for that programme and for various charities connected with
the armed forces. Nearly 50,000 Es were promised and it was agreed that at
least half should go to these charities. I was careful to arrange xcr
control over the money to be in the hands of three leading business men,
elected at the meeting. It was left to me and this committee to sort out t..e
suggestions for events^he ^ ^ ^ Governor Ge neral, agreed that there
should be an P open a£ dinner under the Chinar trees in the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. garden
for leading Sirdars Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , business men, militpy officers and oi.icials and, th
next evening, a Eeception at__ the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. • J ^Hriendsln
fin+.p-r+.p i nmen't • Th.6 Mir ft.nnshi ir "tlie P
Lahore and he suggested that he should go there to try to arrange for a young
film star in the Pancholi Studios to come to Quetta* This suggestion was put to
the finance committee under an oath of secrecy, and was enthusiastically
welcomed hy them. So, in due course, one of the leading actresses, with her
mother and 2 musicians arrived* They were housed in the Dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. Bunhalow under
Police guard* She was a leading star in the studio and told me that she could
get 10,000 Rs for a performance at a private party in Lahore hut, as this
visit was a special and happy occasion, she would only accept 1,000 Rs and
would he happy to give as many performances as we wante<i* She was a pretty girl
and very talented. After the first gasps of astonishment from the guests at
the dinner her performance was greeted with prolonged applause and was a great
success. She gave another performance at the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. reception the next
day and a third performance in the Town Hall the following day. In the
meantime there was a Race meeting, A Civil vs Military football match and a
fireworks display. Every evening little lamps were placed and lit round the
houses in the town.
When the ctlebrqjtions were over the A.G.G. rang me up and told me to
earmark some of the money we had collected for some Roman Catholic charities,
shoes for schoolchildren being mentioned* I was able to teli) him that all
moneys had already been spent or allocated and were in the hands of an elected
finance committee and so not at my disposal.
Among all the plans proposed for the development of the Province the
most important, to me, was the provision of mechanical cultivation. Though
rainfall was Small the winter snowfall on the mountains gave a few perennial
streams.some of which disappeared under the stony valleys. John MacIntyre,
the Chief Civil Engineer, had managed to make some of this underground water
available by constructing sub—surface dams or weirs and it was decided that
there would be sufficient water available for mechanical cultivation in some
of the larger valleys together with enough rainfall for ’sailaba' cultivation
by the construction of bunds to retain flood water. Owing to the altitude
wheeled tractors would not have had sufficient power and caterpillar tractors
would be needed. Fortunately at the end of the war large numbers of these
tractors and ancilliary equipment had been collected at Kancnrapara in Bengal.
With the help of Hugh Y< r eightman, who had become foreign Secretary in Delhi, I
was given permission by Pundit Nehru to arrange for the firm of Owen Roberts