The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1852-05-25
Ths Chinese at San rsanoisoo.

&nS .Cn1nese az 6an sEtFIes22sco ~ IN "a q
The petticoated gentry, tho Chinese; Il Il
seem to be holding . apipiEiicted meet
ing" amidst which they have had, ap-
parentIy, brave feasting. Their gencr-
al habit abstemiousness has been made 8
rather u subject of complaint, by those
who think they ought to spend for the
good OF the country fair proporiioll
of their earnings; but on the present
occasion they would appear determined
to redeem themselves from such re-
proach. Great pots of rice, carcasses
OF hogs, sheep and goats, flanked by u
liberal supply Of chicken fxins,i 81
have formed the staples of their feasts,
to which were also added o due pro-
portion Of preserves and sweet eakes.
These solids were probably diluted by
copious draughts Of tea, for thcfrSSdia
not appear any symptom OF q strong
infusion. Their festivities of course
have been enlivened by music; and the
performers, seated on the top, ofa
porch, worked away in style that the
experts no doubt entirely appreciated.
Their own countenances expressed un-
doubted satisfaction; and q crowd of
hombres, in the street below, demanded
frequent encores. II
|. Not being to the manor born,nf our
enthusiasm did not reach any very exc
traordinary height; but, on the contra
ry, after the vain attempt to comprc5
hend their melody, we came t5 tho
conclusion that, like Italia "braypras,p
it was past our understanding. Tho
instruments consisted of o gong, a;tri-
angle, sort of castanets and two
drums. These latter were similarin
shape, but of different material; one
being of brass and the other ofwood,
over which was stretched o parchnent,s
as in our style. Instead however, OF
being long cylinder, they were not
more than six inches deep, and, as it,
appeared, with ono end open. The
first produced dull brazen clang, and
the wooden one sounded like the. rat
tling Of o wook-pecker on o hollow-log.
The sounds of the different instruments
jostled and tumbled over each other,
without any ceremony; but the effect
was very fine, at least Us far as the
Chinese were concerned, for they lis
tened as if the melody was charming
their very souls out OF them. & :.
San Francisco Herald. ne
The Celestials concluded their annll-
al festivity on last Saturday night by
having grand musical pow-wow ht
the house of. Wang Hing: Esq, on
Sacramento street. They had collect
ed in large numbers for-the OCCASION:
and the balcony Of the house was;
deusely crowded. The musical instrn-s
ments consisted Of gong, drum with.
but one head, pair of cymbles and
some kind OF o stringed machine, cyi1-,
IDENTIFY q cross between guitar and an
ox-yoke. The moment the orchestra
struck up, the saloons in the rss;al boEJ
hood vomitcd St,aarth tsgfs9ssz;s''sss tsasszs B. the
dogs cors .lced bowling, the police
bLy on The spot, and every.
I slasA -. and -conti:--, 1s..
large crowd reiiained for SEVERAL hours;
in front Of the house, listening teaithc.
horrible and soul-tearing discord, and
during the intervals when the music
would stop to wet their whistles, the
outsiders would cheer. vociferously
+ which would induce the man with.the'
going to hammer it SO o,unmercifuliy,
that tho noise bore a stroug resem.'
blnnce to thunder storm in cane
brake. The performances concluded
only with the day, when the audience
dispersed; and many retired to be
blessed with dreams of squallings,
maulings, and caterwaulings .-1f !ki kti
CalJornian. 4se