The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1865-11-17
Friday Morning, Nov. ~, 1865.
fBrom Chambers Journal. I
INIUHS OHu"1OeT 0VUts' ''7V'I y
t bt A Tree Of AlkWork

FROM CH0ia0ef"S J0HTRdtl 4
VI w l4(i A Tree Of AiisWork.
If trees took rank according to theh useful
ness the ban boo might fairly claim the crown
of the vegetable kingdom. Tried by the test
of utility by man, there is no plant the earth
produces worthy to enter into competition
withit. The Chinese say, and truly say, the
bamboo is all profit Seasoned with chillies,
its tender young shoots make avorite sam
bas of the Malay; sliced and boiled, they are
served at the tables of the wealthiest Japan
ese; and when salted, dried, and, prepared in
vinegar, they make pickle ever welcome to the
Siamese gourmand. As the plant grows old
er, fluid is secreted in its hollow joints which
F affords refreshing beverage, and if it is allow
ed to remain untapped, the valuable medicine
orr tabischeet-said to resist alike fire and acids,
is produced. The leaves of the bamboo are
reckoned sovereign remedy for sore throat,
as the bark is all-powerful against fever, and
other useful medicaments are obtained from
ST q the buds and the roots. ts1E9E 49,
@i'' Entire houses are constructed of the bam-
boo, the stouter parts of the tree supplying
ready turned pillars, while the slenderer joints
are combined together to form the walls.--
Split into aths, and beaten out it makes an
excellent flooring; aud for the roof, the canes
are arranged side by side across the building,
with their concaye sides uppermost to catch
the rain; the edges of these are covered with
another row With their convex sides outwards,
2 and thus the roofs rendered perfectly water
tight. Should the householder be lucky
.-
icile, a bamboo palisade forms his best protec-
ton against intruders, whether quadruped or
biped. Docs he want to bring the waters of a
neigboring river into his service for domestic
purposes-n the hollow stems of the bamboo
he has spouts ready to his hand pipes easily
connected into cutters and spouts, 10 get rid
the water he does not want. Then, inside
this bamboo house viii be found chairs to sit
upon, benches to recline upon, mattresses to
lie down upon pillows to rest the head upon,
al 1ofa 10 pac fl.o fiat all Al ~
.la of the same material as the tube through which
the owner inhales the fragrant weed at home
80 and the cane he leans upon, as he takes his
walks abroad, with bamboo basket upon his
arm, bamboo hat upon his head, and possibly
bamboo splits at his fingers-end to protect his
long uncut nails.as as 1.sl tNtg fs{ u nTaT. is
The tea-crops ofthe island districts of China
find their way to the seaports upon the should
ers of the coolies. Two strong bamboo canes
are fastened to the sides OF the load, their ends
resting on the shoulders ofthe carriers. When
the load is too much for four men, room is
made for any additional number of bearers,
3 u by joining shorter bamboos to cross piece
.la . fixed TO the ends of the larger canes. The
palanquins of the mandarins are borne through
the streets in a similar manner, just as sedan
chairs used to be carried through London
thoroughfares in the days of our great grand
fathers. The bamboo is applied to transti-
- purposes in many, orher ways. "The cany
wagons light of Milton are still used in Cal
hay the Dyak propels his light canoe by
slt means of the bamboo; the river-rafts Of the
Chinese are made of nothing else; and give a
d diiL Hindoo boatbulder three penny-worth of
bamboo, and he will turn out four-ton YES
sci, with mast and sails complete. lLaa
The Japanese separate the heads Of their
corn from the stalks by beating it over bam-
boo grating, which, having sharp. edge, cuts
off the grain at every stroke, leaving them to
fall through the grating to the ground; or af-
.y.- ter being thrashed with aabamboo fail, the
rain is sifted through bamboo sieve
IL. 2 When about to erect house, the first pro-
eeedi ng on the part of a Chinese builder is the
raising of a strong butlight scaffoldng of bam-
boo and inside this is the house built up---
When building is to be pulled down, the
bamboo is again called into requisition; the
roof having "a 2eah hen 3 eacn q tne me- end %
their bamboos as high up the wall as possible,
and push steadily together till it topples over
with a. loud crash and a smothering DUST
This process is often performed at fire, in Or
der to stay the progress OF the destroyer The
Cantonese possess a fire-engine, but for all
that. still press the bamboo into service, the
4 hose being held over the peoples heads on
long bamboos, and by their agency carried
quickly to any desired spot The watch-tow-
ers, too, from whence the police discern the
whereabouts of fire as soon as it breaks out,
: 3 are merely skeletons of bamboo. Lieutenant
Colonel Fisher bears witness to the ingenuity
of the Chinese bamboo-workers, and the
,tpti strength of their work when done. When a
room, it was some time before the bamboo
worker could be made to comprehend exactly
~o what was wanted. AT last, he was told to
make "one piecey lnakey walkey topside, max
,.tts ey look ,see;" and the verandah soon proved
that this extraordinary specimen of the Eng
lish language was ineligible enough to him.
.DI isAf The Chinese man OF letters writes with a
i.na bamboo pen upon paper of the same material,
the musician extracts sounds sweet to Chinese
ears on bamboo Instruments, and the artist is
ID. .IIF ID N
'is' Besides serving so many uses in commerce,
industry and art, the bamboo performs its
part in warlike operations, supplying lances,
bows, and those wonderful grotesque shields
with which the braves of the Celestial Empire
seek to ffighten their foes. The earliest at
tempt in the way of cannon on the part of
the Chinese was weapon OF bamboo. In the
war of 5S, one of our sepoy regiments was
startled by tremendous shower OF rockets
1allng INTO their encampment at night and
killing commissariat sheep. Next morning,
H party was despatched across the creek in
search OF the battery and succeeded in cap
o4 I9rlng nunper OF novel machines consisting
OF stout bamboos lashed together which had
evidently been used for the Discharge of the
rockets that had caused such lcon,not;on
among the guardians of the government stores
The bamboo did good service on our Side in
the hands Of the coolies, acting as a Ill
transport corps, and earned them the nonnla
designation OF the "Bamboo Rifles :" While
on the other hand, its employment in the
shape OF stakes driven deep IN the mud before
the forts of Taku, cost England the lives az
MANY brave men, and entailed an expensive
campaign to obliterate the memory of an un-
timely disaster. J'If 10 -~
John Chinaman would be an ungrateful
rascal if he did not love and admire his tree
OF all-work; but he has good reason also to
look upon it with awe and trembling. The
bamboo is the be-all and end-all of the Chinese
code of justice, and as such may fairly be said
to rule the most populous country in the
world Chinese law recognizes two degrees of
punishment; in the first and least severe, the
number OF blows inflicted on an offender va
rles nom four to twenty, that being consider
ed dlsclpilne sufficient to make transgressor
entertaln 1 a sense Of shame for his past behav-
lor, and render him cautious as to his future
conduct. The second class Of punishment ap-
plies to offences of serious nature, and the
law allows as many as hundred blows TO be
awarded, but in practice forty is the limit Two
different instruments used, one being a
bamboo five feet eight inches Ionoy - Y =. 2 ~ =