Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-08-16

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4 ing the bride by the hand; led her into
j the house, and into large room, in the
center Of which, seated upon mat, was
the bridegroom waiting to receive her.
She seated herself on mat beside him,
and remained there without saying a
word until the entire procession had
crowded into the rooms.
/ The parents Of the happy couple then
| had sort of poW-wow which | could not
understand, and which the guide could
notexplain. The parents of the bride
groom then paid the sum of money to
! the parents Of the girl The women who
had accompanied the bride now advanced
toward her, and taking hold Of her hair
unplaited it and cOmbed it out They
4 then prepared mixture with which they
annointed her hair, after which they pro-
ceeded to redress it, this time, however,
in the style in which married women
! wear it. Having completed their eapil-
larry labOrs, they proceeded toremove
| portion Of her dress and substitute for it
a robe Of dark color This having been
done, all whe were in the room advanced
/ to the happy couple and addressed them,
I saying many pleasant and complimentary
I things. The feast that had been pre-
pared was. now brought into the room,
and the work Of fdevouring it began. The
doors of the house remained open till
nightfall, and the horn blowers stood in
front oft, footing with all their might,
for the purpose of conveying information
to the public that wedding was pro-
crossing, and inviting them to enter the
/ house and bestow their congratulations
upon the happy couple.
+, In China man can have as many
wives as he wants, or rather as many as
he can purchase, but they all must be
subject to the first one The parents of
the young man always purchase the first
wife for him afterward he makes his
own purchases. Nearly all the mer-
chants have plurality of wiyes-some
l'of the rich ones being almost as often
married as Brigham Young.
CHINESE WOMEN.
/ have had but very little opportunity.
to see or learn much of the Chinese swo-
men, as they are never permitted to come
Unto the presence of strangers, and never
accompany the men any place. In fact,
if appearances furnish criterion to base
Judgment upon, should unhesitating-
ly say that the females were considered
to be a lower order of human beings, a
sort of plaything or servant for mans.
They, however, promenade the street in
droves, and appear to have quite a pen
chant for shopping, as numbers Of them
can be scen in almost every shop, some
of them pretty, but the great majority
may, with safety, be pronounced homely
Here in Canton about one-half of the
female population have been compelled
in their infancy to submit to that horri-
ble torture which destroys the shape and
dwarfs the feet and makes cripples Of
them. It is painful to see one of these
women attempting to make her way
through the streets, holding herself up
right by clinging to the walls or leaning
upon some more fortunate friend. They
carry their children strapped to their
backs after the manner of the North
American Indians. The style of wear
ing the hair indicates whether they are
single, married OF widows. The virgin
has the hair in the front part Of the head
cut off even with the center Of tho fore
head, while the remainder is plated into
two braids and allowed to hang down
the back. The married women arrange
their hair in such manner that it looks
not unlike hen does when she is de-
Tending her brood of chickens from some
adventurous dog while the widow does
her hair up in the fashion popular in
the States some twenty years ago--that
is, combed back from the forehead and
wound into ball at the base Of the
brain, aud fastened with a comb Of brass, (
silver, OF gold, according to the taste or I
wealth of the sorrowing one. Those
who are neither wives, maids nor widows,
wear their hair in single plait or braid |
hanging down the back.
STREET .JUGaLERs.
Street jugglers and mOuutebauks
abound in Canton, and in fact in every
Chinese city. They also travel from I
place to place throughout the country, |
displaying their fears and picking up a
few cash here and there As a general /!
thing their Juggling feats do not amount I
to great deal, yet some of them are very
clever, and would create fully as much I
of theatrical furore in the United States (
as did the Japanese performers. Sword
swallowing and stone-eating appears to /
be the commonest feats, and operators of I
this description. can be seen in almost f
every street. One fellow, however, per-
formed number of feats in front Of our
hotel which demands from me more than
q passing notice. He stationed himself
in the center of the street, and having
blown blast upon a bugle to give warn
ing that he was. about to begin his enter
tainment, he took small lemon or or
ange tree, which was covered with fruit,
and balanced it upon his head. He then
blew sort of chirruping whistle, when
a number of birds
came from every direction and settledll
upon the boughs of the bush he balanced
or fiuttered about his head. He then
took cup in his hand and began to rat
tie some seeds in it, when the birds dis
appeared. Taking a small bamboo tube,
he next took the seeds, and putting one
in it blew it at one of the fruit, when it,
opened, and out flew one of the birds,
which auttered about the circle surround +
ing the performer He continued to-,
shoot his seeds at the oranges until near
y dozen birds were released. He then
removed the tree from his forehead, and
setting it down took up a dish, which
ne held above his head, when all the
birds flew into it. He then covered it
,yer with cover, and giving it a whirl
,r two abouthis head, opened it and dis
played a quantity of eggs, the shells of
which he broke with little stick, re-
easing a bird from each shell. The
rick was neatly performed and defed
from my eyes. The next trick
vas equally clever and difficult of detec-
iou. Borrowing a handkerchief from
me of his spectators, he took an orange,
nut small hole in it, then squeezed ali