Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1870-05-02
LIFE IN CHINA.
Some of the Peculiarities OF the
Country.

Some of the PecuIiarities OF The
Country.
Foo Chow Cor. Toledo Blade.l
1t would be impossible to tell you Of
all the many strange things and stranger
incidents we have seen and do witness
every day here in China; / will take in a
large field and tell but little. All for
eigners, except few missionaries, live
in the suburb called "Nantal" And it
is three miles by one densely packed
street from our home to the first gate
opening into the city; and, strange to
say, aside from the spacioas and elegant
temples, and the houses of foreigners,
there is not in all this great city one
building which in our country would be
called comfortable. They are rarely two
stories high even, and built of timber and
clay, the inside roughly plasterCd (if at
ally, and the roofs made or covered with
tiles. The Chinese officials and men of
wealth live in affiuence-dress richly and
keep host of servants and retainers.
But the poor are very poor; they work
for very low prices, from five to ten cents
day, and feed and clothe themselves
from those wages.
The wealthy are very indolent, and
impose a system of servitude upon their
employees which is many degrees worse
than even American slavery in its worst
stages could ever have been, The peas
antry are quiet and industrious people,
but seem to have no higher aims in life
but to make comfortable living ON their
farms, and propagate their species.
They destroy great many of the female
children; hence the male population is
greatly in .the majority. The laboring
class of China, both male and female,
are literally beasts of burden; they carry
everything that is used in building a
great city, or in carrying on the com
merce of great commercial country
upon their shoulders, by means Of poles
and baskets, or buckets on each end of
the poles
The peasant women of China have
large and natural feet. Their costumes
consist of wide pants reaching only to
the knee; loose sack reaching little
below the hips, belted around the waist
and little white apron, half yard
square, pinned on plain. They do not
wear shoes and stockings; from the
knees the legs are bare They have no
fires in winter to warm by but as the
cold increases, they put on clothing un-
til they are often of an immense size,
and their bodies look like barrel with
head sticking out at the top, walking
with bare legs and feet, None but those
who work in the rice fields, in the sun,
ever wear any covering for the head.
The rich and poor all dress their hair
in the same style; neatly combed in
low knot on the top of the head, and
these ornamented with flowers and long
hair pins or bodkins, either silver or
brass. The women of China are not tall,
but stocky and squarely built, and the
workingwomen very muscular. They
will carry with apparent ease two or
three hundred pounds on their shoulders.
The small-footed women are unable to do
any heavy work, as they cannot walk
without a cane or some one to support
them. No man is satisfied unless he has
one wife with small feet, and unless be-
trothed to one when children by their
parents. They will work years to gain
means to buy one, and smaller the feet,
higher the price To foreigner these
small feet are horrible, and the worst
kind of deformity.
There is another class of people here,
known as the boat population about
$4,000 of them live on "Tanka boats
on the river. Men and women are born
and raised in these boats, raise large /
f.milies and die, never knowing the lux
ury or convenience of any other habita- /
ton. How or on what they subsist | pm
unable to find out, but their boats ere
always there, and they seem to dress
better and more comfortable than those |
on shore. Rice, fish. fruits and vegeta- /
bles are the chief articles Of food with |
all classes of the Chinese. Pork is the 1
only animal meat they use much of, and 4
poaltry of all kinds, yet there is plenty
of beef and mutton. There are but few
foreigners in Foo Chow, and their inter
course with Chinese is limited almost en-
tirely to trade. 1t is true We have to en-
ploy them, but out of a large number in
every foreign house there is rarely more
than one, head man or butler,
who can understand . word OF Eng
lish. Hence, all the servants are
under the supervision of this head
man; we see and know but little
Of them. | think them ,he best serv-
ants in the world. We keep eight, and
we pay the eight $32 per month, and
they board themselves We give them
four rooms in the basement of our house.
| am entirely free from the labor and
care of housekeeping, as | trust every
thing to the butler. If we give a dinner
parry, ] need only tell him how many
Hpicnic men have beep invited and the
hour, and everything will be in perfect
order and good taste, and great style.
Dinrers here are served with from eight
to fifteen courses, and from four to six
kinds of wine Those given at the
Units HOUSE are not a patching to
them We have attended siX or eight.
The English ladies always 90 in low neck
and short sleeves. All the foreign houses
are very large and elegant and elegantly
furnished with furniture ifola England
or France, as there Is nothing made
here The climate Of Foo Chow is most
charming; in the summer there are three
months very warm, two in the winter