The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1872-09-05
SOCIAL AND PRISON LIFE IN CHINA.

/ correspondent of the Boston Globe fur
nlshes some pleasant and unpleasant reading
about the Chinese of Shanghai, its tea gardens
ana prlssns. The tea gardens on ordinary days
are not much visited but on Sundays they are
filled to ovrrfnwing with persons ia pursuit of
pleasure. This is doubtlrss onr of the effects
OF Shanghai being "A foreign port. Tn any pure.
| ly Chinese town Sunday is like any other day.
The gardens, we are told cover an area of some
four or five acres. In the centre is a pond,
with an island crowned by tea house ap-
preached by zigzag bridges. There are several
other tea houses about the place. all built in the
most ultra Chinese style. A space of about an
acre in one corner is walled off for the special
delectation of the Thoutai's wives, or anybody
else who can afford to pay for the privilege of
going In. The gardens are not very beautiful,
and it is more the people and things to be seen
there than the grounds that attract foreigners.
Scattered over the place are various vendors
of cakes, oranges, ETC., all of whom much pre-
fer gambling with the visitors than selling their
wares. Numerous peepshows and other pla-
ces OF entertainments are scattered overt the
grounds, the most attractive of which are said
to be those of the cOnjurers. These perform
on the bare ground variety of tricks that
might even fill Heller with envy. These places
are literally patronized by native and foreign
er, the enjoyment afforded to each class being
about equally great
Half mile distant, in the direction of the
city, are the prisons. Behind row of strong
wooden bars, says the writer. is chamber,
full of mass of seething and writhing human
lty, swarming over each other in heaps. more
like a4ump OF maggOts on a dogs carcass than
so many felow-men. Those in front thrust
their arms out between the bars, begging for
food like monkeys in cage, while, in the dim
Obscurlty of the background. pallid, bleeched
faces, void of all expression, are turned blink
ing on the observer. Some Of them are chain
ed to the WALL without room to lie down,
sweltering with heat and smOthered with ver-
min and filth The endurance of such punish
nent would kill nine ordinary people out of ten
IN day, but if this correspondent is to be be-
liered, it does not affect these wretched crea-
lures except when fever attacks them In ad-
dition to this punishment, says the writer, they
have several round cages about two feet in d.
ameter and over FIVE feet high, made of stout
wooden bars, wide apart. The top is like the
head of a barrel, with a hole rather larger than
an ordinary mans neck in it; the wretched
victim is put in this, and the hole at the top is
fitted around his neck. The cage is chosen so
that his feet shall not touch the ground, and a
brick or two put in, so that he can just rest his
toes on them, and there he is left to die. No
food or drink being given him. he would speed
lily starve, but it is not that that kills him; he
soon has cramp in the legs, and to relieve it has
to cling by his legs and arms to the bars and
hang by his chin. Soon his limbs are covered
with sores from his struggles. and then the fly
comes. In about three days a shapeless, tort
ured, half-devOured mass of flesh, death re-
lieves him from further pain. And these are
the tender mercies of the Chinese.