Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-11-08
Sights Ina Chinese Clly.

/
| a conveyance | can only describe rs an over
| grown baby carriage with n coole harnesscd
| TO it. They travel quite rapidly, with their
| piGtails, il not wound about their heads,
| streaming in your face, or else playing tat
/ too on the mans flying heels. These people
are very enduring, aud travel al tro; rev.
oral miles. and with a slight rest 20 on again,
| and can continue this all day. 1 am afraid
| our great walkers and runners would stand
but poor chance alongside Of jn-ric shay
man. Tnversing along the ''Bund,' in
EnGlishtown and through Frenchtown, we
| halted at the entrance OF 4 Chinese city We
! wera conscious of our nearncss 10y the stencil
tha: ,In.u.tos from within and imprcguates
| the neiIhborhood Immediately around. For
. snail rrcompeuse n guide was procured.
without whom it would have been an utter
| impossbility to find your way among the
| labyrinth or crooked alleys that traverse the
city in every conceivable direction. some
| describing complete circles and bringing you
back to your original starting place when you
imagined Yourself a mile away. Do not
ira a;.s by an I'll Y, a thoroughinre IL or Is
feet IN N.'.., No indeed Filthy little
passages hot wI,l,r than three or four feet.
lined by Us dirty looking novels, and these
filled with poor. unfortunate, velmin-clud
Cinnamon. Aud the stencil is almost I'M
bearable; only by the application to our
nostrilG OF hGndkerchieiS and Il goodly lot of
| Florida water did We manage to stand it.
TLen the numerous dirty, ragged little ccles-
tials, with their yellow bodies and little black
pigtails. are scrceching III chorus. and ii re-
qulres care not TO be walking on them.
Lying i'll an open space III street some
what larger than the rest. We saw four hu-
man beings IN such pitItul state Of disease
II made me shudder, one female with three
males, almost nude, incapable of moving,
covered with sores. insects and filth, they
were dying slowly, IN + ct were placed there
to die, no one with them to sayn kind word
even the passers by only gave them glance
and passed on. Asking the guide who these
unfoTtunates were, and why such inhumanitv
was allowed, he replied that they We're atllIct-
ed with an incuTablc disease, and belonged
to the joss" and ii was Of no use, nor was
1t right to care for them, as they would soon
die and be buried 10y the public. Enaciatcd
to irightiul degree. they lay there all un-
conscious and Indifferent, their eyes fixed III
II vacant stare. the stamp of death upon their
features a day or less would end their cN-
lstence.
We were now about fifteen minutes in the
place, and any friend said he felt rs il he
wanted to so ont. | felt much the same
but, having been informed that to-day was
one of the few when visit to the jail was
feeling OF nausea, went with the guide
through number of these wrctched streets
until arriving at a somewh larger structure
than those IN tha Immediate vicinity, We en-
tered, gaining the good Will of an official 10y
the gilt of frame. Filth and stencil, as
everywhere else, prevailed The sight of
criminal chained to an upright stanchon
that supported the beams overhead at the
entrance to the corridor, along which are
several cells with strong wooden doors and
curious Chinese locks, was pItiiul. He was
n recapturcd fugitive was to be taken three
times week 10 this stanchion, the ground
at his feet being atrewn with Jagged stones,
broken glass bottles. and on tins compelled
to walk. probably with no food save what
relatives ar friends brought him. The glass
and bottles, broken fine, did not cut much
but TO judge from the painful expression on
his squAlid features he must have suffered
considerable. In an adjoining cell four hu-
man beings were confined carrying around
their nccks boards about two feet square
which We're clasped on them when first
brought up for punishment, and are not re
moved until their terms expire. Brass nails
were driven through aad protruded at least
an zach at the bottom, serving to keep the
shoulders of the poor men raw with the
pricking caused by the slightest move
Holding out their thin, trembling hands they
beg for food 4 female was III the room, n
sister Of one of the criminals, bringing him
food and bathing his head and shoulders.
gave her II few silver pieces, and gave her To-
understand through the guide that it WAS tu
he used tc procure food for her brother and
companions. These five being all the in
mates ut the time We started for the purer
air outside the walls
As a general thing. long terms OF conGna-
tuat