Connecticut western news., 1880-10-13
THE CHINESE QUARTERS.
A Glimpse of Pagan Domestic Life
 in New York.

ness, very little attention is given him by his brothers. He is removed to the inner room of his establishment, a native doc tor called in, and he is left to recover or die as the malady, heightened by the physician, may direct. If the former, the disease being of an unusually mild nature, he is seen in due season at the gaming table, 8 trife yellower than be- fore-nothing more. If the latter, his fate is speedily known, and the Chinese quarter takes on series of semi-hoG- days, governed exclusively by the amount of money taken in during life by the dead man which did not go up in opium fumes or into the gamblers cof- fers. His death announced, every broth CT pig-tail in the neighborhood grows curious.
 A committee is formed in one of the cellars, and proceeds to the scene of death. All the late mans effects are carefully inspected, dollars, dimes and pennies counted, and then the funeral festivities begin. The remains are en- cased in a new cloak-coat, new shoes are put on the feet, and coffin purchased without quibbling as to the price. Once the lid of the coffin is screwed down, it is not raised by the mourners. Candles are lighted and placed at the foot, and a punk fire is Hndled in dish at the head. There is no crape attached to the door, knob, as all of the dead mans friends have been notified of his demise. A demijohn of whisky is purchased, a goodly supply of opium and pipes laid in, and the wake begins in earnest. Open house is kept from that hour until the interment, the committee assuming the role of host. At least six of the mourners are in attendance day and night. When @ Celestial friend or stranger calls to pay his respects, the whisky and opium are produced. Should the new conner be adverse to drinking whisky, one of the watch sallies forth with can to saloon and returns with beer, and the gentleman who objected to the contents of the demijohn drinks to the successful journey of the Chinaman's spirit to the Chinese Heaven. The beer quafed, one who had known the dead man in life seats himself near the coffin, and, with one hand resting upon it, nar- rates the history of the one they mourn. All the facts, both great and small which characterized his life are told the man. ner in which he existed in China, how he was induced to come to America, his wanderings while here, and last but not least, the sum of money hy saved in plying his vocation. The story loses nothing by the telling, and should the crude narrator become mellowed with whisky or beer, the acts and virtues of his subject are extolled un- til one unacquainted would regard him little short of @ second Confucius.
 After due season of mourning, all the way from three to seven days, during which time, unless the weather has been extremely warm, the body has not been on ice, preparations are made for the burial. All the blankets and household effects are given away, the blankets gen. orally to the undertaken to whom is awarded the contract for burial, and the wash-tub, sad-irons and other vessels and instruments to friends. The pipe and quantity of opium are placed in the coffin, for solace in the tomb. All the coins of the denomination of ten cents left by the departed are gathered together and examined by the commit tee. Those without flaw or tarnish are neatly done up, separate, in pieces of red tissue paper, placed in box, and intrusted to the care of one of the mourners. Another takes charge of the candles and punk, and the funeral cor tege sets out for Greenwood Cemetery, where the Chinese have several lots. | The number of carriages forming the train depends entirely upon the worth or rank of the deceased. Not long since one funeral comprised only the hearse and transfer omnibus to convey the mourner, while on other like occasions twenty-five carriages have been found necessary. When the line has beer drawn up, with the hearse at the head the coffin and its contents are placed il the hearse. One of the committee O
 arrangements mounts the hearse box bJ the side of the driver, and the proces
 sion is in readiness. When the start i. made the man riding with the drive,
 pro duces block of white tissue paper
 similar in size to that used in plotting
 visiting cards, and tearing off slip b,
 slip at intervals of few seconds, throw
 them from the hearse to the ground
 never ceasing until the cemetery i
 reached. The Chinese are of the opin
 ion that the devil is in pursuit of ever,
 corpse, and to keep him from seizin,
 the spirit of the dead, which is though
 to remain in the body before the coffil
 is lowered into the grave, these strips 0
 paper are dropped. The devil, whom
 they hold as imbued with the curiosit of an average woman, pauses to inspec
 each one of the blank slips of paper
 and only by that method is the spiri preserved from his clutches. All stop pages of the train are attributed to tha individual, and the mourners do no
 rest easy until the remains are in tn grave.
 l The burial ceremonies are awe-inspi [ ing to certain degree. Around tn grave six red candles on sharpene l sticks are thrust into the ground, pun
 is placed at the head and the whole ligh r ed. Then the body is lowered. Tn l coffin is not encased in box, but is dt 8 posted in the excavation with an uppe r board to keep off the clods. This cu