Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1881-11-05

foot and morrily, TO some ncghboring par
ish or market town. was quite aston
ishcd when first witnessed precisely tho
same thing in one Of tho interior districts
of China. There was not the slightest diff.
ference. The identity was perfect both Ms
to the contrivance itself and the dexterous
modo Of operating it. That tho aborigines
of tho Andes did not get this from their
Spanish conquerers is well known, nor
could they have obtained it from tho Chi
nose, aud IL is less probable still that tho Chi
ncse should have obtained it from them.
1t is generally admitted believe, by
'ioso who have paid much attention to the
subject that the manufacture and uses Of
paper, as also the printers art was invinted
by our ancestors Of Northern Europe
several centuries after it had been in COM
mon uso in China And yet there has
never been a suspicion, at least so far ms
know, that Fanst and Gutenberg received
any hints from China. They wero prob
ably not aware that such people existed.
Our European ancestors got tho mar
iner's compass from the Arabs, who claim
its invention. But the magnetic needle, or
something corresponding to it, had been in
use among the Chinese centuries before
The Arab md the Celestial were aware of
each others existence.
In tho upper valley Of the Ynntsze, in a
locality unfrequentcd by foreigners, once
saw rustic making tub. Tho process was
identical with that witnessed many times
in tho mountain districts of Eastern Ten.
nessee, and the mechanical appliances and
implements, however dissimilar in appear
nnce, were exactly tho same Ms to principle.
The only real difference was that the Ten
nessecnn used his native cedar and white
oak, whereas tho Chinnman made overy.
thing-staves, head piece, hoops, and all
of his native bamboo.
1t was near the same place that saw
some Chinese peasants making rope by n
process, and with appliances familiar to
every one who has ever visited the noun.
tain districts of Virginia and Tennessee.
There was tho same system of rudely con.
structcd crnnks, with spindle points pass
ing through perforated board; thus
securing uniformity of revolution, whereby
the strands were twisted preparatory to
plating. At the opposite end was the
single crank or windlass, to the spindle Of
which the diverging strands were fastened.
It was in like manner secured to an up
right post set in heavy slab or log, one
end resting upon ground pulleys, the other
dragging heavily on the ground. so MS to
keep the strands well distended. Then
there was the same three.pronged stick,
used by the platter for adjusting the plat
at the proper angle; and when the rope
was finished, it was in like manner drawn
rapidly aud tightly across convenient
post or snping to prevent it from curling
into knots or kinks Tho same process
and tho same appliances might have been
witnessed among the same early tobacco
planters of Virginia in Queen Eizabeth's
time.
Tho mode Of thrashing and winnowing
grain in the agricultural districts of China,
is precisely that still in use in some of the
remote mountain counties of Western
North Carolina. The fail is nearly dsnti.
cal. The process of separating the grain
from the chaif is precisely the same.
There is the same circular sieve suspended
from the tops of three wooden sticks
securely braced against each other so as to
form n kind of tripod. The sieve is oscil.
lated by two small boys, by means of ropes
fastened to the opposite sides. The wind
blasts are made by swinging a sheet of
cloth in semicircle, two stalwart men
holding opposite upper corners ana sides.
These are only n fow of the many coinci-
dences that have fallen under my personal
observation. Doubtless they seem very
trivial, and if this dispatch should receive
more than hasty glance, and the usual
ackuow ledgment, unnccompanicd by an
| intimation that its place in tho archives Of
the Department might DO occupied by
papers of more practical interest, shall be
somewhat disappointed. Nevertheless, to
my MUD, they are not without significance.
On the contrary, they are, as conceive,
very little less suggestive than those
belonging to prehistoric age. And we
know that such Identities, in tho external
forms of art, when discovered by some
antiquary, amid The ruins ofextinct civilzs-
ton, never fail to excite discussion. Ono
class of inquirers, reasoning inducively,
have no difficulty in reaching the couclu-
common origin in Asia Minor. Another
class, reasoning inductvely, as easily roach
just the opposite conclusion, namely, that
man is Indigenous to tho soil he inhnbts.
But we know that nothing has been proven
| on either side beyond the TACT (hdmitted IN
the premises of buth) that different races
and peoples, however diverse MS to territory
and civilization, possess much in common.
Nor does an intelligent belief in the unity
of the human race necessarily presuppose
the acceptance of either theory hero alluded
to. For tho advocates Of both may unite
in the conclusion that there exists COM
mon source Of inspiration, peculiar to no
ono race or locality, and which operates by
fixed aud uniform laws throughout tho
entire realm Of mind, whether ia China or
North America, whether in Palestine or
Peru, and whs'her in year 1881 or thou
sands Of years before.
WILLIAM l.. ScRuoos, Consul
UNITED STATES CONSULATE.
Canton, May 2, 1881.
Tho Americans are an ingenious people.
tl,rl ,1l.