Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1881-09-09
Japanese and Chinese.

Cyrus w. Field, speaking OF his re-
cont tour Of the globe in the Erenin6
M1i, remarks that the greatest annoy
ance he met in the entire round was ut
the New York Custom House. l had
to deal, he says, with officers of the
custom houses of japan, China, Straits
Settlements, British Burmnb, India,
Arabia. Egypt. Italy. France and Eng.
land, but nowhere was my baggage
opened and examined except at New
York. The treatment people arriving
from foreign countries suffer at the New
York Custom House is a disgrace to
the country. Why, the officers are
polite enough, but they make you
swear what your baggage contains and
then they open and examine it to see if
there is nothing but wearing apparel
in it, just az if they believed you had
perjured yourself. If baggage is to be
examined then the requirement of an
oath should be abandoned in order to
avoid needless insult to people. The
regulations under which the Custom
House officers do their work need thor
ough overhauling. The Japanese are
enc of the cleanliest people on earth.
1t is the custom of the whole nation to
bathe daily. The most refined Japa-
nese are extremely courteous and
agreeable people. We were invited to
visit Japanese merchant, with whom
l was much pleased. Our reception
was AS curious as it was cordial. We
had to remove our shoes at the door and
enter and make our visit in our stock
ing feet. Our host introduced rs to three
Of his wives. do not know how many
more he had. 1t will give you some
idea OF the elegance OF our entertain
ment il l tell you that the tea we drank
was made before Us in a golden tea
kettle. In Japan many people obtain
their whole subsistence from the water,
and vast number live upon it alto
gether; but at Canton the river was
literally covered with boats of every
conceivable shape. 1t is about seventy.
i've miles from the sea up the Pearl
River to Canton, and when you ap-
proach the city the number of boats is
Incredible. Why, it is said that as
many as one hundred Thousand people
live upon the water at Canton. a vast
multitude of the people remain in their
boats all their lives, eating and sleep.
ing IN them and many children are
born In them. My chief impression of
Canton however is wonder at the clean
Illness OF the city. 1t has more than
a million people and yet it has DO sew
ers. But the filth is collected very
egularly and iaborers bear it away on
their backs every morning to be used
as fertilizer. Tha, great city of dark,
dlngy streets. many of them not more
,nan ten feet wide. is much cleaner and
healthier than New York. Shanghai
and dong Kong are not filthy, and
Siigon, in Cochin China, is cleaner than
New York has been in many years.
But the people do not bathe as fire.
quently as In Japan and they are not as
clean. The Celestials are sinewy and
have great endurance. but they would
DOUBTLESS look less sallow and their
physical condition would improve if
9they We're not restricted to such a mo.
notonous diet. Rice is wholesome
food, but they live almost exclusively
upon rice, and the poorer class have
hardly enough OF that. The dwellings
OF the natives are poor everywhere in
ASA. The only fine private buildings
are the houses of foreign residents.
The pagodas of the great cities OF China
are conspicuous above the hut like
houses OF the people, but they are II uch
inferior to the mosques and tempt, of
India Home journal.
A wealthy Hebrew of New
York, Louis StrasOurQer. has
recently received several notices that
his death had heen ordered by q Social
ist society; an attempt has been made
to kidnap his daughter, and he has been
solemnly assured that his entire family
as we'll as himself would be destroyed
unless he, in good faith. should pay
S60, 900 to man he should meet on q
certain street. A detective finding q
man suspiciously located, arrested him,
upon which the prisoner attempting to
shout him, was killed on the spot. One
Vogel, o picture dealer, has also been
arrested, and admits being the ring
leader in the attempted black.mailing.