The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1883-12-01


when Chinese babies, having finished
drinking tea from them, throw them to
the floor.
They are very persistent, and as pa
tient watching for a trade as is cat
watching at a rat-hole. They take in
finite pains to show You all their wares
which they carry around on their heads
in huge clothes baskets. They will I'M
load a whole basket of frail things.
and are as polite if at the end of an
hour you have bought nothing, as if
their labor had been well rewarded.
They all carry around face powder,
of a chalky white, made of fish-bone,
and tablets of rouge, which they are
fond of giving to lady customers who
buy generously of their wares.
One day, to induce a patroness to
buy some of the powder and paint,
Quong Lung, after telling her how
pretty it would make her, to assure
her Of the fact, smcarcd his own yell
low face with the white powder, pen
cilcd his arcned eyebrows into dis
tinct and dead-black bow, with soor-
ma-stick, and added the fin
ishing touch of comicality by
painting his yellow lips a
glowing red, and making bright red,
round spots on his cheeks and chin.
Painted thus, with his long, black queue,
blue smock and red sash, serving as sus-
penders, he made quaint picture stand
ing against the dull-colored doorway of
the hall of the adobe house. He failed
thus 10 prove the worth of his cosmetics
as beaufihers, and went good-naturedly
off, without rubbing of the paint and
powder.
Their rouge is very peculiar. 1t is a
green, CLASSY looking tablet, which,
when they moisten by touching the
finger first to the tongue, then to the
tablet, rubs off beautiful vivid rose
color, butts CHASTITY and unnatural on
the skin.
Quong Lung performed the unartistic
work on his face by the aid of little
mirror, set in box full of mimic reeds,
to represent lake, with a toy-turtle rest
ing on its CLASSY surface, whose head
and legs kept jerking in and out of its
shell. in perpetual motion. by aid OF
mercury. This is favorite Chinese toy.
Another common toy is little ivory
acrobat who cuts fantastic capers on a
horizontal bar. The Cinnamon pick
up slang very readily. and love to tell
one to make the acrobat sstnrn his toes
to the moon" phrase which, while it
describes very accurately one of the
most comical postures of the ivory aero
bat, is also Western slang for dying.
1t is interesting to the stranger to
meet two or three Cinnamon walking
along together chanting to each other in
stead of talking in conversational tone.
They sing everything TO each other in a
reeitative strain. They have chiIdlike
voices usually; and bearded China
man is almost as rare as a bearded
woman. They are so small in height
and so slight that the forms Of the old
est men look childlike, and their faces
are so thin and yellow and their eyes
so dull that the faces of the youngest
bows look like old men.
When their days work is done. the
old men amuse themselves by playing
ball and flying kites, which is consid-
cred very praiseworthy pastime.
They have legend that many centu-
ries ago great earthquake shook the
Chinese Empire to its center, and only
those escaped death who were engaged
at the moment in flying kites. They
have looked upon it ever since as an
occupation which must be pleasing to
the gods.
The older Chinaman grows, the
more time he gives to play-whilc the
youth work without relaxation. They
make lifc-work of carrying out the
advice of the adage: Business before
pleasure.
Like the French, the Chinese find it
difficult to pronounce in English
words, and make some mistakes, as
amusing as that of French priest,
who, in concluding an English sermon,
tried to say, "Now we will pray for a
crown in Heaven" but said, s.Now We
viii play for clown in Heaven" The
Cinnamon, also, pronounce r like L.
There are many houses in the Rocky
Mountain valleys built Of red granite
boulders, and known not as ssstone
houses but houses. The China
men call these clock howses;" and, as
they pronounce 9 like CT, one can never
tell, if asking direction of them,
whether clock howse" means a rock
or log house. Rice, which they live
upon, they call slice
The Cinnamon are much annoyed by
dogs. They are timid and afraid of
them. The dogs soon learn this and
take delight in barking at them. 1t
is provocative of both mirth and indig-
nation to see five or six dogs running
at an unoifensive Chinaman, barking
frantically, making little jumps at the
end of his long, swinging queue, catch
ing it to shake and worry it with their
| teeth.
The Indians have great hatred and
contempt for Cinnamon. because they
are little and timid. Recently, party
of thirty Celestials under the direction
of two white men, went out
to work ON road in Ida
no. The Indians fell upon them and
massacreed the white men, but con-
tented themselves by merely cutting off
the queues of the Cinnamon and sending