The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1883-01-04
A CHINESE NEW YEARS cELEBRA
TON,

The Chinese New Years day, in lss2 fell on
the seventeenth of February. They have q
week of holidays at thrir New Year jnst we
dn hctwern the twenty-ifth of December aud
the first Of January.
In the cities they make fine display of fire.
works hut none of tn. Chinese people in Santa
Barbara are rich, there were fire. works
except crackers; hut there were barrels and
lmrrrls full Of these, and the Chinese boys 10
nat fir, of crackers ON their New Years day rs
American boys do cracker at q time, or one
parkage at a fine; they bring ont large box
full, barrel full. and fire them of. package
after package. ~ fast as they can, till the air
is rs full of smoke a. if there were a fire, and
the ground IL covered with red, halfburnsd
ends.
Long before reached the part OF the town
where most of the Chinese live. heard the
noise of the crackers going of: Int the Chinese
did not seem tn mind it at all. They were hop
ping about in the smoke, pouring the crackers
out on the ground, box after box. barrel after
barrel Iun could not their faces clearly
for the smoke. Groups of American boys stood
az near as they dared, looking on. Now and
then one wonld dart in and snatch up one
cracker, OF a string of them. which had not
gone off.
/ thnught the American boys had almost as
much fun out of it the Chinese.
Every Chinese family keeps open hou<e, on
New Years day. They set mp n picture or an
image Of their god, in some prominent place.
anu on u tame III lIpnt W THIS put llttlc
feast of good things to eat. Some for an
offering to the god, and some are for their
friends who call.
IL was amusing to watch the American boys,
darling about from shop to shop. and hons- Ia
house, canning out with their hands full of
queer Chinese things to eat, showing them to
each other, and comparing notes.
"Oh. let me taste that" one boy would e1-
claim, on seeing some new thing; and, Where
did you get itf Which house gives that r.
Then the whole party wonld race off. 10 make a
descent on that house, and get some more. l
Thought il wonderfully hospitable On the part
al the Chinese people to let al these American
boys ran in and out of their houses in that way,
and help themselves from the New Years feast.
Some of the bays were very rude and ill-man-
nrrrd-little better than str-rt brggars; but the
Chinese were polite and generous TO them ALL
In nf the stores there men playing
a game which has been played. under different
names. all over the world. Il consists simply
in one man holding ont his hand, with part of
the fingers CLOSED and part open, and his antag
onist calling ont, instantly, how many of his
iin.rrs arr np-n. One would think nothing
cou q b- easier than this. But when the move
I,rnfS made rapidly, it is next TO impossible
to call out the number quickly without maxim.
a mistake. For every mistake tine of som.
snIt, according ia the agreement of the players.
Is to hr paid. These Chinese men played it
with such vchrm-nce that the perspiration
stncd their frrhrads. and their slirill crying
nu; nf the numbers sounded like unhroken SEN
frnc-s; there did not seem q brrath between
rhrm. They r,->t-d their elbows on the table,
and, with every opening aud closing of the I'm
gers, thrust the for--arm forward To its full
lrE.th. 81 thrre was violent exercise in it,
From ~ kiHese Nrtc Iears Day IN Saafd Bar
tard." BE- III. H." iR ~. Nicholas, for yaHsary.