Morning journal and courier., 1884-01-26

burial day and place to be determined upon by the priest There is no such thing in China as general receiving vault, or even a cemetery. Consequently interments are often long delayed,-especially if the family is wealthy one, and the priest thinks his oh Ances of fat fee are promising.''
 We passed on, and after examining some of the beautiful furs which are so generally worn by the Chinese in the winter in lieu of artificial means of generating heat, paused in front of shop where some of the delicate Chinese carving was being done. Suddenly voice at my elbow remarked oficiously: ''This be ivory. Now, you see"-''Now you clear right out of this,' interpolated my friend, seizing the speaker by the collar, and following him several rods to emphasize the peremptery command. When he had re- turned, he said: ''It is one of those irre- pressible Chinese guides. The city swarms with them, and sometimes it is we'll nigh inn possible to shake them of. They will fol- low person for miles, dispensing unsolicited information, and studying in every way to render him some assistance which he can make the basis of claim for scumshaw' money"
 What shall I say of the native beggar? Such abject squaIor I never saw anywhere else. If an American professional beggar could copy the makeup and bearing of one of these Chinese mendicants, his fortune would be made. As 1t was a pleasant day GA0Y were out HI IOrC6. COuuG6u HS many as fifteen in distance of one block, and frequently they would be seated or standing within ten feet of each other. They were clad literally in filthy rags" and each one carried before him bowl-shaped basket about a foot in diameter. These baskets would usually contain few cash, perhaps a dirty bone, the core of persimmon, rotten sweet potato and some such offerings. Some were exhibiting deformities and horrible sores, such as would make a sensitive person weak in the knees simply to look upon.
 ''Lah le lung!" shouted an urchiu at us as we walked along and then scampered back out of our reach. My piloting friend trans lated the epithet as 'Thief."
 We now emerged into 8 more open place, where were located the Shanghai tea houses. Some of these were, according to the Chinese way of looking at things, quite swell; but presume no American reader will regret his inability to patronize them when say that pools of death breeding, stagnant water and piles of otfal were on every side of the spa- cious balconies. The vicinity was literally packed with people having much the appear ance of an American town when "taken in'' by tenth-rate circus, was given to under stand, however, that this was daily scene, and now understood the wisdom of the in junction to conceal my valuables. Frequent ly it was all we could do 70 elbow our way through the crowd, and I could not help
  might prove.
 Here was collection of doctors, veritable quacks worse than anything In America even. They were exhibiting all manner of charms and suppositious cures that must ex cite the supreme contempt of any one pcs sessed of the first principles of intelligence. One of these men had barred his breast, and was beating himself furiously with huge iron wedge. From repetition of this practice the beaten surface of his body had become pur- pie Here were fortune tellers trying to look mysterious and thereby inveigle some one gambling dens and lotteries. Even the poor est of the Chinese gamble, albeit they can only gather together few cash to devote to this amusement. The most representative of these chance games is very easily described. It consists simply of wheel, made to revolve In different directions from it's axes radiate spars. upon which the natives lay Q couple of cash each. Providing the pointer, which is propelled by means of the revolution of the wheel stops on one of these spars upon which two cash have been de- posited, the lucky man walks of with the whole pile, thus scooping in sometimes cent and half at one fell swoop. There were good many picture exhibitions, Punch and Judy shows, etc., but these are al ways ignored by foreigners, since they are invariably inde- cent But most interesting of all were the exhibitions of native iugglery and sleight of hand. Edging our way into one of the densest crowds We were promptly espled by the performer, and made the butt of several observ rvations on the subject of foreigners. Hundreds of eyes were immediately directed at us, but we endured the scrutiny, and pushed nearer in order that we might see the exhibition. The performer, who was a skin ny celestial stripped to the waist, was &C., companied by his wife and daughters, whose feet were so small that they had to lean up
 L~ k1nTw equilibrium. Besides these, there was boy who went about begging for cash. A ring had been formed, and into this the spectators would throw the cash. The money would lie on the ground until good deal had ac- when the boy would gather 1t up. the proprietor would start on tour around the arena, and make personal in loud voice. Of course under such circumstances the person appealed to could not well refuse, and cash or two would be tossed into the circle. 'If you want to see him perform" said my friend, ''yoa had best bestow say twenty cash upon him and insist that he begin Otherwise he will keep on making personal appeals and pre- tending to get ready for an hour yet Tax ing advantage of the suggestion, did as directed, and presently the show began. We only stayed few minutes, but what we saw was really marvelous,-quitea as ineXpl1cabie as any thing l ever saw Hermann do, and this native magician was nearly naked, while Hermann wears full dress. He apparently, or really, swallowed eight chines teacaps of uniform size, and subsequently, ejec!ed them from his mouth uninjured. He also did some fire, eating that created some doubt in my mind as to whether he was really human being or not. Occasionally during the exer- else he would refresh himself by taking draughts from the nose of teapot which sat on the table beside him. Every Chinaman carries with him teapot, wrapped in canvas or straw to preserve the heat
 It seemed good at last to escape from the horrible smells which I shall assufedly never revisit, and get back into the foreign city.
 EMILE.