The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1886-04-20
A DENVER JOss-HoUsE.
Its OrnamentatlOns and What They
neutrality-suspicious. for Sign.
fAN h Painters. is

kto NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. anu w ndC lucy
Signity..SuggestiOns for Sign
tAS Painters. iis
Denver's Chinatown, like all well-reg
ulated collections of Chinese houses and
Inhabitants, has a juss.house. This JOSS
house is unpretentious as to size, but
very bold and cheeky as to the manner
in which it forces itself upon public at
teniion.
1t is situated on Wazee street, in close
proximity to the dwellings Of the Chi.
ness women, and 1t is, as such affairs 60
in Christian country, "daisy."
To the casual observer the joss.house
looks like either two storied Baruer
shop or small dime museum. 1t Is
gaylv painted, and the prepondennce Of
red in the decoration gives the barber
shop idea rather the choice with guess
ers, but the more studious will at once
notice that it has upon the front of its
second story q balcony, and the oldest
patron of those establishments where q
man can get shave, a little blood-let.
ting and q summary OF the current his
tory of the world, all at the same time,
for Is cents, never remembers seeing a
tonsorial parlor with bslcony This
balcony is an argument in favor Of the
dime musem theory, for, as is we'll
know it is customary for those estab-
lishments 10 have brass band station
ed upon balcony we'll out OF reach ol
an lniuriated populace, and whose mis-
sion It is TO make such music that the
listeners, unless stone deaf, are glad to
give up dime 10 order to get inside and
out of hearing Of oil, excepting the dull
thud Of the base drum. Fash
On festive occasions the balcony oI
the joss-house is lurther oruamented by
Chinese lanterns, and these lanterns are
what give the snap away and esta ablishes
the identity OF the building as place oil
varship. e
The joss in the Denver house is ar
object OF mystery, and there is discus
sion ss to whether the object popularly
known as joss Is really he Some who
profess TO he we'll informed say that il
is simply Confucius with couple of his
friends-for there are three of the kind
while others are equally strong In the
opinion thatitis Joss. sWa siR
Whatever tits intended for, it is sim
ply picture, and 10 any other place
might be taken for circus advertise
ment. 1t hangs against the partition al
the southern end of the house. and might
as veil be the trade mark for Q superior
brand of tea, go far as inspiring any
feeling OF awe in the mind OF any but 9
Chinaman.
Tue three q yureS upon the picture are
rather pleasant-looking gentlemen, .th,
center one having long mustache
which reminds one OF Cool Burgess and
several other OF the old-time minstre
men as thew we're want to appear when
of duty and with the burnt cork wash
ed from their faces they would stanJ
upon the hotel steps Of country towns
and mash or seek to mash the suscepti
BILE rustic maidens.
At the right and left of the central a.
ure are two quite commonplace-look
individuals, with nothing at all remarka
BILE in their styles other than their clothes
which ere gaudy 10 the extreme.
And there they hang and stare ant
stare. and will probably continue so I,
do until the joss.house is burned down
is removed, or the joss gets GO fade,
and worn that be has to be surpersede
by brand new god.
In front OF him is large table Ollie
with Chinese dsinties OF various kind
and qualities 1t is rather reflection
upon the average Chinese opinion @
Joss shre wdness, this spread. for . larg
majority of the viands set forth for hi
delec,atioH are counterfeits Of the ranh
est kind. There are various kinds Q
shellhsh, male apparently Of pasfeboaro
and lots OF fruit of the same sbam style
There are nuts which may be real, an
oranges which certainly are not, and ther
are many things there the intention {
~hich the uninitiated looker-on canno
catch on to. "a ..
But there Is real whisky OF Chimes
distillation made from rice, and possibl
by Oriental moonshiners. These cup
Of whisky stand and collect dust, an
JOSS never touches them, bis position q
painted parsonage forcing him to q
extreme habit OF abstinence. And ther
Ia incense, but II Joss appetite for Il
cense is at all sharp be must be in acor
stantly unsaiisfed state. Little bits {
papers send forth stream OF smoke lib
that from an expiring match, and ii
hard work for anybod executing Jos
who stands there and watches all ii
time, to discover that there Is any smok
at all. saE
When New Years comes around Jot
is we'll remembered The table is er
larged and many luxuries. real and bt
> gus, are added, and one or two addition,
apers are lighted, and during the perio
OF the holiday the smoke can be seen an
smelt. This, With crowd OF Cau0asia
visitors larger than usual, makes up tt
respect shown to joss on New Years
There are great many josses In Ch
natown. Hardly household is comple'
without one, and some of them he,
girls for the right and left bowers to 1t
central figure. Any ordinary sign.paiI
ter can get up pretty respectable.looi
ing joss, hut one specimen lasts 80 Ion
that the trade is probably not extensi'
enough to induce any young house-p pail
ter to make q speciality Of that line. III
profits accruing from painting one iro
fence around private lot 10 cemeter
would probably be much greater tba
from the production OF dozen ever
day josses.-Denuer 7ribune-Rei ubl
. can. Is
HThe Scientific American says If
bottle of the oil OF pennyroyal is lie