The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-12-07
ORIENTAL KITES.
CHICAGO CHINAMEN KEEPING
n NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
Taking Large Kites Of Many Gro
tesIuc Forms Out on the
Prairie and Flying Them
~ Queer Exhibition.

have been witnessed on one Of the big
! vacant lots on the west side. From an
early hour on tho day in question all oc-
%caslonal Chinaman carrying an unwicldy
and mysterious looking bundle took one
OF the Madison Or Randolph street cars
and went to the end Of the route. Each
one as he arrived d smountcd and wendell
his way in Il westerly direction, but none
OF the busy conductors was aware that a
commo point was their destination.
Such wa; the case, however, and before
strongly they were gathered to the nun
Der of a score or moe on a sloping ricce
Of ground a short distance outside the
city limits.
Ihcn a queer movement began. Each
celestial. having made q variety of clab-
crate salu ations toward the east, turned
his attention to his parcel and com
menccd to gravcly undo the fastenings. A
Ne"s repo. ter, VIII, happened to be an
unseen observer, fully expected to see a
quantity of long. tailed shirts, linen cuffs,
collars, etc, produced and a new method
of bleaching exhibited to his wondering
gaze. Eut a still greater surprise was in
store. From each newspaper p a
brand-ncw and elaboratcly constructed
paper kite was unfoldcd: and in a few
moments the cords were adjusted, and a
score of pig-tails were streaming in tho
morning breeze as the oricntals scam
prrcd nimbly around in every dire ton
tryingto raise the wind md hoist their
strange playthings upon thcir wings.
AMI a curious looking batch of c%ontriv.
anccs they were. 1t vas no ordinary
school-boy's kite that John (hinaman
was disport ng himself with on the Chi
cago parties this line morning. They
were q: all shapes and sizes, cunningly
manuea turcd and deliberately ora
IN ,nted. Eirds, fish, scrpcnts, dragons,
and, in fact, every kind of imaginable
animal and reptile were represented.
enc big laundryman, with a huge
queue and the most curly pointed Of
wooden shoes, kicked up his heels like q
two-ycar colt MS he bounded over the
soft turf at the end of n string attached
to n kite that res mbled an immense pair
of src tales. He jabbcrcd continually
in ~ language that seemed made up Of
nothing but three or four words that
sounded like the monotOnous tones of a
v gorously hammered gong to a COM
panion who was footing an arrangement
meant to resemble an eel not less than
tift' Ell feet long. Another child of the
sun was Haunting Il paper eagle with
p!umagc Of a t1arlng yellow, and a third
carried a pcculiar-looking eight-sided
figure, VIII CHI was probably made in i'm
itation Of some of the diagrams produced
by the early Chinese cmperors, some of
whom had mathematical ~pretens:ons.
IL lrupeds, bipeds, and reptiles of
almost G cry species were represented, all
being gaudily painted and decorated,
One ludicvous looking Monaghan, with
Il face ! Ike Il pumpkin with a cash in the
center of It, hung OF to what looked like
a Buddhist idol almost rs ugly Us him
self. He seemed in high glee as the
monstrous image tloated rap d.y upward,
its huge head and shoulders bobbing from
to side, while it's glass eyes seemed
to twinkle like stars rs they now and
then caught the rays of the morning sun.
One low, broad -shouldered fellow had a
larger bundle than any of the rest and
cnt some distance Off from the main
crowd to opcn it. Five minutes latcS
what seemed to be a flock of hawks was
lowering over the yellow-faccd heather,
their beaks and talons bent downward as
if prepared to alight on some object un-
derneath. They were all of paper, and
by an ingenious continuance controlled
by one string.
For over an hour these queer gambols
were kept up, and then the kites were
recalled, and the owners, after again in
dulging in similar eXtravagant aid fam
tastic salutations to those with which
they began proceedings, disappeared as
quietly as they had come.
At first when this extraordinary scene
vas presented to the eyes of the wonder
idea that the Cinnamon must have taken
lon va Nf fhaIr canaa. onl fhot cDroo w
and extraordinary species of insanity had
developed among the Eastcrns. But such
was not the case. , The Cinnamon were
observing one of their nationa
holidays-the ninth day Of the ninth
month-which in their own land is cele-
by kitc-fying on the hilltops. The
Chinese tell the following story in cxpla-
nation Of their choosing particular date
for the observance OF this custom: In an
tim, n certain MN named Hing
Shay was informed by one of the wise
men Of his locality that some dire ca
unity would befall his household on the
date in question. lie Immediately in
formed his family Of the impending ruin.
INC on the morning of the mu: h-dreadcd
day rep tired with all his relations to a
hill and spent the time as
best he could. On returning home that
evening he found all his domestic ami
mails dead. The Chinaman considered
himself lucky to have escaped with his
and, the story having got around,
h: came to be looked upon ~ one in
whose behalf a miracle had been per-
Ever since then Cinnamon,
wherever they are scattered and when
The opportunity offers, celebrate the ninth
lay of the ninth month by propagating
he evil spirits in the same manner that