Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-07-13

Cut half q pound, or q quarter II No,
wish. and pay fifty or twenty-five cash
which, respectively, equal five and
two-and-a-half cents of American
money. The notices pasted up in this
and other shops are suggestive: 1--WE
cheat neither young nor old;' May
wealthy customers visit us often; As
fast as the wheels may our goods circu-
late;" "N1ay wealth increase in my
presence.
Each shop has, usually under the ta-
bic or the counter outside, q shrine ded-
icated to the god Of wealth, before
which incense is burned morning and
evening: and Oh the first and fifteenth OF
each month, when offerings of food also
are made, candles are burned before it
Dried fish Of many kinds are sold III
the stores, but fresh fish. and sea-food
generally, are usually sold by men who
bring them from a great distance, early
in the morning or afternoon, in baskets.
Behind these they squat, and hawk
their wares in loud tones. That is the
reason why Chinese market is so
noisy and animated. You ask the price
of a shad, for instance, or of crabs. and
the dealer raises the price of an ounce
by so many cash, which you have to
beat down. What Adam Smith called
the "higgling Of the market" exists
here in its perfection. After wasting
considerable time in talking and split
ting differences, you at last decide to
buy, or the trader concludes to sell.
But, however much you congratulate
yourself on having made good bargain,
YOU cannot be certain that others may
not make much better bargains with the
same man. Vegetables are sold by
other dealers, and the same process
must be gone through before you can
make a fair purchase. Grocery stores
are plenty, and there you will find all
kinds of sauces, preserves, sugars, and
so forth, in fact whatever is dealt in by
grocers in America
Beef is not often eaten by the Chi
nese, on account OF their religious scru-
pies. most Of them being tinged, more
or less, with Buddhism, but especially
because the OK is used in blowing. Oc-
casionally you will find a stall for the
sale of beef. Through the same preiu-
dice, little cows milk is used by the
people, and that little is made into thin
cakes, we'll sailed, to be taken as rel
ish. But kind Of cheese is made of
bean curd. The beans are ground in
hand-mills and soaked in water, then
strained and steamed. The result is
perfectly white cakes, something like
blanc-mange. It is eaten with shrimp
sauce. This cake is also dried There
is also a sauce made from beans.
Perhaps you wonder why have not
described the cats, kittens, and dogs,
which are said to be the common food
Of the Chinese people. The reason is
because no such things are to be found
III the market. In fact, L know OF no
place where such articles Of food can be
had, except in a low part of Canton,
where people who are almost starved
will buy almost anything to sustain life.
The Chinese people live on wholesome
food, as you will learn from good au-
thorities. They eat rice as you eat
bread. They make cakes Of wheat, too.
Potatoes, cabbages, greens, melons:
and the different cereals are raised in
great plenty and sold comparatively
cheap. The reason why things are sold
so cheaply there, compared to the prices
in America, is because gold and silver,
being wholly imported, are very dear.
Prices will rise there quickly enough as
soon as they have exchanged their tea
and silk for a great quantity Of those
metals ST. Nicholas