The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-09-04
There is no parliament, nothing to hamper or
rationalize the whims of the. king
Don't the people ever revolt?'

There is no parliament, nothing to hamper or
ratonalize the whims of the king
''Don't the people ever revolt?'
"Qh, no. They are not politicians. You
see there are no democrats and republicans
DO tories and wings. They are all one party,
dists, Baptsts, Episcopalians, Catholics, Pres
byterians--none of that. They have one re-
llgion, idolatrous and all that, but promising
hereafter, q reward for good and i'll, and it
answers every purpose. They are one people.
1t IS rather curious fact, though, that their
dialects are SO strongly marked that q China
man from one province cannot understand one
from another province. They make amedium
of pigeon English. The written language is
exactly the same all over the empire,
Another thing that foreigner will miss
there is Sunday. There is no day of rest. Tho
only holiday is Chinese New Year. They
have lunar months, and New Year comes
about the last of January or first of February.
The holiday lasts about three days"
''What about their language?"
There is separate character for each word,
and sometimes one character means an entire
phrase or sentence. There are 1900 words
and it takes three years or more to learn all.
"What about the rice farms?"
"Pretty much as they are in South Carolina
but more scientific. Rice is the only thing
that is not taxed, but it cannot be exported.
There is q severe law against it"
'rAny minerals in China?"
sit would be hard to give an accurate idea,
as the mines are all in the interior and are
badly worked. They all belong to the govern
ment."
"What is the national gamer"
"Kite flying. Old and young fly kites. The
national mode of execution is beheading. Pun
ishment is severe. Theft is punished with
death, as is infidelity in man or wife. They
have theaters, but the companies 90 from town
to town and usually build q new theater in
each town. They arc mathouses and cost very
little. When Chinaman builds n house he
puts up the mat shelter first TO keep off the
and rain, and builds his house without using
n nail. The larger timbers are bamboo and
| they are tied together. In summer there is q
| false mat roof over the othor roof, foot SO
above it, and this makes it far moro pleasant
| than it would be otherwise"
"What about the courts?"
'There is land for the rich and land for
the poor. You set what you pay for II you
| pay the judge more than the other fellow does
you win the suit. There is no jury, and the
| judge can mako you confess anything-by tor
ture' 49,
| "What do they do with their dead?"
| "Bury them after keeping tbem above
ground as long as possible. The dead-houses
are owned by the priests The dead mans
relatives give the priest so much to say chin
Gin over the body, and the body is kept out Cor
| weeks. One of the most famous lighthouses
in the empire is i'll Honam, just across the
| ChulSiang from Canton. The tenn
In nc Canton has Is 600 idols. There IS head
ache idol toothache idol, and so on, so when
! Cinnamon wants to get rid OF his disease he
| buys Josh paper" from the priest and burns it
before his idol. They are not muscans,about
4 tie Only Instruments being a one-string fiddle
aud tho inevitable gong. Their theaser pieces
! are all historical. Another queer idea is this:
| The government does not feed prisoners con-
| fined in jail. The prisoners relatives and
! friends bring him food and drink, or
| If he has none he simply starves TO death.
"GheY are very ingenious in their forms OF
punishments. One of the most common pun
ishments is the Gang Two boards arc made
to fit together around your neck, so that when
fastened on your neck is in the middle of q fiat
board about four feet square. You can't lie
down to rest, nor can you get your hands to
your mouth. 1t doesn't look horrible, but it
is. One great advantage the rich man has in
China
"Whats tbat?"
"You can hire somebody to suffer your pun
ishment for you. Frequently one man is be-
headed for another. III the condemned crimi-
nal is rich, or il he has rich relatives, they
make up about two hundred dollars, go to
some poor cooie that can hardly support his
family and his aged parents, and for love of his
family and the two hundred dollars. he will
take your place and be beheaded.
It's an easy thing to get rich il you only have q
start. Three per cent month is the common
rate of interest They arc honest, reliable
people, too, as a general thing, hard workers
and never complain. They are a temperate
people, never get drunk. Their beverage is
sam sho' kind of rice beer. They are easily
led, and eternally being led into trouble by
some scheming mandarin"
"And what about the merchant sergice?"
"Well. people don't generally know enough
about ships to appreciate the stupidity in put
ting the shell outside of a ship together first,
aud puttngsthe frame in afterward. With us,
building ship IS like building house, tho
frame first and covering afterward but with
them it is reversed. Their boats are flat-bot-
toned, no keel and very large ruddet.
The Chinese invented the center board.
Their masts are a single pole, and the sails
arc square mats woven OF grass and stilfened
with bamboo. A set OF sails lasts about aycar.
Steam is gradually coming into use now,
but the steamships are all foreign make and
belong to foreigners. Those native junks are
queer things, very queer things"