The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1889-01-26
THE POOR IN CHINA,

In America when the labOring man
and his family cannot afford to cut meat
twice each day they are supposed to be
in condition of destitution, says the
Youths Companion. Yet the Chinese
laborer, getting what he calls good
wages, does not eat pound of meat
in a month, although meat is as cheap
in China as i'm America.
His daily food consists of rice steam
ed, cabbage boiled in great deal of
water, and as a relish raw turnip pick
led, but in a strong brine, of which he
has only two or three bites the size OF
dice.
When he wishes to be very extrava-
CANT and is reckless of expense he buys
cash worth of the dried seeds of the
watermelon and munches them as
dessert In summer he eats cucumbers,
raw, skin, prickles aud all, or melons,
not wasting the rind, or, it may be, a
raw carrot or turnip.
His clothing is as simple as his diet.
In the summer it consists of shoes and
stockings, both made oil cotton cloth,
and pair of trousers, without lining,
of the same material He has also a
sort of shirt worn outside the trousers,
but this he wears only on state occa-
sions.
For spring and autumn he wears, if
he can afford it, garments of the same
material, lined. In the winter, in q
climate like New York or Philadelphia,
his trousers are wadded, and his upper
garment is either also wadded or is a
sheepskin tanned with the wool on and
worn with the wool next to his skin.
He scorns underclothing of every
sort. One suit answers for day and
night, since he sleeps in the same
clothes in which he works. Hence he
is not troubled with much baggage
when he goes Oh journey.
Three dollars would probably bay
the entire summer wardrobe of what
might be called comfortably poor
Chinaman-that is, one at work OH
steady wages-whilc 25 or 80 cents
would be more than sufficient to pur.
chase all the rags-and he wears moth.
ing else-of the very poor. In the
winter he always pawns his summer
clothes, and in the same way intrusts
his winter clothing as soon as warm
weather comes to the keeping OF his
"uncle."
His house is built OF either sun-dried
or "broken' brick laid i'm mud, has
never any other than brick. or, more
commonly, a mud floor, windows OF
paper, and door. sufficiently open for
all purposes of ventilation. For q
family of five or six persons there il
seldom, If ever, more than one room.
The entire furniture consists of 9
table, rickety stool or two, aud 8
raised platform of brick covered will
a course mat of reeds, which serves al
bed.
The house has no chimney and nc
fire is used winter or summer, except
the small amount needed for the tamil,
cooking.
The character of the food consumed
in such a family has already been de-
scribed, but something ought to be said
as TO its cost. 1t is a very common
picture in Pekin or any other city in
China TO see little bov or girl going
with few cash and two or three rude
and cheap dishes to purchase the ma.
terials for an evening meal. and the
average cost of such meal as has been
described, for one person, is certainly
not more than two cents of our money
/ am convinced by many years resi-.
dence among the Chinese and careful
study of their habits and life that prob
ably two-thirds of the entire popnla-
ton, or say 200,000,000 of the people,
live on food consumption not ex-
ceeding 81 so of our money month,
or say 5 cents day.