Omaha daily bee., 1889-03-10

had uncarpeted floors of stone and it's walls
between the rooms were of cQlored glass
framed in ebony. Some of the curious
shaped panels had pictures painted on them
by Chinese artists and the effect of the whole
was the finish of a fancy store room yet un-
occupied rather than that of Il comfortable
home. Some Of the finest rooms looked out
upon a little lake of lotus plants of perhaps
an acre in extent, and there were glass
covered corridors which ran around this.
The chairs sat against the walls and their un-
bending backs were straight up and down.
There were no cosy hooks such as you find
in our American homes and the soft tlntS OF
our family life were not found in the picture.
Nearly every room contained an American
clock and some were hung with glass chan
deliers. l went into his mothers bedroom.
the best IN the house, l doubt not, and where
How Qua pointed as he said, there my
mamma sleeps-was a platform between four
posts which was covered with straw mating
and upon which was a piece OF porcelaine of
about the shape and size of a s cent loaf of
bread. and this was the pillow of this rich
Chinese lady.
HAD TO ASK HIS MAMA.
In no country in the world have mothers
more power than IN China, and in no place is
filial affection more shown. How Qua,
though forty-nine years old, obeys his mother
as well as when he was ten and he would not
think of going out at night without asking
her permission. Not long ago he was in
Nv w out " " III L ICDlICu o..
81 would like to come but | cannot till I'll
ask my mama" Still How Qua is nearly
fifty and his mother sixty-nine. The
Chinese mother selects the bride for her
son and How Qua during this visit seemed
much prouder Of his mother than his wife.
He introduced us to the old lady, who was
sitting in a chair wrapped up in furs and
powdered and painted. Her seat looked
out upon her flower garden and she mad two
maids beside her. Upon her cloth cap was
n great button Of diamonds as large as the
biggest full blown rose and of ABOUT the
same shape. 1t was made of numerous
stones and the central one was as large as
the egg Of a robin. Pearls hung in her ears,
and what interested us most were the ''gol-
d en- lilies" which shOne out beneath her en-
broldered petticoat. Golden %lilies,'' is the
Chinese expression for the smallest of ladies'
feet, and Madam How Qua had shoes not
more than Two inches IN diameter. Their
soles were round rather than oblong, and
their tops were embroidered in silver ana
silk. They were so small that she could not
walk alone, and this old lady who has, for
years, controlled a fortune greater than that
possessed by Miss Mary Garrett, or Mrs.
Mark Hopkins, cannot move from one room
10 another without the assistance of her
maids.
TYING FEET.
The small feet of the Chinese women is
on of the first sights in China That ~sicfens
the foreigner. In Tientsin and North China
all of the Chinese women compress their
feet, and they hobble about the streets with
canes, resting their heavy forms on the
stump OF the natural foot. There is a
woman here in Canton whose foot is SO
small that the part which goes into the shoe
is not bigger around than a trade dollar,
and the compressed foot is a horrible de-
formity., l had one photographed, and the
sight I'll Is me with disgust. The leg from
the knee to the foot is like q pipe stem.
The beauty of the ballet girls calf is miss
ing, and the skin seems TO be wrapped
around the shin. IL is cracked and rough
and the foot itself seems TO be broken in
two in the middle. The instep was doubled
over upon the heel and the four small toes
were wrapped around undec the sole Of the
foot. The big toe and u part of these four
were all that went into the shoe, and the
Chinese ladies, in reality, walk on their
toes. They have the heel set about in tho
mid die OF the shoe, like the French heel,
and we get French heels and rouge from
TO date back to an empress who had a club
foot, and who made the other ladies OF the
cours. bind up their feet until 1t became the
fash Enable thing. Another explanation
Is that II was adopted to keep Chinese
women fnom gadding, ana If so, IL succeeds.
All Chinese women, except the Manchus or
Tartars, now bind their feet, and 1t is a very
low peasant who has feet of the natural
shape. The pressing Is with bandages, which
are put on the foot when the child is five
years old. They are wrapped so tightly that
the toes are forced into the flesh, that the IN
step is forced up SO that the heel and the big
toe forms q perfect bow, aud 50 thai the Hes b