The St. Johns herald., 1889-09-05


 grown woman nay hare q sole only three and a half inches long.
 Sometimes not only the small toes. but the entire bal Of the foot is twisted and doubled into the arch Of inc foot.
 Fortunately this cruel practice is g. creasing in North China. through the influence Of the Imperial family, which, being Ta. tar and not Chinese, does not practice foot-binding.
 Various theories have been given for the origin Of the custom. but the most probable is that t was introduced with view 10 keep women at home. In this it is most successful.
 The gait Of Q small-footed woman is exactly that of persons waking on tiptoe, and those who have the smallest, most fashionable feet. can only move about with the aid of cane or some other support. Yet Chinese poets speak Of such distor- tions Of 8 part of the body as s'goLden ilies,' and liken the staggering walk produced therefrOm to ''the swaying of the willows"
 The first duty of a Chinese girl, when she is old enough to walk, is to look after her brothers. She is then seen staggering around under the weight of some lusty boy as large as or larger than she is She may get a certain amount Of pleasure from his games and amusements. but the poor thing has none of her own.
 She is never allowed on the streets alone, and when at very rare inter- vals she goes out in company with her parents. she can not run and frolic. With dowrcast eyes and rigid figure she must walk in front, under their watchful supervision. She may neither look to the right nor left, nor exchange word or glance with any person. The Chinese girl must have no acquaintances among the male sex, excepting her father and brothers, and must under no circumstances look at, much less speak to, Q young man.
 Sheds early taught to sew and to perform the simple round of Chinese cooking and the drudgery of the household. Here her education ends. She is never taught to read, yet she is not lacking in native intelligence and ability.
 Such is girlhood in China; pathetic in its dreary round Of drudgery and in the absence Of all brightness ard va riety which mako girl life with us so happy. Yet Chinese girls are often bright, winning, attractive and ahec- tionate. There i5 no reason to believe them to be naturally inferior in any of these qualities to their brothers. But ''she can not be either evil or good is the senseless verdict, and so she lives her weary life d victim to prcju- dice, superstition and cruelty.
 The great event in tAe life of 9 Chi nese girl is, cf course. her marriage This generally ocours a5 the aga Of fi:- teen or sixteen. Sometimes even ear Her. Bu5even in this crisis in Ter exist ence her sad fate does not for 9 mo ment desert her.
 She is mar jed to q ucr whom, the oretically, at least, she basncvcr seen. Generally the encouragement Of the mar riage is Q mere bargain and dlc,4cr be- tween the parents, to determine how much tho father ol the girl shall give in the way Of furniture and outfit, and how much tho parents of the young man are willing to spend for wedding ornaments.
 These arrangements being com pleted, On the day fixed she is placed in the red bridal chair. Her head and face are tied up ia @ bag so closely that she can see nothing, and cases are not rare in which she has died from sufocation.
 She is borno in tho bridal chair, preceded by Q band of music, to the hcme of tho groom. Her girl life has ended. Her lie as a woman has begun.
 In the majority of cases she has only changed the place, not the nature, of her life. She has ceased 10 be the drudge under her fathers roof only to become the slave Of her husband mother. Suicide is often sought by young wives in China as the only means Of escape from the tyranny of mothars-in-l2w. The hus- band can have no affection for his wife unless it may develop after marriage She has no ri hts tho law protects. She may be divorced by a single scrap Of paper written by her husband and sealed with the impress sion of his thumb in ink.
 He never says my wife' with the glad. proud tone common to Christian lands. It is always The contemptible female who presides in the kitchen Should she die chndIess he does not mourn fer her.
 T once remarked to @ Minister of the Chinese Government that as inc