Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-03-29
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ANIMALS in CHINA.


Sacred Creatures.
The Cinnamon regard the beasts Of
burden as sacred animals because thev
occupy the position OF men in the labor
market. To eat the meat OF an or il
deemed sinful. even though these ami
mails should happen to die Of old age or
overwork. The carcasses are either
sofa or given away to the poor, SO that
their owners might not sec their desc
Grafton by personally devouring them.
The mules and the jacxasses, as well as
the OK, are inseparable companions OF
the farmer, They usually live in the
same building with their masters, but
| IN u separate apartment, which is espe-
cially devoted to them.
| BY long association with these ami
mails their owners can easily UNDER
stand their animal language. Thus
the simple paving OF the hoof means
hay is wanted" the common bray
means either water or "oats" The
| loud stamping in the stall means s.gen-
eral starvation" and the following, in
Chinese language, is believed to be UNI
| derstood by the beasts: "Wohn means a
southern path, '-Yee'' northern path;
"Heh" means hurry, and Wee" means
slowly.
Strange to say the above words are
all understood by animals of long service
| and the whip is seldom used except
upon old, worn-out brutes in the hands
OF cruel masters. There being no So
cieties among the Chinese for the pre-
vention of cruelty to animals, it is not
unusual to find an occasional benevo-
lent and rich Individual buying up here
and there old beasts of burden, to turn
them loose in some garden of his own
where they can eat and drink until
they die.
The land is SO valuable in most of the
settled districts of China that hay has
TO be made out of the stalks OF the
grain that was raised for man. Corn
stalks are cut down the moment
the ears of golden corn are
plucked to make food for the animals
The principal hay making stalks are
the millet, which the animals prefer to
any other. The next that comes in for
large share of animal patronage are
the stalks and vines OF sweet poNp.oes
and green peas. The former are dried
into a reddish brown and cut up in two
inch sections, and the latter even finer.
The sweet-potato vines are better en-
joyed by oxen and COWS than by mu es
or horses. Wheat straw is the princi-
pal food for cows and the provender of
the other animals is only given them as
holiday meals or Injuries, as the mules,
jacks and horses will not touch COW food.
Three times day the horses, mules
and jacks are given roasted beans or
Drowned peas, with salt These are
never given raw. Chinese believe these
grains in their raw state would make
the animals sick. The cheapest grain
with which to diet animals are cakes
made from yellow beans the refuse of
the oil manufactures. These cakes
when fresh from the mills weigh about
$50 to 200 pounds each, and owing to
the extremely poor pressing machines
in the oil factories they retain about 40
per cent. of the oil. Whole families
have been known to exist comfortably
upon such cakes for months. Green
grass, even during the summer months,
is seldom given to working animals. 1t
is deemed unhealthy for them, except
for cows, which are usually turned
loose to feed by the wayside or wher-
ever they can fud food. Altogether
the life of Chinese jaclass is not a
happy one at best as it is without
doubt the hardest worked and the poor
est fed animal in the world. Wong, in
N. Y. World.