Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-04-13
CHINA AND ITS pE0pLE.7
ODD suPeRsTiTloNs AND NOTIONS
OF THE CELeSTIAls.

Shanghai, tho Paris Of Asia--Boat Life on
tho Great River Yane-tsc-Kiane-Pecu
liar Belief Concerning tho Making Of
| Medicine in America.
Shanghai Is about midway on the Pa
cific coast between tho northern and
southern boundaries OF China. Itis near
the mouth Of, though not on, the great
river, the Yang g-tse- -Kiang, which divides
the empire into two equal portions, and
which forms the great central avenue Of
trade. This Is one Of the greatest and
one Of the longest rivers of the world,
and IL vies with the Nile In the rich de-
posits which II carries down from tho
mountains Of Thlbet and spreads over the
rich plains Of China. Its waters where
1t enters the sea are as yellow as clay, and
their contents are, l am told, as rich as
guano. They form n fertilizer which the
Chinese use by irrigation, so that it Is
spread over much Of the 54S, 900 square
miles which forms Its basin and makes
this land produce from two to three crops
per year.
/ LIFE on THE YANG-TsE -K1ANG.
Tho Yang-tse Kiang has fall nearly
double that Of the Nile or the Amazon.
1t is so wide at its mouth that when we
sailed up it in coming to Shanghai wo
for long way were hardly able to see
the banks, and this width extends up
the river for hundreds of miles. II il
navigablc for ocean steamers to Hankow,
city Of the size Of Chicago, which is
situated on its banks 600 miles above
1900 miles up its winding course.
Above this there are gorgcs and rapids
which the foreigners now think can be
passed, and there will then be an OPEN
ing into tho interior of China by this
means for moro than 1000 miles, Tho
Yang -tse- -Kiang is so long that it would
reach from San Francisco to New York
and push its way out into the Atlantic
II II could be stretched out upon q plano
Of tho face Of tho United States. II Is
longer than tho distance from New York
TO Liverpool, and 1t is said to be the
best stream in the world as to tho ar
rangcment of its branches. Its boat
population il numbered by hundreds OF
thousands, and it is city hundreds of
miles In length, made up Of junks, ships
and bargcs. These Gl.s,aso junks are
IgH seou,,y painted and carved. They
have the same style of sails and masts
that were used thousands OF years ngo,
and their sails are immense sheets Of
cotton patched together and stretched
on rods Of bamboo which look like fish
ing poles. The sailors arc pig tailed
men In fat clothes of cotton who sing in
cracked gibberish as they work, and
who understand how TO manage their
rudo sails so well that they can often
pass ships of more modern make. All
of the Chinese boats have pair Of eyes
painted on the sides of their prows, and
the Chinese sailor would no more think
of navigating without these than no
would think of eating without chop
sticks. If asked the reason he replies:
"No have eyes, no can see. No can
sec no can 60"
Bishop Fowler, while sailing up the
Pie lio to Peking, happened to sit with
his legs hanging over the boat so that
they covered up ono eye. He noticed
that the sailors were uneasy, and they at
last came 30 him and asked him 90 move
his legs, as the ship could not SEQ to go.
CELESTIAL suPERSrlTIoNS.
The Chinese are full of superstitlons
and many of them firmly believe that
the foreigners make medicines out of
human beings. The massacre at Tien-
Tsin in 1870, in which twenty foreigners
were killed and among them a number
of French nuns, was caused by the re-
port that the sisters were killing children
TO get their hearts and eyes for medical
purposes, and the trouble in Corea last
spring was caused by the circulation of
tho stories that the missionaries were
grinding up childrcns bones TO mako
medicine. This report was started by
the Chinese, and the latest attempt of
the kind l find today hero ut Shanghai.
1t appears In n tri-monthly illustrated
magazine which tho Chinese publish and
which sells for five cents n copy. This
| contains full description of how the
| foreigners mako their medicine, with
| ghastly illustrations of tho severed
trunks and tho cut up limbs of human
beings. In ono cut men in American
clothes arc bending over great furnaces
in which the heads and legs Of men arc
boiling, and beside which great baskets
and tubs of cut up humans lie. The mel
are stirring the steaming mass, and the
picture makes one think Of the witches
caldron in Macbeth"
/ The Chinese themselves do not believe
In dissection and there is no body snatch
ing here. They believe that the heart i
tho seat Of thought, that tho soul exist
I'm the liver and that tho gall bladder 4
the seal of courage For this reason tn
gall bladdcrs of tigers are eaten by sol
diers to inspire them with courage. Tn
| Chinese doctor ranks no higher than tn
ordinary skilled workman. Ho gets from
fifteen TO twenty cents a visit, and h
often takes patients on condition that h
will euro them within certain time o
no pay. He never sees his female pa
tients except behind screen, and ~
does not pay second visit unless II
Is invited His pay is called 'goldel
thanks" and the orthodox way of send
ing 1t to him is wrapped in red paper
The dentists look upon pulled teeth u
trophies, and they go about with neck
laces of decayed teeth about their necks
or with them strung upon strings an
tied to sticks. Toothache is supposed t
come from n worm in the tooth, and ther
are set of female doctors who make
business of extracting these worms
When the nerve is exposed they take thj
out and call it the worm, and when nc
they use sleight-of-hand by whic
they make their patients believe certai
worms, which they show them, com
from their teeth. | have heard person
tell of Cinnamon who claimed TO hay
had ten worms taken from their mouth
in q single day, and saw woman az
tually atwork upon patient in the stre(
here. China is rs full of superstition Q
| the Mnst India lslnnls and the neonl