The Columbus journal., 1889-09-25

at less than q penny . Gay for eacna auic,
and sven In famine times Thousands OF
persons have been kept alive for months
ON about . halfpenny . day each. This
implies the existence Of . high degree Of
culinary skill in the Chinese. Their
modes Of preparing food are thorough
and various. There II no waste: every.
thing is made to do ~ much duty - pos-
sible. What il left is the veriest trife.
The physical condition Of the Chinese
cat OF dog. who has to live on the leav-
ings of the family. shows this. They are
clearly kept on starvation allowances.
The Chinese are not extremely fastid-
ious in regard to food: al ID fish that
comes to their net, and most things come
there sooner or later. Certain disturb
ances Of the human organization, due to
eating diseased meat. r well recog-
nized among the people. but it b con-
sidered better to eat the meat, the cheap
ness of which il certain. and run the risk
Of the consequences, which are not quite
certain, than to buy dear meat, even
with the assurance Of no evil resulta In
OCCOe SbI0 11xO0bO VI 0AA4u40AO "AAVOG A10VO
died of ordinary ailments 10 rather dear
er than that Of those which have in an
epidemic. such rs pleuro-pneumonia.
Another example Of careful, calculating
economy is the construction Of the cook
ing pots and boilers. the bottoms Of
which are as thin as possible. that the
contents ma boil all the sooner, for fuel
is scarce and dear, and consists generally
OF nothing but the stalks and roots Of the
crops, which make a rapid blaze and dis
appear. The business of gathering fuel
is committed to children, for one who
can do nothing else can At least pick up
straws and leaves and weeds. In autumn
and winter a vast army Of fuel CATERERS
spread over the land. Boys ascend trees
and beat them with clubs to shake all
the leaves; the very straws get no time
to show which way the wind blows BE-
fore they are annexed by some collector.
Similarly professional manure collect
ors swarm over all the roads Of the coun-
try. Chinese women carry this minute
economy into their dress. Nothing
comes amiss to them; II it Is not used in
m place it Is in another, where It ap
pears q thing of beauty. Foreign resi-
dents who gave their cast of clothing to
Chinese may be assured the career Of
usefulness Of these garments il at last
about to commence. Chinese wheelbar-
rows squeak for want Of q few drops Of
oil, but to people who have no nerves
the squeak is cheaper than the oil. SINH
larly dirt is cheaper than hot water, and
so, as q rule, the people do not wash.
The motto Cheaper than dirt" which
the soap dealer puts in his windows.
could not be made intelligiblet to the Chi
nesa. To them tie average foreigners
are mere soap wasters.
Scarcely any tool can be got ready
made, it is 90 much cheaper to buy the
parts and put them together for your
self, and as almost everybody takes this
view, ready made tools are not to be got.
Two rooms are dimly lighted with q sim
gle lamp deity placed in . hole in the
dividing wall. Chinese, in fact, seem to
be capable Of doing anything BY means
of almost nothing. They viii give you
an iron foundry on q minute scale Of
completeness in q back yard, and viii
make in an hour q cooking range, .
strong and perfect draught, out Of . pile
of mud bricks, lasting indefinitely, op-
Grating perfectly and costing nothing.
The old woman who in her last moments
hobbled a. neal a. possible to the family
graveyard in order to die 30 - to avoid
tho ovnonoo If coffin hoarora vaa Chi.
nese.-North China Herald.