Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-06-29
CHINESE AND JAPS.
Peculiar Racial characteristics That
Crop Out in America.
CHINA'S RESPECT FOR ANTIQUITY.
Energy With Which the Japs Take Up Our
Language and Customs.
RESULT OF THE LATE LAUNDRY WAR
CORRESPONDENTS OF THE D1srArcB., j.,

rcoRREsPoNDEEcE OF THE DIsrATcB.,
NEW YORK, June 28.-The late burial Of
DR.. Yen Tszee Hing, of New York, show ed
already to the general public what had Ion @
been known to those familiar with the Mon
golian civilizs ion, viz: That the Chinese
carefully preserve the forms, ceremonies
and superstitions of their ancestors. In the
funeral pageant were soldiers, officers.
generals, priests and mandarins, represent
ing the historical development of their race.
| To a close observer the procession was of
more than ordinary interest, inasmuch as its
features bore close resemblance to those of
the growth of our own race.
| The Chinese soldier bore halberd, he'll
met, shield and breastplate. The halberd
was nothing more or less than an ornate
Lochaber-axe, such as was welded by the
| followers of Bruce and Wallace The
| oriental weapon dates back to the times of
| King Ju, an Eastern King Arthur who
! lived anywhere between four thousand and
seven thousand years ago. The Scotch i'm
! plement OF war is by contrast little babe,
not having been known at the time of the
Norman Conquest The helmet and shield
were of cast or hammered metal and were fac
etmiACS VI tuosc poTIrdyeu upon tHe walls OF
the temples of both Egypt and Assyria
They have been used in China for at least
1000 years and are the same to-day as they
were then. Unlike the European helmet,
which started in Greece simple shape very
much like its Oriental cousin, but which in
the years developed into the artistic head
pieces of the time of Francis l., the Chinese
has never changed whatever. AS worn in
Mott street in the year 1890, it might have
been worn by the hosts who surged from
Pekin 2100 8. B. to quell what old histor-
ians called 1.-THE Heather of the North"
A WONDERFUL BREAsTPLATE.
The Chinese breastpIate is another matter
from the helmet and shield, and may give
points to the war makers of Christendom.
1t is not cumbrous piece of heavy metal,
but a vest of cloth, paper and felt, sewed
and quilted together, which will turn sword
or spear, and strange to say, Withstand the
bullet from revolver and rifle. 1t is CON-
paratively modern invention, as all the old
pictures of almond-eyed warriors show them
incased in suits of what we would call plate
or chain arm or. Its wonderful invulnera-
bility was unknown until some San Fran
cisco police had deadly set-to with party
of highbinders, all of whom received shots
in the ingenious breastplate mentioned, and
none of whom were inj ured thereby in the
least.
The robe of the priest in the procession
was so like that of Christian monk as to
excite the indignation as we'll as the missiles
of the Roman Catholic small boys of the
neighborhood. 1t consisted of cow],
long gown, a rope belt and a string of beads
exactly like a rosary. The man who wore
it, by the way, ekes out poor living by
acting as assistant priest and sexton at the
Buddhist Church In No. 16 Mott street.
There is no imitation about this robe. 1t
was worn by San Zoon and his disciples long
before Christ, and, according to legend, was
borrowed by that Saint Paul of China from
monastic orders long since extinct.
These historical insignia are seldom dis
played to public view. The halberds have
little or no glamor and are exposed in the
two churches at Nos. 4 and 16 Mott street.
The helmets and shields are carefully
locked up, and used only on special oc-
casions. The breast plates usually belong
to highbin ders or to men who carry large
amounts of money with them in the night
time. The priestly robes pertain to men
who make living in one way or another
out of the churches.
LOVES ITS OWN ANTIQUITY.
All, nevertheless, are superb comment
ary upon the conservatism of the Middle
Kingdom an ! of its remarkable love for its
own antiquity. The bookworm, gIoating
over an original Caxton, or the genealogist
revelIing over newly discovered list OF
landowners in the fourteenth century,
pales into insignifcance in this regard
alongside of the average laundryman, tea
merchant or opium dealer.
Ii the funeral of the lamented Yen Tszee
Hing gave new ideas to the New York pub
lie respecting their Mongolian brethren, a
recent lawsuit was equally efficient in at
fording glimpses OF Japanese life in this
city. In the past decade there has been
large influx of people of this race into
Gotham. The wealther members of the
colony reside in the fashionable neighbor-
hoods and have handsome club house in
Twenty second street, near Sixth avenue.
The poor ones live down town in cheap
boarding houses, and have no central organ
ization. While the subjects OF the Mikado
are thoroughly Americanized in dress,
ideas and customs. they preserve
their national system of cooking and eat
ing, and to a certain extent their own
theories of ethics. Their food system may
be summed up in one word, ichthyophagy.
They eat fish morning, noon and night.
They use it at every meal and on every oc-
casion. They nave relishes such as anchovy
sauce, anchovy paste and sardines. They
stuff vegetables with fish just as we do
olives. They have a thousand fish soups
where we have only fish chowder. In The
elaboration OF a fish diet they display an
ingenuity and versatility worthy of BrllIat-
Savarin. One dish is characteristic, and
withal is so good as to be worthy of adoption
by, US Occidentals.
WOULD TICKLE AMERICAN PALATEs
A bluefish is scraped and cleaned and
then stuffed with a paste made of eggs, rice.
meat, vegetables and spices. A piece OF
fine bacon or pork is tied around it, and the
entire mass is steamed, baked, broiled or
roasted. When cooked it is served on hot
platter and garnished with from to IL piles
of curious reishes. Among these are raw rad
ishes cut into ribbons, raw cucumbers cut
into threads, dice Of ham omelettes, minute
shrimps boiled or steamed, bacon hash, cubes
of roasted meat, balls of chicken breast,
ducks feet boiled and chopped up, cocks
combs steamed and sliced and boiled mush-
rooms Words fail to describe the beauty
and palatabilty of the food thus served.
Another curious affair is dish made by
frying or stewing together shreds OF fish and
chicken, liver and bacon. There is nothing
like it In either French or American cook
ing, and when served with a warm sauce
suggestive of Worcestershire, the effect is
simply superb Rice is their favorite vege-
table, as it is with Chinese. In fact, all
Japanese cooking is Il modification OF the
Chinese, adapted to the necessities OF a race,
who live upon a chain of islands ald who
depend upon the sea and the seashore rather
than the land for their daily food. A sim
gular fact about the Japanese is that they
nrpfer the Chinese cuisine IN their own Enr