Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-07-28

From the Philadelphia Press: Washington
letter.
/ visited the National museum to-day to
see the appliances which the people of the
tropics have to keep themselves cool. The
Corean gentleman has IA wickerwork shirt
which keeps his clothes away from the
body, and acts as % sort of ventilator lying
between his abdomen and his gown. He
has wicker cuffs which run from his wrist
to his elbow, and which are made of the
finest of stiff straw. These keep the
sleeves away from the person and the
Corean embassy at Washington Is the
coolest of all legations. 1t IL from these
wicker bustles worn over the belly that
the Coreans get their reputation of being
such fat race.
The fan collection of the museum repre-
sents all the countries of the East. Every
Japanese man and woman carries fan
and tho fans which we get from Japan are
OF the cheapest variety. In Japan tho gen
tlemen usually use folding fans and they
carry them in their bosoms, under their
collars, or stuck in their girdle. Ii is tho
ladies who use the fiat fans, and II would
be contrary to etiquette tor n man TO APP
pear on the street with a fan that would not
fold up. Japan has its fan etiquette aud
there Is as much a language of the fan as "a
language of flowers.
An Important cooling recipe of the far
East Is the bath, and the hot bath is taken
by the Japanese several times "A day The
bathing Is done in the public bath rooms
or in the private tub and no soap is used.
Along the Ganges in India IL Is u sacred
duty of the Hindoos to bathe once every
day, and they can wash away their sius
while they are washing their bodies ]
have seen 10000 bathing at the same time
al the holy bath steps OF Benares There
Is, however, no fun about the liindoo bath.
II Is all religion and the bather prays dur
ing the whole time.
saw at Delhi, il one of the palaces of
Shah Jehan, the man who made the Pea
COCK Throne which cost SI0,OO0, 900, II bath
room which costs "A fortIne. II had room
after room of marble, and there were hot
pipes and cold fountains, and il is said that
one OF this mans SUCCESSORS, when he sus-
pected one of his wives to be unfaithiul,
was wont ~ lock her up in his bath, turn
on the hot water, and forget all about her.
The result was that she awoke in Heaven.
The Turks of Egypt and of Turkey spent
great part OF their time in the bath, and
the Turkish bath is too well-known in the
United States to need description.
The rajahs of India have got the art of
Keeping cool down to a science. One of the
finest cities of the far East is that of jew
pore. tits the capital of native state. All
OF Its buildings are rose-colored, and they
We're all built after one style of architecture.
The palace OF the rajah is in vast gardens,
BILE beds, aud in which the luxuriant flow
ers and trees of the tropics bloom. The
harem Of the aiah of Jeypore looks out
upon this garden, and its fair ladies' are
Kept cool by tanning mills turned by hand.
IL takes score of men To turn the cranks
To keep these maidens cool, and man power
has much to do with tho reirigerators of
the East.
There are thousands of foreigners, Ameri-
cans. English, German and French, now
at work in Asia. and each of these does his
bookkeeping under the breeze of the
punkah. The punkah is long, fan like strip
of cloth fastened to "A beam, which is hung
by ropes from the ceiling over tho mans
head. To the middle OF this beam a rope
Is fastened, and this rope is put through
pulley and SO arranged that man sitting
out OF doors and pulling at it will make the
IAN go backward and forth over the book
Keepers head. The native pulls away all
day long, and most foreigners have such q
rigging put mp over their beds aud keep
the hreeLes blowing in this way all night.
The houses Of the far East are better
adapted To the weather than ours, The
Japanese house is formed Of sliding walls
of paper, SO made that he can take them
ont, throw his whole house into one room
or make his house consist of a roof and a
noor. HIS noors are usually some distance
above the ground, and there is a draupht
OF air under them. They are covered with
mating and are not cluttered up with fur
niture.
The question Of keeping cool is largely
matter OF dress. Mr.. Rockhill, the Ameri-
can who pushed his way into Thibet last
year, wore Chinese costume during the
journey, and he tells me ii is far cooler
than the American. All the nations of the
East dress much better in this respect than
we do. The Japanese, during the summer,
has practically nothing but cotton gown
to cover his person, and his legs are bare