Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-08-23
Rest killed in the melee. -Four soldiers
wounded and one kil1ed

Rest killed In the melee. -Four soldier
wounded and one killed"
No matter how begun and maintained, the
new regime IL bringing forth good fruit
Everywhere are the signs of industry, thrift
and prosperity. In the larger cities the
new buildings OF brick and stone are sup.
planting the old ones of bamboo and mats.
Miles of street are paved, severed, guttered
and curbed as we'll as any in Paris and
London. In the suburbs are kilns, where
brick, tiles and terra Gotta are being baked
| or lime and cement are being burned; quar-
| ries, where the rock is being shaped for
building, paving or ornamental purposes;
foundries and forges where smiths are ever
busy; and tanneries where hides are CON
verted into the cheap spongy leather so dear
to Chinese and Japanese.
A PECULIAR MO NGoLIAN CUSTOM.
No high civilization is ever imposed upon
lower but what struggle results. In
Anam and Tonquin it takes the form Of an
attempt to suppress traffic in girls and
women which is peculiar to the Mongolian
races. Girls are valuable property from
the moment of birth. They are not sold as
slaves but are "adopted for ,considera-
tion." The parents, by either blood or
adoption have the legal right to let out
their daughters at a certain monthly rent
or to sell them for round sum. The girl
does not lose respectability blythe opera
tion in the least; but on the contrary is
highly esteemed as one who is aiding in the
support Of her parents or in their accumu-
lation of wealth.
The custom is popular and time-honored.
Its Importance may be measured from the
fact that the average wages of man are 70
cents day and that Of girl according to
her beauty and accomplishments bring
from $15 to $50 per month and her board
thrown in or if sold outright from 5000 to
S3, 900. Thus far the French have confined
their efforts to the punishment of brokers
and middlemen. AT first they bastinadoed
and fined these miscreants, then they added
terms of imprisonment and this year they
have made it capital offense and have
already beheaded two guilty parties. The
only perceptible effect has been to make the
diminish its proportions.
WAGES OF 25 CENTS DAY.
The working people seemed contented
and prosperous. Their wants are few indeed.
Rents are very low, about 80 cents q month
an adult; the less clothing, the greater the
comfort and the simpler the diet, the better
Tor health. Wages are good; considering
the actual cost of living they are very good.
diem and skilled about twice as much. This
is about double what they are in China and
serves to explain the constantstream of
immigrants from the Empire.
The French rule with rod ofiron, but rule
with an eyen-handed justice, which has won
the hearts of their subjects. They show
far deeper interest in the welfare Of their
wards than do the English in Hongkong or
the Dutch in Sumatra.
The caste system which prevails in the
two cities mentioned, making Mongol or
a Malay a social outcast is almost unknown
in the French colony. They believe that
their subjects interests are identical
with their own and act accordingly. Under
their benign rule, it is easy to see that
Cochin-China is destined to have a great
future and that Saigon ere long will Be an
Eastern metropolis as rich and influential
as Singapore, Hongkong or Yokohama.
FALEs-BEDLoE.