Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-01-15
IN HELL'S HALF ACRE.
THE CELESTIAL QUARTERS IN
SAN FRANCISCO.
An Inside View OF Chinese Theatre and
How 1t Is Run-Taking In AN
Opium Den, Where tho
Heather Thrlves.


francisco | visited Chinatown. says
an actress in the Kansas City Times
My guides were white man who
speaks Chinese and Mongolian who
speaks English. l started at l1:l0 p.
m, and found myself in my own room
at $500 a m. What / saw in that one
night out herods Herod. We walked
down Kcarney street as far as China
town. There names OF streets end
You enter labyrinth of alleys, net
work OF paths and walks-the homes
OF the Mongolians You are among
Celestials but what Celestial sphere
do they live in. First | visited the
Chinese theater. / consider this
remarkable institution. When the
guides informed the Chinese manager
who | was he placed me on the stage
and requested me to see the perform
ance. A Chinese play lasts seven
DAYS.
1t begins on Monday at Z p. M,
and plays till midnight each night
until the following Monday. The
play | saw was the trial OF woman
who was accused of having more than
one husband. She was convicted and
sentenced TO have her head cut Off
when a character which corresponds
to the chambermaid of the British
drama espoused her cause declaring
that the wife was innocent and to
prove it she engaged in single hand
combat with the judge, the execu-
toner and several OF the guards kill
in, I'm nd ut il,,;
actly marched away with the accused
There is no curtain and no scenery
| Everything is make believe, some
thing after the style in which children
play. The orchestra is on the stage
and keeps up an incessant screeching
and rasplng. The stage hands come
on in full view of the audience and
change the furniture, and man o.
woman is killed by pass of the hani
within six inches OF the throat or
head. The dead one passes through
between the legs OF the one who does
the killing and walks of. Primitive
! beyond measure.
Some OF the costumes are very OK
pensive and beautiful in accord with
Chinese view OF beauty. Women do
not act. Men play the female charac-
tiers. Back OF the stage is the ward
robe man. He dresses al. the actors
and takes charge of the costumes
After the performance | made a tour
of the theater All the actors. stage
hands, help. and | suppose many Of
the audience live in the theater-down
| stairs underneath the stage. They
are fed from one common kitchen.
/ The house is laid out like q small
town. The paths are streets and the
doors are cotton curtains
The Chinese have no privacy no
sense OF shame or modcs;y. They
wash. dress and undress in full view
OF each other. In one Of these novels
! found little cirl-probably years
old She was undergoing the barbar-
/ Gus cruelty and torture which is in
ficted on all female Chinese children
-stunting the growth of the feet. The
! baby could not walk. of course, so the
mother brought her in. placed her on
a stool and asked her TO sing for the
.'Melican" lady. The most pathetic
song | ever heard was this little
heather singing, My Jesus Loves
! Me. "
Chinese women do not work The
men work early and late, and women
do nothing. There may be respectable
/ Chinese women in China but | was
told there are but few. if any, in San
I Francisco. 4 Chinese women looks
as though she had been drawn out of
j q tub Of fat all slick and Slimy and
greasy.