The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1892-07-16

Va uuIr d1t UdhJOS- ana tut eitcct - !
weird as you thread your way
through the. dimly lighted streets. |
and the shrill notes of one of these |
Instruments mingled with the chatter !
of the others, and the nasal tanes Of
some human voice, come floating out
from a high bamboo alcove.
1t would be difficult for an unini
tiated person to tell by the light or
ventilation in lodging house wheth
er the inhabitants were in the attic, |
or burrowing in the ground like rats.
The Chinaman has no objection to
our outside architecture, but when
first he gets possession of building
he tears down all partitions. and
makes internal arrangements TO suit
his own tastes and ideas Of convent
ence. All windows are closed. and
in the bare passages one must pre-
sent side view to an advancing
Chinaman if he would avoid a disa
greeably close contact The dens in
which they liye-usually exc. some
times 9x9 feet--are provided with
shelves in tiers; most frequently
three will reach from floor TO ceiling.
Sometimes there is a tumbled heap
of bed clothes on them, there is
narrow shelf where lighted lamp
stands, peg on the wall suggesting
an extra coat. infrequently a chair,
and now and then a stove fills up
this box for human beings A baige
or calico curtain shuts off the China
mans domestic life from the outside
world. or whatever portion of that
world may stumble along through
the tortuous twists and turns of the
passage, and the noncbalance with
which he allows it to be swept aside,
and his belongings examined and
commented on is inexplicable to an
Anglo Saxon. 1t seems impossible
to intrude upon the private life of
San Francisco Chinaman.
In only one place did our inquir
ing countenances elicit remarks from
the people whose quarters we felt we
were invading. 1t was in one of the
larger rooms to be found in every
lodging house, where the yellow
faced individuals congregate for their
opium smoking. There were thirteen
collected in small space, in various
stages of intoxication, and when we
brushed aside the curtain and looked
in upon them, some querulous voices
called out, "Shut door, shut door,
The air was heavy with the blue
smoke, and part of it escaping
through the open entrance, which
occasioned the remonstrance, rather
than any resentment at our curiosi-
ty. This room was furnished with
shelves for reclining, and on each shelf
were the two head pillows for the ac-
commodation of two smokers. Be-
tween them lay block Of wood on
which stood lamp for cooking the
opium. The smoker twisted out of a
quaint little box, waxy like roll of
opium, which he held by means of a
slender needle, over the flame, and
when sufficiently cooked, inserted in
the tiny bowl of his long bamboo
stemmed pipe One slow, long sus-
tanned pull, and his eyes assume the
glazed, half conscious look, and he
sinks back upon the pillow. His
companion takes up the opium aud
repeats the process, and so it con
tinues far into the night hours. OF
course not all are equally sensitive
to the opium influence, some requir-
ing as many as thirty bowls before
they are lulled into the dreamy for
getfulness they seek
In each lodging house is kitchen
where there are numbers of stoves,
and where the Chinese seem to eX-
pertinent in cooperative house
keeping. AS many Chinaman' do
nestle economy is reduced to ten
cents day, it can be seen that even
where such numbers are huddled to-
gether, cooking is not troublesome
process. From one lodging house to
another we wendell our way through
alleys which bisect the streets at all
angles, and in them all it was the
same picture With only different
shading. The same rough pine par
titions, labarynthian WAYS with here
and there smoking lamp making a
faint glmmer in the darkness, the
same dirty, broken steps, sitting air
and vile odors, the same smoking
against the flowing robes and start
ling sense of insecurity in the midst
of the silent footballs which follow
ed one through the windings to the
attic kennels and down, down, down
through the gloom and squalor of the
underground ways.
1t was with delightful sense of
relief that we followed our guide out
into the open air Of the streets, whele,
at least, close walls did not shut US in.
The combination of odors is over
towering. The refuse of the tene
ment houses is either thrown in the
cutters for surface drainage, or more
usually, thrown into the enclosed
court of the building, there to rot
away, and make one grateful that
under the circumstances the Chinese
are opposed to ventilation.
| HOit etiS OPiuu Jolhbo III NutAh
| town where men and women regard
less of race or color are admitted, but
these are not for the public gaze
There are portions Of the place that
furnish most interesting sightseeing
for daytime visit. These are the
brio a-brac stores, where exquisite
vases, ornaments. curios and daint-
lest embroideries are spread before
you. Their fourishing pawn shops
show that although John may live
on little, he sometimes reaches the
limit of his resources. The array of
fire arms he disposes of is marvellous.
His grocery stores are more curious
than inviting. Black beetles, sugar
cane and the dried snails from the
conch shells may be appetizing, but
to an uneducated appetite they do
not look SO.
On our night visit we fingered be-
fore the lighted windows and saw the
jewellers drawing out the gold and
silver into beautiful filagree bracelets
and pins, looked upon the Celestial
BARRIERS at work upon the yellow
craniums, watched the shoemak ers |
sewing away upon the soft, thick
soled shoes, tried to talk to the Chit
nese babies in the doorways, who |
certainly do not follow American