The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1893-10-14
WORSE THAN SLAVES.
Seryitude of Chinese Wives---Small'
Foot Women Kept as Slaves.

Servitude Of Chinese WlVes-'omall'
Foot Women Kept as Slaves.
When. u Chinese is poor and owns but
one wife, he lives in one small room. His
he'd. curtalned off in one corner, takes up
the greater part of it. Within the cur
tanned Enclosure series Of shelves is built
into the wall to hold the many boxes
filled with extra clothing, etc. An Amer
ican chair or two, an American table, a
shelf appropriated to offerings of oranges,
tea, rice, sweetmeats, duck, chicken, pork,
Examinations of gayly colored candles
and punk in honor of the family god and
other divinities whose pictures or names
are pasted on the wall above. A shrine,
underneath thisshelf or altar, where the
spark of incense never dies nor the tea
cup ever empties takes another corner,
and now the room is so crowded that
husband and wife make their way in and
out of the apartment sideways, like dog.
Very little of the walls is visible. John
believes in the photograph and the Police
Gazette, and his picture and his wife's
picture hang side by side in the rustic
walnut frames, and his friends pictures
and their wives and all the children, if
there are any, and if there are not any it
is wofully unhappy home. The remain
der of his picture gallery are "velly pref
ty girls" in all stages of gymnastic poses,
dress and uudress, cut from fashy 'pink"
papers.
If children come there is no moving to
larger quarters-room for another bed is
made by adding small shelf away up
near the ceiling, which protrudes over
the head the whole width of the whole
length of the room-a second story as it
were--with very contracted amount of
cubic space. Access is gained to this de-
partment by means of common ladder.
The goddess of children finds her niche
under the head of the parents bed. Coon
Yum, the goddess of mothers desiring
children, always has her little illuminated
shrine.
There may be one or many wives, few
more chairs and stools, rice bowls and
chopsticks, which, with the rich, are OF
finer ware, but IN the main there is very
little difference between the homes of
rich and poor.
A natural footed woman has many ad-
yantages over the small foot. First, not
being an object of special admiration for
the opposite sex. her husband may pick
room opening on the street; second, she
NAV come and 90 as she chooses on the
streets, visit places of amusement, native
or foreign, do her own meager shopping
or marketing, travel in the street or steam
cars and see with her own eyes all the
wonders of foreign country. A wealthy
man buys a small foot wife; she comes
over the seas to California as q first-class
cabin passenger; when she leaves the YES
sci she is carried in closely -curtained
carriage to her new home, and from the
day she enters it is practically entombed
alive Being small foot she is. of course,
not expected to do anything but look
stunning in her big hair done "a la two
dragons playing with pearl" or IA la
two phenixes threading the flowers" She
spends much of her time sitting tailor
fashion, with both webfeet tucked under,
playing poker with her wee servant. DC.
casionally she toys with bit of silk and
tinsel, sctually in one whole year accom-
plishing the feat of embroiderlng pock
etbook for her husband. Once week her
mass of hair-the GROWING glory Of
Chinese woman-is done afresh by the
woman hairdresser who has for her ellen.
tele the small feet wives of wealthy men.
This important parsonage is a close OBJ
server of society events IN aristocratic Chi
natown and relates them to her patrons
The life Of a wealthy Chinese woman,
rather of woman belonging to wealthy
man, is most miserable. You will open
your eyes in surprise at the great pile Of
factory overalls on which she is sewing
buttons.
why do you do this work when you
are richl" l asked one such woman.
"Seen Sang" she said, "would have me
go crazy. Can sit here all day and see
the same things have seen every day
for seventeen years, and think the same
thoughts have thought for twenty years2
There is plenty of work for the poor peo-
pie. do not take it from them, but if l
did they are richer than l, for they have
big feet and 60 everywhere, and every day
have something new to fill their minds;
while, poor me! in China l was shut up
in the house since was ten years old. and
only left my fathers house to be shut up
in my husbands house in this great coun-
try. For seventeen years have been in
this house without leaving it save on two
evenings. Would you take from me my
only way of passing the timer
The Chinese paterfamilias is in his way
very reasonable being. If he has grown
wealthy enough to live in good style he
buys a small foot woman to add q dis