The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1893-12-31
IN DISTANT ASIA.
Queer Ways of Observing
the New Year.
THE WATER FEAST OF BURMA
Siamese Children Who Battle Their
Grandmothers sights
Sc
d In Korea.

vii be New ears Gay III america. 1t
will not be New Year al over the world
Nearly every Asatic nation has its own
calendar The New ear festivities Of
the Chinese take place during the latter
part of January or the first of February.
Russia has New Year about twelve days
different from ours, and the pretty girls
of Burmah 40 net celebrate their New
Year until abCut the 1St eff April In my
trip around the world few years ago /
struck number of queer New Year cele-
brations. and l find that every nation
celebrates the day differently. The people
of Burmah and Siam have the most
curious customs. The Burmans think
that a spirit king at that time descends
from heaven TO earth, and upon the
manner of his coming depends the pros
epeHty of the year. The astrologers fix
TIE time of his appearance, ana they give
fne signal when be has come. Then
. eannons are fired, guns are shot and
every man and woman in the country
makes a prayer and pours. libation of
water: on. the ground. This is the last
might of the old year.. and the next morn
Ing is to be the beginning of the New Year
holidays
~ New Year in Burmah begins with great
water feast and the Burmese girls and
women for this day reign supreme I wish;
i could show you Burmese girl. She is
as pretty as any: OF her kind the world
over. She is straight. -well-formed and,
tine-loOking. Her red lips are luscious
her eyes are large. brown and velvety, and
her cheeks are the color of the cream of
your own Jersey cow. with faint tinge of
red In the center. She wears but two gar
.ments; one Is white SaQue of fine silk or
cotton, which covers the arms and bust
and falls to. the waist, and the other is q
strip of silk or cotton of the brightest
colors, which is wrapped tightly around
her waist, hips and, Ions, and fastened
with twist at the 'front.' 1t tails to, her
feet, and when she walks she kicks her
bare heels out behind, 90 that. the only.ex-.
posure OF her person Is from her foot to
the knee. She wears rings in the lobes of
her ears as big around as a silver quarter.
and she smokes cigars as long as a lead
pencil and as thick as the wrist of a twc-
year-old baby. She has mOre:nghts ffl.the
way OF business d-lOYe-maklng- than has
her American sister, and on New Year
day she Is more giddy than ever. =. ::
As soon as. t2e day breaks she gets a
squirt gun ma6e of TIN or bamboo, and
with bucket Of water goes out to Satirate
her gen tiemen friends, No one is. sale
from her, and boys and girls, men aud
women, devote the dav 20 SprinklIng and
soaking each other y d one has the right.
10 get mad on this day, aud BOY has%the
right to pour water. over lis father. and the.
girls drop bucketfuls from the roofs of
their houses down. the backs OF their par.
ents, and Europeans as we'll as Americans
are. soaked. At a New y ear NOT long ago
an. EnglishGan IN atall plug hat arrived; at
RangoOn, Burmah, on New Years day
lie had letters of Introduction and he went
TO present these wearing a silk. hat long
frock coat and light pantslOonS. At the:
. front door he found four pretty Burmese
girls, who told MN IN their lingo they were
going 10 throw water over him. He thought
they were asking whether he wanted to
see their father. and he RAISED his nat sid
said ~ es. Upon this he got about fur
gallons of water aud be was drenched TO
.. the skin. Another EnglishIman who was
treated IN the same way licked up the
girl and dropped her into the bathtuDfrom
which she was getting water. She was
higb-toned Burmese girl and his action was
entirely.contrary TO New ear etiquette and.
q caused. it's said, the young mans social
oStraciSm;
The Siamese New Year is the 9th of
March, and THE holidays last for five days.
There. Is no taX:On gambling at this time
and all the gam bling-b on Ses Of Bangkok.
are opened. Thousands. of these half
naked Slamese squat about playing fantan,:
ana one OF the.t unnlest customs Is That the
children have of bathing their grandmoth-
ers on New: j ears. z. Ehe uglieSt LOOKING:
old women OF the world are the Siamese:
. / he maidens are plump and. hright-eyed.
They are short. seldom over five feet in.
formed. They wear not hing but strip of
cotton cloth yard. wide and about three
yards long, which they wind a bout. their
hips and fasten bv pulling the. ends
through their legs and tucking it iii to the
belt at the back. TINS is the dress of the
common women. and II is only tire better
classes who have IAN ythlng about the
shoulders, the bust and the neck. In such
acostume plump girl looks well, but a
serawny. wrinkied old. woman looks horri-
bic. :.
The Siamese women cut their hair short.
1t grows coarseras they grow older and it
stands up. like shOebrush all over their
heads. These grandma others have bristies
about an inch long. They all chew the
betel, and long before they have grand
children their teeth are black and their
lips are cracked and stained. They SQUAT
around the house on their launches doing
little but smoking Gig arettes and chewing
betei nuts, and they vary putting out the
smoke with the split ing out OF betal Juice.
i bis betel Juice is retl andit looks lust like
blood. The most Of the houses of Bang
kok are right on the river and the chill
dren dip uD the water IN Buckets and pour
II over these ola ags as they sit On the
porches IN the sunshine. They act as
though they loved rheir grandmOthers. and
they probably do. After they are through:
pouring water over them they sprin kle
them with perfume and powder their
necks and faces. They also give them a
new suit of clothe on New Years day,
consisting often of a new walSlcloth and a
Turkish towel.
The celebration of New Years day is
sanctioned by the Buddhists, and the
Siam-se believe that the souls of those
Buddhlsts who have gone to pargatory
come back TO :th on that day. The
people pour water out on the ground In
celebration of this and they always 20 TO
the temples aud visit the shrines. Every
idol IN the kingdom is bathed with per-
tuned water and incense is burned by the
cord. They lay flowers upon the idols
and they weavf garlands and put them
INTO Buddha's b and. The children play
uicks upon one another much the same as
we do on Halloween or April l. They
Diaek each 9th er's faces and push each
oI9er into the + iver. Tney have water
eeieeration mach the same as in Burmah.
anu TIE King II as reception of his officers
1 Gh ele same as has our President
opbaking of the King. Siam has another
; SueTr Midday, during which the King nom
. . and is ghes his power over to a mock king,
c cno 'ne whole of Siam takes part in this
sen1 "eiol. he Governor of the province