Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-07-01
THE FIRscRACKER GOD.


In the mountains Of western China there is
suppo~ed 70 be a giant devil OF a brilliant red,
at he sight OF whom men grow faint with fear
man who lived about 5000 wears ago by the
name o! Lee'lIen found that the banging OF fire.
crackers would frigbten him away. hence
Leeslien is the god of frecrackers. Ali the red
freerackers are intended to be used TO brighten
away tie Ted devil. while the green and yellow
offerings to Leedien. From the
simple little Erecracker WAS gradually evolved
the destructive cannon. which was used by the
Chinese i'll their war with the Mongols IN A. ID.
la3z. Ii introduced into Europe about
la40. Thus owe to the Chinese the inven-
ton of the most useful article Of warfare in
the world.
The most interesting sights OF Canton are the
tea factories and the frecracker factories, and
the most interesting of the two are the fire.
cracker factories. These establishments can
hardlv be ca.lesl factories. il We use the word
in the sense of making by machinery, for all Of
the work j. accomplished by hand. and they
are. therefore, called by the English residents
Of tina: country ''irecracker go-downs."
On approaching the building one is not
greeted with the usual roar of furnaces and the
many and one noises that 60 to make M the
din OF factory. but it Is anything but quiet
place. At a distance it sounded like the Iiot Of
. furious mob compared with the quiet about
Canton. though Canton seemed noisy enough.
For mile around the factory the thousands
CRACKERS. As soon a. tine children are old
enough TO be anything but babies they begin to
work, and ~ sOoa as their mothers have finished
the housework they turn their hands to making
hrecTaekers: but there is no confusion. for no
knows how to do but a very small part of
the immeuse amount of work required in turn
ing ont millions of these little explosives. One
nan. for instance. makes fuses, another cuts
hem in length and another sorts them in sizes;
sne man makes the paper, another rolls the
49,
clay. The paper man would not do the clay
mans WORK. any more than the fusemaker
would do the sOrters work, and every little
frecracker before it reaches America has in its
construction passed through over sixty different
pairs of hands. The go-down is divided into q
dozen long sheds. with blue tiled roofs; the
laborers sit on little stools ut long bench-lke
tables As soon one man finishes his part of
the work he Passes il on to his neighbor, the
hitter following his example when he has done
his share. and thus IL starts at one end of the
table little paper and fuse and comes out
at the other end finished frecracker.
The next room / visited was devoted to
brniding and wrapping the crackers. and The
next to packing them for shipment. They are
packed in boxes much resembling the common
tea box and contain thirty packages. A box in
this country brings Sl.25. and after duty and
shipment have been Paid 1t is a wonder any
profit ia made at all
The two proprietors of this establishment
which. by the way, is called the vat shiny"
showed me into the room where The designer of
labels sat "a, work. He old man. with
bamboo-bOund spectncles. and sat at desk
drawing flowers. gnOmes and dragons in all the
grotesqueness of Chinese art. had some of
the characters on one of the labels translated
There were three large characters in the center
and they conveyed the useful information of
Thousand, blazing. halt" What does it
mean? 1; is a word picture and endeavors to
convey the idea that their goods of such a
superior qunliiy that they are likened unto a
large hall OF palace blazing with splendor
This Is a. good an explanation a. can be gwen.
III you catch the idea YOU have the prin-
ciple of the Chinese Language, but until YOU do
you will never be able to learn the language Of
the celestial empire.