Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1894-11-21
THE STREETS OF CANTON.
PICTURESQUE SIGHTS IN THE
BUSY CHINESE CITY.
Thronged with People - Narrow
Thoroughfares -- Funerals Have
the Right OF Way-A Busy Scene.

InTOHStu WIN 4 copic - marrow
Thoroughfares -- Funerals Have
the Right of Way-A Busy Scene.
T/LORENCE ODRIsCOLL,
- member of the English House
of Commons, has timely ar.
!. ticle, "In the Streets of Can.
ton" in the Century. A second
paper will describe life on the river.
OF the street scenes in Canton, Mr..
ODriscoll writes
Little If any sunlight struck down
into these ways. Their narrowness
would have prevented the intrusion of
any but vertical beams, or those slant.
ing parallel with the street, and, to
guard against even these, shade.
loving people HAD hung mating over
head. This gave the city the aspect
of n huge struggling bazaar sheltered
beneath great ragged roof.
The thorougfares in the older por.
tions of the city vary from about four
to six or seven feet in width. In the
newer quarters there are frequently
ten and even fifteen feet of space be.
tween the houses on each side.
These narrow ways were thronged
with tens of thousands of people;
looking along them it seemed almost
as if one could walk upon mems heads,
so close were they. High and low,
rich and poor, all rubbed shoulders.
Coolies, carried, on each end of six
foot stick, water, firewood, and bur.
dens of various sorts when an excep.
tionally heavy load was to be carried,
some four coolies bore it, slung on the
middle of bamboo, two at each end
OF the pole. Peddlers carried their
wares IN baskets slung at each end of
a stick, or in fiat trays hung like an old
fashioned pair of scales, with the pole
or beam on their shoulders. Carriers
thus bore creels of fruit, fish, and all
sorts of esculents; live rats, cats, and
dogs in wicker baskets; fat pigs in
wicker cylinders, sometimes with their
legs hanging out; and boxes, bales,
and trays of toys. Through the throng
exalted Cinnamon, fan in hand, IN
silken gowns, and with queues pen
dent far down the back, made their
slow way in dignity. There were
plenty of women and children also in
the crowd, some Of the women hob
bling painfully along on their
tortured and distorted feet,
which, from the tight binding,
were so shrunken and diseased that
their shin bones had become feshless
skeleton supports covered with a
wrinkled parchment skin, and their
limbs seemed to be little better than
gnarled and knotted stumps. Occa-
sionally an empty chair was seen in
this crowd, or chair in which sat
some mandarin, with awning and deli
cately fashioned lattice blinds closely
drawn, or man who hawked small
wares or sweets for sale, and carried
in one hand little fiat metal plate
and string with small weight tied
to one finger. With each .twitch of
his finger clear, musical note rang
sharply in the air. Ping ping ping
sounded his little gong, heralding his
approach from long way off. Who
knows? Perhaps from this primitive
but artistic appliance has in the
course of ages been evolved our muf-
fn-bell-sweet music in the ears OF
those setting forth in quest of five
o'clock teas. Anon our progress was
checked by funeral procession, which
struggled past us amid blare of dis
cordant trumpets, beating of gongs,
and screeching of stringed lnstru-
ments, the mourners bearing aloft pa
per and tinsel dolls, bright streamers
or little trays of food and sticks of in
cense.
The coolies, who had their queues
knotted up, wore, for the most part,
a hat shaped like flat lamp shade
about two feet across. A little cup.
shaped wicker basket fixed under.
meath it held this covering over their
heads, and it served more as a sun and
rain shade for the body than an actual
head covering. Clerks, merchants and
well-to-do people carried their queues
loose, and were either bareheaded or
covered with, a black satin or very
fine black wicker skull cap with
coral button on the top.
Every one seemed busy; no one
seemed unhappy; each individual was
polite, and prepared to make way for
another. To keep to the right was the
rule of the road, rule strictly ad-
hered to, without which all progress
would have been impossible. As |
looked along the crowded way, /
could see always two long lines of peo-
pie in single file, passing one another,
and keeping close to their respective
right sides. In places Me streets SO
narrowed in that passers-by rubbed
shoulders. Every one stood aside for
the passage of funeral or a priestly
procession, after which the acknowl-
edged order of precedence was first a
chair with apassenger-though even
this moved aside to allow passage to
the lowest class laborer staggering be-
meath heavy load-then any person
carrying load, and lastly those who
were unencumbered by burdens. A
mandarin on foot, or wealthy mer-
chant with richly embroidered
gown, moved aside to allow the coolie
wood carrier to pass alone uninter-
rupted. There were no policemen at
corners to regulate traffic; old estab
lished custom, based on a policy OF
mutual obligation, took the place OF q