Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-12-13
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.


OF the street scenes in Canton, Mr..
O'Driscoll 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 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 i'll 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 thronGel
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 q six
foot stick, water, frewood, 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 a bamboo, two at each end
OF the pole. Peddlers carried their
wares IN baskets slung at each end OF
stick, or in flat 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 Chlnamen, fan in hand, III
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 heshess
wrinkled parchment skin, and their
limbs seemed to be little better than
gnarled and knotted stumps. Occn.
slonaliy an empty chair was seen in
this crowd, or a chair i'll which sat
some mandarin, with awning and deli.
cately fashioned lattice blinds closely
drawn, or a 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,
-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.
mantS tho n,ournars booriro, oI,f+ "a,
nar and tinsoI doIIs hrirbt stroan,pr, pr'
or LITTLE trovs Of foo1 ond sticks nf in,
cnnse
The coolias VINO had +ho;r ,,o,o
knottod mn rora fnr tLo ,,,ost S,,J ,Ia,t
hat sb,,od liI.n aot I.,n,,, XII. ta1
nbnn+ ,vn fao+ oor,'.a ~ A ~ i;ttr, 'n,'o a"'
obonaJ ,riol,or IasI.o4 e,.ni I,. ~
mouth il boId tb;s annariaa. "uor % 4l'oi,
booJs and - sarroI - -. lr1i
ro;n shaIa fon ~ bad,, 49, ,'' " ''ii "'i''
bonl anvar;na ClanI,a ,anabaaaS",' rl 80 l'U'''i y
woll.+o,Io ,,ao,,lo oar,,d ~ "''
Ioose onJ wara oithaa hornhaa. J,a ~ i"e''os ~
oouoro1 ,ritk LlnaI- -, io''''o" v.
Gna hIaoi, rr;ol,an sn hi ''i,a naa " toly
nana1 h,,tta,, ~ Sa ~, 9N''l s"' '"P Win
Euor,, on, soan1a,I i,,..
soan,a5 bn,,,,,'. aoal G,''2 49,; mo one
lit a,1 ,'ld.ai r' ~ - 'n,,i, lN'''' wa,
p.h,n p ~, ~, w - ""S 4o'
rnIo 81 tho 49, naaJ " 'no MI Ftn;otI ~ M"' sn'
Lanol - rl;t,.o,1t r'.,,isII ~ IN lop'S N''
looked along the crowded wav,
could see always two long lines OF peo-
n "a n ~