The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-10-07
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pictures. The art displayed In most OF the
paintings is abominable. but they are
pictures nevertheless, and the Chinese pay
good money for them.
MARKETS OF THE CITY.
1 wish i could show you the markets OF
Picking. You can get as good meat there
as you can in New York, and there is no
finer mutton in the world than that OF
north China. The sheep are OF the fat
tailed variety. and I saw many which had
tails weighing over a pound. IL is queer
how they kill the animals which they SELL
They have nc slaughter houses. and a
sheep is often butchered in front OF the
shop and the blood lies on the ground
while you buy. There are all sort OF fish.
and they are always sold alive. No China
man would buy a dead fish. and in case you
want to buy less than a whole fish at a
time the Chinese peddler will pull the fish
out OF the water. lay him sQuirming on the
block, and cut a piece OF quivering flesh out
OF his side for you while you wait. He
does not kill the fish, and after you are
through he throws ii back into a separate
pail of water and waits for another Gus
toner to take the rest. one OF the chief
meats sold is pork, and you see hogs trot-
ting about through the streets OF Picking.
| They wallow in the puddles right under the
shadow of the Emperor's palaces. and they
are the dirtiest hogs in the world. There
are all sorts of game for sale in the mar
kets, and you can get snipe and quail and
squirrels of all kinds. The Chinese are the
best raisers Of poultry in the world. They
have duck farms and goose farms. and they
know all about artificial incubation. They
sell great quantities OF dried geese and
dried ducks, and they carry bushel baskets
full of dried ducks about the city for sale.
They sell all kinds of fruit and they are
adopts in the raising OF the choicest OF
vegetables. They bury their grape vines
in the north in the winter, and you can
buy nuts by the bushel. AS to cats. dogs
and rats, 1 did not see any sold in Picking.
and ] don't believe that the better classes
are accustomed to use them. / am told.
however, that such cats as are sold in
the south are raised and fattened espe-
cially for the market, and that their diet
is usually rice. Dogs flesh is supposed. by
the people, to give heroic properties to
those who feed on ii, and the same effect
is produced by bears meat and the ground
UP bones of wild tigers. These things
ought to bring a high price just now in
Picking, for the people certainly have rea-
son to increase their courage. Another
queer article that you see in the Picking
market is false hair. 1 passed several
II Dld(rc NnClC AOnS-40CdCA ~
beside a board upon which were hung long
punches of black Chinese locks Each of
/ these was a false pigtail, and it is said
that one of the chief articles of export
from Corea to China Is human hair. The
Chinese braid extra locks into their queues
and they often patch out their queues
with silk thread.
VARIETY OF BUSINESS.
might write a full letter about the
queer things shown in the Chinese part OF
the city of Picking. I could tell you of a
vast business done in gold and silver paper
which the Chinese burn at the graves TO
furnish their dead with money to pay their
passage to heaven. / could show you shops
selling nothing but collins. in which single
articles of this kind cost as high as four
thousand dollars, and where the dutiful son
often buys his father a coffin and makes
it a present TO the old man years before his
death. I could tell you OF stores where
thousands Of dollars worth Of incense or
loss sticks are sold every month. and L
could take you into establishments which
sell nothing but birds and gold fishes.
There are big stores full Of furniture and
shops which make nothing but porcelain
stoves. There are places where food is
sold in bundles by weight, and establish
ments where coal dust is mixed up with
mud and sold in Jumps the size and shape
of a baseball at so much apiece. There are
great markets for the selling OF chickens
and flowers, and all sorts OF toy stores
and stores for the selling OF paper and
cloth. There are lock peddlers by hum
dreds and hardware establishments, and IL
you are very hard up and in want of a
meal I can show you a little hole round
the corner where you can get came's meat
SOUP and mule roast at low prices. There
are places for gambling and dime museum
shows. There are restaurants OF every de-
scription and opium joints without number.
There are, in fact, stores or every sort
and description, and the best things IN
China come to Picking.
The most interesting part of Picking, how
ever, is the big Tartar city. II is the capt.
tai of one-third of the population on the
globe, and in it lives the son OF heaven.
the Emperor of China, TO whom all his
subjects must bend their knees. 1t con-
tains the thousands of Manchu officials. the
foreign legations, the government depart
ments and all the paraphernalia of this
queer Chinese court. 1t is the most inter-
esting city on the face of the globe. and its
sights really beggar description. From the
walls the whole city looks like an i'm
mense orchard. with here and there one
story buildings Shining out through the
trees. In its center there is a walled-off
Enclosure filled with massive buildings,
rooted with yellow tiles. This is the i'm
perial city, in the innei most parts of which
is a brick pen inclosing several square miles
where the Emperor lives, surrounded by
eunuchs. He is, perhaps. the rarest bird in
the whole Chinese aviary, and ] will follow
this with a special letter describing some
of his antics. He Is kept apart from Chi
nese and foreigners, and you might live in
Picking fifty years and not see him. He
really knows nothing about his people or
his surroundings, and he is a sort OF a
puppet who stands still or dances when
his highest officials or the old Empress
dowager pulls at the string.
UNDERSTANDABLE FILTH.
No better idea OF the condition Of the gov
eminent of China could be gotten than by
a trip through this Tartar city. 1t is one OF
the oldest towns in the world. 1t was found
ed more than a thousand years before
Christ, and IL has been the capital OF mil
lions for ages. Ii ought to be the greatest
city on the face of the globe, but there Is
no spot more filthy, and Shiny, and foul