The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-11-29
A CHINAMAN IS BURIED,

| ing. They drive very fast to the
cemetery, and as they rattle along
the mourners industrously throw
out of the coach windows little
squares of papers, through which
have been punched a number of
holes. They know the devil wants
to know the ms and outs of every
thing, and therefore, he is obliged
to crawl through each of the holes
in the pieces of paper thrown out of
the windows, and this keeps the
devil on the jump, so that they are
able to bury their dead before he
can reach the cemetery.
All this, no doubt, sounds very
funny, but when the Chinaman
goes through his religious perform
ance he is so deadly in earnest that
there is no fun in it either for him
or those who may watch him; and
after all he appears to be much
more sincere than some of the So
called Christian church goes | have
seen in the old country, who mum
BILE something they call prayer
or pretend to do so-into their hats,
and proceed to snore while tn,
talking machine they hire and
stick in the pulpit does the rest OF
the business for them.
From the Joss House we pro-
ceeded to visit
TYPICAL CHINESE FAMILY.
Our guide takes us up a dark,
cracking stairway, knocks at the
door, and announces himself as
"Chee Wang Tonk Nha," or some
thing like it, and we are invited
inside, and received by a little
Chinese lady, about three feet six
inches high-the outside corners Of
whose eyes seemed to be trying to
reach the top of her head-and who
hobbled towards us, and solemnly
shook hands, saying: elbow do?
How dO?n The suite of apart
ments occupied by this family
would occupy the same space as
would be taken UP by three large
sized dry goods boxes. The front
room (O did duty as work shop (for
the husband), sitting and reception
room.
Here the lady proceeded to en-
terrain us by playing on the either
and the Sam Fat, the husband, in
troduced Sam Fat junior, a chubby
faced little Chinaman three and a
half years old, pigtail included.
This queer looking little mortal
sang in Chinese, his mother accom-
panying him on the either, which
was followed by the chiid's hymn
in broken English:
Desus lubs me less 10,
Plor lie Bible iellGG NE sic, etc,
1t was a queer mixture. Here
was an old heather making gods
for the Joss House, while the child
was taught to lisp Christian ny mns.
1t was the commercial instinct
which dictated the arrangement o.
the program, bacaqse the hat went
round for a collection, after which
we made tour of
THE OPIUM JOINTS,
series of filthy, eyil-smelling,
underground, rabbit war; like
places which honeycomb the under
ground cellars OF Chinatown. in
some of these dens, about eight
feet square, on wooden benches like
tail0r's board, were to be seen as
many as six and eight Cinnamon in
one room lying in all sorts of posi-
tions and stages of Inconsistencies,
the result of the opium pipe. 1t
was sickening sight. So intent
were they upon sucking at the
bamboo or rolling up the filthy
looking mixture ready to smoke
that they took no notice of our
presence, with the exception of one
or two who spoke English, and in
return for a nickle explained things;
but they, most of them, wound up
by cursing the drug.
Some of the sleepers lay in the
most extraordinary positions, al
most tied up into knot; but as
they lay with pallid face and half
open eyes and mouth, it was re-
voting sight, and made one ask.
Why is it that such a state of affairs
is permitted in Street America?
| ftpr the EiOintSs, oona ~ ,,io;t