The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1895-08-04
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anywhere else, the child is father Of the
man. The mandarin looks like a giant
child, the child dwarf mandarin. The
sobriety Of age is combined with the plas-
tic ndture of YOUTH and the amusements
Of the little child are shared by the IA
ther, the grandfather, and the great
grandfauher-all are hte-hyers. This
may be still better understood. when It
Is explained that the kites of China and
Japan are not the simple articles we us
ually knew by that name, but are toys
that vary greatly in sort, size and shape.
and are often high in price.
Let us transport the reader to the SUI
burbs Of some Chinese city. where a
whole group Of boys are gathered to-
gether to see the wonders worked by
their elders in the kite-hying art. Thsre
Is whiz, buzz, a whirring music in
the air; AID sorts Of grotespue objects are
hoating about, rising and falling and
dancing to and fro; there are broad-wing-
ed birds, and many-colored dragons, liz
ards, bees and butterflies, and painted
circles and squares, asd radiated suns
and moons and stars.
Most of the kites have pendent tails,
and strings In their centers, the linking
line which connects these aerial monsters
with the earth. Up these strings you see
messengers ascending and very pretty
and clever ones they are too The but
terfiy messeger, which Is about the best,
Is so made thst It futters open-wlnged
right up to the kite, whence II Instantly
and quickly descends, having been col
lapsed and closed, on,Goming In contact
with the kite, by means OF a little spring
which forms part Of the mechanism.
The form of the ancient French kite
was probably that of beast, and not
of bird, as they call 1t cerf-volant
flying stag. The English kite took its
name. no doubt, from the bird, of which
Its first form was a rude imitation; but
the Chinese names are very numerous:
fung-tsang. the wind guitar; chi-yan, pa
per hawk; kwin-chi, neither more nor
less than the iEnglish kite, bird and toy;
and all sorts OF fanciful and poetical
titles.
To describe all kinds Of kites to be seen
In China would be to undertake too much;
so we will only venture to speak of a
sort very common among the Chinese,
and particularly effective In appearances
namely, the bird kite. The hawk, or
common kite, rs the bird usually repre-
sented; and to make this they cut a
piece Of paper the exact shape and size
of the natural bird when on the wing;
this they paint the natural color and
stretch on ribs of bamboo arranged very
much in the shape of the old English
cross-bow when strung, leaving the part
which represents the ends of the wing
and tail-feathers unbound by Irvine, SO.
as to shlver In THE wind
Thus constructed the kite rises with
great ease, and flies with wonderful grace
OF motion, initiating the real bird to a
nicely by now and then taking a long
swoop, then soaring again, and then pols-
Ing itself with fiutter before repeating
the process. AT times number OF these
Kites are flown at once by attaching them
at different intervals to the string of
some larger kite, and the effect is theree
by much increased; for the real kites are
In the habit of sailing in flock together
as they circle over their prey.
What man among ourselves but has
had his eyes attracted upward. and more
or less OF his interest engaged, by see
ing fire balloon sailing In mid air or a
SKY rocket bursting in the sky; or in
deed, anything out of the common hap-
pening overhead? And is the Chinese or
Japanese to be laughedeat, IL he relishes
the still stranger sight Of a couple Of
dressed friends walking
arm-in-arm in the clouds with an um-
orella over their heads; q hideous ogre
race, roaring as 1t sails along; a pretty
but immense butterfly fiapping its wings
like Its living model; birds flying about
so lhe-like that one can hardly believe
them to be made Of paper; huge dragon
Or centipede, which, with Its scaay Joints
stretched out some. sixty to a hundred
feet In length, It's thousand legs. ard
slow undulating motion, looks narvel-
ously like giant specimen Of that hor-
rible creature creeping down upon one
out OF the clouds-and many other GU
rious things that an American would
scarcely dream Of?
Yet sights such as these may be seen
m Japanese and Chinese cities at anv
lime during the kite-hylng season; and
while they cannot fail to attract the at
-ention Of the observant stranger, In COM
mon with many other novelties ne sees
about him, lead him to conclude that the
I'D men and adults OF these countries
nave, at any rate, some excuse for the
'rfvolhty they are accused Of.
'fhe ability to make such extraordinary
fltes is mainly owing to the toughness,
enuity and fiexihlity of the Chinese and
Japanese paper, and the abundant ma
lertal OF ribs and frames afforded by the
oamboo-a plant which has not its equal
'or the hghtness, strength. hexibility and
Elasticity of Its fibrous wood
With these simple materials, and with
he wonderful neatness and ingenuity the
Chinese and Japanese are famous for,
I is astonishing how rapidly and easily
hey construct the odd and complicated
igures which they fly as kites
Wo SING TAI.