Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-10-08
WORLDS DIRTIESr CITY.
THIS UNIQUE DISTINCTION BELONGS
TO Annoy. IN CHINA.


The Streets Are Filled With the Accounts
lation Of Many Years Of FiIth--sick"sss
Hsggars and Dogs the city's Prsdom''
nant Features.
Annoy, In southeastern China, possess
ses the unique distinction of being the
dlrtlest city In the world. Though ~
one Of the "open ports" 1t has been IN
contact with European commerce ana
for over half a century.
Aside from the quarter where the for
eigners live, the streets reek with NTH,
and the air is heavy with stenches 80
poisonous they can he endured ~ TO
one but Chinaman who has been
reared among them.
The city Of Annoy Is on an island or
the same name, and possesses one OF
the finest harbors along the Chinese
coast. Some $50 years ago 1t had a
population Of over a million, but the
latest estimates obtainable say that its
inhabitants number hardly tenth OF
that now. Properly speaking, here are
two cities, an outer and an inner the
latter being sort OF citadel, perched
upon some rocky hills and encircled
by massive wall. 1t is the outer
town, which lies along and around the
harbor, at the mouth of the Lung
Kiang River, which is. for the most
part, the paradise OF filth and disease.
The streets, in some forgotten dy-
nasty, are said to have been paved with
granite, but the accumulation OF de-
cades of filth are so deep as to leave the
statement open to doubt. The thor
oughfarcs of this Chinese town are even
worse from any sanitary point OF view
than those of the other cities OF the
empire. They are, on the average,
twelve feet in width, but their depth
Is unknowable, for during the season
of the rains they turn to rivers Of liquid
mud.
In this particular part OF the city the
ground is fairly level. and an attempt
was once made to conduct a system of
drainage, but vestiges Of these drains
exist
AT almost every door stands a large
vessel, in which Offal and everything
else offensive to the European eye and
nOstril is thrown. This Is custom pre-
vailing in nearly every great city of
China, and for this reason natives of
Annoy looked surprised at the foreign
devil" who as he enters one of their
streets for the first time, grows pale
and sick
In dry weather the streets are deep
with fine dust, and the air Is quite as
badly tainted as during the rainy sea-
son, though the quality of some Of the
most characteristic smells undergOes
slight change. 1t would not be so bad
have full sweep once i'm a while through
these narrow streets, but they are all
covered wholly or in part with avn
ings, which i'm fair weather keep out
the sun, and in the rainy season afford
Intellectual protection against the wet,
but always prevent the air from cir
culating freely.
Another thing which makes the at
mosphere Of the street retain its pollu-
ton, no matter how much Of breeze
may be moving, above the low house
tops, is the fact that the streets are
tortuous beyond description, their ir-
regularity being made to seem even
greater on account of the way the COR
ners of many of the houses project out
into the streets, making a series of
sharp turnings necessary for pedestri-
ans. Horses and carriages, of course,
are unknown, for there is hardly room
even under the best conditions, for the
long files Of people to brush past each
other
Much has been written regarding the
people who throng the narrow streets
OF this and other Chinese cities, but
one thing that is especially noticeable
Is the vast number of beggars. the most
of whom are afflicted with some sort of
; repulsive disease. The ammoniacal
gases and the ever present foul smells
are the cause of many sorts of dis
figuring maladies, as well as the cpl
denies of fever, smallpox and other
flth-bred contagious diseases which
periodically decimate the dense popula-
ton.
Next to the people i'm Annoy streets
'"N Ao'' cumming 'hiHS dlHt1S llNlHg
objects is the vast number OF dogs.
They are all about foot high. and
two feet long, with bristling, pale. dirty
yellow or black hair, and tails that curl
up high over the back. They cannot
run very rapidly, owing to the unusual
straightness of their hind legs. which
makes their attempts at rapid locomo-
ton seem awkward. They all have
black eyes. and all possess this striking
peculiarity-the insides of their lips.
mouths and tongues are black.
In Annoy, as i'm other Chinese cities
there are regular markets where dog
meat Is Sold the animals which supply
1t being reared expressly for the table.
Their flesh Is quite expensive, so much
so that 1t Is considered luxury far out
of the reach of all but those in good
circumstances. These dogs are gener- .
ally sold alive, i'm cages. and keep up
frightful yelping, which is acceler-
ated when a customer approaches, for
then ensues thorough pinching and
prodding of the poor beasts body to
find out II he is tender. They are fed
on rice, which fattens them. and Is said
to give their flesh n delicious flavor.
In the same market kittens are sold
alive for food. A black cat or a black
dog will always command higher
price among the people of Annoy be-
IN, hot. ..,lI 10