The herald., 1896-01-05
REMAINED AT THE ALTAR

1t was the eventide OF yesterday and the
clocks were striking 6. One Lung, Johnny
Wong, LIE Quong and dozen more Celes.
tials were standing on the pavement in
front of the "church." Any tutorei police
man on the force will tell you that the
church is nothing more nor less than the
aged-stained two-story building at 1O4
Four and One-half street. And the same
policeman. if he happens to be in the mood
to talk, Will tell you that this self-same
building stands in the very heart of Little
China. But go to Gee King Tong or Johnny
Wong or any of the other yellow-skinned
loungers about the corner and they will
tell you different story.
About the first thing Gee King Tong will
do will be to point to the three gilded let
ters over the front door and mutter some-
thing in the purest of Chinese. If there
happens to be an interpreter in the neigh
borhood he will tell you that the three
golden letters above the dingy doorway are
the sign of the church Hut. whatever you
do, don't fail to follow Gee King Tong
when he leads the way up the narrow stair
case and enters the church itself. You
will see long prayers, printed in black let
ters on strips of blood-red rice paper,
hanging on tine walls. You will see queer
little altar made of pine boards covered
with red muslin, and in front of which
stands a counter draped in muslin of
kindred tint.
On this counter dozen or more sticks
of fragrant incense will be burning, and
over all, and more impressive than all,
will be the many-tinted lights tha' the
glowing candles give from their s rargely-
colored shades. The idols stand under the
shadow of a red canopy, and if you are
not q Celestial they will remind you of the
dummy figures used by the professional
ventrloquist.
Gee King Tong is the official priest of
this strange temple, and when the clorks
were striking last night he was standing
in front of the aforesaid altar, mumbling
over his prayers and replenishing the sup
ply of incense. As he was thus engaged
,hnny Wong pushed his shaved head
through the open doorway and shouted
something about the "fire of helle." Then
a puff of black smoke swept through the
window in he rear of the altar and mingled
with the blue vapor of the incense sticks:
Then came the jingling of harsh-toned
bells, the clatter of horse hoofs on The
stones outside, and then another and a
bigger puff of black smoke through the
open window.
But Gee King Tong moved not from his
place a, the altar and never as much as
bliuked his beady eyes. The smoke grew
thick, forked tongue flames leAped the
grimy stairs. Streams of muddy wafer
gushed against the rear walls and made
funny looking stains on the printed prayer
hanging on the walls. But Gee King Tong
remained at the ALTAR. One Lung and Quong
and all the Others ran in and out ana clat-
tered as they ran. Firemen swore, police
mea bullied and the assembled populace
wondered.
The unsaved fought the advancing
flames, and the insurance agents figured
on their losses. Everybody was excited;
everybody but Gee King Tong. 1t took
half an hour for the f1remen to put out the
fire, and when their task was completed
Richard Pearsons' house adjoining the
church was mass of smoldering ruins.
I Furthermo e, the sacred place itself was
badly scorched. But the altar, wi h its
idols, was untouched, and the yards of
prayer had also escape 1. After it was all
over, One Lung and Wang and the report
ers went in with uncovered heads hey
found Gee King Tong still mumbIing over
his prayers, and had to wait an even ten
minutes before he condescended to inform
them that 100 would CO er the damage to
the temple. e.-Washngton Post.