The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-27

was 70 START Tor singapore. anu mere
found again all the luxury Of oriental
travelling in an English surrounding. The
adaptabiiity of the English in these eli
mates is one of the marvellous evolve
ments Of civilizations; and 1t explains en-
tirely the peculiar hold that the English
nature-or, perhaps, l should say, the An
glo-Saxon type-has attained in all the
various nations which it governs. In In
dka, the Englishman readily assimulates
himself TO Indian custom, Indian food, In
dian observances, holidays, fasts, ETC.,
WHILE in China, he does precisely the same
thing, and In every other place where the
English flag flies.
l found this again in Singapore where
arrived after several days of very pleas
ant travel. The company aboard proved
to be very charming, and we spent most
of our time in various games; whist be-
ing the sacred institution of the after
dinner time on deck. l was rather sur
prised to find that not a single person
aboard-that Is, in the cabin-though they
comprised almost all grades of people Ga
number Of them military had ever played
our own celebrated game of poker. They
had heard of it, and showed great inter-
est in learning it's triumphs and its disap-
pointments. We played for small stalk -
Ga shilling being the limit, and had every
reason to appreciate the aptitude, as
well as the avidity with which they
learned the difference between two pairs,
a flush and a straight.
. l came out of the came myself minus
a goodly number of shillings. The loss
was small in the aggregate, of course, and
partly was due 20 the necessary gallan-
try of my sex toward the weaker and
more charming one. For the women
aboard seemed even more anxious than
the men to play the limit on anything they
might have in their hand; and, being The
instructor, l felt that l could not very
well insist on the exact value of my
cards. / say it in no boastful way-but 1
threw up a good many hands where 1
might very easily have pressed the limit
and taken the pot. BY the time we
reached Singapore I had converted the
whole cabin from whist to poker
Singapore itself is little more than a
commercial place. The garrison is small
There seemed to be hardly any amuse.
ments Of any sort, outside of riding and
driving. Occasionally, some nomadic
company gives a few performances. But
as a rule, the big organizations that go
from England to Australia seldom touch
here long enough to give a performance.
The dearth of anything like amuse-
ment of a scenic or Theatre sort was the
reason that induced me to give a perform
ance in the dancing room of the princi-
pal hotel. When some of those there
whom l had met on my trip out to India
discovered my arrival l was beseiged with
requests to oblge them with some exhibit
lions of my art. / had been treated with
such uniform kindness by all these peo-
pie that l had not the heart to refuse,
even though l had previously made up
my mind not to give any performance
whatever on my tour. But at any rate, 1
insisted that the admission should be by
card only. 1 refused any reward or emol-
ument
And as 1t was. having no paraphernalia
with me excepting of the simplest sorO,
/ interested the audience, which seemed
to comprise almost half the English in tho
place, by tricks of dexterity rather than
of a mechanical nature. And, at the con-
clusion, 1 was showered with congratu-
lationS and applause. Some of the most
important people there had attended, and
l was surprised to find that number of
them had never seen a magical seance be-
fore. And they were the more surprised
AS they told me-to hear that l had come
all the way from America to witness Hin
doc tricks, when the ones 1 did appeared
to be to Them so much heater and more
novel.
I took two or three drives out in the
country, and, on one occasion, went to
hunt For the vessel going to Hong Kong
was not to arrive for four DAYS 1t proved
to be much smaller and a much more
inconvenient steamer in every way than
those had hitherto been accustomed to-
and the company was by no means so
choice nor so select.
For the first time, / found the steera ge
of the vessel crowded with Chinese. And
thereafter, during my trip through the
east these people seemed to abound every
where. They travelled from place to place.
doing the Coolie work at various seasons,
and hardly put in any idle hour the whole
year, excepting during the trips from one
place to another. In Singapore they gather
the rice, tobacco and coffee, or they do the
long shore work. In China, they pick tea.
In Japan, they fish. And they are thus kept
going from one place to another contin-
uously, and at a rate of wages that wholly
excuses our exclusion act. The hordes of
these people that would go to America if
they were allowed. would rapidly bring
we fortunately, have not enough of them
ito seriously count.
After a trip of a few days, made hideous
by the everlasting jabbering of these 300
or 400 celestials. packed together in the
scantiest quarters, We woke up
one morning to find ourselves before the
rising terraces of Hong Kong, and in view
of one of the most active scenes of harbor
life that l have ever witnessed There
were three or four stately men of war in
the harbor. opposite the city, a constant
going to and fro of officers and men; Chin
amen in their boats coming in from the
sea laden with fish of seemingly all kinds,
here and there a junk, and the general
animation of a sunshiny sea with a green
| background of the towering city in the
| distance, that was altogether delightful.
l am now almost at the conclusion of my
| pilgrimage. From here to Kobe, Yoko-
! hama, and then for home once more This
| will bring my trip to a finish and after
] an experience that | shall never regret