The record-union., 1896-04-20

here nothing is expected of one but to
visit the gardens. Whatever your mis-
sion, it will be neither countenanced
nor understood if it have not for its
chief reason a visit to the gardens. II
you have any serious business in life
You will be painfully impressed with the
existence of these ga rdens from che mo-
ment you arrive in Penang. l can best
| illustrate this by reference to my own
experience Here was my first expert
ence with the jinrikisha.
Here they talk kind Of Malayese
Whateve-. you say they signify that
they understand by something which
sounds like Yah, YAH They do not
know that they are uniustified in tax
ing your meaning for granted, because
they know of no greater reason for BE-
ing than the gardens. II. it be not the
gardens you are talking about, it ought
to be; thus, by saying Yah, yah!' they
compliment you After being taken to
the theater at which T played several
times and at the same hour, someone at
the hotel having given the necessary d.
rections l naturally thought that !
could afford to be Independent, and that
scnA offhand nod or gesture would IN
dicate my destination. l tried this sew
eral times, and though the hour was
ever so incongruous, the reply was,
Yah, yahv and 1 brought up at the gar
dens After the theater, though l might
plainly speak the name of my hotel, still
was taken to the gardens. Once I was
taken to the station house.
Il named the theater as my objective
,c;, in6 We
got headed for the gardens. l saw a
German who spoke no English, l ex-
planned to him as best I could. He, too,
said Yah, yah,' Still kept on my un-
happy way to the gardens. Then l saw
a sailor and told him my difficulties.
Il was playing in the City Hall. The
sailor gave the direction, and I was
forthwith taken to the police station
and surrounded by Sikh soldiers. In
time reached the theater. The Penang
ians are patient people. The gardens
make them So
Now to Perak. Here one goes to
the interior to see the silver and tin
mines, that have been worked by Chi
namen for 800 years, and which are
owned by Chinese companies. These
people are theater mad AT Perak the
Governor General insisted upon a per-
formance being given. There was no
place but the Courthouse in which to
give it, so court was Indefinitely ad-
jOurned, and while the GOvernOr-Gen-
Ell al and his wife occupied the prison
ers' dock, in lieu of a box, we played
Lady Windermeres Fan.
I'm Singapore is a nice little Euro
pean theater besides several native
ones. The first thing that we saw was
the star-spangled banner floating from
the top of the Hotel de rEurope. Here
we lived for two weeks. Here, as
elsewhere, was labor all manual. There
are here more than 1000 jinrikishas.
The men employed in them are short
lived and on an average live about
four years after entering upon that
service.
Now, Hongkong. Built on the side
of a hill Here are good hotels and a
nice theater. My first experience there
was witnessing an amateur perform
ance of Pinero's comedy, The Magis-
trate.' Hongkong was suggestive of
the South to me-San Antonio, etc. ]
found here an atmosphere Of home.
All locomotion is by the sedan chair,
with it's attendants. There are but one
or two horses on the island. They
have a race course but their horses
come from Australia or elsewhere.
Hongkong is as a terraced garden.
Here / was told of a negro restaura-
teur famous in the locality and who
hailed from America. His speciality
was oyster cocktails made Of timed
Baltimore oysters. I went to see him.
I wrapped myself in the folds Of the
star-spangled banner, when he grasped
my hand and assured me that he was
glad to welcome me as his fellow
cOuntrywoman. / think that was funny.
''The Chinese have the least dramatic
instinct of all the East. They are. i'm
possible! They are horrid! Their
tastes run to simplicity in scenic eff
fects. A flower pot represents to them
a fourishing garden. A chair repre-
sents a we'll. A bucket six inches deep
is a good enough bucket for them, and
satisfies their craving for realism. To
see a creature fill and refill that, by
lowering it over the back of the chair,
and pour it's imaginary contents re-
peatedly upon that single flower pot, is
full Of thrilling delight to them, and the
longer he keeps it UP the better. He
could do this for fifty consecutive nights
and they would not repine. I don't
know whether this simplicity Of form
indicates a superfluity of imagination
or dearth of it. Here the women take
| their sewing and sit in the streets. AS
they sit thus, you behold all the horrors
Of the process Of small footed malfor-
nation. One sees strings of girls, ten
gagged in carting stone. Their families
are paid for their labor. Men and
women work together. There is neither
morality nor immortality among them.
A like condition among the Japanese
is perhaps why the Japanese are such
happy people.
Shanghai is the most European and
livable place in the East. They have a
fine theater there, with all modern ap-
pointments. There are three classes of
theater-goers-the English concession,
the American and French concessions.
In Shanghai I asked for list of the ho-
tells. 1t was repeated to me as far as
the 'Astor House. When that was
reached / said: That's where! To the
Astor House, If you please The man
who named it, some thirty years or
So ago, had been to New York and
found in the Astor House a model of
elegance and hotel excellence. He re-
turned to Shanghai, and forthwith
named his hotel the Astor House.
II saw there good minstrel perform
ance, given by the boys of the man-of-
war Porpoise 1t was complete, lacking
no minstrel joke since Adam. In Shang-
hal one is interested in its enormous
silk manufactures. There are en-
ployed hundreds of women who ape
their betters by cultivating small and