The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-21

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| homes you see them clad in quaint cos
| tune of soft silks with pretty shoes
| and caps, and often many ornaments. Al
| though infanticide is common and increas-
| ing among the poor, for many reasons of
| economy, the Chinese are very fond OF
| their children, particularly the boys, and
| are much more demonstrative in their af-
lection than the Japanese. In fact, they
| are decidedly the contrary in this respect,
| as in many others. The Chinese are the
most boisterous and excitable people l
have ever seen. They are worse than the
| French or the Italians or the Turks. You
| can always tell when you are approaching
a market because of the clatnor.
Seeing two old men disputing about the
| price of a head of cabbage you would sup
pose that they were both in n frenzy of
passion, condemning each other to ever
! lasting torment, when the huckster is only
saying that Mr. Ping paid three cash for
a cabbage that very morning and his GUS
toner retorts that two would have been
plenty
Ii Hung Changes compound" as they
call it, is about as big as a city block. in
| closed by a brick wall eighteen or twenty
| feet high bristling with fYe-pronged iron
| spears cemented in the top course to
! trouble intruders. There are seven en-
| trances-one for the public and the rest
for the household and servants on the
side streets so that they can pass in and
| out unobserved. The place looks like the
corral Of a Mexican ranchero rather than
| the palace of a prince and the home Of
one of the richest men in the world, only
the surroundings are nlthier as men are
| often less cleanly than cattle. Above the
| walls rises a forest Of poles thirty feet
high-which from distance look like
| scaffolding-with ropes and bamboo rods
| stretched across them. In the summer
time they support large mats of straw
| and reeds, to shelter the roofs of the
! houses and the open courts below from
| the heat of the sun, and are doubtless
conducive to comfort, although they are
rude and ugly.
We approached the palace in great style
! because we were considered distinguished
visitors and had to keep up appearances
| No man of Importance ever rides in a
| 'richdsha, and, although we used them on
ordinary occasions, we hired the finest
! outfit we could find when we went first
to pay our respects to the greatest man in
| China. 1t not only elevated us in the
good opinion of the loafers that lined the
streets and the tuft-hunters that were
stopping at the hotel but was a compli-
ment to the gentleman we were going to
visit. 1t also impressed his servants and
the yamen runners that hang around his
! door with a suitable sense of our dignity
and they treated us accordingly.
| None but those who hold office or have
rank can ride in green chairs yellow
| chairs are used exclusively by members
of the imperial family Black indicates
that the occupant is a noble of the high
est grade. Purple pertains to some other
rank. Red chairs are used only at we'd
dings, but anybody can ride in a blue
chair and that Is the color most seen
| upon thes treets
Mr.. Reid, out consul general at Tien,
Tsin, and took green chairs, for we had
| been officials and were entitled to them
! The rest Of the party rode in blue ones
The head of the procession was a noisy
| sergeant of police on horseback, who was
| loaned us, with several good-looking pa
| trolmen, by the superintendent for that
| occasion. The sergeant was in uniform
! and carried a sort of dust BRUSH made OF
/ the tail of a horse, tied to the end of a
! stick and dyed red. This he waved fran
tically through the air as we passed into
the crowded streets wbooping and yelling
| to the people to get out of the way. Then
came an escort of police, eight in num-
| Der, and after them a genteelly dressed
| person. whose important duty was to car
| ry our cards. They had been made with
| great care in the Chinese style, and con-
| sisted of pieces of scarlet paper about FIVE
! by eight inches in size, upon which our
| names appeared in native characters
| When Earl Ii came to the hotel to return
our visit he left one that was still larger
for the size of a mans card usually indi-
! Gates his rank
| Then came our sedan chairs in order
| each borne by eight men. and after them
a guard of policemen to protect the rear.
| Although this pageant was very imposing
| it was not expensive, for the whole outfit,
| including the chairs and the policemen
for an entire afternoon, cost only S..
Before the main entrance OF the vice
roy's yamen is lagoon--a shallow pond,
connected with the river by a narrow pas
| sage, that is high or low as the tide
GIBBS and flows, but IS always disgusting
! ly filthy The banks are of mud, adorned
with fostering piles OF garbage, water
| melon rinds and naked children, who are
sometimes in and sometimes out of the
water. The surface is covered with
thick scum of rich green, that smells to
| heaven, and when the tide goes out the
wrecks of old wheelbarrows and barrels
broken pottery and other debris are dis
closed upon the bottom, with a deep de-
post of decaying vegetables and variety
of disease breeding refuse of other sorts.
The open space upon the banks is occu-
pied every morning by vegetable huck-
sters, watermelon peddlers, itinerant res
| taurants and dealers In all kinds OF small
goods-things TO wear as well as things
to eat-for a great many people come to
the yapen every day. Most Of them are
kept waiting for hours. Some of them
never gain admittance but return each
morning with renewed confidence OF
reaching the vieeroy with their com
plants or petitions and have to buy food
while they hope on There are squads of
soldiers hanging about the place contnu-
ally and retaners of different grades,
who are not above buying a bowl Of rice
or bean cake or slice OF watermelon
at the eating booths outside The first
morning / called upon Ii Hung Chang a
company Of mountebanks was entertain
ing a large crowd Of curious spectators
under the shadows of the viceroy's walls.
Between the lagoon and the gate OF the
palace is a high brick wall, that rises like
a screen, about thirty feet long and TWEEN
ty feet high, and people who pass in must
go on either side OF It. You find such
screens as this before the gateway of al
most every dwelling or compound and IL
is intended to keep out evil spirits. The
Chinese theory is that demons and other
invisible enemies OF mankind are not able
to turn a sharp corner, but must travel In
straight lines. Therefore they place these
shields before their gates to obstruct the
passage Of the spirits that would cause
them harm Some time the screen that
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