The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-03-10

WnlCn. IS q WofK or great ellSlneeflllS skill, and from it's height which is 1880 feet above the water, your vision sweeps the full circumference of the is land, the hill-locked harbor, dotted with every variety of craft, from the ocean steamer and war ship to the slip perboat and sampan; and far into the distance, on the mainland, can be seen numerous native villages built down to the waters edge and still further away, with the aid of your glass, you can count a score of islands, washed by the blue waters of the bay.
 On the Chinese streets here, as else where, one is bewildered by the count less number of curios, for John China man has studied the Whim and fancies of the outer barbarian" and goods are on exhibition to suit every taste. In q
 walk of two blocks you see elegant em-
 broideries on silk and satin; delicately I carved ivory fans, ornaments, chess l men and vases; walking sticks of ebo- ny, horn, ivory and bamboo, with em- bossed silver knobs; fairylike bouquet holders, and any variety of f1ligree 1 work; goblets, card cases, flower bas- kets, incense burners, and bangles, ear- rings, scarf pins and finger rings of in tricate workmanship; sandal wood boxes, carved most artistically, and GU | riously cut horns of the rhinoceros and water buffalo, and inlaid ornaments made from the large bony beak of the | toucan
 | Some of the work of the Chinese in silver is very exquisite A chased and | embossed salver is very attractive, as | the design is often wonderfully fine and minute in detail. Every little figure has it's own peculiar expression. The tiles on the roofs of the houses and tiny | temples are distinguishable one from | the other, and even the construction of the liliputian bridges is plainly visible. ] As skilled labor is cheap in China, these l fine pieces of workmanship can be ob- tained for amounts only very little larger than the actual cost of the silver itself.
 The filigree work is made somewhat differently from that in southern Flu rope. The silver framework is first cut out, and gold leaf and mercury are mixed together until they form a paste. 1 The frame is then warmed and the amaIgam rubbed in, after which it is made quite hot to drive off the mercu. ry, and the gliding is finished. The fil- igree Is made of silver wire, extremely | fine in texture, and designs of every de. 1 scription are worked out by the expert | Chinamen with this silver cord. | The Chinese shops on Queens road | here in Hong Kong are more elaborate | ly ornamented than most of their shops elsewhere, and although they are oniv l twenty feet deep by ten or eleven wide they contain a great variety of goods | In the native quarters the sale room is
 a dimly lighted, unattractive place At | the back of the shop little lamp is kept burning before some small image, surrounded by paper flowers or pots of growing plants such as the favorite
 narcissus or the dwarf orange, and on
 the walls are frequently to be seen
 scrolls containing extracts from the
 writings of Coafucius, Mensius and others, extolling the dealings of honest | tradesmen and commanding courtesy 1 toward strangers When you enter the
 shopman approaches you indifferently, l disguising all eagerness to drive bar gain, salutes you with the greeting
 "chin- chin,' and only when he sees
 that you hesitate in your purchasing
 does he seem to awaken to the occasion
 and exhibit his genius as salesman 1 Pidgin English, strange mixture of | English, Chinese and Portuguese, is l spoken by most of the natives at Hong
 Kong, and it was not many days after my arrival before 1t was understood by me sufficiently to serve me for all prac | ticai purposes It's basis consists of
 turning the consonants 'r" into "f' and
 W" into "b," adding final ''ey'' or
 "ee'' to most words, and, above all, the | constant use of the word ''pidgin," | which means business in the most ex- l tended sense of the word. ''Iiab got l good pidgin' means that the business
 situation is a good one. To-day be-
 longee number one Heaben pidgin day"
 Is the conventional pharse for a day
 of Christian observance.
 That no belongee boy pidgin, be- longee coolie pidgin," is the form of your servants remonstrance if you ask him to do what he thinks ought to be done by servant of lower rank. Am, is, are and the parts of the verb, ito
 be- are generally translated by "belon- gee;" "hab belongee''--was; and "bym bye belonged be.
 The word ''side" is used for a partic-
 ular locality: Hong Kong side hab got too muchee piecee Chinaman"
 means "there are many Chinamen in
 Hong Kong
 NO nan" is "impossible;" means
 quickly" Chow chow" food" and
 "chin-chin" is 'good-day," or good bye"
 T catchee dinner this side tonight"
 is the expression for T dine here to-
 night"
 I overheard this order and reply:
 Boy, go talkee amah pay me one piecee handkerchief" Missy, no can
 catchee amah; have go out" I will
 leave this for the reader to make out!
 A gentleman in Hong Kong was in-
 terrupted in his work one day by his
 boy, An Lin, who came into his office
 and gravely remarked: Missy Smith
 hab got enc piecee small COW chilo."
 This was his graceful and delicate way
 of announcing that Mrs. Smith had
 presented her husband with a daugh-
 ter!