The Red Cloud chief., 1896-09-11

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WLS-Shkk[VN in contact with
SyT European com =
merce and civiliza-
ion for over half a century. Aside
from the quarter where the foreigners
live the streets reck with filth and the
air Is heavy with stenChes SO poison
Gus they can be endured by no one but
4 Chinaman who has been reared
among them. The city of Annoy is on
an island of the same name and pos
sesscs one of the finest harbors along
the Chinese coast. Some $50 years ago
1t had a population of over a million,
but the latest estimates o%btainable say
that its inhabitants number hardly a
tenth Of that now. Properly speaking.
there are two cities, an outer and an
inner. the latter being a sort of citadel,
pcrchod upon some rocky hills and en-
circled by a massive wall. II is the
outer town, which lies along and
around the harbor, at the mouth of the
Lung Kiang river, which is. for the
most part, the paradise of filth and dis
ease.
The streets In some forgotten dynas-
ty are said to have been paved with
granite, but the accumulation of dec
AIDES OF filth Is so deep as to leave this
statement open to doubt. The thor
oughfares of this Chinese town are even
worse from a sanitary point of view
than those of the other cities of the
empire. They are. on the average.
twelve feet in width. but their depth is
unknowable, for during the seasons Of
the rains they turn to rivers of liquid
mud.
In this particular part of the city
the ground is fairly level and an at
tempt was once made to construct n
system of drainage, but vestiges of
these drains exist.
At almost every door stands q large
vessel, in which offal and everything
else offensive to the European eye and
nostril is thrown. This is a custom
prevailing in nearly every great city
OF China and for this reason natives of
Annoy look surprised at the foreign
devil who, as he enters one of their
streets for the first time, grows pale
and sick.
In dry weather the streets are deep
with fine dust and the air is quite as
badly tainted as during the rainy sea-
son, though the quality of some Of the
most noted characteristic smells under
go a slight change. 1t would not be
so bad If there were a chance for TIE
wind to have full sweep once in awhile
through these narrow streets, but they
are covered wholly or in part with
awnings, which in fair weather keep
out the sun and in the rainy season
afford Intellectual protection against the
wet, but always prevent the air from
circulating freely.
Another thing which makes the at
mosphere Of the street retain its pollu-
ton, no matter how much OF a breeze
may be moving above the low house
tops, is the fact that the streets are tor
tuous beyond description, their irregu-
larity being made to seem even greater
on account of the way the corners of
many of the houses project out into the
streets, making a series of sharp turn
ings necessary for pedestrians. Horses
and carriages. of course, are unknown,
for there is hardly room. even under
the best conditions, for the long files
Of people to brush past each other.
Much has been written regarding
the people who throng the narrow
streets of this and other Chinese cities,
but one thing that Is especially notice
able is the vast number of beggars,
most of whom are afflicted with some
sort of repulsive disease. The am
moniacal gases and the ever-present
foul smells are the cause of many sorts
of disfiguring maladies, as well as the
epidemics Of fever, smallpox and other
filth-bred~ contagious diseases which pc
riodically decimate the dense popula-
ton.
Next to the people in Annoy streets
the most striking thing among living
objects is the vast number of dogs.
They are about a foot high and too
feet long. with bristling, pale, dirty
yellow or black hair and tails that curl
up high over the back. They cannot
run very rapidly owing to the unusual
straightness of their hind legs, which
makes their attempts at rapid locomo-
ton seem awkward. They have black
eyes and all possess this striking pecu-
liarity-the insides of their lips,
mouths and tongues are black.
In Annoy, as in other Chinese cities,
there are regular markets where dog
meat is sold, the animals which supply
it being reared expressly for the table.
Their flesh is quite expensive; so much
so that it is considered a luxury far
out of the reach of all but those in
good circumstances. These dogs are
generally sold alive in cages and keep
up a frightful yelplng, which is accel-
Grated when a customer approaches,
for then ensues a thorough plnching
and prodding of the poor beasts body
to find out If he is tender. They are
fed on rice, which fattens them and is
said to give their flesh a delicious IA