The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-12-11

ing to evil doors. The guide told us
that, before she was beheaded, a
| pieces OF flesh were cut of her living
| body.
! We gladly left such a scene of hor-
| ror to look in upon the weaving of silk
| brocade. 1t is impossible TO conceive
| that such irridescent. golden. purple
sheen could be manufactured in such
| a place with such rude machinery by
such workmen. There were four looms
| in the dark den with its earthen floor.
| The looms were Of the rudest possible
construction. While a man washed the
| shuttles, changing them from one
| color to another with deft CELEBRITY,
| a boy on top of the loom pulled up
| a tangled mass of Irvine which
mingled warp and wool in the mar
velous product of artistic beauty and
loneliness At another loom woman,
with full array of shuttles before her,
| was taking up one after another to
pop through three threads only at a
time. There was no pattern for these
operators to follow, but the finished
web showed what fine work skill can
do with the rudest implements.
The excessive value which the
Chinese put upon jade as a personal
ornament is like the superstitious
medicinal value they attribute to gin
seng. Again, the rudeness of the
machinery with which small boys were
cutting and polishing rings, bracelets,
earrings, of this hard green stone,
was a marvellous triumph of human
ingenuity. And still another marvel
was the way in which other small
boys put the feathers of the king fisher
upon silver filagree work. Ivory cut
ting, with fret saw, or with the
smallest Of chisels was another marvel
of misplaced industry. Who but a
Chinaman would pay $3.50 for an ele-
plants tusk, or rhinoceros' horn, or
small part of one, covered with cary
ings of birds and dragons and horse
men and warriors? And the en-
broidery, done entirely by the eye,
while the hand passed the needleful
of silk through till there stood forth
some bird Of gayest plumage, the
sheen of the silk rivalling the feather
in lustre and f1uffiness, was still an
other marvel of Chinese skill
Yet again, as on the previous day.
the most marvellous sight of all was
the stream of humanity, continually
flowing along in interchanging cur
rents. What variety of burdens
they carried! What variety and
abundance of food tempted them!
Pigs heads, and feet, and sides, baked
and raw, chopped and sawed and cut;
duck ready for the spit, or brown and
crisp from roasting in the oven; a
goats head with it's short horns
blackened, to bring them out in start
ling contrast with the whiteness of
the skin; half of dog, the whole car
cass of bat, with the claws on it's
feet; vegetables of numberless kinds;
fruits in endless variety, peeled,
sliced, CHARTERED, or in it's own natural
covering; it seemed as if the great
business of life was to buy or sell
something to eat.
We compressed into one morning
sights, and scenes that made it seem as
if it were months since we set foot
on Chinese soil, and yet it has been
only three days. We engaged Susan
and her boat to take us to visit DR..
Kerr's Hospital. In the forty years
of his missionary labors he has built
up large establishment with manifold
variety of Christian work He had
just returned from Pekin, to which
city he had been summoned to per-
form some surgical operation on some
United States official; for his ex-
perience in doing what he has done
for the sick and suffering Chinese has
given him skill and renown through
out all China.
Susan's boat took us back to the
Hong Kong steamer in time to make
arrangements for our departure. We
edged our way through hundreds Of
boats, the only home that 100000 Of
the population of Canton ever know
The slipper boats are usually managed
by a woman, who works at the scull
with her baby on the floor tied by
a rope around the waist, while the
bamboo basket of chickens swings
overhead, and the family meal of
chopped vegetables and fish lies in
readiness for meal time