Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-07-28
Some of the Sights OF PelSfng-T0
Say Nothing of the Smells.

The fur market covers several acres,
and here in the early morning one
may see thousand almOnd-eyed mer-
chants in gorgeous silks moving about
among masses of furs of all kinds
brought in by nomads on their camels
and dromedaries from the wild and
cold regions of Mongolia 1t is one of
the most interesting of all the noval
spectacles which Peking has to offer to
watch the caravans of these nomads
and their odd-looking animals with
hair nine or twelve inches long pass
ing in single file through the gate
They bring in furs, and carry back
brick tea, silk and coal to the Tartars
and Russians of the interior. In a
peregrination Of the city one comes
across strange spectacles, and makes
acquaintance with strange businesses.
Here is q butcher killing a sheep in
front of his shop and leaving the blood
on the ground before you. Next door,
perhaps, is one who sells fish, which
he extracts all alive from tank. In
case you wish for less than a whole
fish, the dealer will pull one out of
the water, lay it on the block and cut
piece OF quivering flesh out of the
side while you wait, throw the rem
nant back into a separate pail of wa
ter, and wait for another customer to
take it. One of the chief meats sold
is pork, and you see pigs trotting about
through the streets. Close to the
pork-shop is a place where they sell
nothing but collins, which the dutiful
son invests in as Il present for his
father long before the old gentleman
is dead: and on the opposite side are
places whose speciality is incense and
joss-sticks, or gold and silver paper to
pe burned at funeral to provide the
fare from this world into the next. or
birds and goldfshes. or coaldust mix
ed up with mud and made up into
balls. If you are very hard up and
in want OF a meal, there is little
place round the corner where you can
get camePs-meat soup. roast mule and
similar luxuries at low prices. There
are places for gambling and dime
museum" shows. There are restau-
rants Of every description and opium
joints without number And the
streets meanwhile are filled with a
stream of yellow individuals of all
classes and ages and both sexes.
The Tartar city is in many respects
different from the rest of Peking. In
it dwell the thousands of Manchu Off
cials, the foreign legations, the Govern
ment departments. and all the para
phernala of this queer Chinese Court.
1t is the most interesting city on the
face of the globe, and its sights really
beggar description. From the walls,
this portion of Peking looks like an
immense orchard, with here and there
one-story buildings shining out
through the trees. in its centre there
is a walled-off inclosure filled with
massive buildings, rooted with yellow
tiles. This is the Purple Forbidden
City, where the Emperor and his Court
reside. Closer acquaintance fails to
fulfil the promise afforded by view
from the wall. The streets are wider,
but they are quite as filthy and foul as
in the Chinese section. The roads
have no sidewalks, and the rude Chin
ese carts sink up to their hubs as they
move along. The streets are the sew.
ers. and it would be hard to find any
where a savage with less regard for
the exposure of his person than have
these pig-tailed, silk-dressed. gaudy,
fat Pekingese.
The Father of an Empress.
A German banker. travelling by rail
in first-class carriage toward Vienna,
had as fellow-traveler at one of the
intermediate stations an old gentle
man, who entered into conversation
and proved very pleasant The banker
got out before his companion, and be-
fore he did SO asked the latter how far
he was going. The gentleman replied,
ITO Vienna" Il have daughter very
well married there said the banker" Il
should like to give you note of intro
duction to her." Il have also a daugh-
ter very well married there" said the
other. Would it be too great a liberty
to ask her name?" MY daughter" the
gentleman answered, "is married to the
Emperor of Austria" 1t was the old
King of Bavaria
Iceland's Bottle Post.
The bottle post is an old institu-
ton on the south coast of Iceland Let
ters are put into corked bottles which
are waited by the winds to the opposite
coast. They also contain a cigar or
other trifie to induce the finder to de-
liver the letters as addressed.
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