The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-19
THE FEAST OF KwoNG COON.
The Chinese Diety has Evidently
 Queer Appetite.

been celebrated by celestials of the Pa cific coast. Of all the 2,S33 divinities of the flowery Kindom. none is held with such dread on this side of the water as the mighty king of evil spir- its, the great joss. Kwong Coon. Ter rible is his anger if unappeased. Dire is his vengeance if neglected. Once in every three years a great feast is pre-
 pared by local Chinese as an offering to the dreaded train of demons who are emissaries and servants of the great god.
 Preparations for the feast had stirred Chinatown for many days. Pig tailed coolies chattered irreverently on | street corners and tested at the ex- pense of Gwong Coon, priests lasted in seclusion. Then the morning of the fes- | tival dawned. | It is related among the Mongolians | that Kwong Coon once, when neglected, | caused his demons to devour all the | fish in the sea. Soma of the finny in | habitant of the water escaped in the the turmoil and hid in the dark caverns | of the ocean. The few which survived multiplied and saved the sea from de- population. Since then every third year Celestials embark upon the Wa ter and hold their festival to Kwong Coon there to pacify him and to keep his anger within bounds.
 | Down at the waters edge crowds of Celestials gathered. They buried I their long-nailed fingers within the | folds of their luminous sleeves and eyed the bay and the ocean suspicious, ly. They were awaiting stolidly the ar rival of Whan Lii, he who is high priest to the god. The yellow junk, Flung Hi, lay at ancor. It was to bear | Kwong Coon upon the bosom of the waters.
 The sky was gray and sullen. The day seemed unproptious when at once the sun, as if favoring especially the rites of the Mongoliaps, beamed out upon the ripping, rolling bay just as Whan Ii, with eight at tendants in full canicals, dashed up to the wharf in a hack.
 Behold the mighty god, Kwong Coon, with hateful brazen grimace,
 borne in a commonplace cab to the place of high festival by a more com monplace jehu of Irish extraction It was ludicrous. It was an affront to
 the gods dignity. But the procession
 which followed Shades of Confucius!
 That was an affront to the dignity of
 the whole Flowery Kingdom.
 First, players of squealing reeds rent
 the air with prolonged diabolical
 shrieks. It seemed as if all the furies
 of Hades had been let loose. But the
 police rarely ever interfere with Mon
 golian antics. They seem to resent
 it meanly. So they are treated as
 spoiled children and permitted to mur-
 der the peace.
 Then they blockaded the sidewalks as
 far as the eye could reach with sin gle-file procession of the feast-bearers,
 Each man bore huge platter, upon
 which were piled high rare and tooth
 some viands. Most importantly came
 the sweetmeat bearers. They carried their burdens on line with the nose,
 and only glimpses of indescribable
 dainties came to the eye Only the curious would have cared to taste But
 the eyes of the watchful Mongolians
 fairly gloated.
 Behind the weetmeat-bearers came
 the honored crew intrusted with the
 roast pigs, fat young pork, odoriferous
 with oil and spices and garlanded with
 crowns of roses. And then the roast
 ducks. What grotesqueness! They are stood upon the immense platters, bal i. anced on one toe, or curving theii
 neeks in nasty leers, without regard to
 decency. There were the attitudes
 which expressed the epitome of relig- ious fervor.
 And sometimes when the duck bear
 CT himself became to fervid, the bird
 on a line with his nose. toppled over disgracefuly. Then wild anathemas poured from the lips of the Celestial as he loudly proclaimed the female an cestors of the wretched bird to have , been miserable servants of sin. Such was the ensemble of an Ameri l canized Chinese pageant. It moved ma jestically toward the junk, with tht noble joss in the lead. It stopped a 5 the edge Then at signal from Whan Ii the sacred image was lifted into the : junk and placed against the mast The \ feast was carried aboard and placed a 7 the feet of the idol Punk sticks were
 lighted and yards of prayer papers
 placed on the Impoverished altars. The ropes were cast off and the vel low Flung HI, tossing her gaudy Ian r terms and tinsel, fioated out on tn, , golden bay, Intense silence reigned a
 
 , the sea journey of Kwong Coon. 9 An ancor was cast at a quarter of F mile, and then began the true business p of the occasion. The pigs, the ducks 7 the rare sweetmeats, all were cast witt profound obeisance and religious nut , terings upon the bosom of the waters They were cast into the gluttonou
 nav of Kwong Goon's evil spirits. :, The pigs, the ducks, the rice, the vege tables hoated around on the surface :. mussing up the clean sway of the wa ter. Off in the distance on a wharf
 horde of street urchins had gathered
 waiting for that feast to float to thei , expectant arms At last nice ia . porking rolled up against a pier. = hook and line was in readiness, and s was hauled ashore
 There was a groan. Those eager urch l ins fell back. A miracle had takel V place. They spat upon the thing an, :, tossed it over board. Paper-mache = stuffed with cotton and painted in de l captive colors, was it makeup. Kwoni
 Goon's demons must have snorted whel
 the Celestials fed them paper pigs an, ]. ducks. Trust a Chinaman to practic
 deception. It is his birthright- g Angeles letter in the Chicago Times
 Herald.
 THE SAVING IN CANAL RIJIJ, DING