The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1898-11-12
BRIEF CARRIER.

CONTINUED From First PaHe.)
uares VINO were sunnnpneu TO rne px1ace
to be inspected by the Dowager and the
high court dignitaries.
Inc horoscopes Of all these girls were
supthltted 70 the board of Rites. the mem
pers OF which are known as the offlcera
VINO inquire into heaven These flnc-
.lonarles diligently compared the manv
hunofed horoscopes Of the Candidates
with the Em0erors own horoscope. Then
those VINO Were found in this wav to IA
ellglDle were Inspected by the Dowager.
una rev whom she selected were kept
TOT time at the palace, that their
characteristics and qualities might he
observed at leisure.
A curious incident which happened at
the time of the marriage shows how
much Importance, the Chinese attach to
trlnes OF ceremonial. The board of rites
nad appointed the second day before the
Wedding for the worship of heaven and
earth But to their intense mortifcation
the DoWager pointed out to them that
according to all precedent it ought to ha
the day directly preceding the ceremony.
FOR This disgraceful blunder of the board
Two senior secretaries and several minor
,o11fc1als were degraded five steps of rank.
ana one, a relative of Ii Hung Chang.
who was then In high favor, was de.
graded. - - ~
" the Emperor s. personal appearance
Mr.. DENLY says that he ia small and de-.
ncate looking, but that his eye Is keen
ana ne seems bright and intelligent, An
Englishman who was present at an i'm
Per1al audience thus describes the So
vereign:
Ellis air is one Of exceeding intellieence
ana gentleness, somewhat frightened and
melancholy looking His face is pale. and
though 1T Is distinguished by refinement
and quiet dignity it has none of the force
OF MS martial ancestors, nothing COM
mand1ng or imperial He is es-
sentially Manchu in features, his face
oval shaped, with a very long, narrow
chin and sensitive mouth, With thin,
nervous lips; his nose is we'll shaped and
straight, his eyebrows regular and very
arched, while the eyes are unusually large
and sorroWful In expression. The fore
head Is we'll shaped and broad, and the
head Is large beyond the average"
An English piano manufacturer, who
mas recently spent some time in Picking.
brings news Of the Emperor's fondness
for music and his interest in pianos and
other Instruments of western make. He
is even said to perform himself upon the
pianos OF the palace, but as the privilege
of listening TO the imperial recitals ia re-
served for only the most exalted of the
Celestial kingdom the manufacturer did
not have an opportunity of criticisine the
ia
ever, hearing of the presence in the cap
1tal of An English piano expert, desired
him to look at the palace instruments and
see If he could put them into better order
Several high officials, bearing an ancient
and evidently much-thunped piano, ar.
rived at the Englishman's house and de-.
posted their precious charge. It was,
says the manufacturer in horrible con-
dition. The keys; besides being brown
with dirt, were, covered with queer
Chinese characters which had been stamp
ed on The instrument had not been
tuned In many years, If, indeed, 1t had
ever had that experience since it was
new. The pidno-maker went to work
thoroughly, and finally got the keys clean
and the instrument repaired and in fairly
good tone again. 1T was returned, and
the Emperor expressed his general satis-
faction, but criticised the removal Of the
Chinese written from the keys. That waa
not necessary he said, and the characters
must be replaced Immediately. The manu-.
facturer wondered il this meant that he
was hcnceforth to be In disfavor as 4
repatrer. but he was soon assured to tho
contrary by receiving several more
pianos. an orchestrfon and one or two
other queer Instruments, upon which he
was requested to exercise his skill. For
all these services Kwang-Su sent his
thanks. through an officer of the Imperial
guard.
But the end Of the work had not come
yet. What was the Englishman's
establishment to receive, a few days
later. dilaeidated jinrikisha and a
perambulator much the worse for wear.
which articles. the Emperor requested
he was also to put into proper order. The
Englishman is still wondering whether
Kwang-Su. in his; Chinese simplicity,
Imagined that piano maker was an ex-
pert In all kinds Of tinkering, or whether
there was a touch Of celestial humor in
that last consignment Of BROKEN down
artisless -