The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1898-06-03
AN ANCIENT CITY.
Some of the Sights of Peking-To
Say Nothing of the Smells.

Some of the Sights of Peking-TO
Say Nothing of the Smells.
The fur market covers several acres,
and here in the. early morning one
may see a 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. It is one of
the most interesting of all the noval
spectacles which Picking 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
iperegrination of the city one comes
across strange spectacles, and makes
acquaintance with strange businesses.
Here is a 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
a 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 a present for his
father long before the old gentleman
is dead; and on the opposite side axe
places whose Specially is incense and
joss-sticks, or gold and silver paper to
be burned at funeral to provide the
fare from this world into the next, or
birds and goldfishes, or coaldust mix
ed up with mud and made up into
balls. If you are very hard up and
in want of meal, there is little
place round the corner where you can
get camels-meat soup, roast mule and
similar Injuries 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
stream of yellow individuals of all
classes and ages and both sexes.
The Tartar city is in many respects
different from the rest of Picking. In
it dwell the thousands of Manchu Off
Gals, the foreign legations, the Govern
ment departments, and all the para
phernaia 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 Picking looks like an
immense orchard, with here and there
one-story buildings shining out
through the trees In it's centre there
is a walled-off Enclosure 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 a 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
csc 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-lressed. gaudy,
fat Pekingese.