The San Francisco call., 1898-01-02

N oO,OOU sous, put the IOrelSHeTS llV- IN ing there consist of nine adults
 and several children. =.
 What little news the outside world :: learns of that Chinese city is brought: out by members of this little colony of Americans who have been ministering to the ailments of the Chinese there for eight or ten years.
 Those men and women are members: of the Presbyterian Medical Mission,, and they are devoting the best days of their lives to the work of ninister-~ ing to the bodily ailments of the Chi: nese. The mission has a free dis. pensary anu the pauper as we'll as the. wealthiest nabob secures what medi-.; cal attendance and medicine are need: ed without cost. >.
 Mudhuts, one story in height, make. up the city, the only exceptions being. the mission, which is story and a . half high and, strange as it may seem, :: the pawn shops, which rise to the dig nifty of two stories. Candles and Wicks dipped in oil afford the dwellers light: and heat, for lamps and cookstoves are :. practically unknown. The Chinese do : what little cooking their necessities de-. :. mand in old cans partly filled. with dirt which serve as fireplaces. ::
 Such a thing as street car is. un- .. known there. There are three. modes of transporting freight and passengers: The donkey carries most of the traffic. The most unique thing in the way of vehicle is the wheelbarrow. It is. a. huge affair, the body. of the barrow being built long and wide enough. to allow of two passengers reclining at: ease. It is drawn and pushed by Chi :: nese who control the barrow by. the. handles which project from the front :: and rear. Only the very wealthy can. afford this luxury.
 The other method of travelling is by. a big-wheeled cart and. is resorted. to-: when long distances are to be travelled : or much produce transported; the bar: row and the burro being brought into. requisition when trips for pleasure are. made. .; ::
 The inhabitants of Kiaochau are farmers; but unlike the farmers. of: this country, they do not live on their farms, but go to and from: work from the city. Most of the farms are small, few of them being more than twenty acres in extent; the: greater number being about five and, ten:acres.
 The methods of planting and har- vesting crops are primitive: The Chi nese do all the work by hand. A sort of crude blow is used to break the ground. A horse or meek faced cow is generally hitched to the blow, :al- though. it is not an uncommon thing to see boys taking the place of those :: animals. :s One curious custom which prevails in Kiaochau and which is indulged in by nearly all is that of 'pawning goods or tools to get money. The Chinese re-: gard the pledging of their effects as a business transaction So general is the custom that the business of a pawn broker is the most flourishing of all.
 In the spring the thrifty farmer pawns his winter clothing and redeems the tools he pawned in the fall. This process is kept up from year to year. :.
 The business often aggregates 5000 day, and few pledges go unredeemed.. About 80 per cent of the pledges were redeemed
 There is a great deal of poverty in the city, and the mission seeks to re- lieve the wants of the poor by distrib- uting aims twice month. On the 1st and 18th of each month the old, lame, crippled and feeble poor to the num- Der of 250 stand in line in front of the mission headquarters and receive a coin which is equivalent to a quarter of a cent. Though but a trifle, it en- ables the recipient to purchase a meal, which usually consists of millet cake. 1 The 'almsgiving days" are looked for | ward to by the poor with joy.
 The way of the transgressor is par ticularly hard in Kiaochau, for the | laws are stringent, and an infraction of them is visited by speedy and se- were punishment. Robbery is a capital offense. The culprit when caught is taken before the magistrate, tried, and i if proven guilty, taken out and be- l headed. For crimes that are peculiarly | atrocious the Chinese have special punishment. One of the ways in
 which they punish persons guilty of an atrocious crime is to tie them up and slice them to pieces.
 The Presbyterian Medical Mission numbers among it's clientele 1000 Chi
 nese The first years of the mission
 work were very difficult, as the super
 stitions of the Chinese had to be over come before they would accept of med icine or medical aid. At present the Chinese prefer the foreign doctors to those of their own race, and seek their
 aid when the ills of the body assail them A few good cures had much to
 do with this change, and there are numbers of Chinese whose faith in the medical missionaries is such that they
 believe the power of the doctors does not stop short of raising the dead.