The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-03-27
SOME CHINESE CUSTOMS.
How John Keeps Cool In Summer and
Warm In Winter.
Baltimore SUM-


A singular thing about Chinaman is
that, so far as outside appearances go.
he dresses himself exactly alike, both
winter and summer.
He appears neither more bulky nor
thinner as the seasons go by. and the
style, cut and texture Of his raiment,
unless searching Investigations are
made. seem unchanged. However, as
| the winter weather comes on, the snow
begins to fall, and the chill winds to
whistle through the cracks in his laun-
dry. or other place of business, he does
make certain. changes in his wearing
apparel which, while they do not show
up Gun the outside, have the required
effect of keeping him warm and COM
Portable.
In the summer time the Chinaman
wears as few clothes as permitted by
custom. The wide, flowing silk coat.
with balloon sleeves, equally wide jeans
and a glimpse Of white stocking III the
shoe are all he thinks it necessary to
wear Other articles arc regarded as
Superfluous.
At this time of the year such a, Chi
naman has concealed beneath this sumo
silk coat and jeans a veriety of things
destg ned to keep him warm. During
the cold weather the n-Americanized
Chinaman wears at least six or seven
coats. When he rises early on a cold
winters morning the first thing ne
reaches for. as a rule, is a silk or wor
sted coat, which he dons, tght-ftting
to the skin. Then he hastily gets into
worsted blouse, made in the sslape OF
the usual outside garment of the Chi
nese, and then has two or three silk
coats to put ON, which are followed by
a closely knit muslin coat, another silk
coat, and the top coat, or blouse. This
last is so made that no suggestion is
given of the others underneath. 1t never
bulges, and no flap or edge of the IN
dercoats shows. His jeans are put on
| next, underneath which he wears
eloser-ftting pair of silk jeans. If par
ticulaTly chilly, he wears extra pairs OF
silk jeans. The outside jeans are made
out of heavy muslin, as is also at times
the winter top coat.
Concerning his stockings and his feet
the ChinaJman who still adheres to his
native customs in wearing clothes, has
trouble. According to the statement OF
Wong Wing, an intelligent Chinaman
living at 1911 Riggs avenue, no China
man who still processes the religion 81
his forefathers is permitted to wear
shoes or boots closed over the instep
or reaching above the ankle, unless he
is priest. Consequently in winter the
only protection for his feet that the
Chinaman has is heavy stockings and
having very thick cork or worsted Soles
put on his shoes. The stockings of the
Chinaman are not bought in this coun-
| try, but come from China by way of
San Francisco, and are not a common
garment. One difference between them
and the American stocking is that they
are neither so short as that of the or
binary citizen nor as long as that Of
the school boy The top reaches just
below the knee, and the stockings are
made of peculiar kind of Worsted
very finely knitted and very warm
This completes the winter garb of the
Chinaman which he affirms keeps him
as warm as he wants to be.
Many of the top coats worn by them
are wadded all over on the inside with
cotton, in almost the same way as
football player pads his trousers. y
Chinaman will frequently start the day
with all his coats On and feeling cold.
AS the day gets warmer and the TEN
perature of the laundry rises he will
begin to shed coats until he has on only
two or three. As a rule he is very i'm
prudent in regard to his health, and
rarely gets through a, winter without
contracting ga bad cold through care
lessness in going out without all his
coats on or taking too many off to get
cool. There is art in regulating the
number you take off or put on at GER
tain temperatures.
Very few Cinnamon wear anything
like collar about their necks, as the
various coats fit so closely to the mech
that the wind cannot get down thel:
backs. Gloves are another article that
are not worn except in rare cases, as
the volllminous sleeves form the besl
kind Of a muff for the hands and keep
them much warmer than mittens or
gloves. There are some Cinnamon who
wear in the winter time regular suits
of flannel underwear instead of the silk
or worsted shirt, which hangs consid-
era,bly below the waist. The Chinaman
does not wear sIuspenders, but keeps his
jeans up by means of a Chinese belt
made out of silk, heavily braided.
A Chinaman has one style of hat-a
black soft felt hat-which meets all his
requirements. Wong Wing says that
it is considered too sassy for a Chi
naman to wear a white or brown hat.
and says he knows only two in Balti-
more who ever wear a hat that is not
black
The coors of the coats, and various
garments of the Chinaman are more
usually purple than anything else, be-
cause it is his natural favorite. Out
side of his own person, however, he in
finitely prefers red to any other color
He Grapes his washstands, his iron
boards and his entire room with red
CLOTH All his tapestries are red, and
the sign with which he announces his
name and business is red Red is the
religious color of the Chinese, and the
presence of red in laundry always de-
notes that the proprietor has not yet
been Christianized, while the lack OF
this color is said to be clear proof that
he has accepted the religion of this
country and cast aside his own.
White is worn as a sign of mourning
The Chinaman in this country has of
recent years taken to wearing his cue
curled about his head instead of hang
ing as before, which is mark of re-
spect to American customs. Nearly all
of their clothes are imported from
China.