The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-05-18
SOME CHINESE CUSTOMS.
How John Clothes Himself to Keep
Cool in Summer and Warm
in Winter.

20, 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 on the outside, have the required eff
feet 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 in the
shoe, are all he thinks it necessary to
wear. Other articles are regarded as
superfiuous.
At this time of the year such China
man has concealed beneath this same
silk coat and jeans variety of things
designed to keep him warm. During
cold weather the un-Americanized
| Chinaman wears at least six or seven
coats. When he rises early on cold
winters morning the first thing he
reaches for, as a rule, is a silk or
worsted coat, which he dons, tight
! fitting to the skin. Then he hastily
gets into a worsted blouse, made in the
shape of the usual outside garment of
| the Chinese, and then has two or three
silk coats to put on, which are followed
| Oy 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 flag or edge of the
underco2t shows. His jeans are put on
next, underneath which he wears a
closer-ftting pair of silk jeans. If par
ticularly 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 Chinaman who still adheres
to his native customs in wearing
clothes has trouble. According to the
statement of Wong Wing, an intelli-
gent Chinaman, no Chinaman who still
processes the religion of his forefa-
| theirs is permitted to wear shoes or boots
closed over the instep or reaching above
the ankle, unless he is priest. Con-
sequently in winter the only protection
| for his feet that the Chinaman has is
heavy stockings and having very thick
cork and worsted soles put on his shoes.
The stockings of the Chinama1 are not
bought in this country, but come from
China by way of San Francisco, and are
not a common garment. One difference
between them and the American stock
ing is that they are neither so short as
that of the ordinary citizen nor as
long as that of the schoolboy. The top
reaches Just below the knee, and the
stockings are made of a peculiar kind
of worsted, very finely knitted and very
warm. This completes the winter
| garb of the Chinaman, which he at1irms
keeps him as warm as he wants to be.
| -'At'hD VI WV bOp SoilS WI II ~ thClli
are wadded all over on the inside with
cotton in almost the same way as a
| football player wads his trousers. A
ChinaInan will frequently start the day
with all his coats on and feeling cold.
AS the day gets warmer and the tenn
| perature of the laundry rises he will
begin to shed coats until he has on only
f,,r,N A., L. l.
prudent in regard to his health, and
rarely gets through a winter without
contracting a 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 to take off or put on at certain
temperatures. Very few Cinnamon
wear anything like collar about their
necks, as the various coats fit so close
| ly 10 the neck that the wind cannot
get down their backs. Gloves are an
other article that are not worn except
in rare cases, as the voluminous sleeves
form the best kind of muff for the
hands and keep them much warmer
than mittens or gloves. There are
some Cinnamon who wear in the win
ter time regular suits of flannel under
wear instead of the silk or worsted
shirt, which hangs considerably below
the waist. The Chinaman does not
wear suspenders, but keeps his jeans
up by means of Chinese belt made out
of silk heavily braided.
4 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 China
man to wear white e brown hat, and
stys he knows only two in Baltimore
who ever wear hat that is not black.
The colors of the coats and various
garments of the Chinaman are moro
usually purple than anything else, be-
cause it is his natural favorite- Outside
of his own person, however, he infinite
ly 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 a laundry always denotes that
| the proprietor has not vet been Chris