The evening times., 1899-02-09
CELEBRATION OF THE
chinese new Year
Festivities to Begin Tomor-
row Morning.
A Memorable Day in the History OF
Washington.
True Barbaric SpIendor Reigns in
Their Homes-Customs in the
Old Country.

Chinatown will bedeck itself in holiday
array tomorrow. 1t will be New Year Day
with John Chinaman, and he is preparing
to celebrate it in a very noisy manner.
Tie entire colony, of Mongolians will close
their shops and start in for one continual
round of pleasure and feasting. Midnight
is the time set for the beginning of the
fete, and then every Cinnamon will bow
down in the joss house and give thanks to
the cross-legged god that he has been en-
abled to wash enough shirts and demolish
enough collars and cuffs to pay for the
years living and have something to spare
for the New Year celebration.
The buildings will be abaze with lights,
and decorations will be such as TO make
the humble Christian stand and stare. In
struments of all kinds will give forth
sounds such as never before have been
heard in this city except on the Chinese
festival days, and the ears of the white
man will have TO be stuffed with cotton
tO enable him TO maintain the even tenor
of his ways.
To Make the Day Memorable.
Washington has large Chinese colony
not so large as New York or San Fran
cisco, but still large colony, and they in
tend to make the day memorable in the
Chinese history of this city. There is such
a volume, although most people do not
know il. and unlike the record of some of
the other foreigners in this city, it does
not in the least resemble a Police Court
record
The fete days, which commence tomor-
row, will continue about one week. In
China il lasts half a month, but there is
of the Mongolians in America, and then
they do not have the facilities for as noisy
and as unwholesome a celebration here as
they do there.
The first day will be devoted TO paying
calls and saying nice things TO each other
and their little gods. 1t is just as neces-
sary for the Chinaman to include his god
in his celebration as it is for the average
American 10 place on the fete table a
class of spirits that cheers and sometimes
inebriates.
True Barbaric SpIcPIor.
The average visitor 10 the Chinese quar-
ter does not get half an idea of what is
really happening by observing the outsides
of the buildings. 1t is in the inner tenn
pies of their homes that the Chinaman pays
the most attention to the day. Here is
where the day is celebrated with true
DdrDaFlC SpleEUOT. IDSN are not allowed
TO shoot fire crackers and all that sort oi
thing in the streets. and consequently
their New Year has SOFT OF sucdue1 sound
about it 10 the newly arrived laundryman
He does not think il right for the day to
pass so quietly, and sometimes goes into
the street and makes noise louder than
that allowed by law. He spends the re-
mainder of the day in a cell at the police
station and is fined V in the court
| Compliments of the Season.
The occupants of the tenements on Four.
| and d-a-half Street and their more fortunat,
| brothers on the Avenue in the near vicin
| ity will be kept busy receiving each othel
and exchanging the compliments of III,
season. They will take the pretty Sunday
school teacher who has been so kind L
them all the year all kinds OF presents, in
Guiding silk shawls, teas, Chinese persim
mons, etc. These are always thankful!
received, and the pretty Sunday schoo
! teacher tells John she wishes New Yeal
| Day came once week, while he grins al
| over his face with that broad Mongoliar
smile that resembles nothing so much al
the childish idea OF the man in the moon.
Respects to Their Minister.
Early next week John and Lee and Onl
| Wong will attire themselves in their bes
! bib and tucker and will pay their officia
/ calls on the Chinese Minister in his hous.
! on Eighteenth Street. Here a formal re
| ception will be held. and all OF the China
/ men in the city who can spare the tim'
| from their work will religiously attend
/ With them il is duty that cannot be over
| looked as the minister is supposed TO be il
| constant communication with the Emperor
who is personally interested in every on
| of his subjects on foreign shores, or the.
| think he is, which amounts to the sam
| thing The minister will give cordia
greetings to all his quondam subjects, an
! after partaking Of the good things prepar
! ed by the legation cook the laundrymel
| and grocers will return to their places o
business and the minister will resume hi
thesis on birds nest soup that he inter
rupted long enough TO greet his country
| men.
The Chinaman does not count his yea
like his white brother. Their calenda
ends with the death of an Emperor and
new one rs begun at the accession of hi
| successor to the throne. Thus the yea
that will be celebrated tomorrow will b
the twenty-fifth which sounds very strang
TO the average person who has alway
been taught that China is the oldest coun
| try in the world.
| Old Country Customs.
In the old country the men pay thei
calls on the first day of the fete and the
after they are entirely finished the wome
commence to go about. One of the strang
customs of the land is here noticed. TIL
women in a house never have more tha
one holiday dress among the entire lot.
matters not how many there may be 1