The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1900-09-20
CHINESE POOREOLKS.
Their Earnings Worry Small and Their
Industry Unremitting.

a rich Chinaman wears silk, a poor
one cotton. Since tho proportion Of
rich To poor is about one to & thousand,
it follows that the growth and manu-
facturo OF cotton are OF primo neces-
siJy. 1t is thought cotton culture was
begun in the Thirteenth century, tho
plant coming from India, whore it has
hoon known for 1000 years. In spite
OF her uncuualed agriculture, China
does not raise cotton for cXpOrt--nOr,
In fact, enough for her own nccds. In
the growth and manufacture OF 1t, rs
in everything else, the aim Is not, as
in the United States, to save hand
labor, but to use rs much OF it rs
possible. There arc no power gins for
taking out tho seed. Instead, the
Chinese use little hand gins very like
those still to be found in the homo
spun regions OF tho Appalachian chain.
The gin Is nothing more than q couple
Of small wooden rollers, made fast to
uprights affixed to q bench. They arc
turned by Is wooden crank, rovovc one
against the other, and free the cotton
Of seed by drawing the lint through
the narrow space between. The lint
is fed TO them by hand, and it takes
long and steady days work to gin five
pounds OF lint-whiCh means twenty
pounds OF cotton In the seed
The cotton Is UHrdcd simultaneously
with tho ginning. A,second man stands
at the end OF the bench beating the
clean seed with the teo-kung, or earth
bow, into big, lluKy bats. These bats
the w@mcn spin in various ways. Some
times they use the old-fashi0nod spin i.
ming wheel. Much oftcncr il Is some
thing approximating tho ancient dis
tail. The spinner twirls it steadily,
walking around and around as she
twirls, thus winding the lengthcnlng
thread into very long hanks. If it Is
spun ard run into broachcs or quills,
they often arc rcclad with hand rocl
Chinese industry, indeed Is as invctc-
rate ns Chinese economy. Women
usually work at such rccling while
they stand at gossip In tho alleyways
between their house. If there ls no
reel handy they will be stitching upon
shoe sole, always u salablo article
Bare feet are unknown In China. Even
Il bcggar wears shoes, though he may
have no other clothing than tho head
howl, which serves both as Il hat and
TO hold out when there is u chance of
aims.
Nothing Is wasted in China. Even
grass and wheat roots are pulled uD,
washed, dried and used for fuel. Scraps
OF paper ana cloth are pasted together
to mako the in SOlcs OF shoes. Bits OF
word are glued to build us either q
hoard or IL post. Women spnncrs and
straw~plaiLcrs earn two cents day.
The spinning, though, is most com
monty like the weaving Of the hand
looms, only Il part OF unpaid household
labor. Machine made cloth and thread
I,t 20 l. H.,
the cotton workers, but that fact Is in
8 degree offset by the growing i'm
ports of saw cotton. Still some OF the
light yellow handmade fabric, known
the world over as nankoen, from the
city OF export, Marking, is shipped
abroad. 1t IL made from peculiar
yellow staple cotton, hence not dyed.
The same yellow staple cotton is grown
and manufactured by Arcadians In
Louisiana, but the fabric Is 80 coarse
that il does not compete with the
Chinese one.
Five dollars year will clothe Chi
nese husban and wife something
more than dcccntly. Underwear is
unknOwn-sO is lifting a garment. The
only measures taken are from the hip
to the ground, and from the middle OF
the breast TO the finger tips. Fashions
do not change. Winter garments and
bedding are wadded with cotton. Once
q year they must be ripped apart and
washed, padding and all
How nccdful is economy may be Judg.
cd from "a few figures. Unskilcd
labOrers receive upon an average seven
cents q day. Masons, carpenters and
stone cutters, here as elsewhere TIC
arstocracy OF labor, get from twenty
| five to thirty cents day. Works
| begins at sunrise and keeps up until
dark. Strikes are virtually unknown, ,
and the Chinese lab0rcr ia the happicst
and most contcntcd In all the wOrld.--.
| New York Sun.
| ----4s&99 q, <g1ns------------