The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-29

and paeodas. with pictures Of which we are
familiar. are generally outside the walls OF
the cities. In consequence. a city generally
prospect Of monotOnous expanse of small
houses broken only by the occasional tow
ering pawnshop.
The streets OF tho cities are perfec. nest
holes. the width of typical street being
from four to eight feet. OF course there are
wide avenues. but these are strictly for
show. and are in the best quarters of the
town. the poorer streets being without ex-
ceptiOn Of about the width stated. Although
the buildings on either side are of little
height, the narrowness of the openings be-
tween them. and the custom of filling the
space overhead with signs OF various colo-s
Ike campaign banners, makes the streets
invariably dark and Ill ventilated. the fou
afr which collects I'm them often starting the
pestilences which periodically ravage the
cities. This lack OF ventilatio f. increased
by the habit OF stretching canvas or straw
awnings across the streets when there IS
rain or n hot sun. the Chinese seeming to
believe that shade makes up for the want
Of fresh air.
The public Offices and the business sec
tion OF the city are on much grander scales
however. Even the business buildings arc
not remarkable for height but they make
up for It In depth and in beauty OF srchi-
lecture The style IL distinctly Chinese the
roofs being of the roughened tiles familiar
through pictures, and the carvings on tie
buildings being most elaborate. These
buildings are comparatively few In number.
however. each city having about the same
number In proportion to population "a the
American city has fine office buildings
When II IL considered how few tho oCCu-
pants OF the Chinese building are. It can
readily be seen that the number Of fine Of
fees IS much less than appears ut first. and
the narrow streets may be taken as typical
OF Chinese business.
The pawnbrokers' establishments are 81
the size and Importance that they are
through the universal habit OF storing
clothes and posse ssions OF various sorts in
them during the various seasons IL is a
noteworthy fact that more pawnhops exist
In the warmer regions OF the country. " hera
few winter garments are worn. than I'm the
cooler sections. In the colder parts OF China
1; Is generally cool at night. even in sum-
mer time. rccessitating the use of heavy
coverings while asleep. The Chinaman uses
his clothes for this purpose. and instead Of
changing to heavier garments during the
night. or in winter time. he merely pulls
on heavy clothes over those he has worn
all summer. and adds or takes off n layer
of garments rs the temperature Increases or
decreases.
The suburbs OF city are more interesting
than its Interior. as II Is there that the
majority Of the temples and fine houses are
situated. The Chinese have brought the
art II gardening to the finest pitch In the
world and some of the suburban houses
have little gardens surrounded with high
wall which are veritable gems. the use
of fountains and rockeries being reduced to
u science. In the suburbs are also the pa
vilions and pagodas. Some Of the pagofas
have been erected to reach an extra9rdi-
nary height, the famous porcelain tower Of
Nankin which is now destroyed. having AT
one time height Of $50 feet. There are
49, ..f p1.c md
ever. which reach a height of go feet at
the least.
The temples are also collected in the sub
urbs and some Of them are architectural