Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-07-28
DAILY KENNEBEC 5OT1INAlA SATURDAY. JULY q. 1910
WAYS or TINE CHINESE.
In Many Respects from Oar Point ssei View
Trey Are Peculiar.

/
fact that international complications have
it. Within the next century the ancien,
ernized as to lose much of the pictures
queness which belongs to its antiquity
The traveller who visits the Middle King
dom at the present time is taken back
In effect. many thousands of years in the
history of the world: he sees things as
they were ages ago-the manners, Gus
toms and queer ways of living that he.
| iong to a vanished epoch
Tor example. what is there In the
r marid more strange than the famous
PAGES of the Ming Emperors, who were
me last native rulers of China? This
,,ssmiiy governed the empire from 1868 TO
plNate cemetery may fairly be regard
ed as one of the wonders of the world
Delng lined on either side with statuary
.me IKE OF which is not to be found any
where eise-a series of colossal figures of
human beings and animals sculptured in
gray granite. The avenue. proceeding
from one of the gates Of Marking. is a
n nnt IN length. and ends at marble
sdte, which Is by far the most stately
China. '-'''' III an
The statues comprise a pair of ele-
TOUR pairs of civilians and two pairs of
warriors. pair of horses erect and two
ising down: also camels lions and tigers
IN pairs They are arranged at intervals
on opposite sides of paved but neglect
ed and grass-srown, road leading from
the gate TO the tombs They bear witness
to the glory of dynasty under which
| China was far greater and more power :
ful than she is today. Passers-by throw
a pebble at each elephant if it lodges
| luck Is indicated. The elephants in this
series are really admira BILE works of art
with no suggestion of the grotesque
treatment so commonly exhibited in Chi
| nese sculpture.
About S00o0 rebels were condemned Z,
| death and disposed Of by the summary
process OF deeapitation at the close of
me last great revolutionary movement
| when prisoners in China are to be Judi
ciaily slaughtered. they are fetched to
the killing place. and a list of tbAir
tickets attached to the victims The
hands of the latter are pinioned. and they
are Obliged to kneel on the ground to re-
is delivered with a broad bladed knife
ike n cleaver, single stroke severing
| the head from the body.
| The heauless bodies are usually left
| where they have fallen until night when
If their friends do not remove them the
| authorities take them away and bury
them at the public cost. When notorious
| robbers are executed. it is common
thing to cut out the gall-bladder an or
gan in which. according to Chinese be-
| lief. the courage of d man resides-and
to sell il the purchaser imagining that in
this way he acquires the quality in ques-
ton.
In a Chinese court the magistrate sits
| behind desk. on which are writing ma
terials. the official seal and cups contain
ing tallies which are thrown down to in
dictate the number of blows ordered for
a culprit On either side are secretaries
| with instruments of torture. Inscriptions
are hung on the walls, one of which ex
horts, the judge to be merciful. The ac-
cused kneel in front of the tribunal. 1t
is to he feared that there is little justice
to be had in Chinese courts, the prisoner
having no opportunity to plead either
personally or through counsel while the
most atrocious tortures are inflicted even
upon witnesses to compel confessions.
As might be imagined. the jails are hor-
rble.
One of the most common of criminal
punishments in China consists in fasten-
ing about the neck of the offender n
a hole through the middle of it for the
purpose. This is called a "caDgue," Il
weighs from 20 to 80 pounds. and the
| name residence and crime of the delin-
quent are written upon it in large char
acters for the information of passers-by.
The distress suffered by the wearer is
much more severe than would be sun
posed at first glance, for he cannot feed
| himself even drink cup of water.
He cannot scratch his own nose or drive
away the flies. and sometimes his face
| is smeared with sweetened water to at
| tract insects. Sleep is almost out of the
question. a soldier is always put on
guard over victim OF this ingenious
form of cruelty. who may starve to death
or die of thirst If the myrmidon of the
law refuses to permit the mans friends
to help him. Women. when condemned
| to the cangue. are nearly always linked
together by twos or threes in single
| frame.
Contrary to the popular supposition In
this country. rice is not the chief diet of
| 10 classes in China. 1t is a lux
ury from their point of view. because too
costly for everyday consumption. They
| eat much pork. which costs little. for
hogs of razor back breed are plentiful ev-
erywhere. and the pig is the domestic
| animal par excellence. She sleeps in the
living room. recognizes her name and dis
pIays in her intelligence the inherited re-
| suits of centuries Of training. She iitterS
| twice a year, and of her offspring the
males are fattened while the females are
sold or kept for breeding. The household
porker is pet: she Is fed at every meal
of the family. foraging for herself at 9TH
er times in the streets and fields And II
| should be remembered that the pig Is de-
cidedly clean animal when properly
| kept.
The Rev DR.. Williams, in his Middle
Kingdom" says that the Chinese in the
vicinity Of, Canton, from whom are re-
cruited nearly all of the pig-tail., i'm
migrants to this country. have remark
| able appetite for cats. One frequently
sees pussies hanging nicely dressed in the
butchers windows, the meat looking 81
white and clean as to be almost appetiz-
ing. They are kept alive in the shops
too in cages ready for killing. Because
they are so prolific and find 50 much p
their own food. they can he raised proht-
. | ably Cats eyes are considered great
. ! delicacy by the rich. those of black car
being regarded as choicest and command
ing the highest price. Rats and mice are
seldom eaten. except in case OF famine;
, | they are too hard to catch to be cheap
. But among the Chinese there is an oid
Joke about an imaginary dish called
''honey and squeak, made by enclosing
: | n live mouse in a piece of honeycomb
, Agriculture in China has not progressed
, In its methods since the tanning or the
first water-buffalo for farming purposes
a time 50 far back as to antedate nistor-
, | icaI records The farming tools are or a
most primitive description. though Amer
lean hoes and spades are beginning %
find "A sale in parts of the interior. ana
ali of the vast quantity of rice grown IN
| he empire is threshed by beating buncnes
If the grain-bearing stalks upon wood
on contriyance that looks like cross
I,etween a ladder and a washboard.
. In China fortune telling is recognized
nrnfession. and at Foochow one finds q
whole street filled with their places oil
business One can get different fortune
IN each In Chinese cities the profess
, sions and arts locate themselves IN par
ticular quarters; there are streets OF Gu
, rio dealers of silk merchants, OF silver
, smiths of Jade polishers of INK griho-
ers. of fan makers, etc
| There are only very few actresses II