The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-02-18

According TO a returned traveller. Pefil
is 4 queer city in many ways He de
ciares chat the stranger, upon entering tn
Chinese capital is principally impressed b!
the dogs the dirt and the stencil. Afte
several months of drouth, the streets arr
almost ankIe-deep with black dust onI.
three Of the streets are macadamized ant
their drains are open. From these sewer,
is obtained the liquid with which III,
thoroughfarss are sprinloled.
There is a great contrast between tn,
sayety OF dainty Japan and the Chinese
metropolis. The pretty gardens and peiit.
| people of the former are greatly missed
in the latter, where there are two classes
the rich and the poor While many OF the
class designated as the rich are not very
bountifully supplied with this worlds
| goods, those who are poor have so little to
keepers and others in comfortable circum-
stances are wealthy by comparison.
The one thought-tl,e daily struggle
with half the popuiation-is to secure food.
In summer they are half-clad, and, in the
north, in winter. their wadded clothing
simply prevents them from dying from
cold. They wear no understanding, and
the wadde,l garments. left when not in use
| at the pawnbroker's are black and stiff
| with filth and infested with yermin. The
| houses of the lower classes are wretched
in the extreme. the floor OF earth or brick.
the kanE. or brick stove bed, and a few
/ utensils heing tho n thair
sessions.
While they show great skill in many
lines of purely decorative work the Chi
nese are moi the best artisans in the world,
especially as carpenters. and the doors
and windows are seldom fitted to exclude
the piercing winds. Added to this they
rarely shut door and the windows. COW
cred with paper which soon becomes rag
gel and broken. are better adapted to ex-
Guiding the light than the cold. The peo-
pie suffer frightfully from chilblains dur
ing the winter months hands and feet be-
ing raw and bleeding, and thousands die
of pulmonary complaints.
In coming face TO face with Oriental in
difference to the eommonest sanitary laws
1t is no longer surprising that their cities
are the starting point of plague a1d pesti-
lence that sweep over the earth. The dis
eases that are ever present result largely
from an dhatfilc CONDITION OF the DioOu OF
from exhaustion With all their super
stition. and with their disdain for the
Christian religion. the people have an
astonishing faith in the foreigners .
knowledge of medicine and their powers for
healing With their inbred contempt for
women they do not question for a moment
the skill or knowledge of the foreign medi-
cal woman. hut take her medicines and
submit TO operations without word.
The little dispensary In which an
American woman physician sat was neat
and orderly. the labeled bottles in row., on
the shelves. with pair OF apothecary's
scales on the counter at which medicines
could be weighed. Her assistant was an
intelligent Manchu woman. She could be
recognized by her unbound feet and her
enormous headdress, the hair having been
parted and the two long locks wound over
a strip OF wood foot in length at the back
of the head, the whole elaborate structure
being decorated Eith artificial flowers and
silver pins
This picturesque young woman had been
carefully trained by her superior. and she
weighed out quinine. took down the bot
ties as they were required, ard admins
tered doses or offered salvS= to the pa
tients as though she had beeh thus engag-
cd all her life. Many. Of the children who
were brought to the little American physi-
clan, herself almost as slight and delicate
as a child. were suffering with skin dis
eases, eczema, and. in some cases, hideous
ringworms that had almost destroyed the
cbild's hair One boy was pallid and ema-
ciated with consumption. the mother could
give no account of him, as she said he
mad been away earning his living He
showed a little nDeasness at the sight OF
the doctor's stethoscope. and hesitated
when the Thermometer was placed in mis-
mouth. but was treasured by the doctors
explanations. in fluent Chinese.
Others we're suffering from ulcers and
scrofuls. and there were few cases of
ague. Each patient who could pay was re-
quired tG do so. aud those WHO had been
to the dispe1sary before received tickets,
upon which was u number and brief
statement OF their case which they we're
required to present. This saved the doc
tors time-an important consideration.
There were some thirty people. young and
old. in the waiting room. who were wait
ing their turn. Those who could pay were
examined In a separate office.
In addition 10 these patients were a
dozen or more in the hospital. which was
rather peculiar The rooms were. in re-
ality. Chinese houses. though not detached,
and each was supplied with kang. over
which was spread the mat upon which tie
patients slept and upon which was set the
low table AZ which they ate. The pillo@
was blocl; of wood or a hard bolster a
foot in length. 1t had been found that they
did best when allowed Chinese food Of
rather such Chinese food as furnished
proper nutrition. and this was cooked.
Chinese fashion. by a Chinese woman.
In this womaus hospital many of the pa
tieuts were Of the better class. even to
the rank Of a generals wife and among
them were scores who came to be cured
OF the opium habit. These could be rec
oguized by their CHASTITY color and CLASSY |
eyes.
In one Of the rooms lay a tiny baby |
asleep. With its head on u hard Chinese |
pillow adapted To its size. II wore only a /
little knit SHIRT which had been furnished |
by the doctor. II is not the custom among |
the poorer Chinese TO provide clothes fer |
newly born children. :ur fear they may
not live. in which even. the worK AMI |
material would ,be -wastea---a fair example |
of Chinese thrift.
1t would seem that China oui:hI to lie
great field for American women ItTsi- /
clans. But there are two difficulties in the
way. First. the Ghineye object seriously
to paying even reasonable ices; and. sec
ond. a knowledge of the Chinese language
is Indispensable. This Is n oniy Que OF
the most difficult ana complicated of all
languages tC acquire, Lut when It is az
quired the student discovers that that
which is spoken in one province cannot tie
understood in another.
There is now an energetic movement to
abolish the barbarous custom of footbind-
ing. This. ii may be said is not universal
throughout China. never having been
adopted bv the Memchus and Tartars.
This class. fortunately. now includes the
Dowager Empress. the imperial prin-
resses. and the example of royalty in Chi