The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-03

CHINESE new YEAR
WILL DE CELEBRATED FEB. is
WITH RELIGION AND F'EAsTING.
OHN'S CHIEF HOLIDAY.
NEW YEAR CARDS AND TABLE
DELEGATES ORDERED FROM
NEW YORK.

Joss House 10 he Decorated for the
Occnsion-Prayers for Prosperity
Ascend in SmOke--The Burning OF
SandnI-WOOd Incense One of the
Chief Parts of the Service-Dinner
Comes After and Lasts Several
HOurs-some of the Dclicacies
That Will Be Eaten.
Feb. IS will be the New Years Day
of the Chinese, and will be celebrated by
them after the customs of time imme-
mortal. There are only about forty of
the sons of the Middle Kingdom in Sa-
vannah but their small number will not
interfere with the celebration, which will
be carried out on comparatively the same
scale that it is in any other city in this
country.
This is the one day in the year in which
the Chinese in this country, to use the
rying out the blowing with the same
thoroughness that they carry on their
business the remainder of the time, they
do it Thoroughly.
Already preparations are being made by
the members of the local colony for the
fcstal occasion. From New York has
been ordered supply of New Year cards,
bearing on a red background in choicely
formed Chinese characters, words that
are pronounced "Goong He Fat Toy
which means "A Happy New Year Each
Celestial gentleman provides himself with
a supply of these cards, and on New
Years Day, goes visiting and gives one
to each of his friends.
Not only have the cards been ordered
from New York, however, but also a sup
ply of Chinese comestibles and delicacies
among them being birds nests, for soup,
and shark fins, ginger preserved honey;
and a supply of strange but highly APP
preciated liquors, among which rice wins
ky is the commoneSt and Is used in the
largest quantities. Besides the eatables
of his own land, John Chinaman will also
have on his festive board on New Year S
day the best that the local market can
afford in the shape of fowls, 20 which he
is very partial
No work viii be done on New Years
day i'm any of the laundries or other places
of business conducted by Cinnamon; on
the contrary, the places will be closed
to the general public and will be open
only to callers of the proprietors own
class and nation. These calls will be
made, for the most part, in the morning,
for in the afternoon there are religious
rites to be observed in the joss house,
which take some time, and then the din
ner will be served in the late afternoon
or early evening and, in either case, will
take up several hours.
Though not generally known there is
Joss house in Savannah at the laundry
OF Dan Lee on Jefferson street, near Ogle-
thorpe avenue. The Joss with the para
phernalia of the service that is done him
is in rather an unpretentious room, the
fewness of his votaries and their stinted
means not allowing them to prepare a
more elaborate tempe; but on New Year $
Day the Gods must not be neglected if a
propitious season is desired, and So along
with the New Years cards and eatablee
will come some rich Chinese tapestries.
choice examples of the beautiful needle
work in which the natives so much excel,
and also screens, packages of incense and
supply of paper prayers suitably in
scr1bed with sentiments for all occasions.
The incense will be burned, filling the
room with its pungent sweetness of SAN
dial wood, so grateful to JOSS, and then
while he is in a benign humor, will be
offered up the prayers. also by the medi-
UNI of fire.
Ii is customary in other places to set off
fireworks also on this day, but owing to
the city ordinances none viii be fired in
Savannah. The festival will last all day
and probably all night, but the next day,
no matter in what way the evening and
night previous had been passed, or on
what terms the rice whisky,
and the sharks fins got along on, the
faundries will be reopened and John will
be found industriously polishing shirts,
for as one of them expressed it yesterday,
"heapee little money in washing, got to
work night alice samee day to make liv-
ing"