The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-06
ABIG CITY'S CHINATOWN
A Curious Celestial Spot in the
Limits of New York.
Shops That sell Children's Outfits
and Establishments That supply
Necessary Articles for Use ut Flu
ncraIs-odd CONNECTIONS of Can
tonese Baker-NongoIinu BARRIERS

of the district. They have seen the Joss
house, the theatre, the restaurant, an
opium joint, and it may be a gambling
den-which are of course interesting, but
which are a very small portion of the
real sights and oddities of the Monaghan
quarter Chinatown is a city in itself
The civilization of Cathay is to be found
there, although done up in American par
cells.
In Pell Street nearly opposite Doyers,
and in Mott Street not far from Chatham
Square, are shops which sell children's
outfits. To the Chinese mind there is
something sacred about babyhood, and the
Chinese seldom or never display the little
caps and gowns, shoes and stockings,
which are to gladden. the hearts of proud
mothers and oblique-eyed urchins. The
baby cap is a semi globe made of pink
or blue silk usually truncated at the top
to afford ventilation to the hair beneath.
The material is silk or satin, and the
color the primary tones of the prism.
The cheapest baby caps are Powered and
brocaded, while the more expensive ones
are embroidered and often Illuminated
with. gold and silver. Some of them are
decorated with quotations from the poets,
ancient saws, and maxims or poetic senti-
ments appropriate to childhood. In Doy-
ers Street lives little Chinese woman
artist who is a baby cap embroiderer.
Her work is commission work and is
usually done for the prosperous mer-
chants of the neighborhood and not in
frequently for wealthy Cinnamon in Cuba
and Porto Rico. The baby apparel is
thing of wonder Its principles are soft
ness, warmth, comfort and color. Chi
nese mothers have an instructive fear OF
cold and taking cold. and dress their on
spring accordingly. The youngster is at
tired first in a suit of underwear from
geek to ankle. This may be of wool, but
Il is more frequently of cotton. Over this
is drawn a second suit OF underwear,
trile stronger and frmer than the first
third layer consists of a silk coat and
trousers which are tied about the ankles.
Then comes the fourth or outer layer OF
a padded silk coat and heavy silk trous-
ers. Frequently the child thus en-
wrapped is further decorated by sleeve
less silk Jacket or vest. This series OF
layers keeps the baby warm and protects
It from accident. AS a matter of fact,
It is as sensible an armor as the unsightly
uniform of the modern football player
According to the Irish residents of China
town, the chinky kid can fall out OF
third story window widout hurting itself
in any way.
In Mott Street is an atelier which sup
plies the numerous paraphernalia for
funerals. These include the gariands of
artificial flowers and tinsel, red candies,
perfumed or unperfumed joss sticks which
range from slight affairs no larger Than
steel knitting needle to huge cylinders
se long as a hockey stick. No Chinaman
would lie comfortably in his grave if the
ground above him were not strewn with
make believe money. To crafty MIN IN
his last long sleep the workshop provides
brown paper money which is equivalent !
20 dollars, paper money stamped with sill
yer which is equivalent TO soyereiSns or
eagles. and sheets Of paper printed in
black. red, and gold. whose conventional !
value is that OF the double eagle. For - |
cents a serrowing relative can purchase /
enough of this spiritual cash TO represent /
a bank account of 500, 600 in the next I
life. For a man who has always lie u oor /
in this life there are special provisions.
You can purchase for dollar a NINA
ture palace made Of bamboo and Caudy !
paper. furnished with paper furniture, F..
viands. stores, silks and satins, PAPER
horse paper COWS and carts, paper boats,
robes of state mandarins robes with big .
red buttons and the sedan chairs covered .
in green, which are cOnsecrated 10 the
highest orders of official life. These,
when ignited and burned in the death
room or in the street in front Of the dead
mans house. or in the cemetery beside
the grave, become metamorphosed into .
the spiritual entities of the things they
represent Thus the dead pauper enters
the next world millionaire, and the poor
coolie walks proudly down the streets of
the Celestian Canton in all the pomp ard
splendor of a viceroy.
In Doyers Street l know a Cantonese
baker and confectioner. He is a busy
little mortal. who works so hard at the
mixine-trough and the rolling board,
around the -four barrel. and over the oven
that all the fat in his body has been
dried out and the skin has assumed the /
rich brown of his own cakes and confec-
lions He is famous for his creations. |
which 1t must be confessed are appetiZing
TO an American. He and his workmen are
busy day and night, and from the door
Of his cook-shop perpetually floats pleas
ant yapor He creations are number
less Many of them are like our own jun
bles. round hearts, seed cakes, and cof-
fee cakes, hut others have no analogue in
our bakeries One OF his oldest master
pieces is CONNECTION which looks like
brown orange, or as il was once called,
small sized football. 1t is a globe three
or four inches in diameter of which the
shell is a sweet, tough dough. The inter
Tor is hollow, excepting at one point,
where there is a teaspoonful of plum mar
malade 1t is made in the same way as
our doughnuts, but how he induces the
dough to expand into sphere is trade
mystery. Another ingenious dainty is a
long thin bar of a substance that is half
Jelly and half crystal sugar 1t is cover
ed with thin layer of favored cakes, and
this in turn is dipped in sesame seeds. In
the fall he makes the famous moon cakes.
They look like cld-fashioned English
pork pies. and the exterior pastry is Of
the same character and quality. The fill
Ing constitutes the chief feature. 1t is
of fat, little chopped meat,
nuts, raisins, and marmalade mixed into
a hard paste. 1t is delicious. bot too heavy
for the Caucausian stomach
In Pell Street is professional scribe. !
He acts as a writer, engrosser engrayer,
and card maker but his social posi-
ton is on a par with that Of a physician !
Or merchant He writes love letters for | ,
moon struck SWANS, and petitions to Of
1Cials. He deyises trade names, trade
marks, and schoolmaster names for chill !
1ren. He turns out visiting cards which
arr written upon small sheets Of red pa
per, and he gives information upon liter ,
airy topics 10 all corners. The schoolmas-
ter's name IS something exclusively ORR
entail in character. A child's first name is
known as the milk name" and is usually
q playful diminutiye. Common appeila-
tons are Little Pig" Little Dcg." Lit
lie Goldfish" Little Moon Charmer."
Little Chicken" and Little Duck" The
milk name OF the redoubtable Ii Hung
Chang was "Ah Cow" meaning Little
Doggie," If the scribes are to be believed. ,
At FIVE or six the boy goes to school in
China or in New York, an event which =
marks an era in his life. To commemorate
The fact he then drops the mother name