Evening star., 1901-01-05

on the coast of South America. where they
| were forced to dig out the guano. They
| were cruelty treated and so many of them
died that 1t is not uncommon today to find
| coolie corpses in the guano dug up. Others
| were sent. to the Isthmus of Panama to
work on the railroad and canal Many
| went mad and committed suicide there, so
| much so that one station on the railroad is
| now known as Matachin, or dead China
man. Others were shipped to the sugar
| plantations of the West Indies and the
Guianas. and others under contract to the
| United States and Australia. In all about
! a half million Chinese were thus carried
| away. The emperor at Pekin objected
| again and again, but 1t was not until 1873
| that the traffic was stopped
A Colony of Good Roads.
Macao is well governed. How much the
| governor saves out of the colony's income
| don't know, but he spends enough to
have good roads and good order The city
is as clean as new pin. The roads are
smoother than the asphalt streets of our
| national capital and beautiful as those
| of Central Park. About the harbor runs
a wide boulevard shaded by banyan trees.
| the branches of which inteTlock overhead
| The water is kept back by walls of stone,
| and there seats here and there where
one can sit and enjoy the beautiful views
| The roads leading up the hills into the city
are well paved and those which go out
| over the peninsula we'll kept as the
| boulevard about the bay.
| The road metal of Macao is macadam
ever which you glide in your jinriksha as
| en- path of velvet. There is not a stone
or rut to be found anywhere. The roads
| are made and kept in order by human la
| Dor. Horses are as few in Macao as IN
Venice The chief animal employed is the
! human animal, that queer two-legged bird
| without feathers. The dirt carts are pull
| ed by men. the jnrikshas have human trot-
| ting horses. and every dray Is pushed or
| pulled by men or women. Much of the
| dirt for the roads iS carried in baskets
| The most common carriers are the women
each of whom is loaded with two half
bushel baskets full of stone or earth, wnlch
she bears along upon the ends of pole
which rests on her shoulders. The aver
age wages for women are about . cents a
day. and 1 am told that human muscle is
| cheaper than mule muscle The stamping
and pressing down of the road is done by
| men and women with hand stamps. The
material is Dulverized to dust, and then
straw mats are laid down and the last
| stamping is upon these and not upon the
dirt itself
| The Oldest Cathedral in Asia.
| Macao was for centuries the center of
| Christianity in Asia. The troubles which
the missionaries are now having with tie
Chinese calls attention to the fact that right
| here was where the Christians began their
| first work. They had missionaries here
before there was church on the North
American continent. l spent an hour the
/
| OF great cathedral which was constructed
| here 1S years before the Pilgrims first set
| foot on Plymouth Rock. This was the nurch
| of Saint Paul, founded in 1902 and burned
| in 1893 A roadway thirty feet wide lead
Ing up granite steps to platform loo
| feet high brings you to the site or the ca
| thedral. There is court in front OF II
| tagged with stone covering one-fourth OF
an acre. and back Of this rises the mag
nificent facade of the the church. adorned
with life-szed statues of the saints In
| bronze and with the carvings or angels ana
| devils in granite.
| An Incense Factory.
| wandered for some time about the court.
| 1t is now grass grown and given up to the
Chinese Indeed, it's condition today Is
| sadly typical of the trouble the mission
aries have had in ChristiaEizing China
! Upon the court across which the Christian
worshipers of 300 years ago passed are
| trays filled with incense sticks spread out
| to dry, in order that they may be used
in worshiping the heather gods in the CHI,
| nese temples. The platform was covered
with these yellow sticks. some as big
around as a lead pencil and others as large
| as knitting needle. Some are straight
| and others of spiral shape. like the PIN
wheels our boys use on the Fourth Of July.
| There is an incense factory beside the
| church, and it's workmen use the platform
as drying ground
| Next to the church rises the great fort
| of Saint Paul, an enormous mass Of stone
| masonry so built that it commands the
| city for miles. 1t. too has seen its best
| days. The many soldiers which 1t once
| held have passed away, ana II IS last crulh-
| bling to ruins.
Business and Misunderstanding.
| Macao is falling off in business. Its COM
mercial Importance has been taken by Hong
Kong and 1t is now to a large extent a
| health and gambling resort for other parts
| of China 1t has two good hotels-one, the
..Boa VISTA" on a bluff at the end of the
| Praya, and the other, the Hing kee'
| Hotel, in the center of the harbor crescent
| l stopped at the Hing kee.' 1T Is named
after it's proprietor, Chinese, who charges
| his guests about So day for his benignant
smile.
1t was here that I picked up guide, a
Portuguese gentleman who weighed 100
| pounds his extra heaviness necessltat1ng
| two men to the jinriksha which hauled him
around at extra cost to me. With him L
| visited the business parts of the city. The
stores are small and more like Portuguese
stores than those you see in Hong Kong
and Shanghai. Much of the business Is done
by the Chinese, who have monopolized all
the good things in manufacturing and COM
| merce.
How They Make Tea I'm Macao.
1 spent one afternoon in the tea and mat
ting factories. Macao exports about a half
million dollars worth of tea every year
some SOOQ ana IHuCH Udu oOLiS VI Tic eco
is made up of redried leaves. good tea being
mixed with the refuse. and the mixture
sold good tea.
The bulk Of this goes to India.
The ordinary methods of manufacture are
the same as I have seen in other parts of
China. They give one an idea of how the
tea we drink is prepared for the market.
Come with me and take a look at it. Let
us enter the drying room. There are
hundred half-naKed Chinese bending over
baskets under which charcoal fires burn.
They lean over and put their bare arms
INTO the baskets and mix up the tea. Some
of them are perspiring. and the white drops
pour down among the leaves. Some breathe
hard as they bend over. and the microbes
of their breath mix with the microbes Of
the sweat, but do not affect the aroma.
Take another picture. In the room just
beyond they are picking over the tea.
hundred black-haired. slant-eyed. yellow
faced women squat on low benches. with
fat baskets before them. Each basket has
it's pile of tea leaves upon it. and the wo-
man sorts these over with her long-nailed
fingers to get out the twigs and the dirt.
See how rapidly they work. Their delicate
hands move quickly, for they are paid by
the basket. and they have to work fast to
make their wages Of from to cents per