The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-09


night in the inn are kept in low shed
adjoining the sleeping apartments.
Many innkeepers keep pigs-thin rag
| orbaeks which have the liberty OF
| everything on the premises. The Chi
| nese prejudice against the foreigner is
not shared by the pigs. They have a
way of making his acquaintance by
poking into his luggage and rubbing up
against his legs that ought TO strength
en- the faith of the optimists that Chi
ma is longing for Western light
Chinese inns are without register or
| clerks. On riding through the gateway
your bride rein is seized by a dirty
boy, who helps you to dismount. shout
ing loudly meanwhile for the proprie-
tor, who presently looms up through
the wilderness of carts and mules. Pro-
prietor and boy then hold a parley as
to what rooms are eligible, and then a
/ door is pushed open and the traveller
/ is shown to his apartment. 1t is usual
| ly about twelve feet square. The walls
and floor are of hard mud and so are
! beds, which extend entirely across the
/ side of the room, with only space
/ enough between them for a small table
/ and one chair. The room is lighted by
! one window, in which paper takes the
| place of glass.
| The first duty Of the proprietor in
making a patron comfortable is to stop
/ up the holes in the paper window-pane.
/ He never tears the paper off entirely
/ and replaces 1t with a new one, because
/ the sheet of paper is worth about one
tenth of cent and the innkeeper is not
wasteful. Instead, he pastes little
slips Of paper over the holes until all
! the light that filters through it is of a
notified hue.
At one end Of the mule shed is the
kitchen of the inn. 1t is here that the
meals for all the patrons are prepared,
to be eaten in the rooms. The menu is
not elaborate. 1t consists only of bowls
of rice and tea. Should the traveller
desire a greater variety of food, he
can buy it himself in the market and
his own servant can cook it in, the
kitchen of the inn. To sleep on the
bed of a Chinese inn would, for a for
eigner. be an impossibility were it
not that he is always so exhausted at
the end of each days journey that he
finds it difficult to remain awake ten
minutes after alighting from his pony.
He lies down on the mat that covers
the harp head of mud and surprises
himself at the soundness of his slum-
Der.
Quality OF Cheapness.
The one redeeming thing about the
inn is its cheapness. Just as the trav-
eler is about to depart in the morning
the proprietor tells him the amount of
his bill. Everything is charged on the
European plan" Every cup of tea.
every rushlight candle, the paper win
dow-pane, are all itemized in the long
list which the proprietor reels off in
sing song, but the total is surprising
ly low. The cost of food and lodging
for one night for a traveller and two
servants. with stabling, and fodder for
his ponies and cart mules, is about 80
cents
Besides an inn for the general public,
every large town possesses a 'Kung
Kuan," or building set aside for the
use of officials or travellers provided
with government passports. The kung
is not private institution, but is the
property of the municipality, and its
care and maintenance are one of the
manifold responsibilities of the district
mandarin. When no one eligible for
a kung Kuan is passing through the
town IL is kept closed, but as soon as
the mandarin is notified of the COM
ing of a traveller officially conducted
he sends "banchaitr' to open IT.
sweep the floors, engage servants and
make it ready for occupancy.
The "banchaiti' is a member of the
mandarins official household. He is a
sort of major domo. who is supposed
/ to know what is best calculated TO
make a trav sllng Ghinaman cCmfors-
able and happy.
The Kung Kuaa usually consists Of
several brick buildings surrounding a
stone paved courtyard. On his arrival
the traveller finds the "banchaiti"
waiting at rhe door of the main build
ing to receive him. lie hands him the
mandarin's card. and in exchange takes
one of the traNale''s. This ser les IS
a sort of rec elpt, indicating that the
guest has "a Ied AMI is now under
the protection of the municipality.
Kung Kuans are usually far cleaner
than most Chilese houses although
from a long period af dlsuSe they are
often stuffy and close.
They are arranged and furnished
with an especial care to the preserva-
ton of official dignity. Unless the
traveller wishes to humiliata himself
in the eyes Of every one IN the KuE g
Kuan he must take great care never
TO sit anywhere than at the left of a
table or to sleep III any room but tho
one on the left of the entrance. To
ever take Inc right side in China, whe n
an official is not liz the room, is low
ering of ones self-respect 10 a degree
that cannot be forgiven.
For all prI ;-jcal purposes the ban
chaiti' is the prop -ietor IF the Kung
Kuan. 1t Is he who issues the orders
TO the servants anu AupeIlnItnuS the
preparation of the meals
In some cases they are furnished by
the "banchaiti," but more often the
! traveller must purchase his own food,
which Is only cooked by the attend
| ants of the Kung Kuan
Theoretically, the occupancy of q
/ HUNK Kuan is honorary and without
pay to any one, but actually quite the
reverse is true. BY way of saying good
/ by to the traveller the "banchaiti
makes a low "kow-t tow" and asks for
a tip. or "cumshaw." BY long usage
this has been reduced to a fixed sum
proportionate to the number of the
travellers party and the length of time
spent in the Kung Kuan. The result
is that it costs far more to be a guest
| of d Chinese town than a patron of q
public inn.
Kung Kuans in North China are just
now in exceptionally good condition
owing to the elaborate preparations
made in them for occupancy by teh
| Emperor and Empress Dowager in
their journeys between Pekin and Sian
their place of exile. Travellers in
Shansi and Shensi can to-day have the
rare privilege of sleeping in rooms
whose walls are papered in the impe-
rial red and yellow. and adorned with
inscriptions which indicate that one
night of Kwank Hsus life was spent
in the same place.
~-es
Origin of the Word Cuba.
From the Literary Era.
Cuba is the name by which the ISL
and was originally known to the Luz