Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1902-05-17

and the various aspects of the CHI
nese question on-the other. Ii you
are a student of languages you Will
be able to hear half the tongues OF
the world spoken in less than an
hours walk, ranging, say from Paris
ian French to Pigeon English; you
shall make the acquaintance of every
sort of smell the human nose can
manipulate, from the sweet perfume
of the lotus blossom to the diabolical
odor of the Durien; and every sort Of
cooking from a dainty vol-au-vent to
a stuffed rat. In the harbor the ship
ping is such as, feel justified in say
ing, you would encounter in no other
port of it's size in the world. 1t
comprises the stately man of war and
the Chinese junk; the P. and O., the
Mesa gerie Maritime, the British
India and the Dutch mail boat; the
homely sampan, the yacht of the
gloDe-trotting millionaire, the collier,
the timber ship, and in point of fact
every description of craft that plies
between the barbarian east and the
civilized west. The first glimpse of
the harbor is one that Will never be
forgotten; the last is usually associ-
ated with desire that one may never
set eyes on it again. He who would,
of his own free will, settle down for
life in Singapore, must have acquired
the tastes of salamander and the
sensibility of a frog.
Among its other advantages, Singa-
pore numbers the possession OF null
tiplicity of hotels. There is stately
Raffles, where the globe trotters do
mostly take up their abode, also the
Hotel de PEurope, whose virtues l
can vouch for; but packed away in
another and very different portion of
the town, unknown to the wealthy
G. T., and indeed known to only few
of the white inhabitants of Singapore
itself, there exists a small hostelry,
owned by a lynX-eyed Portuguese,
which rejoices in the name of the
Hotel of the Three Desires. Now,
every man, who by mischance or de-
iberate intent has entered its doors,
has his own notions of the meaning
of its name; the fact, however, re-
mains that it is there, and that it is
regularly patronized by individuals
of a certain or uncertain class, as
they pass to and fro through the
gateway of the further east. This in
itself is strange, inasmuch as it is
Sc id that the proprietor rakes in the
dollars by selling liquor that is as
bad as it can possibly be, in order
that he may get back to Lisbon be-
fore he receives that threatened knife
thrust between the ribs which has
been promised him so long. There
are times, as I am unfortunately able
to testify, when the latter possibility
is not so remote as might be expect
ed. Taken altogether, however, the
Hotel of the Three Desires is an eN-
cellent place to take up ones abode,
provided one is not DESTROYS of at
tracing too much attention in the
city As matter of fact its patrons,
for some reason of their own, are
more en- evidence after nightfall than
during the hours of daylight. They
are also frugal of speech as rule,
and are chary of forming new ac-
quaintances. When they know each
other well, however, it is surprising
how affable they can become. 1t is
not the smallest of their peculiarities
that they seldom refer to absent
friends by their names. A will ask
Is when he expects to hear from
Him, and C will inform d that 1.-The
old man is now running the show,
and that, if he doesn't jump from Cal
cutta inside a week, there will be
trouble on the floor Meanwhile the
landlord mixes the drinks with his
own dirty hands, and reflects con-
tinually upon the Sillainy of a certain
American third mate, who, having
borrowed five dollars from him, was
sufficiently ungrateful as 10 catch
typhoid fever and die without either
repaying the loan, or, what was
worse, settling his account for the
board and lodging received. Manuel,
for this was the prop, ietor's name
had one or two recollections of sim
liar sort, but not many, for, as rule,
he is careful fellow, and expert
ence having taught him the man
ners and idiosyncrasies of his custom
ers, he generally managed to emerge
from his transactions with credit to
himself, and what was of much more
Importance, a balance on the right
side Of his ledger.
The time of which I am now writ
ing was the middle of March, the hot
test and, in every respect, the worst
month of the year in Singapore.
Day and night the land was oppressed
by the same sitting heat, a swelter-
ing calidity possessing the character
lstlcs OF steam laundry, coupled
with those of the stokehole of an
ocean liner in the Red sea. Morning,
noon and night, the quarter in which
the Hotel of the Three Desires was
situated was fragrant with the smell
of garbage and Chinese tobacco; pc
culiar blend of perfume which, once
smelled, is not to be soon forgotten. |
Everything, even the bottles on the |
shelves in the bar, had greasy feel |
about them, and the mildew on ones
boots when one came to put them on
in the morning, was a triumph in the
way of erysiphaceous fungi. Singa-
pore at this. season of the year is
neither good for man nor beast; in
this sweeping assertion, of course, l
except the yellow man, upon whom it
seems toeSercise no effect whatsoever.
III was towards evening, and,
strange TO relate, the Hotel of the
Ihree Desires was for once practical
~ empty. This was the more ex-
traordlnary for the reason that the
customers who usually frequented it,
en- route from, one end of the earth. /
to the other, are not affected by sea-
sons. Midwinter was to them the
same as midsummer, provided they
did their business, or got their ships.
and by those ships, or that business,
received their wages. That those
hard-earned wages should eventually
find themselves in the pocket of the