Evening star., 1902-02-15


1t is used as graveyard money. which the
Chinese burn at the funerals to give the
dead funds to establish themselves In the
world to which they are going.
How fine the stores are! We walk down
the main business street. 1t is four miles
IN length and 1t cuts the city IN halves. IL
is filled with moving human stream from
dawn until dark How narrow it is. 1t is
not more than ten feet from one wall OF
shops to the other, and the signboards hang
down so that We fear to bump our heads
against them. There are so many signs
/ that they obstruct the light and make the
street too dark for me to take photogra phS
Even if it were light | could not get views
The throng is too thick and the movement
too rapid. The only way that you could
set photograph here would be with a
tiashlight and a balloon
Scenes on the Streets.
And still the street is full of good pic
lures. l stop in store and take out my
| note book and jot down the strange things
all about me. There are two Chinese greet
ing ZACH other Each is shaking his own
ha nds, putting his fists together; neither
man touches the other. Here come some
coolies carrying a great box fastened to the
middle of pole which they rest on their
shoulders. They grunt and cry out at
every step as they move onward. and both
rich and poor get out of the way. BY GUS
tom the man who carries the load is given
the center of the street and the others
must go to the wall This is for two rea-
sons: one is that the Chinese naturally re-
spect labor and another is that their
clothes may not be soied against the bur-
den carried.
Take, for instance that man who IS COM
ing down the street. He is bare TO the
waist, and he has two buckets of the vilest
slop attached to the two ends Of pole
which rests on his shoulders. There is a
framework Of straw on the top of the
liquid. but the stuff would splash out if he
jostled against YOU in passing. Behind him
are two coolies carrying a load of boards
on their shoulders, and sta further back
are other men with baskets of greasy
cooked ducks. There are coolies toting
bales of cotton and silk, loads of pottery,
and in fact. all sorts of things used by the
Chinese. The dray horse here is the coole,
and the coolie takes the place of the wagon
as well.
Chinese Women Out Shopping
There are many women in the crowd NOV
ing past me. Some of them are gorgeously
dressed. They totter along small feet,
leaning on canes aided by servants. Here
anu there you see one sitting in the stores
or on the steps, resting herself during her
shopping.
But what is that procession which is go
ing by now? 1t p.Ishes every one to the
wall. First come men bearing great boards
on which red characters are painted, an
behind them boys in long gowns, with red
conical hats Some carry flags and others
maces and dragons on poles. Some have
red umbrellas, and there are two Chinese
officials on horseback, and behind them
gorgeous Sedan chair of green silk. / look
in at the windows as the chair passes. It's
occupant is woman the wife of a Chi
nese general She is splendidly dressed
and the red paint Of her cheeks is spread
on in SmearS.
Behind is a rich Chinese merchant In
si.n, and with him are two boys in spec
taces. who are perhaps preparing for the
examinations which they will soon take at
Pekin.
In Chinese Silk Store.
There are silk shops everywhere Chill
dren are weaving most beautiful ribbons
and crepes, some of the finest of Chinese
silks being made by boys and girls under
fifteen years of age. Some of the stores
which sell silk have factories connected
| with them and some Of the silk establish
ments are very large. Hangchow has whole
streets of silk shops. some of which sell
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth Of
| goods every year. The shops are nothing like
our dry goods stores There are no dresses
| displayed in the windows and no goods on
| the counters. The interior looks more like
! q music store than anything else. It's
walls are covered with pigeon holes, out of
which long rolls of cloth stick. To each
roll is attached little strip of white mus
| lin bearing the price mark in Chinese. You
| ask for what you want and the goods are
| then brought forth and unrolled Many Of
| the silks are sold by weight, at so much per
pound.
Later on enter a silk factory. 1t is one
| Of the largest in the city and there are
| about a hundred girls sitting on the floor
| pounding at the refuse or waste of raw
| silk The girls look up as 1 come in, and
when l point my camera their way they
stampede; every yellow almond-eyed maiden
| jumps up on her little feet and toddles away
at full speed They huddle together behind
| the partition at the back of the ROOM and
| hear their voices Indignantly scolding
when my guide says
Master. no takee picture here. China
| girl. he no likee you take picture. He
| thinkee you makee die
The Biggest Fan Store of Asia.
One of the largest businesses Of Hang
chow Is making fans. They are produced
! by the millions and shipped from here to
all parts of China. Some of them are very
valuable, costing S. and upward. Some
are made of eagles feathers, others of silk
with ivory handles, and many of paper
wood and other materials. The Chinese
use more fans than any other nation. Both
sexes carry them, and there are fans which
are proper for men. and other makes
which are only proper for women. One Of
the most popular gifts is an autograph FAM
and poetry fans are common. Such things
when produced by a scholar are much de-
sired. There are folding fans and fans
with maps OF the various cities of China
upon them. Some fans turn in at the ends.
Some are round in shape, and many are
hand painted and embroidered.
One use Of the fan is to shade the eyes
from the sun. The most fashionable gem
telman's cap has no brim, and the man who
has no fan cannot walk about without an
umbrella. Many of the people go bare
headed, and as they shaved to the
crown they must have something to pro-
tect them from the hot sun. In the
shade the fan is either carried in the hand
or folded up and stuck in the back of the
neck, or sometimes in the top of the stock
ing.
Hangchow has the largest fan store of the
world. 1t faces the main street, and con-
sists OF many rooms running around courts
ana covering large space. In the front
part of the establishment dozen clerks are
Kept busy showing fans to would-be pur-
chasers. The other rooms are workshops
"here chinese men. women and children
are making fans. In this store the business
Is dOne In QeDartmantS Sef nf mo r.