Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-24
CHINESE DEVIL FEAST
STRANGE SIGHTS IN PENANG
WHEN TT rs CELEBRATED.
Food of Many Kinds to Propitiate the
Evil One-Fruits and Flowers
Spread for Demons.

hO AdtcSt SrHiucSe ceremony tnNdTidDly
seems the most remarkable and the feast
OF devils, deliberately celebrated in Pc
nang, was no exception to the rule.
Numerous tables were to be seen in
Beach street last evening. and upon these
were rows of platters and deep bowls of
food. also family idols and incense burn
ers. Smoldering joss sticks protruded
from each dainty dish. groaning with
cakes, fruits and meat. There were only
three kinds of meat proper-goat's flesh.
mutton and pork. Devils cannot eat
flesh bulls" Noticeable were large guam
titles Of dried prawns and various kinds
OF SAT- fish. Thousands of ducks and
chickens must have been boiled whole
the combs of the cocks were red with
cochfneal. and their beaks open as If
growing! The hens heads were in easy
ATTITUDES, as II sitting on nests. Fine
geese. white and tender. were much in
evidence. Countless cakes of every color
under heaven. save only white and blue
(wh1te Is deep mourning and blue sec
ondary mournfng) were heaped up every
where. Sunset yellow and "nigger red''
predominated.
Fruits of the East.
Thirty-five kinds of fruit figured in all.
There were watermelons, turkey red and
ritifully wilted. They and some green
(ripe) apples hailed from Australia;
China furnished pears, ly-chees and yell
low r1nd oranges; also pumpkins and
large and rosy persimmons. Tampines,
cats eyes, "birway' and "buah salak'
represented the Malay peninsula. Tam
pine is about the size of a small turnip
and brown as a nut Cats eyes" are a
tropical variety of ly-chee. "Birway" is
fruit with white pulp The seed is
unique; 1t Is covered with what might
D S cailed sort of "forked excelsior"
Salak means wicked 1t is covered with
brown scales like snakeskin. reminding one
OF Madame Tussaud's chamber of horrors.
Native Fruits.
The native fruits were pineapples grapes.
bread fruit. cocoanuts, green rind oranges.
finger oranges $50 called because the rind
is wrinkled till It looks like fingers) ba-
nanas with red skins. bananas with skins
thin as paper. bananas with golden flesh,
and bananas nearly a foot long, fried in
cocoanut OIL before eating (sic), tree
melons, rose fruit ounce chee-ko nanks
Jamboo, suntol, rem rambootans, golden
rambootans, rambar, blasan. sour-sop, jack
Iru1t, chumpeda, mangostees and the mall
odorous, ever-present DURHAM MANY trays
had little flags over them, and the tables
were ablaze with lights Opium and in
toxicants abounded. The devils were in
luck. The time was indicated by staid
machlne-ma continental clocks. and any
amount OF melody was discoursed by Euro
pean gramaphones. grinding away weird
Cantonese music till the devils themselves
must have cried. +'Hold! Enough"
number OF theaterS- We're in full swing and
large bonfires OF joss papers burned in the
road. However, there was not a sound of
fireworks. crackers being supposed to scare
away the devils, and for that matter less
Important imps above.
Revenge Of the Dead.
The traditional belief is that thousands
OF unfortunate Chinese who die destitute.
and who have been huddled to their graves
with barely any covering on them. return
at this season of the year in the shape of
spirits and seek to take vengeance on their
Fellow creatures who had treated their re-
mains. with such scant respect And woe
betde the unfortunate wretches who dare
10 LOOK .askance at these spirits. or who
neglect the paramount duty. which is in
cumbent upon them, of making atonemeut
for their neglect in the past! They shall
be strangled while in their homes or some
sudden misfortune will oyertake them dur
ing the presence of the spirits on earth
Divers pains and penalties will be their
portion, throughout the course of their
earthly career; and they II rue the day they
treated the spirits with such harshness.
IN connection with this ceremony of pro-
pltlatlng the spirits of the departed there
was also that of worshiping the dead an
cestorS-the Feng Shuttle happy favored
ones of the earth, who have left this vale
or tears for another country with a
superabundance of wealth with Them I'M
like their poorer brethren, in the shame of
prodigious quantities of joss papers secreted
in their collins. Seven days were set apart
for the observance of this event. and
throughout the length and breadth of the
''fiowery land the ceremony of Worship
ing the dead ancestors and the propitia ton
of his satanic majesty and the band of in
furiated demons following in his wake is
observed with great pomp. 1t might also
al ha Of ln
moon, after a good feed of 1.-THE soul of
makan." the dreaded monsters of the bot
tomless pit return to their sulphurous
abode.