Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-28
A Newspaper Without Tragedies.


In Vienna last summer a novel enterprise
was proposed, which, 1 understand, will
arrive about the LIST of January, and that
Is a newspaper expressly for nervous and
busy people. 1t is to be daily publication,
to appear each weekday afternoon and No
contain nothing but brief summary of the
most important information on finance pol
itics. diplomatic, social and commercial az
fairs condensed from reports in other pa
pers. All references to crimes, catastrophes
suicides accidents and misfortunes of every
nature are to be debarred from its columns
ana nothing Is to be printed that is likely
to excite the passions or agitate the nerves
OF Its readers Such newspaper is said to
De necessary at the various health resorts
IN Austria, Germany and Switzerland, and
the projectors expect that it will be recon-
mended by physicians throughout Europe
There are to be two editions one in French
and one In German. An English version is
not considered necessary.
A Curious Chinese Custom.
At the city of Kai-Feng-Fu the capital
of the province of Honan, in central China.
there Is man named Tang-Lao-Ten, who
is distinguished above all other human be-
ings because the nails Of the two middle
fingers on his left hand are three feet and
three inches long. The nail of the little
finger of the same hand is just twelve inches
long. Tang's wife is also distinguished by
having three nails on her left hand eighteen
q.
Ladies and gentlemen in all parts of China
consider long finger nails marks of beauty
just as in Russia big boards are the glory
and pride of their owners. Gentlemen of
the mandarin rank let their nails grow long
as sign of their profession and an adyer-
tlsement OF their exemption from manual
labor. Sometimes they cultivate only one
nan, but often two or three, always on the
lert hand, so that the right will not be dis
abled. Finger nails three or four inches
long are quite common among the upper
classes and are protected from injury by
sheaths Of gold or silver or some other
The nail of the little finger of the left hand
of the late Ii Hung Chang was fully two
inches long, and the empress dowager has
three nails three or four inches long, as
may be noticed by any one who wifi care
fully inspect her portrait at the St. Louis
exposition. That portrait is to be trans
ferred to the Corcoran Art Gallery at WASH
tngton at the close of the exposition next
month. The emperor also has three long
finger nails. and nearly all the great men
about the court are distinguished In a sim
liar manner.
Nail Cutting a Sacrifice.
The greatest sacrifice Chinese lady or
gentleman can make, except taking their
own lives. is to cut of their long nails, and
that is sometimes done to show profound
sorrow or in obedience to vows made to the
gods Sometimes when people die their
nails are cut OFF and retained by their chill
dren to be venerated by future generations
Mr. Tang is now more than eighty years
old, and his nails have not been cut since
he was child. He says that his parents
allowed them to grow in order to break him
OF the habit of fighting. When he was a
youngster he was continually getting into
scraps with the neighbors' children much
to the damage of his person and reputation,
and his parents were greatly concerned lest
his combative disposition might ruin his
prospects in life. So they let his nails grow
as preventive. He wears them protected
by bamboo tubes, SO that his left arm is en-
tirely useless. but his right is so well
trained that, as is often the case with peo-
pie with only one arm, it can do the work
Of both.