The Grenada sentinel., 1904-12-31

- Inc CniGeSe boys and 9lrlS--eSpe6lal- o. 4
II fhe boys-get lots of fun ouf6f their
yearly festivals. and the litfle~drchins
>t2ol. forward to their holiday times with
much glee and flappiress as Goes
Young America 10 the Flourish bf JgtJ
Decoration day, Washington Birthday,
Christmas and New YearsD -tlts 5iI
y There is the Lantern Festival. when
alLtirn out tofwisness the brilliaIa dis
play. forJhe whqeeo antry Is abIaze With
the light of thousands of paper lant6rns
made in all sorts of fancy shapes. Then
there is the Moon Festival when they
worship the moon. and the little pig
allied boy and his chubby, small-foOted
sister look up and see, pot, 9. man, hut a
toad. in tile moon; f6f< tfiere IS q story
of a beautfuT Chinese lady who drank
some medicine which would keep her
tree from death, aRd then went to the
moon, where Che " STUN ed. intosa toad
and ever since the Chih4s hayesetn a
@toad, inkthe rAo6n.f sTAsHS#
<BUt PERHAPS the chief reason Why The
little folks in China look forward to the
Moon Festival is because they get all
they want of those little moon -shap ed
cakes which are made enlyzlfor this oc-
easion They are very prettily deco I
rated, but -ehl-so awfulfy indigestibie
that the next day.the little fellows who
are sufferingsfron stonfac heache are apt
to think that tHeEe was toad frAthe
cake instead of The moon.
The Chinese boys and girls may. .pexer
have heard Of George, Washington and
the holiday We keep in memory of the
Father of his Country, but they1kndY
all about the wise and good Chinese Of
fetal who lived about 450 years before
our first Christmas, and who was scOIGed
and degraded by an ungrateful emperor
SO that in sorrow and disgrace he
drowned himself Well. his body was |
never found; and so, to keep his men, |
ory, the Chinese, once a year, eyer since,
have had a Dragon Beat Festixalg and
the children go out in sWarms- TO see the I
long boat professions on the rivers. and |
to watch the offerings of rice and other |
foods as they are placed on the waters /
for the benefit of the spirit of the lost
of state 5a-.-.{ e.s : 81
But the great day of all days for the !
children in China is New Years Dag. I
think, if You we're to ask a little Chi
nese boy what he meant by New
Years" he would say: Noise, and
plenty Of it." For weeks the Chinese are
for this great event Houses
are cleaned. and the sliopReeper looks
forward to it with gfeat.satisfaction. be-
cause he knows that his customerst,if,
they have any self-respect, will be size
to pay their debts before The new year;
'or it is considered a great disgrace. to
start the new year in debit 49, tii
The Chinese Know nothing about
Christmas, because, you know. that |
beautiful holiday belongs only 10 Chris f
ian countries. -----.
By the way, boys, ask your father S
which comes first, Christmas or New
Years. He is sure to say "Christmas,Y I
ina thenyou can laugh, and tell him that
lei is wrong. $50 t.'f t
Well, New Years ever comes first IN
'hina, and, dear mes what a time or S
relic and nervous expectancy 1T is for '
he little slant-eyed boys and girlsr:, =
.ots of f1recrackers are laid by in read-,la,
ness, but none must be let off before the l.,
roper time.
Nobody goes to bed that, night but. il
II sit up waiting, for the first hour, os $
he new (iay, when the father. and his Fl
Tife and title ones, al worship before t
ne spirit tables Of their ancestors AMI L
hen at the shrine of the household gods IS
Then the door is opened, and'the whole #
lmily and servants go cut. outside and 81
Ov' down to certain part in the heay-
as which has been Indicated in the Chi ~
ese calendar, and SO Worship ghease1f 80
nd earth, and receive the spirit OF glad- e
ess and good fortune, which. they. saw, d
,mes from that quarter Of the heav-
is. n
Then the noise beg:rs, ard when was Il
/ China often used to think That it was il
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