New-York tribune., 1904-10-30

DEOPLE of the older generation recall in
their biographies picture of Chinese
coole trotting along barefooted, with
string of rats suspended from pole carefully balanced
his shoulders.
To begin Chinaman must be reduced to the last
degree of penury appear the public highways bare
footed He may be clad in unsghtly rags; but he will
his feet scrupuousy with sembance OF shoes
In the second place, one may go from one end Of
the Empire to the other, and nowhere will he find the
counterpart of the rat-vendor. as the misleading
geography presents him. Nor rats. is sup
posed, common article OF diet except among the
poorest classes the southern Provinces. They
not eaten at ALL apparently, IN the north The only
specimens that ever saw were exposed for sale in
shop, in the poorest quarter in the native city of
Canton. And far from being recognizable and re-
pulsve, except native could have told what
they They had been dressed carefully and
cured and resembled salted fish. puppy in the
same stall was not we'll disguised, and if by
other it could have been identified by its four
little feet from which the hair had not been removed
The enormous popuation-over four hundred
mlions-crowded into an area not much larger than
that of the United States and the difficulty of finding
food of any in many mouths accounts largely
for certain things cassed by the Chinese among
edibles-sharks fins, bamboo sprouts. silk
and slugs-the latter. however costly lux
uries-with certain sheish, and every weed that
be devoured with mpunity.
The viands seem much more repellant theoretically,
than they really, for the Chinese of
natural cooks, SURPRISING in skill the clever
French Rice is the staple throughout Central and
Southern China, where it grows In the north it is
of luxury and maize and milet-the latter a
sweet, delicious graln-are the common substitutes.
The mlet converted into nutritious porridge, and
maize is nodded into ard steamed a single such
cake constituting adults Breakfast In spite of the
terrible and poverty there place in the
world where such continuous eating in China.
The waysde inns-nere novels of mud-have a
deep projecting roof in front, under which is placed
a heavy stationary table. Here travellers. who
and go from every direction. seat themselves, devour-
oEncu
presiding at his pots and pans at hand
The scarcity of fuel is problem of Importance to the
Chinese cook. In land where every leaf. every
blade and weed carefully harvested tied into bun
dies that they may last little longer the flame fed
constantly metal cooking utensils made with
bottoms of almost the thnness of paper. A native
stove is cube of brick with a sufficient firebox.
uncertain drafts, the oven being simply huge, iron
kettle which is turned the cake the fowl the beef
set to bake in pan top of the stove
But such the skill of the well trained Chinese cook
that with these crude utensils every dish
the table done to turn and perfect of its kind.
And this includes not only native but foreign dishes
we'll in the preparation of which he is anxious to
excel, and soon masters. The masculine pronOun is
used advisedly, for apparently there
cooks in China
Meat, though cheap-four cents pound in Pekng
for the best prior to the Boxer uprising abundant
and excellent, is luxury in which the poorer classes
rarely indulge. Beef and mutton come largely from
Mongolia, for In China. at least in the central southern
and northern Provinces there grazing land, all
the space being required for the growth of grains and
vegetables When meat is eaten by the middle
classes feastdays and at the New Year it is mixed
with turnips and cabbage make go far possible
Tpn he hpver na6p he and