The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-12-03

was told that he must not leave his
post The first interview between the
American representative and His EX-
cellency occurred while the latter was
in bed American office holders have
an easy time of it compared with the
hardwOrked government officials of
China.
WHAT GENERAL GRANT SAID.
One of the chief virtues of Chinese
character is perseverance. 1t goes
without saying that in an old land like
this, where the population exceeds five
hundred to the square mile, a living is
hard to get. Great labor must be per
formed for little pay. but the people
work faithfully and without complain
for their meager rewards. Your SER
want comes and goes from early until
late. No matter how many extra du-
ties you may impose upon him he
evinces no surprise and makes no re-
monstrance. No race has ever had
the staying qualities of the Chinese.
When General Grant returned from his
trip around the globe some one en-
quired of him what was the most re-
markable thing he had seen in his trav-
els. He replied that it was the spec
tacle of a small Chinese dealer wear
ing down the keen competition of a
Jew.
The whole Chinese people have this
saving quality of perseverance. The
diplomat exhausts the nervous foreign
er by his cool, calm resistance, pro-
vided there is anything like an equal
distribution of the cards in the game,
and the beggar hangs persistently about
the door of the merchant until he is
given the copper he asks for. for
mer emperor sent an army to quell an
uprising in an outlying colOnyp and
his troops became discouraged because
there was no forage in the country
for them to live upon. He ordered
them to plant crops and raise their own
food, advancing in the meanwhile, and
although it took this agricultural army
years to reach it's destination it event
ually overhauled the rebels and subdued
them.
GRADUATES AT EIGHTY.
Doubtless the most striking proof of
the Chinese trait of perseverance is the
persistence of the candidates for lit
erary honors. The same applicants
will appear at the competitive examina-
lions year after year to write their es-
says and compete for honorS. The
governor of one province reports that
at the last trial he had thirteen candi-
dates over eighty years of age. This
is remarkable when it is considered
that the contestants are kept in brick
cells in solitary confinement for several
days and nights. Numerous instances
are cited where grandfather. son and
grandson participated in the same ex-
examinations for the same degree, as
well as instances where men over
eighty years of age have won
the long coveted honor. The |
Chinese have great veneration for |
the scholar. The highest reverence
is felt for those who have learning, |
hence this extraordinary striving after |
the degrees of knowledge. The old |
books tell about one immortal student |
who pored over his lessons by the light |
of glow worm, aud of another who |
tied his books to the horns of his oxen |
and studied as he walked beside them |
at work in the field
CHINESE ARE CHEERFUL
All students of Chinese life elaborate |
upon the cheerfulness and content of |
these people who struggle under such |
a grinding burden of poverty They |
seem to bear up under the pressure of |
all their ills by accepting the spirit or |
the old adage, What can't be cured |
must be endured The mechanic work |
ing in his little shop until after mid |
night. often in the dark to save cents |
worth of oil, sings as he labors- The |
coolies, straining at tasks which would
break the will of men not made of iron, |
chat and joke with each other as they |
pause to wipe the sweat out of their |
eyes and straighten their cramped
backs,
One traveller who assembled the up |
per Yangtsze hired five boys TO pull |
his boat against the current of the |
stream. In describing his trip he re- |
ferred to their pluck as follows: our |
crackers chung on their hands and feet |
to the jagged rocks, as they pulled the |
boat up inch by inch. l could not fan
to note the cheerfulness of these poor |
coolies who earned but two dollars for |
two months hard work. Their only |
food consisted of coarse rice. favored
with a little fried cabbage, upon which |
CONTINUED on page g.