Los Angeles herald., 1905-10-14

With the weird rhythm of the cocoa
nut drums swelling through the gall
leres of the temple, with the frenzied
voice of the Nom Wau raised in incanta-
ton for the spirits of the dead ana
with the pungent odor of the sacred
kama incense drifting through the long
ranks of religious trophies, Los An
geles Chinatown yesterday inaugurated
the opening ceremonies of the festival
of the Ah Dow, or gift to the dead, in
a. way never before observed in the
local colony.
Hundreds of Chinese were there,
dressed in the festival robes and all
with hearts turned toward religious
worship in this, the most sacred of their
holidays.
1t was the triennial ceremony, the
time when the spirits of all those VINO
have died during the past three years
are lifted from the depths of the hrst
heaven and sent soaring toward the
second step of the seven-rung ladder
of happiness. e
All the paper prayers, the gltts OF
money and the preparations of 1000
buried with the dead are supposed py
the Chinese to be consumed during
three years and the festival OF An DOW
is for the offering of many palataple
dishes to the gods to keep their Wrath
away from the spirits of the local mer-
chants who have left the body
Great Ceremony Observed
The ceremonies started at noon yes
terday. With a blast of trumpet htty
Guards of honor, dressed in the finest
sill, robes of the priestly order, emerged
from the Gong Jue temple in ferguson
alley and prepared to escort the sous
to their resting place in the temple OIL
the festival at the corner of the alley
and Plaza street.
With great care, the monster gods'
who. according to the Chinese history,
fought in the old days with thousahu
swords in each hand for the honor ana
freedom of China, were transported ~
pedestals and the parade commences.
In front marched the altar boys, smart
little chaps with flowing robes and red
cans with golden buttons. Following
them came the escort and the ldols'
attended by a special Nom Wau or
high priest, brought from san FRAN
cisco to take charge of the cermonles
The PROCESSION wended it's way slowly
to the festival temple and with many
| lamentations the great deltles were
nIaced in front of the temple to awe the
| devils nv their fierce looks and keep ali
had spirits away from the priests whlle
the services were being carried on
Inside the temple the ub-prlests were
busy at work arranging the Ilopliiea
and emblems of the festivals. Great
snears of gold and beaten brass with
huge emblems attached were arranged
In long rows around the walls OF the
tamnIe and behind each trophy was the
nicture story of it's service to the re-
| ligion.
Tn the west end of the temple the
ALTAR of luck had been constructed ana
a preat urn of incense sent up thick
columns of scented smoke to please the
god and thus bring fortune to the local
Far hack in one corner stood the little
Toi Sin. the god over whom nearly
every tong in the United states mas
warred. For years the little Iol mas
smiled down at the worshlpers while
his bright little eyes twinkled IN the
flutter of the candles, ana ms ioIs
rohes of snowy silk shimmered that all
nigbt know that luck came only to
those who were white of spirit. AND
there he was yesterday, with the m
evitable smile and gentle bow and the
Chinese salaamed and prayed for luck
and the visitors looked and wondered
Steal God, Have Luck
There is a tradition among the Chi
nese that whoever is able to steal this
little god and keep him, luck Will be
with them as long as he remains their
guest. on the other hand II the goo
Is stolen, it is an outrage to the other
gods and the souls of the departed
celestials suffer for the negligence OF
the earthly brothers who have so care
iessly guarded Toi Six years ago
members of a certain Los Angeles tong
cut through the wall of the Gong Jue
temple and stole the little white man
nilxin and carried him away and there
was much fighting and plenty of blood
shed as a result.
Now Toi is guarded with greater
care than if he was made of gold and
an armed celestial Is constantly by his
side until the third day of the festival
when he, with the other gods and great
white horse which led the Chinese to
victory thousands of years ago will
be burned with many ceremonies.
At the northern section of the temple
the altar OF the gods IS erected and
| IL u IL. - Ia rar "a