The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-05-14

Z
more kindly than his Malay neighbor to
games and sports Involving outdoor exer-
else; bllt this Is not the case, ana inc
principal arnusements Of the Ghinese
are theatres and gambling.
1t Is true that many persons fly Kites,
or match trained birds IN q contest or
catching seeds thrown high IN the III, u,
and that young boys find amusement n
pitching coins, fighting crickets ana
quails. or sitting in a circle for an hour
or two trying to guess the NUMBER o,
seeds in an orange; but tho theatre ana
the gambling house are the popular re-
sorts OF the Chinaman when he IS IN
search of enjoyment.
There Is much that is curious about d
Chinese theatrical performance. INC
theatre itself Is seldom more than a
rude stage erected on some vacant p'ece
of ground, with very rudmentary nc-
coinmodntion for the audience. me fe.
male parts are always taken by boys,
who paint their faces, and Initiate the
dress, voice and manners OF the gentler
sex with great Ingenuity. Perhaps tne
most unusual feature Of Chinese lhe-
atrical show, from the standpoint OIL OUT
western ideas of the drama, Is the con.
slant din OF tho orchestra, which makes
It impossible for the greater part OF the
audience to hear word of what is being
said on the stage
But the theatre makes no such appeal
to the China1nan as that or the various
gambling schemes which add the charms
Of uncertainty to the life OF the happy
Celestial. Men and women, boys ana
girls, throughout the length and breadth
of China, are inveterate gamblers.
Chinese gambling takes many forms. the
best known ds that of fantan, which con-
sists of counting out a bowl oil cash iour
ut q time, the bots being made on now
many are left over after the last com
plete four have been counted. linen
there are the various lotteries, OF wnich
the most popular is pix kop piu, IN winch
the player selects ten Chinese characters
out of eighty, printed on slip Oh paper
In the hope that some of them may be
the same us twenty drawn by chance by
tho holder OF the bank. II the player
gets five Of tho characters the same as
those drawn by the bank. he wins ms
money back; If he gets six, he IS PAID
three times his. stake; IL seven, ne re-
ceives eight times his stake, ana SO on.
The various games Of chess, dominoes
and cards have their special devotees,
and all these games are played for stakes
varying from something like a fftieth
of cent up to hundreds OF dollars. AS
far as I am aware, the only form OF
gambling among the Chinese 70 Whlch
European and American civlliHltioh mas
given any impetus is horse racing. IN
Borneo, in the Malay peninsula, in Hong
Kong. in Changhai. betting on the horse
races Is a favorite amusement OF the
upper class OF Cinnamon; and not few
Of the Weather among them own their
racing stables and carry off from Time
to time the governors cup or win the
Jockey Club stakes.
Dancing and theatrical performances
are the chief entertainments In Java The
Javanese theatre is similar to that OF
the Malays, and l have said sufficient
about the subject in previous parasrapns
tn give a general Idea Oh "hat THESE it's
a,nusements are like
In the enjoyment of dancing the Javan-
csc have always taken a high place among
far, Eastern peoples. and the great va
rsty Of dances and Inc care ear 4h ,akof ner.
formances disclose the national interest
IN the Terpsichorean art.
Sir Stamford Ratiies, IN his monument en-.
al History java published nndsa ! IN lS a..
scription of the various Javanese dances,
and from his account may take a few
lires describing the dances OF the rons-
or asafn afte Tr peculiar
fashion, abundantly oiled and ornamented
with flowers Of various kinds They per-
form at any time of the day, but chiefly
their best attitudes around the lamp
which hangs suspended. Generally speak
Ing, both their action and their song are
rude and disgusting to Europeans. Ihetr
action is usually distorted, their great
est excellence seeming to consist in bend
ING the arms and hands back In an I'M
natural manner, and giving one Or Two n
OF the fingers a tremendous motlon;
Their song, though little esteemed and
Kiss understood by Europeans, some
times possesses much humor and sdrol-
,lery, and in adapting their motions 70
The language. they frequently eSci d io o,'
plause from the native audience:
i Another very popular form OF amuse-
ment among the JavaneSa is 10 listen 70
the recitation of poetry. LIKE otneI III r.
Indifferent TO the element OF novelty, ana
they will listen contentedly to recitation
Of verses which they have already heard
hundred times.
MAR verse known as renchashi, majaslh,
lindur lalang -karahinam, barang-mir'ng,
c,,lla kentar or palaram. according 10
the 9artirnlar acton ib s1 lines:
me painful feeling of my love will only
cease
When the wicked of the world.
The knaves, the thieves and liars,
the scandalous and those who steal,
And the banditti, are all heia IN con-
When robbers and plunderers are all
And cock lighters are in despair;
When gamblers are cast out:
Then, perhaps the sadness OF my heart
may cease:
Then may / be restored to peace and
happiness. Ss}g
II is a fine hyperbole Of constancy. ana
shows that even In q Mahometan conn-
~ where n man may have four wives
simultaneously, protcstations, Of fidelity
arc as popnlar as they are in lands where
a man may only have four wives con-
1copyrigh, 1905, by. The Boston Herald
S,G Cos