Cañon City record., 1906-06-28

neredltary, just tne same as we nave
here become part river water"
The best illustration I saw of this
was in China. When in Hong Kong
/ had my head set on seeing the quaint
and ancient city of Canton, which is
located Immediately on the sloping
banks of the Canton river, (the entire
drainage being directly towards the
stream) and while her population is
over two millions there are two hun
dred thousand of them living afioat.
They inhabit junks, waloos, san-pans,
and other boats of different construc-
ton.
At the time of my visit the city was
in quarantine on account of the plague,
having an average daily death roll of
some sixteen thousand people. But
felt l must see Canton, and after two
or three days hustling about Hong
Kong I located a very gentlemaniy
Chinaman whose home was in Canton
and who agreed to show me about the
city providing I was able to effect a
landing.
l chartered a tug one afternoon and
started up the river, and the next
morning at four o'clock we we're push
ing our bow through the pack of thou
sands of boats which lined the river
front. At daylight assure you I was
interested in seeing the people arise
from their different apartments Of
these boats and arrange their toilet
Many of the ladies' were combing their
hair and washing their faces and teeth
by reaching over the rail with a comb
and brush or rag and using the water
from the river With a gourd this
same water was dipped back, in turn,
to the boiling kettle, in which was gen.
orally potatoes. yams. fish or rice;
sometimes one, sometimes all.
l saw the children in. hundreds crawl
from their cozy little beds under the
hatch of the san-pan, and wash their
hands and sometimes their feet in the
water, which was again dipped up and
used by another from a neighboring
boat. This was being done on all sides
of me by this great swarm of hui
manity
My guide told me that some of the
people boiled the water and placed 1t
in cask to be used for drinking, but
not more than one-tenth part of the
population took this precautiOn
The city has no sanitary measures
as to sewerage, etc, and during my
stay of four days we had two storms
in which the rain fell in sheets. The
entire filth of the city is in this way
washed down to the river
was simply amazed and one even
ing when | had gone back to my quart
ers on the tug, after seeing the primi-
tive water service of this great city
and thinking of the added millions of
people who lived farther UP on this
river for distance of some two thou
sand miles, who were using this same
stream for cess pools, sewerage. and
SIGH that the water about me was
really Shiny, muddy. brick-dust color;
there solved the question to my mind
as to why they did not all die-man,
woman and child. My conclusion was
simply this: it is environment, pure
and simple.
II is possible for the crocodile, alli-
gator and catfish TO live and multiply
in the slow, sluggish streams of our
land. because his body has become so
imbued with what he has to eat and
drink. Just the same can a man adapt
himself to the water of the Arkansas
river. If his stomach and constitution
has stood it for forty years he could
stand it another forty-entirely a
question of environment Yet 1t might
! be little severe on the newcomer, or
persons with less hardy constitutions
DALI DeWEESE.
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TAYLOR AND KFNNRny