Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1908-08-13
DIRTY HEATHEN
Conditions in China are AppaI-
ling. Exclusion Act Passed
90
None to Soon.

none 10 SOOn.
G. E. Edwards in the Steele Ozone of
recent date.
Shanghai, China. The greatest
shock to my preconceived notions Of
Chinese life came when I went to
what is considered the most famous
tea house in Shanghai. I remem-
bered the clean tea houses of Japan,
with all their beautiful surroundings,
attentive girl walters and extreme
simplicity I naturally thought I
should find in the Chinese tea houses
some attractive features which would
in measure. Offset the vileness thru
which had passed all morning.
The tea house was a two-story
building typically Chinese in it's ar
chitecture, it's quaint appearance ..re-
minding one of the pictures on the
old blue and white ,chinaware. The
building rose from the center of a
pond, and was reached by a curious
old bridge, so zigzag in it's construc-
tion that one was compelled to Won
der what a drunken man would do
if he had to go across for a drink.
House, bridge and pond were all un-
speakably dirty. The pond was COW
cred with green slime, and from it
rose such terrible odors that I was
forcibly reminded of the Chicago riy-
er in the old days before that city
built it's great sanitation canal. The
bridge was grimed with the dirt of
centuries. and as I entered the build
ing it struck me as being cold and
damp, and emitted an odor like a
charnel house.
In the second story there were Ia
bles, and taking seat we ordered
tea which was brought by man
about as dirty as the people whom
we had avoided in the streets. The
tea was brought in large porcelain
cups, and accompanying them were a
lot Of cakes, the appearance Of which
pre-cluded the possibility of eating
them. The tea was good but I could
not go the cakes, so l dissected one
of them and it looked as if it were
composed of chopped vegetables and
fruits, and the bit that I took tasted
as if had eaten a bit of mouldy
salve.
No effort was made on part of pro-
prietor or attendants to serve us,
and after the tea and cakes had been
put down on the table the waiter
went about his business, unmindful
of our desire to get something more.
1 tried to attract ..attention but it
was no use, and finally we had to
content ourselves with the tea and
cakes and 60 away without having
an opportunity of learning what else
they had to serve. +se
Back to the streets again we went,
wondering if we could stand to con-
tinue our Investigations until even
ing. Wherever we went the same
conditions met us. Filth beyond
description, people squalid, filthy to
degree inconceiyable to one who
had never seen it, odors that seemed
to have been defiling the air since
the beginning Of time, and above all
the horrible din kept up by the
thousands Of hurrying people. When
a palanquin, carrying some parsonage
of Importance, would pass along the
streets the bearers would crowd the
people to the wall, knocking down
those who did not hurry, and pass on
as utterly unmindful of the rights of
others as if they were the only ones
on the narrow alleyway.
Human life'is the cheapest thing
there is in all China, and as smelled
the smells, and saw the terribly un-
sanitary condition Of the city, ] won
dered how many generations it had
taken to make these immune to dis
ease. Had white people lived in such
unsanitary state they would have
been swept from the face Of the earth
by pestilence, but these people seem
to go along In full health as If dirt
and filth were their natural condi-
tion. Sometimes a pestilence Of
cholera or small -pox comes along and
kills of . few hundred thousands,
but they do not mind it. In fact I
saw three men with pustules Of
small -pox on their faces passing
along the street II the crowd un-i
noticed 3by those around them.
Il Late In the afternoo oon we passed
through the gate and IT seemed ass
IL We had reached another condit zion
in life. Fresh air and pure condi-
5tions made IT seem IS II We had
passed from some pest hole into q
.puriti ied regi Ion. 4 fully realiz zed now
the density ~ the Chinese Spopula- q