Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-07-22
SHANGHAI IS FILTHY
DR.. EDwORDS MAKES A SECOND TRIP TO
THE CITY.
New and Picturesque Sights Brought to
View in His Second Visit to
the Old City.

Shangnal, Cnlna, July 10, lSOo:-l
tried another trip to the old city of
Shanghai, entering this time by
another gate, found exactly the same
conditions and the same rhrong of
hurrying people passing in and out of
the gate and inside were the same
narrow streets. filthy and noisome.
The same rude, hurrying, jostling
crowd of water carriers. sewage car
riers, marketmen, peddlers, and
hundreds of other men carrying loads
of all descriptions. l was puzzled to
understand why they were all in such
hurry. and why they kept up such
constant din of varying sounds. The
street cries of Chinese cities are
most peculiar, all of the peddlers and
carriers warning others by discordant
sounds of their approach, emitted in
shrill. high key. but why they were
in such an awful hurry could not
understand. Time to a Chinese is
nothing Their clocks are based on
the principle that if one is within an
hour of the proper time he is close
enough. Chinese clocks have no
minute or second hands, it being the
| first hour until it is the second. and
so on for all time. Yet these people
were rushing as madly as if they had
but minute longer to accomplish
what they were going after.
l could realize that these fellows
with their heavy loads slung over
their shoulders on long poles. would
hurry to get to the end of their jour-
neys in order to ease their limbs of
the heavy burden, but it was not only
| the carriers who hurried. but the
peddlers, the peripetatic jugglers. the
women, children. everybody.
New sights were brought TO view in
this second visit to the city. and
had opportunity to see number OF
shops. One of the picturesque sights
of the Chinese city is the blazon of
color from shop signs. These signs
hang perpendicular. and are of all
sizes, shapes and colors. The char
acters are all of either gilt or red.
but the paper or board on which they
are written are all the colors of the
rainbow. Over the doors and ON the
sides of the doOrways are long strips
of paper with characters on them. and
when these are translated one wonders
how they come to have such incon-
gruous notices in such places. They
portray the beauties of spring. of
flowers, of cleanliness and all the
virtues in which the Chinese are de-
ficient.
One seems smothered when passing
along these narrow alleys that do duty
for streets. and as they continually
curve about one seoms to be always
coming to blind wall. The numer-
Gus signs screen out tine sky and with
the bad odors and Dirt you feel as if
you were in some narrow tunnel used
to give passage for the sewage of the
city. There is bewildering medley
of sights, and one could loiter an en-
tire day with ever recurring surprises.
A feature of the city is that all sorts
of business are done out of doors. and
| it is no unusual thing. for example. to
see man complacently sitting on a
stool on the street while the barber
with the crudest of instruments,
shaves his head and face, cleans his
nose and ears, and performs such other
toilet necessaries as are usually done
in the strictest privacy. Even the
water he uses is dirty. while the towel
Is positively filthy. Both have been
used since the days work began, and
will continue to be used until night,
no matter how many people come under
his care. Restaurants are numerous,
and the windows are filed with the
most unsavory looking dishes which
offend both eye and nose. They have
dirty dried fish. dirty dried ducks and
chickens. dried shrimps, yellow
cheese, small seeds that are sprouting.
little nuts done mp in paper, pork cut
in hunks. great pieces OF pig skin,
baked, and from which the restaurant
man cuts off pieces with dirty knife,
and which he hands to his customers
with greasy and dirty hands. The
edibles are of such queer and strange
composition that l never had the
slightest desire to taste any of them.
This is in marked contrast with con-
ditions both in Japan and the Philip
pines, for in neither of these places
did l ever feel that l was getting more
than my share of dirt.
One of my fads is markets, and
always try to find all there is to be
seen in such places. but the one market
| in Shanghai that l entered cured me
of any desire to investigate further.
| If the streets were dirty and filthy
there are no words in the English
language to tell of the depths of
abomination that is to be found in
the markets of a Chinese city.
Clarence e. Edwords.