Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-07-17
TRIP TO THE Orient
Clarence e. Edwords Touring the
Eastern Countries.
HE IS OUR SPECIA CORRESPONDENT.
INTERESTINGLY WRITTEN IN WEEK.
LY LETTERS, WHICH WILL APP
PEAR IN The RECORDER.


PEAR IN THE RECORDER.
Shanghai, China, Feb. 27.-Tht
greatest shock to my pre-conceivec
notions of Chinese life came when
went to what is considered the
most famous tea house i'll Shang-
hal. | remembered the clean tea
houses of Japan, with all their
beautiful surroundings, attentive
girl walters and extreme simplicity,
I naturally thought that / should
find in the Chinese tea houses
some attractive features which
would, in measure, offset the
vileness through which had pass
ed all morning.
The tea House was a two-story
j building, typically Chinese in its
architecture, it's quaint appearance
reminding one of the pictures on
the old blue and white china-ware.
The building rose from the center
of a pond, and was reached by a
curious old bridge, so zigzag in its
construction that one was COMPEL
to wonder what drunken man
would do if he had to go across for
a drink. House, bridge and pond
were all unspeakably dirty. The
pond was covered with green slime,
and from it rose such terrible odors
that | was forcibly reminded of the
Chicago river in the old days before
that city built its great sanitation
canal. The bridge was grimed
with the dirt of centuries, and as |
entered the building, it struck me
as being cold and damp, and emit
ed an edor like q charnel house.
In the second story there were
tables, and taking a seat we order
ed tea, which was brought by a
man about as dirty as the people
whom we had avoided in the
streets, The tea was brought in
large porcelain cups, and accom-
panying them were lot of cakes,
the appearance of which precluded
the possibility of eatirg them, The
tea W good, but | could not go
to the cakes, so | dissected enc of
them and it looked as if it were
composed of chopped vegetables
and fruits, and the taste that /
took that / felt as if / had eaten q
bit of mouldy salve.
No effort was made on part of
proprietor or attendants to serve
us, and after the tea and cakes had
been put down on the table the
waiter went about his business, UNI
mindful of our desire to get some
thing more. / tried to attract at
tention but it was no use, and IL
nally we had to content ourselves
with the tea and cakes and 90
away without having an opportu-
nifty of learning what else they had
to serve.
Back to the streets again we
went, wondering if we could stand
to continue our Investigations I'M
til evening. Wherever we went
| the same condition met us. Filth
beyond description, people squalid
filthy to degree inconceivable tc
one who has never seen it, odor'
that seemed to have been defilins
the air since the beginning of time
and above all the horrible din KEEP
up by the thousands of hurryin'
people. When a palaquin, carry
ing some parsonage of Importance
would pass along the street, th'
bearers would crowd the people tt
the wall, knocking down those wh'
did not hurry, and pass on as ut
terly unmindful of the rights o
1 Others as if they were the only one
on the narrow alleyway.
Human life is the cheapest thing
there is in all China, and as
smelled the smells, and saw tn,
terribly unsanitary condition of TIN
city, l wondered how many gene
rations it had taken to make these
Immune to disease. Had white
/ people lived in such unsanitary
state they would have been swept