Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1908-07-24
TRIP TO II )R|ENT
Clarence e. Edwords Touring the
Eastern Countries.
he is OUR SPECIA CORRESPONDENT.
INTERESTINGLY WRITTEN IN WEEK
LY LETTERS, WHICH WILL AP.
PEAR IN The RECORDER.


PEAR IN The RECORDER.
Shanghai, China, February o.
l tried another trip to the old city
of Shanghai, entering this time by
another gate. | found exactly the
same conditions and the same
throng of hurrying people passing
in and out of the gate, and inside
were the same narrow streets, fill
thy and noisy. The same rude,
hurrying, jostling crowd of water
carriers, sewage carriers, market
men, peddlers, and hundreds OF
other men carrying loads of all de-
scriptions. l was puzzled to und-
erstand why they were all in such
q hurry, and why they kept up
such a constant din of varying
sounds. The street cries OF Chi
nese 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 with
in an hour of the proper time he is
close enough. Chinese clocks have
no minute or second hands, it be-
ing the first hour until it is the Sec
ond, 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 60
ing after.
| could realize that these fellows
with their heavy loads slung over
their shoulders with long pole,
would hurry to get to the end OF
their journeys in order to ease their
limbs of the heavy burden, but it
was not only the carriers who hur-
ried, but the peddlers, the peripet-
attic jugglers, the women, children,
everybody.
New sights were brought to view
in this second visit to the city, and
! had opportunity to see a number
of shops. One of the picturesque
sights of the Chinese city is the
blazon of color from shop signs.
The signs hang perpendicular, and
are of all sizes, shapes and colors.
The characters 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 and of cleanliness and al
the virtues in which the CHINESE
are deficient.
One seems smothered when pass
| ing along these narrow alleys tina
do duty for streets, and. as the.
continually curve about one seem
to be always coming to a blin'
wall. The numerous signs screel
out the sky and with the bad odor
and dirt you feel as if you were Il
some narrow tunnel used TO CIV
passage for the sewage of the city
There is bewildering medley G
sights, and one could loiter an en-
tire day with ever recurring SUI
prises. A feature of the city
that all sorts of business are don
out of doors, and it is no unusuf
thing, for example, to see q ma
complacently sitting on stool o
the street, while the barber wit
the crudest of instruments, shave
his head and face, cleans his nos
and ears, and peforms such othe
toilet necessaries as are usual
done in the strictest privacy. EN
en- the water he uses is dirt, Will
the towel is positively filthy. Bot
have been used since the day
work began, and will continue
be used until night, no matter no
many people come under his care
Restaurants are numerous, and tn
windows are filed with the mos