Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-26

finally one of them gently laid hold OF
my arm and led me off into one OF the
side streets and placed me oenlnd mo
blue curtain which crossed it. The cur
tain sagged. and I found that 1 could.
by standing my toes. see over It, A
little later this was observed and ponce
man was told to tighten the curtain and
shut OF my view. then thought OF cut
ting q peephole in the same, when
observed that there was a ledge along
the side Of the house nearest me upon
which could climb. did so, and. stand
ing there. with my back to the wall l
was easily able to see all who passed.
I wish I could describe the funeral as
It moved slowly by me. 1t was like moth
ing to be seen in any other part OF the
world. You must first imagine the crowd
of officials the servants in uniform, the
police and the soldiers. and then this
wonderful parade moving through them.
First came a company OF palace servants
carrying the various funeral utensils.
They wore bfood-red gowns and huge
black hats, on which were red tasseas and
yellow feathers at least a foot long. Some
bore the red poles to be used for the
hearses and others carried bundles or
different kinds.
Behind these came a caravan of the
emperor's ponies, two abreast. Each
wore a blanket Of the imperial yellow,
and / was told that all belonged to the
imperial stud and that some had been
ridden by his majesty.
After that fifty magnificent camels came
into view. These were Of the species
found in Mongolia. They are bigger and
stronger than Arabian camels and have
a fleece of silky brown wool, which was
curried and brushed for the occasion.
Each camel was blanketed with yellow.
1t was loaded with funeral trappings and
1t chewed its cud as 1t walked sullenly on:
And then there were more ponies. and
behind them on foot. came the lmpe a
ed in uniforms such as were common
during the Chinese middle ages. Some
carried trumpets and others had drums
as big around as Washtub slung from
their necks. The drums had red barrels
and their. tops were of white parchment
They are beaten with the hand rather
than with a stick. Others of the musi-
clans had brass gongs the size OF dlsf-
pan, and still others brass horns whGn
looked like gigantic champagne bottles
with the corks half out.
The next party carried the meats to be
eaten by the ghosts OF the departed
These were on trays of yellow WOOD,
which rested at right angles to. the
breasts of the officials who carried them
The latter belonged to the palace, and
were cad in red silk gowns and black
hats. Behind them came the standard
bearers, with the ernperor's hags. Which
were beautifully embroidered with gold,
and one body Of men carried gold poles,
TO which great silk balloons were at
tached
Il was at this point that crowd OF
men high in the government. clad in
white sheepskins, began to scatter funer-
2, money to the four winds Of the heav-
ems Each of these had an armful of
n,ner disks of the size of a saucer, with
. souare hole IN the center. The men
threw these disks high into the air. so
that they FELL down upon the procession
like q. snowstorm, carpeting the road
way. Chinese at my right told me
az addaS that thew were scattered also