Norwich bulletin., 1909-05-29

Of MT. Woo, the compredore Of Messrs
 Wilson & Co. Mir. and Mrs. Wilson, Mir. and Mrs Anderson and myself composed the foreign element of tho invited guests. We all left the set- tlement at a little after two o'clock and arrived at about three. The lacies being in chairs. the travel was nec- essarily slow for the 'rikshas, and af the weather was cold. it made the tril up to the city not very comfortabk
 one. But on returning I let my boy "have his head" and he made the time in about twenty minutes. He was pretty well used up when he got to the consulate, and the extra boy te rush, whom 1 always had when l vent to the city. puffed and blowed like | steam engine. They were both so glad
 that they did not have to keep wit1
 the ladies' chairs on the way back that
 they just let themselves out and how
 they got through the narrow, crowd
 ed streets of the city at the speed they did without wrecking the whole busi- ness. will forever remain an unsolved mystery. I tried couple of times to have them slow down, but they only misunderstood and each time they let out another link of speed SO I gave 1t up and was quite relieved when I found myself all together at the end of the adventure. There had been no serious danger, but such a ride Is a trifie straining to the nerves.
 The dinner was all Chinese, birds nest soup, shark fins and all the rest of the time-honored dainties. I, as usual, partook of everything, but the ladies did not take kindly to come oi the dishes. the two above-named be- | ing about all that they would taste. Mrs Wilson and Mrs. Anderson were invited to see Mrs. Woo, but we, of the other sex. could not. of course. be permitted to look upon the wife of c well-to4do Chinese. The curiosity of Mrs. Woo and her five daughters heinz somewhat excited on being for they caused the ladies 10 pass through an ordeal, which, according to the account MT. Wilson gave me next day from what his wife had told him. must have been very funny. Neither of the ladies told me anything.
 On another occasion one of Che Chi hese officials at Tien-tsin invited a se- lected few of us to dinner after which we were regaled with a magic lantern exhibition. It was a very ordinary affair both the lamp and the slides, yet the taotai had paid two hundred and fifty dollars for 1t, so some one had made clear profit of at least two hundred and thirty dollars out of that particular swindle. From what saw Of such trades in Chlra it was easy to believe that represented the average margin of gain in such transactions.
 One of the most interesting of the Chinese high festivals which occuiSed during my residence was the occa- sior of the removal of tho Goddeaa of Heaven from one temple to another. ceremony performed only once in twenty-five years. This idol Is also known as the Goddess of Junks and is the tutelary genius of mariners es- pecially worshipped by all sea-farinR Chinese. About hundred years pre- vious the emperor. Chien Lung hmd visited Tien-tsin and witnessed the procession. and he was so pleased with the manner fin which the occasion was observed that he granted certain spe ctal privileges. In consequence the affair attained an additional import ance in the eyes of the Chinese, and they came from all the region around to attend the, celebration. This is the | only procession sanctioned by imperiai edlet. and all who take part in it are obliged 10 be of mandarin rank IL is | copied in detail from the procession which attends the emperor hifnself when he goes outside the palace. The bearers of the goddess are rewarded
 by being permitted ever sfterward to wear yellow jackets the imperial color. The idol or statue represents a woman who. many hundreds of yeara ago. became immortal through a dream. Her father was the captain of a junk. and had gone to sea, taking Der mother and two brothers with hin1. | While the junk was away on one of Ter voyages the daughter had dream. | in which she saw the junk founder at sea. and her father and mother and | two brothers struggling in the water. | She swan to them and takinr \ brother i'm each hand she eecttrod - | hold on her fathers clothing with her | teeth. Al this junqture the mother. | lcontinusd on Psas Klsvsn.l |,