The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-02-15
JOHN BULL ON THE PACIFIC
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER.
BY FRANK G.

ana with the peninsula of KOWlOO1,
1T has a harbor of ten square miles.
filed with shipping and craft of all
kinds. The beat population numbers
$4,000 and you come to the island
through a swarm of sampans, worked
by women, who stand up and scuN
their "a much like the gondoliers
Of Venice. Some of them have babies
fastened to their backs; and the little
ones bob up and down, as their moth
ers bend to their oars. The babies
are held on by squares of cloth tied
on by straps around the waists and
necks of the mothers. The bare legs
of the little ones stick out In front.
A City of Pigeon Holes.
Coming into Hongkong the noun
famous island towers high above you.
h upward slopes covered with green.
The shores are 1ined with buildings
five or six stories high. with galleries
running along their fronts story above
story. These galleries are divided
into sections, while the shores seem
to be walled with white pigeon holes
rising from the edge of he water. At
the foot are the warehouses and g
porting establishments, which take
are Of the shipping. Above them
are the offices and mercantile parts Of
the city, and still further back, climb
ing the hill, the many white, cream
and rose co1ored pigeOn-hcted struc-
lures which form the residences. TIL
BUILDINGS extend from the sea up the
| mountain for a distance Of a thousand
feet or more at an angle Of almost A.
degrees. Streets have been cut out
around the hill. making the whole "a
series Of terraces, and there are hi
sected at right angles by other nigh
ways and by a cog railroad which
leads to the hotels on the peak.
The business parts OF Hongkong
would be fine anywhere. The Hong
kong C1ub cost s350.00L. and the
Hongkong n Shanghai Bank has as
fine Offices as any financial institution
Of the United States. y new post Of
flee is now going up, and there ar
great buildings rising in that part Of
the ha-bor which has been reclaimed
from the sea. The material is raIlt
n the mortar is carried to the no
| sons by women who are paid about 10
cents a day. Prick and stone and all
sorts of building materials are freight
ed about in the arr way. Each wo-
man has on her shoulders a pole with
a basket fastened 20 either end of
it. and the baskets are filled with
bricks or stones. a good lustv gi~'
bare-armed and bare-legged sha
erunts as she tolls her way up the hill
There are children carrying smaller
burdens who dc similar work and who
are still more meanly paid.
Chinese Cheap Labor.
Indeed, everything is cheap in
Hcnekong. The city is governed hy
the British and public transportation
is regulated by law. The town is 8"
steep hat it is almost impossible t"
get about except in chairs or jinri-
kishas. The jinrikishas are baby car
riages on wheels. with bare-legged.
bare-headed coolies as horses. They
Will carry you anywhere In HongkOns
for about 3 cents of our money q
trip. and for 10 cents hey will go
on the trot for al hour. You may
hire one a halliday for a quarter, and
twelve hours for a dollar in silver,
which means about As cents gold.
Some of the streets are SO steep that
the jinrikishas cannot go up them. In
such places sedan chairs carried on
the shoulders of men are for hire. The
Hongkong chair of this kind is made
Of wicker. 1t is a box with a chair
inside it, and a soft wicker back
against which one cans as he ides.
It has arms for the elbows, and to
these elastic poles about as big around
as your wrist and eighteen feet long
are fastened. Inside the pole, in
front and behind. stand the two bear
ers, b~are-headed, yellOW-skinned
coolies with their pigtails tied around
their heads. They rest the two poles
on their shoulders and t~ot along
single file. The passengers arc of"nn
heavy Rritishers or f1eshy Chinese,
and the poles rub the skin off tn
shoulders, or make caflous SO that it
grows as thick as your heel. The
usual rate for these hair is about 4
cents q trip. and / can ride about all
day in one for 10 cents an hour. The
men are anxious to work, n when I
raise my hand three or four sets OF
bearers come UP OF the trot and fight
for my custom.
Hongkong at Night
7 took a tramp about Hongkong last
night to see how the city looks after
dark. It is not as wide-open as Chi
cago, New York. Paris or London. al
though / am told that all sorts Of
wickedness goes on in the narrow al
levs which climb up the hills. Last
niDht everything was quiet. The great
buildings wee as DARK &c a n"~%+
and the ~pigeon-hole balconies appear
ed to be dead eyes in the rays OF the
electric lamps. A eiocm covered the