Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-11-30
QUEER HABITS
OF CELESTTALS
STIR INTEREST
Well Known Writer Tells Vivid
Story in Describing San
Francisco Chinatown.
JOSS HOUSE VISITED
BY FREDERIC ]. HAsKIN.

ny d. nhShlN.
SAN FRANCISCO, Cal, Nov. 9O.-san
Francisco has the largest and most es-
sentially Chinese Chinatown In Amer
lea. People who knew it before the fire
declare that its charm disappeared with
that catastrophe. By this. Of course,
they mean that most OF its colossal filth
and wickedness is gone. But the WIS.,
itor wandering about it's queer. irregu-
lar streets, finds it still exotic and pic
turesque.
One moment you are in Portsmouth
square, before the monument Of Robert
Louis Stevenson. and a moment later
yOu are in narrow Canton byway. con-
tsiriac numerous Chinese markets, drug
stores restaurants and clothing shops
"a. lie l.. dali native Carh or sec
ond-hard American clothes throng the
|. sidewalk, and occasionally a Chlnece
housewife, brilliant Chinese basket on
hes arm. trips silently into s market.
The markets are worth investigating
in themselves. Always they are crowd
I'D with tiers and tiers OF wooden coops
reaching all the way to the low ceiling
and containing nervous rabbits. frantic
hens, and Respondent ducks and geese
Nearby the same species are exhibited IN
their popular dried form, looking very
much as Al they had received a coat OF
yellow varnish. Some = them have been
chopped into small withered pieces and
strung on bits Of cord like necklaces.
which is also the state to which beef, pork
and mutton are reduced.
But the principal trade OF the mar
kets, as you can easily detect by the
smell, is IN fish. There are big fish
nd wh Rsh arfa
nsh, and nsh Of every hue and shape
Cinnamon, ii seems, are devoted to fsh.
and fish are sent from all parts OF the
Pacific to crafty their fshy appetites
Here you find huge, black bellied stur-
seon, spotted sharks, piles Of founders,
carp and curiously yellow cod.
CHINESE RESTAURANTS
PATRONTZED BY AMERICANS.
Even the Chinese restaurants of San
Francisco are more Chinese than those
encountered elsewhere. Many Of them
have a wide and permanent patronage
smong San Franciseans Of Anglo-SaxOn
stock, who are disappointed II they miss
their weekly treat OF a Chinese table
d'hote. Pathetic is the plight OF the
visitor who happens to have several such
acQuaintances, for each and all Of them
are eager and insistent TO share this
tSeat with him. The fact that an appe-
ute for Chinese food must be created
by a strong and persistent effort Of the
win seems never to have occurred to
them.
Usually, the meals begins with chop
suey, which is a sort Of complicated and
comprehensive hash. apparently contain
ing, among many other things, old shoe
leather and wooden shaYinEs Favored
with rusty pipe Juice. The second
course, II you are lucky, may be moth
ing more alarming than fried rice,
chicken and shimps rendered IS dry and
withered as possible. Then comes the
prize OF the collection-Cho Go Gong
a sort Of soup supposed to contain meat,
eggs, mushrooms and beancskes. II the
diner is not carried away unconscious
at this juncture, eggs are brought in.
And such eggs only the Chinese know
how TO procure They are the eggs OF
yesteryear, and yet the year before. or
maybe they are eggs passed down Ike
old wine from the early Ming dynasty.
No butter is served with q Chinese
diReer. the Chinese holding butter~in
ferCe contempt You smelle ale same
butter" is one OF the deadliest insults a
Chinaman can level at an Occidental but
We may all be thankful that they do not
There are only two articles on the
menu OF a Chinese table hote which are
accepted to the uninitiated palate. and
those are the dessert-usually q delicious
rich fruit served In hOney-and the tea
More than any other race the Chinese
>Anow how TO make tea. You can buy
Chinese tea and make It yourself. but I'M
less you are remarkably expert, you
never quite achieve the same favor Sc
cured by a Chinese chef.
Not until you have dined IN a China
town restaurant do you realize the sig
nincance OF the nearby drug stores al
ways q few feet from a food mart or
cafe. We feel sure that the Chinese drug
stores must do an overwhelming bust
ness, although the remedies they offer do
not inspire great confidence in the Occi-
dental Chief among these are roots and
herbs, as well as such popular medical
staples as dried lizards and toads. dis
played occasionally in weird juXtapOsi-
ton to American soaps and chewing gum.
TRIP ON RUBBERNECK WAGON
ONLY GIVES GENERAL VITW.
A trip through Chinatown would not
be complete, OF course. without an in
terror view OF q Chinese joss house. or
temple To obtain this. unless you are
well acquainted In Chinatown. you must
3oin a sightseeing party. Every night
several huge rubberneck wagons park
slong the surbs OF Chinatown and hun
dreds of tourists ara entertained through
o megaphone while being shown as
little bona hde scenery as possible. In
fact. one gets the impression that the