The Pulaskian., 1920-08-19


 Hundred Gods, Canton.
 The city is TO miles ZIP the Pearl river from the sea. Naming the kinds of junks that ply about Canton re quires as much knowledge as picking the makes of automobiles that spin along Riverside drive or Michigan ave nue. The Slipper boats" are recog- nizable because of a striking resem- blance to their European-given nick name; the Canton sampans' are nu- merous; the two-masted passenger junks are the Canton-Hongkong fer ries, but the most curious of the many other kinds, perhaps. are the che-ting, operated by Chinamen stepping on a treadmiI1 in the rear. These were fn- vented by an European who sensed that man power is the cheapest and most plentiful to be had in China land where labor-utilizing rather than labor-saving devices pique the inven- tor.
 The gutters are in the middle of the street, in Canton. The divers down by the water front go in feet first. The Canton bon-bon is pit-tan, eggs preserved in rice hulls, ashes and lime. If man has a beautiful yard or gar den. he hides it by a high wall; but once the visitor breaks through this privacy, in company with trusted guide, he may find himself not only nT1 iEnc hut crf, an exclusive home as if it were pub lie building, and the household me1n- bers go serenely about their own affairs while they too, are described and ex- plained by the cordial friend. Here is hint of the origin of the China town tours in our great cities
 Temples and Legends.
 If the struggle for existence sug- gests materialism, one need only visit the temples in Canton, to glimpse the delicate, subtle, and daring imagina- tion of the seemingly literal. cautious Chinaman. The "Iflowery Pagoda," with the copper pillar topped by a golden ball, is where a famed Indian missionary once spent a night, and so fragrant was his presence that the tower still is free from mosquitoes. To the Five Fairies Temple once came five genii, wearing coats of diff ferent colors and riding goats of Giffer- ent colors. Each fairy brought a stalk of grain, which was given to the peo- pie with the benediction Dwell here in perpetual peace, and never know famine" The fairies departed, but their steeds turned to stone, and re- main to this day in the temple. A more mechanical curiosity is the tow CT where time is measured by water dripping from four copper vessels, ar ranged at different levels
 The hills about are famed no less for their legends than for the terraces where the ginger root is grown that is preserved by the Cantonese. One peak is crowned by rock that sways when spoken to in angry tones; there is q stream where some Oriental Enoch drank 8 potion of iris leaves and, becoming immortal, was waited
 
 There is a chamber of commerce at Canton, but the characteristic indus trial bodies are the guilds, 72 in num- Der, iron bound, -perpetuating or ganlzations of great power both ecc- nomically and politically. The Chi nese merchant and artisan is an apt example of the tremendous forces of inertia, or precedent, if you like, in Chinese life. He carves, brews, or sells gold foll not only because his father or grandfather did, but because his remote ancestors, when Columbus sailed westward or Marco Polo tou, ed east did that very thing in just that way.
 Quality, not variety. is the merit he seeks, and the guilds define the exact sphere of their members minutely. There is the Guild of Dealers in Cloth Interwoven with Metal Threads of Various Colors, the Guild of Dealers in Kerosene Lamps, the Guild of Deal- | CTS in Hand-Reeled Silk. and the Guild of Dealers in Liquor Brewed from Rice.
 The honesty of the Chinese mer- 1 chant is proverbial. In Canton lived l Hon Qua, millionaire. who flrnishec n conspicuous example of this quality | When a firm which owed large sums to foreigners became bankrupt. Hon Qua headed list of Canton business men who made good the debt. on tha ground that Chinese creAt must pas l be tarnished