Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1922-09-01

the bare feet or cOOlleS ike those Oh
| their countless predecessors whose cal
loused soles have worn deep channels
| In the fagstones Along the river
| banks are still anchored acres and
acres of small. brown, flimsy boats in
| each of which family lives as their
ancestors did in the time of Marco
| Polo
After Canton was made the seat OF
government for the southern Repub-
| lie of China" changes In Its appearance
were rapid. In place of the old sys-
TEN Of government In which the rul-
| ing of the city was merely incidental
to the government of the province, q
carefully worked out municipal govern
ment was constructed with all the mod
ern trimmings. 1t might be described
as a sort of combination of the Amer
! lean commission plan with Capital
istic Soviet" system. A young Chinese
graduate of two American colleges,
who had specialized In the study of
municipal government, was made may
| or. With commission of six depart
ment heads he formed the executive
body. Canton's "board of aldermen"
who took charge of legislation under
| the new regime, was called the Munich
pal Advisory council. OF Its 30 MEM
bers, ten were appointed by the gov
ernor Of the province, ten chosen in a
general election, and ten were elected
| by certain groups including the CHAM
Der of commerce, the educational as
ISOLATION. doctors, lawyers, engineers
and labor guilds.
Modernixlng the City.
In the few years this government
lasted 1t left it's mark on ancient Cam
ton. Where only narrow alleys exist
ed before, thousands of houses were
RACED and broad streets put through /;
canals were filled in to make other
thoroughfares and finally the old city
wall, crumbling with the age of CEN
turtles, was torn down, and an encirc-
ling boulevard constructed on its site.
The old wall had its usefulness in
death, for it's stones were broken up
and the material used to surface the
citys new streets. The city govern
ment Of Canton even provided public
parks--a hitherto unheard Of thing for
Chinese city to do.
But though In externals Canton has
seen many changes in the past few
years, it's customs cling tenaciously.
The food of large part Of the Can
ton populace Is not that Of America.
In the markets one may buy not only
the flesh of cattle and horses, but al
so that of dogs and snakes. And an
order for "cat meat" In Canton mar
ket doesn't mean that the house pet
Is to be fed 1t means just what 1t
says. The gourmet shopping In Can
ton may have the choice of rats "on
the hoof' in cages or may purchase
the more convenient article with its
long curled tail. And If this variety
In meats Is not enough, he will find
for sale the flesh Of lizards and the
. fins of sharks, and by way of meat
substitutes, ancient eggs and dried oy'
sters.
: The view which one gets of Cantor
from the few high vantage points dis
closes a city of innumerable low, fiat
, topped houses, with here and there q
tower breaking the monotony. Tive
] of these belong to a Christian cathe
, dral one to Mohammedan mosque
) and most OF the remainder. strangel,
/ enough, to the shops Of Chinese pawn
) brokers. The construction of thes'
! shops In the form Of towers Is said t.
; be In order that the valuables which
, they contain may be more easily guard
ed. In late years, too, few oftic'
|. buildings and department stores hav'
: been constructed on the American
: plan; and these, at least relatively t
t the sea of low dwellings,, are "sky
s scrapers."
! Canton has been quick to take nd
s vantage Of the opportunities that 1t
= recent boon of wide streets has giver
: Where a few years age chairs born
8 on the shoulders of coolies constitute
: the only form OF human transportatlo
/. through the narrow alleys now autt
9 mobiles and omnibuses whisk abou
h on the broadways. OF course through
d out much Of the city the streets sti
!, are wide enough only for chairs.
o The white residents Of Canton "a
s the most part live on an island .
IS made lansi in the river, separated frol
: the Chinese settlements by q wild
i canal. Two wars were fought by Gres
j Britain, however. largely for the q
It mission Of foreigners to the city
j, Canton proper and some few white
K take advantage Of this hard-earns
d privilege.