The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1922-09-14

their countless predecessors whose cal
loused Soles have worn deep channels
in the tiagstones. Along the rive
banks are still anchored acres anC
acres of small, brown, tiimsy boats il
each Of which Il family lives rs theil
ancestors did in the time Of Marco
Polo.
After Canton was made the seat OF
! government Tor the "SOuthern Repuh
| 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
| 10 the government of the province, q
carefully worked out municipal govern
ment was constructed with al! the mod
ern trimmings. II might he described
as a sort Of combination of the Amer
lean commission plan with a 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 80 MEM
berS, ten were appointed by the gov
ernOr of the province, ten chosen in a
general election, and ten were elected
hN a i'm it,.lttHiver hn H.,
Der Of commerce, the educational as
ISOLATION, doctors, lawyers, engineers
and labor guilds.
undermining the City.
In the few years this government
lasted IL left its mark on ancient Can
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
city's 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. its customs cling tenaciously.
The food of a 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 it
says. The gourmet shopping in Can
ton may have the choic.. Of rats ION
the hoof" in cages, or may purchase
the more convenient article with its
long curled tail. And /, 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 Canton
from the few high vanta ge points dis.
closes a city of innumerable low, fiat
topped houses, with here and there
tower breaking the monotOny. Two
of these belong to a Christian cathe-
dral, one to Mohammedan mosque.
and most of the remainder. strangely
enough. to the shops Of Chinese pawn
brokers. The construction of these
shops In the form of towers is said TO
be in order that the vaIuableS which
they contain may be more easily guard
ed. In late years. too. n few Office
and department stores have
been constructed on the American
plan; and these, at least relatively to
the sea of low dwellings,, are "sky-
Cantsn has been quici. to take ad-
vantage Of the opportunities that its
recent boon OF wide streets has given
Where a few years ago chairs borne
IN the shoulders of coolies constituted
the only form Of human transportation
through the narrow alleys, now auto
mobiles and Omnlbuses whisk about
on the broadways. OF course through
out much Of the city the streets still
are wide enough only fer chairs.
The white residents OF Canton for
the most part live on an island of
made land in the river. separated from
the Chinese settlements by wide
canal. Two wars were fought by Great
Britain, however, largely for the ad-
mission of foreigners to the city of
Canton proper. and some few whites
take advantage of this hard-earned |
privilege.