Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-16
GlanourO ONLY
Skin Deep
inChina


summer on the Pacific coast
There is a lure about the orient
Miss Hitchcock Admitted, II suppose
that in time ! will hr crazy 10 &c
back, as every one j.. hat the great.
est thing | learned there was 10 APP
preeiaie America, II Is all 80 dirty
behind the pleturesaue exterior. The
climate is ifighltul. especially ~
Shanghai. where ! spent most OF the
time. Good hotels aud boarding
houses are scarce. and the ordinary
comforts OF American Ills are hard
10 get"
Miss Hitchcock landed IN Yoke
hama. after stormy voyage on the
Golden State. 4 typhoon threw
them two days of the course, Sht
went by rail through Japan. crossed
10 Korea. and Travelled by rail over
much OF China.
The natives oi Pckin were de
cidedly a better class than those 10
other parts OF China. size said. In
Shanghai particularly, -she thought
them a ihieving lot, who considered
All Americans as rich. and legitimate
prey. The squeeze" As exercised
by every Shopman aud servant. Is
considered only their right. The
term refers to the difference III es-
change. and your house hoy pockets
il as a matter OF course, II amounts
10 plain graft in most cases
Tourists Pay Two Prices.
Tourists arc made TO pay more
than two prices for things they buy
in the shops. Miss Hitchcock, who
brought back all kinds of fascinating
silks and cmbroideries and carvings
said she soon learned TO tell the
shopmen calmly in pidgin English.
I'VE no tourists, tell proper price.
at which they would promptly come
down.
Some OF the Oldest pagodas in
China are found in 500 Chow. and
it is a city OF many waterways. often
called the Venice OF China. Every
where. and particularly around 500
Chow. she was impressed by the
number of graves. For the most
part each family buries its own dead,
she said. and the land in which their
ancestors lie is sacred. which ac-
counts for the peasants reluctance
TO leave the piece of ground OF
whc, he has been brought up. IN
fact, buying real estate is most
complicated process, and there is
very little for sale. 1t was quite a
common occurrence, she declared.
for the dead to be placed in coffins
in the garden of Chinese home and
left unburied. and as result, skelc
tons were common sight ii one
cared to look for them.
Although Miss Hitchcock went to
China as tourist, she became much
in the silk exporting bus
mess. and was with an American
firm in Shanghai for several months.
The business depression is just
reaching China, she said, and for
eigners in business there were pcssi-
mistic about the future. y
In her estimation, American firms
A Business Error.
have made mistake in sending to
China young men, who do not care
to stay permanently and who are
inexperienced in business. England.
on the other hand, sends her ablest
men, and American firms suffer as
a result. Youn5 Americans, she
found. were TOO apt to succumb tc
the temptations OF drink and drugs
from sheer boredom.
"They can't find anything else TO
do. and everybody drinks" she said.
''The universal system of signing
'chits' instead of paying for things
also leads them to live beyond their
means. The credit system is far
too extensive.
"The movies which I saw over
here" she continued, were poor
stuff, films which looked as if they
had failed to pass the censors here.
They never began until 9 o'clock,
and the admission was about a doI-
ar and quarter. Everyone wore
iull dress. and it made gay ap-
)earance.'
There are 1000 Americans in
Shanghai. a city OF 100000 popu-
alton. Russians, most of them pen
liless, were flocking in in large
numbers and were further upsetting
business conditions by their willing
Tess to work for less than any other
oreigners. They are not popular
With the Chinese. while the Areri-
,ans were generally liked, in Miss
1itchcock's experience.
"The Pacific pact seems to have
lone little to help political condi-
ions in China as yet" she said.
Their political situation is little
hort of chaos, for the provinces
,annot get together. They won't ac-
,ept the monev of one province in
mother, and the foreign exchange
S fluctuating constantly. The Jap
nese are no more popular than be-
ore the disarmament conference"
Among the treasures the traveller
'rought back with her are some
leavy antique book ends, carved
rom soapstone with dragons and
logs upon them. She also has sew
raj examples of Japanese paintings.
lone on different materials, cotton
10th of coarse weave, satin and
'elvet. For the sky and water in
h. background the nap of the velvet
S clipped off. but it is left on for the
rees in the foreground, which helps
'roduce the effect of perspective.
'he has several specimens of the So
allied "Pekin work. which is en-
roiderv of an unbelievably fine
ort. Beautiful filet lace is also
made, largely for the export trade,
nd much of it is done by small
ovs, Miss Hitchcock said.
She also brought back with her, in
family sweet sandalwood box. the
opular game of Nah Jongg. a fav-
rite game in China since the time OF
,onfucius. They resemble dominoes.
eing made by hand partly of bone
nd partly of bamboo. while the
ounters which take the place OF
hips, are thin bone strips, also made
t,..,I