The Coolidge examiner., 1938-06-23

understand. What thing have
got?" is to say What have you?"
When the supply Of butter is ex-
hausted your cook will come to you
with the complaint, Butter have
finish, missile"
There is the tradition Of face"
which governs the duties of each
employee within ironbound limits.
Your cook will not mix cocktails. He
leaves this 10 the number one boy,
who, in turn will not clean shoes
or run errands These tasks are the
coolies ''pidgin." The wise foreign
er does not attempt to change Gus
toms which have existed for cen
turies.
Chinese servants are justly ia
nous. As a class they are unsur-
passed in loyalty. industry. patience
and cheerfulness. They sometimes
wonder al the strange customs of
the foreigner, but they bear with
him.
NlSnl LIE IN tne Clty.
Even during trouble" the famous
night life of this cosmopolitan city
of Asia continues with vigor. At
such times private entertaining is
somewhat curtailed. Pity the poor
hostess whose guests have been
caught by the curfew and who has
them on her hands until dawn!
Hotels and night clubs offer the
usual diversions, profiting by the in
creased trade which results from
the enforced stay of those who are
caught by the curfew At such
times, as well as under normal con-
ditiOns, the conservative old Palace
hotel on the Bund and the Cathay.
its up-to-date counterpart across the
street, present pictures Of gaiety at
cocktail time
The bar at the Cercle Sportif
Francois, the popular sports club
in the French Concession, is noisy
with sprightly conversation in a half
dozen languages. Chinese boys in
long white gowns. their black panta-
looms bound tightly about the ankles.
move silently through the crowd
with chits and laden trays.
The 20-story Cathay hotel offers
diverse amusement The glittering
shops in its arcade are stocked with
Peking rugs. jewel jade. silks, and
curios. For swank one dimes in its
grill under the lofty black pyramid
which surmounts its roof. The or
chestra which plays in its air-con-
ditiOned ballroom pleases even blase
American tourists. and imported
singers and dancers entertain the
! guests.
Chinese dance halls have opened
in large numbers in the last two or
three years The native musician
has not yet become a master of
American syncopation, and the or
chestras are usually Russian.
A modern young Chinese in for
eign clothes. complete with horn
trimmed glasses and prilliantined
hair, executes elaborate steps with
! his slender, narrow-eyed compan-
ion. She is goWned in high-necked
brocade, dainty, exquisite. Some
times as she sits slipping her drink,
she renews her makeup with the
Of . NOr11n1p+
Until well into the Twentieth cen
tury Chinese women of the better
class were not seen in public When
they did leave their homes, it was
only in sedan chairs, concealed from
the eyes of the world. With the in
fiux of Western ideas Of women S
freedom the Chinese woman
emerged from her isolation Foot
binding, possibly an expedient for
| keeping women at home, not only
went out of fashion but became IL
legal
Women Go Part Way Modern.
The transition period had its
amusing aspects. Today the eman-
cipated Chinese woman has her hair
permanently waved, smokes, works
in offices, frequents night clubs, and
drives a car if she has a mind to.
| But with all her modern ideas she
still is reluctant to adopt foreign
dress She wears silk stockings. dis
| cards her fiat, embroidered satin
| slippers for uncomfortable spike
| heeled shoes, but she resolutely
clings to her long gown with its
stiff, high collar and straight lines.
The gown may be split to the
knee as are modish gowns in the
Western world when the designers
so decide, but her modesty still for
| bids her to expose her throat.
The majority of Chinese shops
fiaunt gay red banners bearing in
gold characters the description of
goods carried within or announce
ments of bargains. These banners
have almost entirely disappeared
from Marking road, but they hang
in profusion the full length of the
congested cross streets in the heart
, Of the city.