The Wilmington morning star., 1946-01-27
Interpreting
The News
BY JAMES o. m,rru

SAN FRANCISCO. Ia. - -
The lady correspondent '', lo lO.|s~
into the blue sky of coke 1Ooked Up
shrieked. " NINA and
A centipede so feet loru ,
above her, its whiskerss noated
red eyes rolling, its bods. waving,
ing in the breeze. 0n0ulat,
That was years ago. but 81.
no reason asa to think that the ,'e csi
elaborate kites Of bamboo 81. sness
per and sheer imaginatio'a, anu pa
centipede is perhaps the mn,t The
catching of tn e hundro s, eye,
models which begin sbov vtS Of
time of year to turn Cbiu. ' This
into a circus. ' skles
The wind is steady tro.. ,
northwest and everyon. s VII The
kite fever. Young and Old SS'S Inc
an and rich, are affected. The p n'.
found Chinese interest ~ '4 ts. pro- r..
tie, simple things of life ' ns., lit
the Kite season time whom r'A e
most every Chinese has t,n N al
doors. A'ui Cut
The kids are hit first aud ~.
the empty lots with laupbta ra Ill
screaming as they run mad,r ana
pull their kites into the air O.. %
ting their lines tangled. cr, sss
quarreling. forgetting their oras
rels as their gaudy trea srss.
catch the breeze and riss '~ Al.
jestically on high. 'a''
Babies barely able to todd,, =.
pear with toy kites only six incs sp'
long. Grandfathers watch fon 'iI.'ss
while. then the first thine Va d
know they have a kite Of THU ,Js
own. ~'ea
In the late afternoon when wo,,,
ers get home, serious IooEin ~
adults appear with special kite,s
some made of silk and flown Wv,
after year. They compete viii, WI.
each other in a matter NJ ,,s
way to see whose kite flies bs.s
and highest, or whose is most NM
usual. U'
There is considerable boastir.
and running down of the other tsI'
lows kite, and a vast amount n
advice is passed freely back and
forth. Crowds gather, and onlooE'
ers give advice too.
Kites are made by families WIN
do nothing else, piling up stock
throughout the year for the kits
season. The commonest kinds ars
the devil kite" and the butter,
fly. Both are made of rice pape,
stretched over a thin framewort
OF bamboo strips. All are 50 ey.
pertly balanced and designed that
they fly without tails. All arr
painted by hand, and it's safe n
say no Chinese would be caught
dead with the crude and IN.
adorned kites which content Amer
lean kids.
Some Chinese kites range up 10
six feet high and it takes strong
man to hold them in a stiff breeze
Some have 'harps" strung across
their struts which vibrate and sing
in the wind.
Kitemakers initiate almos.
everything. You see warriors and
fairies, dragon-flies, hawks, house.
flies, beetles, bats, dragons, rad.
ishes, cabbages - even frogs and
ashland, of course, that grisly
giant centipede which scared the
lady correspondent. (She wound
up by buying one and taking it
in its collapsed form-back TO
England with her).
The centipede's eyes turn with
the wind, and its body is a series
Of paper discs strung out behind
each other on cords. Its feet are
made of rush-blooms.
AS a modern touch the Chinese
make kites which l''0f Ike model
airplanes, and they have a line Of
comic kites Wnicu wanuers off in
to the completely improbable.
For example, the citizens Of
Peiping looked up on day to see
an excellent paper imitation Of
standard wooden slop bucket Loaf
ing serenely overhead.