The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, September 23, 1900, Page 7

THE SUNDAY the sons of Kingdom have no n thelr privations ng of unend- e the sweet f the forest From this the rioting spread to o ith a fellow-passen- ge hina Mr. Goforth gave the f ng striking story of the ful poverty which.is gnawing at us of 1 Mmasses 1 ( s the real source of e greatest hoards of both wealth and : stored the region east of r m stretch incompre- gnorance and poverty, Suez hensible wastes f is not elsewhere on the great, too, that it allow our entire civiliza- t & blot in history which will be known as the second dark age. Chinese practices of the art of saving are carried to extremes which are too pathetic to be comprehended most favored and pampered umanity. There n almost every clvilized coun- try a class who flaunt their poverty and the like whers of & s0 bopelessly by us race of el the vide. Catching crickets and selling them in the big cities at five for a brass plece has given many a Chinese country boy his start in life. Whether or not added poverty brought upon se by the indemnities which the allles are going to collect will deprive them of even the trifiing solace of the cricket and compel them to rely upon the music remix that of caged mosquitoes to 4 them of the country is a question will be settled in the law foundries rope, where destinles of barbarian ordes are cast to mold. ¥'s struggle for existence has ed these people to eat almost substance which is not deadly poi- and there is little doubt that the narcotics with which the Aslatic dulls his were discovered while some starver was trying to stay his stomach with herbs. Our wellfed American farmer never becomes acquainted by original in- vestigation with the therapeutics of the flora on his farm. All knowledge of the medical properties of herbs comes from the aborigines who were oft driven by cruel hunger to taste every bark, root and leaf in the search for allmentary products of the earth. A sufficient supply of wholesome food seems to be the influencing power, the end of all industry in every art of the globe, and the difference in the degrees of avidity with which mankind pursue it is regulated by the degree of civilization and intelligence which they have attained, It does not follow that the acquisition of food is an object of less anxious atten- son misery tion In the educated countries, because we subdue the coarser appetites of our na- ture. Such nations have the same natural wants as thelr Eastern fellow creatures, but the very refinement which conceals them is also an auxiliary to the acquisi- tion of a supply of better quality. In China the voracity of the people ob- trudes itsélf continually every Industry cupation seems 1o have such a ten- dency to the appetite that it becomes rath: disgusting contempla- or o appeasing of tion. The rich are all epicures, the lower classes sensualist 1e tastes of one are scarcely limited by tne extent of their revenues, the voracily of the other un- restricted by even the nauseous specles cf food. Being the most omnivorous of all people there 1§ not an animal or plant that can be procured by art or industry and eaten without risk of life, which is not pressed into service by these gastron- omers. The flesh of wild horses is highly prized, as well as the larvae of the sphinx moth and soup made of mare's milk and duck’s blood. In the markets of Tungchow, to which the stewards of the noble families of Pe- king repair to purchase viands for their lords, it 1s amusing to see the butcher: when they are carrying dog’s flesh to any place or when they are leading five or six dogs to the slaughter house, for all of the THINEDE WOMAN VOES HMER PISTARF, Venders of strange viands their junks to the shore, h step from ing baskets suspended on a carrying pale, in which ed dogs, cats, r or birds or wild, generally alive; sea- 1bs found in the sugar cane. of dogs most In re tis a The appear particularly dejected In imprison- ment, not even looking the hope of freedom; while the cats, on the contrary, keep up an incessant squalling and seem never to despair of Eagles, The specie small spaniel poor anima thelr up 1 ing. storks, and wks owls are among the rarities dizplayed by poulter- ers, but the popular fowl In China Is the duck, which well adapts itselt to the crowded condition of the land, and takes to the water almost from birth. The peasants hatch the eggs manure heap. When able to be removed, they taken In a boat to the nearest mud heap where shellfish feed. There ‘they paddle around the fecding grounds and commence a daylong search for everything digestl- ble, paddling back at night to thelr con- in which they in an oven or ducklings are are the or veyances, home. Even the Chinese In Amerlea still hank- er after the fleshpots of Chung Kwa, and wild cats find ready sale to the Chi- nese poulterers and also to the Ttalian marketmen having stails near atown. The coolles of the Middle Kingdom really get so poor that it requires an al- gebralc equation to express the minus- ness of their financlal condition The poorest European beggar has him- self and usually a family, generally a large one. Beggars are Inclined that way. The Lord loves poor people, and so makes many of them. But the begzar of Europe 1s wealthy In that he has his freedom and family; the Chinese coolie has sold himself, and us- ually his family as well. With all those who are dear to him in bondage of his own creation, himself sold and powerless to ald them, life is a Jong bitter day for him and he never fcars to part with ft. So little is it his own that he 1s really less concerned than the haughty master who rules his destiny. It patience, humility, economy, indus- try, thrift, frugality and obedlence are virtues which will receive reward, then is the Chinese coolie the most blessed of all mortals. Those virtues have at least made him what he I8, for none can say that he does not possess them in the highest degree. The coolle is a good iI- lustration of the saying that the less you spend the less you will have. He is a shining example of what comes of following the advice of Poor Richard's Almanac and other advisers of that whin- ing school of skim-milk philosophy. His poverty is, as has been shown, a minus quantity. He has lost all he had and half as much more, like the man in the algebra book who juzzled our youth by hjs woeful losses. For if the coolie couid manage to save enough money to buy are returned other dogs In the street, drawn by thdy himself free, from his’poor little earnings cries of those going to be killed or oy the smell of the flesh of those already dead, fall upon the butchers, who are obliged to go always armed with a whip or bamboo pole to defend themselves of seven cents a day, he would still be only a penniless beggar with a family to support. ‘What a contrast when compared with the princely heritage of the beggar in America and the vistas of wealth which he commands. By felgning insanity he has the delight- ful State hospitals for the Insane at his service. A trifiing crime will transport him to a lovely seaside resort of the State, with a flower gardened court, and just enough labor to keep his appetite up to an appreciation of the wholesome fare provided. Should he scorn insanity or crime there is still the comfortable poor- house open to him free of charge or care. China makes no such provision for paupers. They may die and rot If they cannot make thelr own living; there are too many people anyway and the weakest had best dle off as soon as they can. There is not room on earth for them and nobody is going to waste time coaxing them to stay and {ncumber the way for hardier and stronger workers who with health and muscle still have all they can do to keep from getting pushed over the edge. The dragon well represents the imperial Government of which it is the symbol, a hungry, ferocious, devouring monster, clawing for all in sight and destroying with breath of fire that which it cannot secure to itself. No wonder that the paper gods of their temples all have devilishly malignant faces. Fates are so unkind to the coolie that he can imagine nothing but evil ta exist among the unseen powers which rule our being. Those who are crowded oft terra firma by the rampant land- lordism float by millions in junks, house- boats and floating villages, which cover TTon CoROING TO = A SPINESE Moy y the fnland waters and sheltered the coast n wretches loses th has taken a his po and he the Government or some of its officials. Chinese women are apparently suffer- ing from a simflar tradition, for it is said by some of the Chinese that women once took up arms and attacked the ruling authorities, and for that reason it was ordered that henceforth thelr feet should be crippled so that there might be no danger from them. This, while an absurd reason, seems more in line with Chiness cowardice than any of the others which are given for foot binding. There is consolation for the river folk though In the fact that one acre of water produces an infinite number of times more food than an acre of land, for it has three dimensions, while the land has but two, and more than that the rivers have the sea to draw from and thers are con- tinually ascending them streams of food fish from the incalculable stores of the ocean's depths. So the river people skim the rivers of everything that is in them, using fish hunting birds, such as cor- morants, to search out such fish as may have escaped the nets which are every- where cast without regard to time or sea- son. Patlence is another virtue which the coolles have run clear into the ground by its excessive exercise. That very nega- tive virtue has been the cause of those who exercise it being more and more overloaded, until the impositions placed upon them crush out their Individual lives and will presently end their national exist- ence. Thelr patience has been provoca- tive of ferocity in their tormentors as the mild sheep by running away invites the attagk of dogs which had not otherwise paid any attention, but by witnessing such show of terror have thereby created within them an appetite for mutton. By the law of compensation the meek- TAQTAU THiET MAVISTRATE OF SHANGHAT AND 3ETOND \OHEST JUDSE N THINA together to make a board or pflar. Not satisfled with doing all of thelr own work, they h: always had great ambi- tion to become heavy exporters, which means that they are.anxious to do the work of others as well, for a large export trade is nothing else. Think how many backaches it takes to produce a shipload of tea, for instance, and then wonder at the industry which can accomplish it and the patience which it takes to contem- plate such a herculean task without shrinking. The on reme simpl! T beauty of thelr poverty is the e to which it has ce, al- ropean ey will not then a light, watery vegetable something like a cross between our cabbage and let- e; with this tea, and the same thing or every meal twice a day the year round, except at new yea Clothes are as simple as the food. Two garments of cotton are all that ths coolle has, except hat and shoes, to put on in e morning; then he is dressed. It is this h makes early rising so general in the land of the rising sun. for it is the horror of dressing rather than th fond- ness of sleep which keeps most of us In bed. Though they wear no underclothing. yet the homespun, close-woven garments are warm, comfortable and heaithy, as there is room for plenty of air circulation out- side the and plenty of blood eircu- lation with! ck of which we civ- ilizees suffer more from cold and coids than from all of our bad climates put to- gether. Perhaps In those two attalnments of simplicity the lurid continent has repaid itself for all of the sufferings un@ergons in the practice of poverty as a flne arc.