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About The Maupin times. (Maupin, Or.) 1914-1930 | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1915)
IF ANTON n x , 1 J t OUDLN OF HEAVEN f08T people have read highly colored descriptions of Can ton as a barbarous city. What the traveler finds within a few yards of the landing- stage, 30 mlleB up the Pearl river from Hong Kong, Is a solid row of European buildings, public gardens leading to a aeries of tennis courts, and a llrltlsh consulate. The appearance of the Bhameen, the narrow Island of the con cession, with Its churches, Its lofty blocks of merchants' offices, Its spa clous tree-Bhaded boulevards, Its hand Bome International club, and Its nu merous official buildings, gives an Im mediate feeling of confidence to any Western stranger, writes A. H. FlBher In Illustrated London News. After I had seceured a room at the Victoria hotel, I crossed the creek by the British bridge with two resi dent acquaintances, and entered Chi nese territory. Tall brlck-bullt go downs, with shops on the ground floor, seemed pushing out Into the thronged roadway along which we walked to a part whence I could get a good view of the Water-town. Here a vast popu lation lives In various kinds of craft from small Sahtengs or sand-boats to the gaily deoorated "Flower boats" with their gold-fretted fronts stuck over with mirrors. A Floating City. Along a narrow wooden footway, built upon piles, we walked for half a mile till we seemed to be in the mid dle of a floating city; but away, farth er to the west, I could make out an Iron-roofed building, which, I learned, Is tho terminus of the railway from Sanishln to Canton, and a pair of Bheerlegs, which marked the position of tho Canton-Hankow railway, con nected with the other by a ferry-boat service and likely, ere long, to become the regular route for reaching the Trans-Siberian line. Looking back to wards the town, I had pointed out to me a tall, gray stone building as a pawnshop, an institution regarded In China as a kind of bank. We now turned away from the creek up a narrow street where all the build ing were wholesale rice stores. Almost every street Is set apart for one trade or Industry. In Sap-Pat-Po (otherwise Ward 18), however, the chief business Btreet of Canton, the shops were filled with general manufactured goods Herman and Japanese clocks, Ameri can soaps, gramophones and sewing machines. Here were strange articles of diet also edible beetles, giant whelks, bamboo shoots and dried cut tle fish. There were bankers shak ing coins Into trays till each of a hun dred circular depressions was filled, as a way of counting, dealers In old pic tures, a lottery shop, where prizes were being paid out for a lottery late ly drawn, and an ancestral hall or meeting place tor some particular clan or guild. Then came a whole street of the makers of "Old-Age Clothes," as the Chinese call their coffins, and a street of pewter workers, and a street of smithsand all this time we had only reached a gateway of the outer wall of Canton. Inside this, after passing a small island of shops, we went under the seml-clrculur arch of the Great West Gateway, where the wall was 17 yards thick. We climbed from within on to the top of the wall, and above there was a sudden peace and quietness. Here and there about the bastions were old llrltlsh muzzle-loading guns on wood en carriages. On one I read the date 1812, and on another 1816. We fol lowed the top of the wall for some dis tance to the great flve-storled pa goda, and began to climb It from floor to floor, passing through the flap doors which shut down over the stairs of each. On the fourth floor was the official tea house, and on the upper most a group of figures of Chinese deities. From the balcony a number of people were enjoying the view over the city. In the distance rose the twin spires of the French cathedral, which the Chinese thought would attract dev ils until they reflected that the second Bplre neutralised the bad effect of the first Beyond the city we could see the , Pearl river, and near it the Normal college for training Chinese teachers. which stands upon the site of the old examination cells. By the lower slopes of the hill called Queen of Heaven Mountain, we found the fa mous City of the Dead, where bodies of defunct Chinese wait In their cof fins, sometimes several years, before the priests are able to determine fl In M ROUGH MOUNTAIN, CANTON auspicious day for interment. The City of the Dead has many mansions, If by that name may be designated the little rooms, each 10 by 15 feet, with whitewashed brick walls and paved with pale-red tiles. Before the coffin hung a curtain, and in front of this stood an empty chair, a table spread with food' and In the case of a man tall dolls standing on either side to represent girl attendants. Eggs Eighty Years Old. Near the Flowery Pagoda In the old deer park, formerly part of the Tar tar General's palace grounds, I visited the British Yamen, whore English ca detB studying Chinese used to be quar tered before It became customary for them to go to Peking. Very different from the quaint charm of these build ings was the somewhat squalid aspect of the courts of tho famous temple of Su Mong Mu. One evening I was shown a number of the fantan gambling houseB, In which the banker puts on the table a double handful of the common coins called "cash," and then withdraws them in fours with a small stick, the game being to bet on the last remain ing being either one, two, three or none. At a restaurant my friends en tertained me to a typical Chinese feast. Nearly all the dishes were pala table, and several extremely good, es pecially some eggs which were re puted to be eighty years old and tasted like a glorified almond paste. WORSHIP A SPURIOUS RELIC "Tooth" of Buddha, Venerated by Mil lions, Not the Sacred Object It Is Believed to Be. At Kandy, In Ceylon, Is kept Buddha's tooth, which Is the object of the unbounded reverence of more than four hundred million people. When this holy molar was brought to Ceylon In the sixteenth century, Windy was only a mountain village, Now thousands of pilgrims go every year to the gorgeous temple where the tooth reposes, bringing gifts of every kind, gold and silver ornaments, coins, Jewels and even fruit and flow- ers. The kings of Burma and Slam send annual contributions toward the support of this temple that holds the Bncred relic, which has a rather strange history. It is said to have been the left eye- tooth of Buddha and to have been taken from his ashes 2,500 years ago. For centuries It was the marriage dower going with certain favored princes. In the fourth century after Christ It was taken from India, then the Malabars secured It. It was after ward captured by the Portuguese, who took It to Goa, where It was burned In 1500 by the archbishop In the pres ence of the viceroy of India. But a spurious tooth had to be pro vided to effect an International mar riage, and the molar of a wild boar or ape was used. Its dimensions Bhow that It could not be a man's, for It is two IncheB long and an Inch In dtam eter. On Important occasions It Is dis played, but only at a distance. It Is sometimes carried In processions on the back of an elephant. Demolition of First Sky Scraper. There has recently been demolished, to make way for a larger structure, ten-story tower building, at 60 Broad way, New York city. The building was erected in 1S89 and has been In serv ice for a quarter of a century. Natural- ly the condition of its framework was a matter of interest for architects and engineers. The frame consisted of cast Iron columns and wrought iron floor beams. The floors were of flat-arch, terra cotta construction. The frame work was found to be in excellent con dition, the wrought Iron beanie show ing a practical absence of rust, and the cast Iron columns, with a three Inch cast iron shell around them for Are protection, showing only a few localized patches of rust and heavy rusting only at a few special points. Scientific American. Woes of Women, "What's the matter, girlie?" "I have lost my ideal. He has mar ried another." "I lost mine In a slightly different way," said the older woman reflect Ively. "How was that?" "He married me." BOILING WATER AS WEAPON Parallel for Act of Herolo Women Found In Siege of Naaur by the Tartars, The heroic acts of the Belgian wom en who defended their homes against the German Invaders, resorting to boil ing water when their ammunition gave out, has a historical parallel which will no doubt be of Interest at the present time, says the Outlook. In this case the defenders were Cos sack women and the scene of the en counter a small town not far from the Sea of Azov. In 1774, during the first Turkish war, the town of Naaur was being be sieged by 9,000 Tartars a large army those days. All the men of the town had left for the war, which was proceeding at some distance, and the town remained undefended save for a handful of soldiers. It had, however, the advantage of being surrounded by wall, and was well supplied with am munition. The enemy Imagined that they would only have to overcome a very few soldiers and the town would !be theirs. Instead, to their amaze- rnent, they had to face an army ol women, voune and old. arraved In 'their best red sarafans, fully armed and eager to fight. And these worn en not only defended the walls of their town, but they sallied out and fought valiantly In hand-to-hand skir mishes. They also tended enormous flres and heated pitch and boiling wa ter to pour on the heads of the ene mies when they approached the walls of the town. The story goes that not only did they pour water and pitch on the foe, but the broth that was cooking for dinner went the same way. That was the first experience the Cossack women had of "active serv- ice." Later It became a tradition and custom that in battles the women (should take their share of actual fight Ing. And during the continual raids fend battles which occurred they be- came expert soldiers, standing side bj Bide with old warriors and often help. Ing with less usual weapons, such as scythes and pitchforks. The CoBsack woman of today has etained her traditions, and she is noi only independent and generally effi cient, but she is also often an excel lent Bhot, and Is quite capable of de fending her village if necessary ai fiercely as her ancestresB. War and Woman. There Is, perhaps, no woman wh could look down upon a battlefielc covered with slain, but tho thoughl would rise in her, 'So many mothers sons! So many young bodies broughl into the world to lie there! So manj months of weariness and pain whil( bones and muscles were shaped with in! So many hours of anguish anc struggle that breath might be! S( many baby mouths drawing life al women's breasts all this, that met might lie with glazed eyeballs, ant swollen faces, and fixed, blue, unclosei mouths, and great limbs tossed!' An we cry, 'Without an inexorable caus. thia must not be!' No woman who is : woman says of a human body, 'It ii nothing!' "Women will end war when hei voice is fully and clearly heard In th governance of states because, on thii one point, and on this point almosi alone, the knowledge of woman, slm ply as woman, is superior to that o; man. She knows the history of hu man flesh; she knows its cost; hi does not." Olive Schreiner. For Drying Ball Grounds. A machine fitted with gasoline bio torches was put In use last summer al a Tacoma (Wash.) baseball park foi the purpose of artificially drying th grounds following rainstorms. The ap paratus is similar in principle to de vices used In asphalt pavement re pairs. It Is built with an iron fram in the shape of an equilateral triangle. mounted horizontally on swivel wheels carrying five coil burners with down ward projecting Jets. Over thes burners is a deflector hood with ad justable wings made of galvanized iroi and asbestos. At the front of the car riage are a gasoline tank and pressurt pump, which Bupply the fuel, Whet the machine is drawn Blowly over moderately wet field, it is asserted the ground is within a short time dried sufliclently for use. Popular Mechan ica. Queer Lights. "Speaking purely as a neutral," sak Representative Harvey Helm the oth ,er day in Washington, "I can't hell remarking what odd lights the vari ous powers have to throw on event! in order to make them seem favorabl to themselves. ', "Now England, now Russia, no Germany and now France comment oi events so strangely that I am remind ed of Hellyon. "Hellyon, talking about his employ ier, a manufacturer, said: ' "'He's no harsh taskmaster. He' (ho speeder-up. Other Arms have thii ;here blasted eight-hour law ye got to git through a whole day's work jelght hours or out ye go. But down ,to our place ye can take yer time Ye got 16 hours to do a day'f work In.' " Status of Affairs. "What are you going to call tht baby?" "I don't know what we are going tc call him. My wife has named hln Algernon." Mediation. Cohen Hands up or I'll shoodt! Qulck-Wltted Burglar Fifty dollan ter de gun! Cohen Sold! w HEN the Australian troops took the German part of New Guinea early in the war, Great Britain became the possessor of fully half of the largest Island in the world, for Aus tralia and Greenland are properly small continents. The other half be longs to Holland. New Guinea surpasses Madagascar In size, Its length being 200 miles greater than the distance from New York to Chicago, says Rene Cache In the Boston Herald. Its area is equal to that of France and the British Isles combined. But what renders it most Interesting Is that It is today the least known portion of the habitable world, fully nine-tenths of the island being as yet unexplored. This may well seem surprising when It is considered that New Guinea 1b separated from the north coast of Australia only by a broad strait. A glance at a map of the world will show that It 1b In reality the largest member of the great archipelago in the eastern seas, which includes the Philippine islands on the north and Borneo and Sumatra on the west The line of the equator runs almost direct ly through it. Ferocious Black Cannibals. New Guinea is inhabited by tribes of ferocious black people, with great mops of woolly hair, who evince ut most hostility toward all intruders. When vessela have been wrecked up on their Inhospitable shores they have In a number of known Instances cap tured the unfortunate mariners and eaten them. But If the island is to bo great an extent a terra incognita to day it Is not mainly on this account, but because of Its unhealthful climate. TlSHINO WITH From the foothills of the huge moun tain range, running through Its entire length from east to west, extend to north and south vast swampy plains covered with dense forests, intersected by innumerable streams, and haunted by the deadliest of fevers. Thus it comes about that German New Guinea Is practically an unknown land, except for a narrow strip along the coast, while the portion hitherto held by Great Britain has been ex plored only in part, and what is known of the Dutch half of the island was ascertained mainly by an English ex pedition undertaken in 1910. This expedition, headed by Capt. Ce cil G. Rawling, which penetrated some distance into the interior and made considerable surveys, came across tribes of hitherto unknown pygmies, the men barely reaching 4 feet 7 inches in height. It is presumed that the women are proportionately smaller, but no bribes or other persuasions could Induce these little folk to pro duce any of their females for inspec tionlest, as seemed to be feared, they might be captured and carried off. Ap parently the pygmies are of the same dwarf race, evidently very ancient, that Is found in the Philippines, in the Andaman islands and in equatorial Africa. The savages along the coast, on the other hand, are good-sized people, re markably muscular and with a great development of chest. The men are sooty black, the women being slightly fairer. Among them are occasional albinos, with dirty reddish hair, their pink skins blotched unpleasantly with darker color. Both sexes go nearly naked, the women wearing either a short grass petticoat or a strip of bark cloth passed between the legs and held in place by a string tied around the waist. For the man a gourd similarly attached in front often serves the purpose of raiment. Native Village One Long Room. A native village is one long room, which may extend to any length, the newest member of such a community building his hut on the end of the row, without any partition. Thus there is no attempt at privacy, though each family has its own doorway and its own fireplace. The floor is of sand fresh from the seashore and covered with grass mats, and the only furni ture consists of elaborately carved wooden pillows, most uncomfortable, as one would think, for sleeping pur poses. Dangling from the roof, and much blackened by smoke, are human skulls and bones, formerly belonging to dofunct relatives, the bones being sometlmos contulned In woven grass bags. , The price of a wife among these primitive people may be anything from a yard of calico to an ax head, according to tho physical attractions and domestic accomplishments of the woman. The savage warriors of New Guinea adorn themselves with crowns of par adise feathers, which are held In place by a band of plaited grass encircling the head. Sometimes they wear a sort of halo, the rays of which are many pieces of cane plaited Into the hair and standing out at right angles to the scalp. Such a headdress, which Is not disturbed or remade for months, must be rather uncomfortable to sleep In. To lend a fierce expression to the face the beak of the hornblll split in two is worn through a hole in the septum of the nose, in such a way that the two thin white bladeB, each five or six Inches long, curve up at the ends like Kaiser Wilhelm's mustache. In Perpetual Strife, Captain Rawling, In his book, "The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies," says that the natives are engaged In perpetual strife and drunken brawls their favorite Intoxicant being a fer mented liquor obtained from the sugar palm. Just outside each family door way stand the owner's spears and stone clubs, which are used In domes tic quarrels or to fight with enemies. Violent temper seems to be a char acteristic of these savages, and with hardly a moment's warning the peace ful village Is converted into a scene of turmoil and Btrlfe. Spears whizz; clubs are wielded Indiscriminately and BOW AND ARROW with murderouB Intent, and the place resounds with ferocious yells. At Intervals raids are undertaken to procure heads as trophies and hu man nesn ror rood. There are no fiercer cannibals, judging from all ac counts, than those of New Guinea. In 1858 a vessel was wrecked off the coast of British New Guinea, and 300 men on board of her, all of them Chi nese, were marooned on a small is land. There they were fed and sys tematically fattened by the natives, no escape being possible, and at inter vals, as required, two or three of them at a time were taken to the mainland, boiled in a spring of hot water and eaten. Women have no rights among the natives of New Guinea. They are treated as slaves, worked almost to death and savagely beaten when their owners happen to be in a bad humor, which is often. It is their business to cultivate the fields of banana and rice, while their lords and masters attend to the fighting and hunting. It a man chooses to murder his wife, nobody In terferes, and nothing much seems to be thought of it ew uuinea is tor naturalists an unexplored wonderland. It has many species of birds that are as yet un known to science. The forests are full of parrots and other feathered crea tures of brilliant plumage, and among the marine curiosities along the coast are fishes that climb trees. The swamps swarm with the deadliest snakes. As for the mammals of the island, nearly all of them are, like those of nearby Australia, marsupi als. Motion Picture In Color. A serious effort is being made to reproduce motion pictures in color, but as yet little success has been obtained, and the pictures in color which have been show in recent years have been painted. Attempts to adapt three color photography, by using simultane ously three films, each with a sort of light of appropriate color, and combin ing the three Images on the screen, have to overcome great difficulties in regard to maintenance of register, be cause very minute errors of adjustment between the pictures on the films are magnified to an intolerable extent by projection. In a process devised by G. A. Smith, the results of which were exhibited at the Society of Arts of London, in December, 1908, the num ber of colon recorded was reduced to two. N A MUG ON MANTELPIECE Resting Place of Old Maid Who Be lieved In Cremation Thus De scribed by Faithful Domestic Mary and Nora had lived as faith ful domestics for many years In a home whose only other occupants were two old maids. One of these was a believer In cremation, Nora took a trip to Ireland. During her absence the old maid mentioned died. Her dust was reverently put In an urn above the sitting-room fireplace, where the remaining sister could always have a sense of tho departed's pres ence, A year later Nora returned, to the surprise of Mary, who gave her a warm welcome. "I'm glad to see ye back," said Mary, taking tho wrnps, "I'm glad to be back," said Nora- then added "Is there any chance of comln' to live wld ye again?" "There's only the one of thlm here now," said Mary, reverently. "Where's the other?" asked Nora, In astonishment "She's up in the mug on the man- telploce." Pittsburgh Chronicle-Telegraph. Resourceful. "What are your constituents going to do about your failure to get an ap propriation for Crawfish creek?" "I don't know," replied Senator Sorghum. "Maybe thia year it will go dry for keeps. Then we might work up a proposition to loosen up some ex penditures by having it paved as a publio highway." Extra Work. "That baseball pitcher has a rathe! spectacular delivery." So he has. Do you suppose he hopes to alarm the batter by his con tortions?" "Perhaps, or It may be merely his way of showing that he is earning his salary." THE DAMAGE. Doubleyew Was anything broken when you fell on the street? Ecks Someone cracked a smile and broke a few rules of propriety. No Chance. You nver can tell how a man la go ing to turn out." "Sometimes you can." "For instance?" "When I see a fellow who would rather stay in bed all day than go out wearing socks that don't match his tie, I know he'll never be the president of a railroad." Nothing More Useful. 'I suppose you have a great deal oi poetry to handle In the spring," said the visitor. 'Oh, yes," answered the frayed and frazzled editor. "But there are times when a manuscript contains just what I'm looking for." 'And what is that?" 'Stamps." Taking a bloomy View. "What a beautiful edifice that rail way station Is." "Yes. But I can't say I approve of it," replied Mr. Growcher. "Every time I look at the Immense palatial structure I feel sorry for the poor railroads whose desire to elevate pub lic taste has led them to live beyond their means." His Bread and Butter. 'I met Bitters' wife yesterday. Talks all the time, doesn't she?" "YeB." "I never heard Blffers complain about it." 'He'd better not. She supports him by lecturing." Cleveland Plain Deal er. Helps Some. "A woman is never happy unless she is In style." "Perhaps that is true, but she can get a great deal of comfort out of knowing that some woman is not in style." The Difference. "How is it that one of those broth ers succeeded so well in business while the other went to state prison?" "Well, you see, one forged ahead and the other forged a hand." A Usual Title. "What is that distinguished-looking Mexican's name?" "I don't remember. Just call him 'general' and the chances are that you won't go wrong." No Impression. "1 know of one place where a wire less call for help would have no ef fect" "Where is that?" "An intelligence office."