Newspaper Page Text
SCENES OF A CHINESE JO URNE Y
PART 11.
Tn Hong Moon houses may be perpetually leased
and the landlord can never afterward advance the
rent. Property may advance in value, the city
may grow, but rents never. A man may occupy
a corner store in the very heart of the city and only
pay $5 a month rental, because his grandfather
leased it many years ago at that price.
Deng Shan.
A custom prevails in China of selling leases, the
transaction being known as 4 ‘deng shau.” Here
is a place one may wish; and while the present oc
cupant’s stock in trade may only consist of a few
stools and empty shelves, yet he may ask for his
lease one or two thousand dollars. It is not a
question of value but squeeze. Then in addition to
the exorbitant price for the purchase of the lease
there will be a far greater outlay required to put
the property in habitable condition.
Squeezing.
“Squeezing” is a universal custom in China.
Your cook adds a per cent, to all he buys for you;
he gets a commission on your account at the Com
pradore’s (merchant’s); the washman pays tribute
to your servants by doing a portion of their laun
dry without charge. Officialdom lives by squeeze.
While a district magistrate may only receive
S3OO salary yet he often pays as much as $lO,-
000,000 to receive the appointment. Who makes
up the difference? Squeeze, graft. American pol
iticians might come to China and take lessons in
this fine art. Do you wonder that Cuba is filled
with a discontented people and that a revolution
ary spirit is abroad ? A criminal with money, if
he is willing to liberally transfer it to official cof
fers, need have no fears. Imaginary claims are of
ten hatched up against wealthy people and to save
anything they must liberally bestow their goods
upon the powers that be. Officialdom in China is
rotten and throttles the life of the nation!
Acute Competition.
The landing for the small boats plying between
Kong Moon and Sun Wooi City was immediately
in front of our hotel. Each boat is oared by two
or three men, and will accommodate three to four
passengers; the fare for the trip being ten or fif
teen cents. Here competition is at a very acute
stage. As soon as a prospective passenger appears
a swarm of boat-men surround him, and neither
lungs nor gesticulations are spared to capture his
patronage. It is a wonder that the poor passen
gers are not pulled to pieces. Here is an illustra
tion of what an American cabman would do were
it not for laws which allow nothing more than vio
lent clearing of the throat to attract attention to
his claims.
Without Hope.
The usual landing for funeral parties was also
near us. One who knows the safety that comes
through the blood of Christ can not look with a
light heart upon the scenes so frequently enacted
in these heathen services for the dead. Could you
look wi hout pain as relatives in white mourning
apparel prostrate themselves before the coffin, as
sevants throw to the wind representations of pa
per money for the use of th Q departed spirit, as
the deep w ilirg of family and hired moaners tell
'that another s nil has passed out into endless night?
The Curse of China.
Opi l m is China’s curse! There was scarcely a
room in the hotel in which some one was nos smok
ing opium; in almost every store there is an opium
bed; look oat the river at night and in boat after
boat the tiny lamp speaks of slaves to an awful
habit. Old and young, rich and poor, bow at its
shrine and are held captive by its stronger than
iron chains. Eighty balls of opium, valued at
S2O each, were carried on our launch and deliv
ered to dealers in Kong Moon. We were told that
that boat captain daily consumed a dollar’s worth.
China is poor in purse and in soul; opium drains
her life away. If she were not decrepid she would
By C. S. Todd, Missionary, Macao, China.
The Golden Age for August 23, 1906.
arise and say to England, who has forced opium
upon her, “You must stop, long enough your Indian
opium has sapped our life’s blood, but it shall do
so no longer.” Oh, that England might see the
curse she is forcing upon China and that this rev
enue is blood money indeed! A united prayer
should go up from Christendom that England
should love the right rather than gold.
A Mount Hermon Boy.
It was a cheering sight to have a man greet us
one evening in remarkably good English. “I was
converted in Springfield, Mass., and went to Mount
Hermon to school..” And then our conversation
turned to Mr. Moody and the great blessing God
had made him to his fellow men. He gave us a
pressing invitation to come to his place to preach
the gospel, which we hope to do later in the year.
Witnessing.
You would enjoy an open air meeting. The
streets are very narrow, not exceeding in many in
stances five or six feet in width, and it is impossi
ble to hold services there. Frequently there are
open spaces where a meeting can be held. Congre
gations are easily gathered in China, in fact one
has been forming as you have walked the streets
and a glance over your shoulder will reveal your
self at the head of a considerably large procession.
As soon as we reach the open lot a crowd begins
to clamor, “What books are those you have? Do
.you give them away? What country do you come
are but a sample of the many questions hurled at
one, but they come from a good natured crowd as a
rule and are cues one may catch up and turn into
an avenue for a gospel message.
A few logs bunched together on an elevation at
the side of the lot furnish the pulpit while the for
eign and Chinese Christians take their turns in
proclaiming the precious message of life. While
one is speaking others are on the outskirts of the
crowd selling tracts, and gospels, or another is
talking to a smaller group. The congregation is a
moving, constantly shifting one; some remain but
for a few moments, others tarry longer. Their mi
gratory character coupled with the many side re
marks from the congregation make it necessary for
the speaker to he ready of speech or he will other
wise “hopelessly lose the thread of his discourse.”
Imagine a sermon read to such a crowd! But this
snap and liveness is an inspiration, even if there
are wags in every crowd who delight in witty say
ings at the speaker’s expense, or if there is the ar
gumentative listener who tries to confuse your doc
trine. Tn the presence of such a crowd it is not
hard to picture the congregation that listened to
the Master’s messages or the audiences that re
ceived the words of Paul. This simple word of de
scription, I trust, will show you how important it
is that you pray. How easy it is for Satan to steal
away the seed! Many hear for the first and only
time, how necessary then that the word be filled
with Divine power! Oh, pray, pray!
..I J . *
Smiles.'
At a gathering one day a young lady, being re
quested to sing, replied:
“Oh, I can’t sing any better than a mocking
bird.”
And then she wanted to know what we were
laughing at.
“Where did the Pilgrims land?” was one of the
questions asked at an examination for school teach
ers, and one of the applicants—a son of Ham—
made answer: “In heaven.”
Are you going to the play tonight?” a young
society lady asked a friend, and when her friend
wanted to know the name of the play the young
society lady said:
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s Rip Vanderbilt.”
—Margaret Smith Graham.
The Old Piano.
By Margaret A. Richard.
The old piano mother plays,
Now far beyond its prime,
Has not the sweet and rounded tone
It had at one glad time;
For several keys make no response
To fingers, sad or gay,
And yet it makes sweet music still
When mother sits to play.
The old piano mother plays
We gathered ’round of old,
And sang the songs and hymns we loved—
“ The sweetest ever told,”
And we were wont to play glad games,
Our hearts set to joy’s rhyme,
When mother played the waltz or march
To which our feet kept time.
The old piano mother plays
Has almost had its day,
And we are ’minded it—as we—
Must ere long pass away;
But we forget so sad a thing
When, with her old-time skill,
Our mother makes it sweetly tell
There’s music in it still.
This is Worth a Frame.
Mr. Miggles was trying to call up a friend who
lived in a suburban town. Mr. Miggles looked up
the number, then got central.
“Hello!” he said, “Give me Elmdale two-ought
four-seven.”
“Elmdale? I’ll give you the long distance?”
Long distance asked, “What is it?”
“Elmdale two-ought-four-seven.”
“Elmdale two-ought-four-seven?”
“Yes.”
“What is your number?”
“I just told you. Elmdale two-ought—”
“I mean your house number.”
“Sixty-five Blieken street.”
“Oh, that isn’t what I mean. Your ’phone
number.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” asked Mr. Miggles,
who is noted for his quick temper.
“I did. What is it?”
“Violet Park eight-seven-seven.”
“Violet Park eight double seven?”
“I reckon so.”
“And what number do you want?”
1 ‘Elmdale two-ought-four-seven. ’’
“What is your name?”
“My name is John Henry Miggles. I live at
65 Blieken street, Violet Park; my house ’phone is
Violet Park eight-seven-seven, or eight-double
seven, as you choose; I am married, have no child
ren; we keep a dog, and a cat, and a perpetual palm,
and a Boston fern, and— ”
“All that is unnecessary, sir. We merely ”
“And last summer we didn’t have a bit of luck
with our roses; I tried to have a little garden, too,
but the neighbors’ chickens got away with that;
the house is green, with red gables; there is a ce
ment walk from the street; I am forty years old;
my wife is younger, and looks it; we have a piano;
keep a cook and an upstairs girl; had the front
bedroom papered last week and I want to ”
“Do you want Elmdale two-ought-four-seven?”
“Yes!” gasped Mr. Miggles.
“Well, the circuit is busy now. Please call
again. ’ ’
But Mr. Miggles wrote a letter.— Exchange.
An effort is being made to have the likeness of
John Paul Jones, the naval hero, appear upon one
of the next series of postage stamps.
The Dowager Empress of Russia is extremely
fond of the Danish black or rye bread, such as is
baked for the soldiers,
• • —■ »
3