A VICARIOUS VIEWPOINT.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXIII, Issue 295, 23 December 1911, Page 2

A VICARIOUS VIEWPOINT.

CUSTOMS OF THE 'CONSERVATIVE CHINESE. His name was Li lak Shell. We met. I said: "Mr Li In China thev reverse the order of things; the first name is the -family name. If 1 had beeen on familiar terms with Li I would . probably have cabled him tihen,nie. t-how road." He shook hands with himself In China vou cior.'t shake him da with your friends; you shake hands with voursulf. Unsatisfactory, but it's the custom ol the country. and together we strolled. Ahead of us was a bareheaded Chinese woman. Sh- hitched up her trousers- - The ladies don't wear petticoats in in China their trousers are the same width all '-he way down, and don't bag at the knees. The men tie theirs round the. ankles. and looked down at her three-aml-a-half-inch long ieet. _ The Chinese women compress their feit until they are reduced to proportions that make running 01 a train an impossibility; it keeps their nerves from being upset by rush circumstances. and the vanity cost her her dignity. The coolie, who bumped into her while her eves were downcast aid knocked her off her stamp ieet, had a hat on. Li rebuked hhn for his carelessness The coolie took his hat oft. L. struck him. It is an insult to take your hat ott while talking to a man in China. It makes you feel anxious about that bald patch on top when you've to keep your hat on indoors. But., no matter, it's the custom of that country. and, turning to me said:: "The impudence of the laboring classes is trulv remarkable these tunes. As we turned into a cafe we met a mutua friend dressed in white. ' I ha\ e ]iiot buried my wife," he exclaimedWhen you go into mourning in China vou put on white clothing to demonstrate vour grief ; and you look, with the sad eye on your washing bill. and we sat down to eat with our hats on, Li on my M'tYour must of honor you place on vour W tana i» Cliina-: .»« i'. a fresh guest arrives it's a case o) move down one tor all hands so as to allow him i:> take his place on your left.

beginning with ;ilmonds and i<usti.>, and finishing with shark's-fifh sono. The order of the menu is, bke most things in China, taken backwards.

and he sighed when it was all over "Did vou iind married hie a success 9 " he nsheil our mourning friend. -AVell," said the outwardly disconsolate one. scratching his heel. The Chinese scratch their heels when puzzled, it saves wear and tear at a olace we Europeans are solicitous about. Yes. we were happy: she wept a bucketful when we were married The Chinese bride, cries liV~ anything, when she is attendin" th" function which makes h"r the happi est woman., in '-he world. and nothing ever sadd'ivd W afterwards.'' We walked down the street as the night grew darker. We heard the watchmen beating their torn torn drums The watohman in Shanghai mak"s ;> noise to frigh f en away the thieves, he doesn t believe in vour rubber-shoe methods of catchiog his burglar. and saw the people- eating in the restaurants; the men being shaved in the barber's shops the patients howling as the dentists wrenched their teeth out The fetish of privacy is one tlv.t doesn't worry a. Chinese in the . slightest. Publicity matters not. the old men living their kites Your old man in China enjoys his primitive aviation sports; in tact, flying kites is something for r|ie child to look forward to when he is old. and, noticing that Mure was something extra going I asked iLi the date. He gave me the ytav, the mo ith, and at las:, the day This habit, of reversing is even in the calendar; you till a man what he wants to know most after you've told him what '-e already knows. and I was, after he had run through the formula .made aware that it was the eve of the Chinese New Year. Later we sat on the piazza of the Astor. House, Shanghai's greatest foreign caracanseai, and watched the tourist ladies with their larg-i fei t. their tightly compressed waists, their enormous Paris models on their heads,and their voluminous skirts. We saw the male tourists with the American accent take off their hats to them as they passed on the garden paths, and saw them hang up their hats on the pegs as th( v sat down at the tables with the ladies in the dining room. Li watched me as 1 took a quantity of fiery spirit., put some ice in it tj make it cool, some lemon in it to make it sour, and some sugar in it to make it swett. "Truly," he murmured, ''. you k'uropeans are a people of strange anomalies. '—A.J.. In Sydnev 'Mail.