LIFE IN CHINA

Hokitika Guardian, 9 July 1937, Page 7

LIFE IN CHINA

THE PERFECT SERVANT. HOUSEWIFE’S PARADISE. The perfect service which a good Chinese house boy could give his mistress' was enthusiastically remarked upon by Mrs F. P. Bartley at the Pemvomen’s Club, Auckland, when she .spoke on “Everyday Life in China.” As she had lived in Shanghai over 20 years, Mrs Bartley was able to entertain her audience .with the kind of descriptions and anecdotes con&CTning life in another country which every woman likes to hear. The stage was appropriately draped with Chinese scrolls and embroidered silks, and the centre table bore little models of such things as richshaws,., -sedans, wheelbarrows and native boats,;,with which the speaker was able to illustrate her. talk.

There were between 10,000 and 15,000 richshaws on the streets of Shanghai to-day, Mrs Bartley said, and ; they constituted a great traffic menace, for the congestion was considerable. Shanghai streets were packed all day and practically all night with; such crowds as were seen in Auckland only ou gala occasions and although tlie coolies who drew the richshaws were taught the traffic rules in school, they did not always observe them, so accidents were‘frequent. Because of this danger, the number of richshaws in Shanghai was being reduced at the rate of 250 a month.

Holding .up [another ilnodel, Mrs Bartley explained that tins was of one of the sampans, or small boats which were used on the river. These boats, which were propelled by a single oar, would carry three people besides the man in charge. They bobbed about on the water like corks, and were quite likely to tip their ■ passengers into the water at any moment. She also showed a,model of a boat containing a fisherman and his cormorants. These birds were used for catching fish, and had a rubber ring fastened round their necks so that they could not swallow their catches. The Chinese fished very successfully at night, b.Y the light of Hares. , In one, of the seden chairs, which were another form of transport, an old . Mandarin might occasionally be carried through . the , city, peering through the. mica window, of the curtain which hid him from the gaze of ordinary folk-with the-traffic making way for him at the shouts of his coolies. 'Another typical Chinese sight was that of people riding on-one-wheeled harrows—the speaker said sno had seen as many as 12 or 14 women being wheeled, together by one coolie. Also interesting were the memorial gates, or pilaus, .which were erected in many places, in honour of virtuous widows.

Mrs Bartley showed a model of a counting frame, such as was used in all Chinese shops and even in the banks, and on which monetary calculations were made. Two interesting exhibits were an old bronze wine-cup, which stood on long legs,, and a pair of tiny shoes, not more than four inches long. These shoes, which had been given to the speaker by one of her Chinese servants, were actually copied from originals and were worn several generations before, when women’s feet were hound more often than now.

In describing the Chinese servant. Airs Bartley said she had had her first cook-boy for 10 years and lie was the equal, if not the superior of any chef in the best hotels or ships. Reproduced regularly, every day, meals which were perfectly cooked and served, and these servants were especially clever with the decoration of dishes and the table generally. With a goou nouse-boy in charge, the mistress could leave home early in the morning, and on returning at in time to dress for her dinner-party would find everything prepared to perfection, so that she need have no worries at all.

A number of amusing anecdotes were were told bv the speaker in concluding her address, the audience’s appreciation of which was expressed by Mrs McLean, who took the chair.