EVERY-DAY LIFE IN CHINA THROUGH THE CAMERA.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 6, 5 August 1908, Page 30

EVERY-DAY LIFE IN CHINA THROUGH THE CAMERA.

This pretty little picture is a photograph of a school in Central China.

Primitive method of sawing logs into planks.

Like mendicants all over the world, the Chinese beggar carries round pathetic looking infants to excite the generosity of the public.

ThL is the onl\ means of travelling in the back-blocks of Central (hina. and is a tribute In the Chinaman's powers of endurance rather than his inventive faculties. Major Pat ter*<m speaks of seeing as many as six people being wheeled on one of these lob-sided conveyances. The amount of energy expended by the wheeler in keeping his cab u| right is enormous, but these num have remarkable powers of endurance.

I lie rivers teem with those eraft, and ( hina has literally an enormous “floating population. Fn Canton there are oyer two hundred thousand people who know no other honifes than these junks.

This is the favourite method of punishment. The prisoners are handcuffed together. and round their necks are slung two boards which fit together, and bear a document setting forth the delinquencies of the wearer, and the time he has to serve.

Men are cheaper than horses in the Flowery Land, and a sight such as this is quite common. The whole gang, overseer and all. would not cost as much as a horse.

John ( hinaman has a marked partiality for roast pork, as readers of “Elia” w ill remember. and when he takes his pigs to market he gets over their wellknown aversion to such a proceeding by encasing them in what looks like a wicker torpedo lashed to the familiar barrow.

These eliarmiim «.iia|»shois. taken by Maj »r G. \V. S. Patterson. of Auckland, during his recent tour, w hlcli led him right into the heart of this interesting country, show us phases of the Chinaman's life not familiar to all. ami they form a decided contrast to those of modern (’hina published last week.

The water buffalo is blindfolded by two pieces of bamboo strapped over the eyes, in order to prevent it getting giddy while making its continuous and circumscribed circle.

Which is employed in all work done by horses in other parts of the world.