Directory_and_Chronicle_1850 — Page 257

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Men and Things in Shánghúi.

APRIL,

and take away any property or goods, be it but the smallest quantity, such an act is designated violent begging." Such conduct is like to that of lawless vagrants and vagabonds, very injurious to the inhabitants of the country; and those who indulge in it must be dealt with in the most summary manner. So they are, both by the magistracy and by the sovereign people. I have seen instances of horrible cruelty enough to make one's blood run cold.

To relieve the distressed people, the provincial government has taken rigor- ous measures, soliciting contributions on the one hand, and on the other be- coming the almoners of the poor. Contributions are solicited on a scale so extensive that every one, who has but a few cash, can add to the general stock. In the first place, the governor of the province, according to old cus- tom, has put forth a proclamation, calling upon the rich gentry to come for- ward with their great contributions, promising them, that if they do this, he will solicit the emperor to bestow on them sacred grace," to make them dance for joy! Then again, in the second place, the magistrates reiterate the proclamations of their superiors, and "take the lead in making contributions." And then in the third place, benevolent gentry, moved by what has been said and done, take up the matter, open subscription lists, and collect cash and grain. In some instances these contributions are taken up in shares, each of not more one fifteenth of a Spanish dollar, say 100 copper cash current in Shanghái. The foreigners have joined in these contributions; two lists of subscribers at least are on foot, and they have been numerously and gene- rously signed. Thus I have described to you one part of the system-the collection of charities.

The distribution of food, no easy matter, has been conducted very syste- matically. People are not starving here because there is not sustenance enough in the land, but because it is not distributed-which, whereas multi- tudes have not the means to purchase, must be done gratuitously.

The Asylum for outcast children, at Wángkiá Mátau (in the local dialect called Wongki modu), shall be here noticed, as I have already had good op- portunities, by personal inspection for becoming acquainted with the nature and extent of its operations. The plan is not new, similar provision having often been made in former years of famine; and it is established only tem- porarily for three lunar months to meet (existing) exigencies,-to give relief to a portion of the suffering caused by the inundations of last spring and summer. The number on the list is two thousand, all that the apartinents now opened can accommodate. An extension of the buildings is contemplated, and when these are secured, either by renting or building, the number of children will be increased.

In the proclamation pasted up at the main entrance, the establishment is called Ki-hái Kuh, Outcast-children's Asylum. It is situated on the south side of and just above, Wangkiá málau E. or the landing-place of the Wang family. The site seems never to have been built upon previously to 1848, and was, up to that time, like all other unoccupied ground about the city, covered with rubbish, or made the unseemly receptacle of coffins. About two years agɔ, an attempt was made to secure the site for some one of the foreign consulates, I think it was the Danish; to prevent that purpose being carried into effect, the landlord, a member of the Chin family, crected thereon several lines of buildings, one of the principal of which is now the asylum. It consists of fifty low apartments, the whole suite extend- ing over an area, it may be of three or four English acres. These apartments vary in extent from fifteen to thirty feet square, have brick or pannel walls, are without windows or ceilings above, and beneath are flagged with square tile; taking them all in all, they afford as good and comfortable accommoda- tions as are enjoyed by any of the middling classes in Shanghái. It has been said that the site is regarded as an unlucky one, because it was once covered