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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
furnish data that will not be unappreciated in lands that plague visits.
He had one dollar when he started and returns with half of it, having dissipated 10 cents at his ancestral home, besides paying 40
FORMOSAN JOURNALISM. cents to various boatmen to carry him. Wherever the modern Japanese goes he It may require a special bomb to convince starts a paper. Formosa has been generously him that if there were a railroad for travel blessed in this respect. This community en- instead of junks he might have done better joys the favour of two dailies. They are than he has by saving time at a cost of perhaps well worth the subscription price to those $12 for fares. The women of Swatow are as
who wish to keep track of affairs in the ambitious to be prolific as are their small-footed small but lively world for which they cater. sisters in other parts. Until they can be According to accepted notions, indeed, it is not assured that a railroad will not disturb their only a privilege but also a duty to subscribe. fertility, they will control public and official Those residents who prefer to see the conduct opinion against such an innovation in that of their neighbours rather than their own country. While Shanghai may now claim to sonduct discussed in print lose nothing by have outgrown this form of superstition, re-subscribing several times over. Reminders to minders of the Fengshui influences, which tore up the railroad built there a little more than 20 years ago, are visible in Formosa. The outfit for that road was dumped on this coast and lay here untouched for years, until the Japanese dug it out from the sands that were entombing it and sold for junk what they could not use for sidings on the Takow line.
THE PLAGUE.
Besides doing what it can to get ahead of the mother country in a railroad, Formosa has of late years made strides with bubonic plague that promise to distinguish it. Report says that the plague came from Amoy. Whatever its origin, it found a receptive soil. A re- sidence of a few years has made it feel as much at home as if it properly belonged here. This year's epidemic started early in the winter and still flourishes. The number of deaths reported reaches several hundred, but that is not a reliable mortality index. Few Chinese families will let the authorities know when the plague visits them. Sanitary inspec- tion ferrets out cases, and they come to official notice otherwise, but how many victims there may be of whom no one in authority hears cannot be estimated. Funerals do not help to answer this question, for if a coffin may not be taken away unseen at night and encased in the usual cement covering in a Chinese graveyard, it is always possible to dig a hole under the floor of a residence and deposit it there. Cases have been discovered in which that had been done. About 7,000 persons have undergone inoculation with the plague serum, but as that is only 10 per cent. of the city's population, the process has not checked appreciably the plague. It is with the Chinese here as in their own country, in matters of this kind. They had rather suffer with a disease and die with it than to let it come to official notice. Occasion ally one of them falls in the street and lands in the plague hospital. but he has such a time getting there that those who witness the operation may well dread having to submit to it themselves, and they feel quite justified in doing all they can to avoid it. A man fell the other night in one of the crowded districts. It happened to where he was unknown and no one came forward to help him. A Japanese policeman arrived in a few minutes and began to ask all sorts of questions, which the sufferer could not understand and which he was in no condition to answer even if he had known what was wanted. Evidently the officer himself did not know what do, and he started for the police station for a copy of the regulations in order that he might look up the rule on how to act when stumped. Meanwhile the agonies of the man had excited the neighbourhood, and had drawn a crowd who made a great noise and did nothing for the sufferer. By the time the officer returned with the regulations, the man was bordering on collapse. The officer, heedless of the man's condition, insisted on conducting au examination on the spot, according to his understanding of the rules. When at last the man was lugged off to the hospital, he might almost as well have been taken in a coffin, for owing to the exposure and at- tendant confusion and distractions to which he had been subjected, he was nearly ready for the undertaker. By morning no preparation on his part remained uncompleted.
Dr. Tenkiyama, who has charge of the work in connection with the treatment of plague, expects to be able to make reports upon it which will add materially to the sum of observations so far collected. He does not feel prepared at this time to my that he can add much of valne to medical science, but contents himself with the modest hope that this field may
that effect not unfrequently enliven the news columns. A certain official learns to his surprise and alarm that conduct on his part has been observed not altogether exemplary in a man whose obligations should hold o another hin tcourse. The paper is most reluctant to deal in scandal, but the morals of the community must be protected, and the editor is seriously considering whether that end may not best be served by giving publicity to this breach. All the readers who favour a bigh moral standard, and who feel certain that this hint is not thrown at themselves, hope that the editor's doubts may resolve into a determination to cleanse the community and get rid of the stain upon
it in the way he suggests. Such readers thereupon watch each succeeding issue of the paper closely for the laundering to begin. It rarely happens that more than one hint is needed, and the subsequent silence of the paper evidence that the editor has received pledges of upon the subject is commonly construed as reform from the person implicated, promises of future exceptional behaviour and orders to send the paper regularly to various friends of the reformed one.
THE PRESS AND THE GEISHA.
PEKING.
[June 8, 1901.
Peking, 22nd May.
DEPARTURE OF AMERICAN TROOPS,
This morning the infantry of the American contingent entrained for the coast en route to to the Philippines. A very large number of officers, chiefly British and Japanese, assembled to wish their comrades good-bye. The Germans were conspicuous by their absence. On the signal being given to start, a splendid Japanese band struck up "Auld Lang Syne. A British band also played, and to complete the jubilation the American band joined in. With three bands simultaneous'y playing different tunes, and the soldiers answering with deafening cheers, the air was rent with tumultuous noises BS the train moved off. General Chaffee, Staff, and the Officers of the contingent followed by the 10.20 train, The Field Marshal, nearly all the Generals and Officers of the British force, several Japanese, and a representative of one or two other forces, all turned out to honour the departing General. A strong British guard lined the platform. General Chaffee was agreeably surprised at this unexpected mark of esteem, and remarked how pleased he was to see such a splendid send-off given to his men in the morning Mr. and Mrs. Squires, Mr. Cheshire, Mr. and Mrs. Williams of the American Legation, Sir Robert Hart, and a few other civilians joined in the farewells. The presence of the ladies was a distinct feature, and graced the otherwise mili tary scene. The spontaneous genuineness of the hearty cheers indexed the popularity of the U.S. contingent. The presence of the Ameri- can troops in Peking marked a new beginning in American politics, and also, let us hope, a new era in the bistory of the Anglo-Saxous.
EVACUATION ?
Everyone is now on the tiptos of expection. If only the Chinese were wise they would see Peking evacuated. The Russians went away early. They had their own axe to grind. The Americans have now left. The French have already sent away several companies and removed their headquarters. Some British detachments have gone, and two regiments of Germans aro leaving soon. Several districts are being handed over to the Chinese authorities, and overything points to a transition. Two things delay the. speedy completion of the arrangements. One is that the Chinese are parrying in the fulfil- ment of Articles 2 and 10 of the Protocol. The other is that the Boxers are again assuming the aggressive in the south of the Province.-N.-C. Daily News,
If a geisha need not be above reproach, she at least cannot afford to betray preferences. Her work charms because of the impartiality with which she serves those who engage her talents in music and the dance. A suspicion that her affections may have become engaged puts her out of the running. The phrase "I will show you a faithful geisha when you bring me a square egg" is a Japanese way of paying tribute to the heart-free and ethereal qualities of those who follow that profession. The local paper is sure of multiplying its circulation for all issues in which it prints coupons that enable readers to convey their opinions regarding the appearance, voice, dancing or other attractive qualities of these dainty entertainers. On the other hand, when symptoms of fidelity appear in a geisha and the paper notes them, with an intimation that it may become ita painful duty to print names and circumstances, the paragraph
It is reported that the French intend hand- usually induces assurances that ways will being over the Military College to the Chinese at. mended and that the profession will be spared an early date. the discredit that threatened it. With two censors vigilantly at work in one small town, the growing reputation of Taiwan as a centre of refined morals may be hoped perhaps to extend to the entire colony, and in time to apply to the home land, where nature's toys and pictures are loveliest, and which missionaries say sadly needs leavening.
The Foochow Echo of the 18th ult. has the two following intems-Late news from Fuh- ning and the neighbourhood is far from satisfactory. There is threatening a persecution of the native Christians. Missionaries on the spot are apprehensive of trouble, but the situation is not thought very seriously of by others at a distance. In the meantime those who are looked upon as likely to create trouble are said to declare themselves to be Boxers, and this is the unpleasant part of the news as it reaches us-The trouble last year which arose out of the tes from the Panyong and Paklum districts being conveyed from Santu to Foochow by steamer, instead of by coolies overland, has recommenced. 1 he sea passage is both cheaper and quicker and the packages and their contents are less liable to damage from wet weather, and so the owners prefer it; but the coolies can only me that they have a prescriptive right to the carriage of the produce, and regardless of all other considerations are fighting for it.
NORTHERN NOTES.
The following items are from the P. & T. Times of the 25th ult. :--
Scouts sent out from Peking report that the nearest Chinese camp is at Tatungfu, where there are about 30,00) with some 3) guns,
The estimates made by the Chinese for the restoration of the Imperial Palaces is about 2.0 million taels, and 100 million for
expenses.
extra
A former Governor of Chihli, named Ho, and Yuan Shi-kai have been nominated as military secretaries at Peking when the Allies have vacated.
A number of prominent officials have been returning to Peking from Haian, but this cannot be accepted as evidence of the Court's intentions, as they have all come on some pressing business.
The Russians have issued a notification in Manchuria ordering the farmers to resume their work, and threatening condign punish- ment to either Russian or Chinese murdering or plundering the people.
The Jo Je states that there is a great contrast between the general condition of affairs at Puotingfa and Tientsin. At the former place there has been little or no revival of trade, and the natives are always fighting against the native Christians or vice versa.
The Chik Poo states that a tablet has been found in Peking inscribest with sensational prophesies and warnings such as are most calculated to excite the imagination of the ignorant people who are always more ready to
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