Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 December 1885 — Chinese Holidays. [ARTICLE]

Chinese Holidays.

Buffalo is afflicted with a suicidal mania. Dating the past year more persons resorted to self-destruction than ever before. The favorite method has been by shooting; the next most acceptable way has been by drowning. The snic des have been for love, political disappointment, business troubles, and poverty. i Much is anticipated of the great Scotch 1 colony Tvliich is about to be planted in Florida. The first division, composed of fifty families, will sail from Glasgow on the 26th. These immigrants own the land to which they are coming, and, in addition, are well supplied with money. • Fully a thousand families, in all, will come. The sweet by and by is coming right along. The mahwa tree, recently discovered in the forests, of Central India, bears blossoms which yields half their weight in pure sugar, and a single tree bears a thousand pounds of blossoms yearly. The day seems to be ’ approaching when the down-trodden and oyipressed of every clime will be able to cat cake three times a day. Detroit Free Press:, A little 4-year-old girl was put to bed in the third story of her »bome and left, as usual, in the dark. A terrific thunderstorm came up, and her mother, thinking that the child would be frightened at the lightning, went to her. On entering, the child called out with delight: “Mamma, the wind blew the sun up just now; did you see it?” Fear had no entrance there.

Philadelphia Call: “Hello, Bascomb, I EOtice you stutter ns much as ever.” “I—l—know—l—d-<lo." “I thought you were under treatment?” “Well, so-—so —l—was. Under—a—-doz-dozen kinds of—of—of—treattreatment. All no—no—good.” “Why not try a new ten-cent stamp?” “Gra-gra-cious, how would—would—that—-h-h-lielp me?” “Well, they say it insures nn immediate delivery.” The Princess Isabelle, the only ing child of the Emporor of Brazil, is happily married to the Count D’Eu. She is now about £5 or 40 years of age, and is rather masculine in stylo and disposition. She has intelligence and firmness, and often compared to Queen Elizabeth. During the absence of the Emperor in the United States and Europe in 1876 and 1877 she assumed his authority, and ruled with firmness. Rev. Dr. John Hall is one of the wealthiest clergymen in New York. He receives a salary of $30,000 and many presents. He is paid SI,OOO a year as chancellor of the University of the City of New York, and receives $12,000 a year from the Ledger for one short article a week. Other literary work brings his annual income up to about SIOO,OOO. Seventeen years ago the Doctor preached in Dublin, Ireland, at a salary of $2,500 a year. The expression of “galvanizing a corpse” has ceased to be exclusively metaphorical. M. Kergovaty, a Frenchman, has discovered a method of preserving bodies by giving them a metal coating. We may according to our means, become silver-plated, nickelplated, or galv nized with zinc or copper. The process has been thus far tested successfully on eleven human bodies and more than one hundred times on the carcasses of animals.

A girl named Effie Elizabeth Davis, aged 14, was on a visit at tbe house of Mr. Averill, Bugar-Loaf Farm, neaj Stourbridge, England. Mis 3 Averill was sitting at the piano and Miss Davis was standing by her side singing, when the report of a gun was suddenly heard and Miss Davis fell dead, shot through the head. Miss Davis’ brother, Nathaniel Averill, gave information to the police, and they, after making inquiries, arrested him on suspicion. He was at first silent, but afterwards said that ! his gun was accidentally discharged as he was returning from shooting. He was remanded in charge of the Stafford police. San Francisco is lending 11,000,000 Mexican dollars to China this year. The ungainly coin has steadily grown in use and favor amongthe Mongolians. The iftoriey comes to San Francisco in payment of goods purchased by Mexican merchants. The Mexican government is aware of this enormous amount of her coin being shipped to a foreign country without any return coming back. But the sister republic does not consider it as coin. The eleven mints are leased out to private individuals. The mints thus become simply factories in which a commodity is turned out for exportation to Chinas —turned out in a convenient shape for handling, and called a Mexican dollar. Jennie Jones is a pretty young lady, residing at Highland, Ulster County, New York, and is a dressmaker by trade. About a year Bgo, while dinployed in New York, she befriended an old lady, who had lost her pocket-book, by loaning her a small amount, and also assisted her across the street. Miss Jones cave her name and place of resi-

dence to the lady whom she had befriended, at her request, and thought no mote of it. A day or two ago Miss Jones received a letter from a Buffalo lawyer, stating that by the death of a wealthy lady of that city, she was heiress to $50,000. The lady who beqneathed the money was the person whom Miss Jones assisted. The football season in England has barely got into full swing, but already two deaths have been caused bv the game, besides a goodly number of broken limbs. The controversy of the comparative safety of the two styles of playing is left just where it was before, since one of the deaths occurred in an association,.and the other in a Rugby match, though at the inquest held on the latter a witness assured the coroner that Rugby football was much less dangerous. An item is going the rounds to the following effect: '“A Chinese banker, Han Qua, of Canton, is said to be the wealthiest man in the world. He pays taxes upon an estate of $450,000,000, and i 3 estimated to be worth $L400,000,000.” Upon this statement George Francis Train comments thus ia New York Sun: “In a country wker|r they use 1,600 coppers—‘cash,’ so called—to a dollar, larger coim ere overestimated. A guest of ofd Howqua—not Han Qua —three decades ago at Canton, and later of his sons, I saw his wonderful gardens and beautiful grounds. He was a life-long friend of Russell & Co., leaving them untold sums. He was known as a friend of America. He may be worth $50,000,000—certainly not $1,400,000,000. History is a fearful liar.

' The project of drying up the Zuyder Zee is again being urged with some vehemence. A “State Socialist” argument is now freely used; it is said that the gigantic task will find rich employment for the Dutch working class population for many years, among whom social democracy is increasing. The Providence of Utrecht, Gelderland, and most of the municipalities whose cities and towns lie upon the sea, have given their adhesion to the scheme, and have empowered a commission of experts to report on the probable cost. On the other hand, a few of the towns, including Monnikendjim and others, protest eagerly against the scheme, since its execution must infallibly convert them into “dead cities.” If the sea should ultimately be turned into dry laud the Kingdom of Holland will bo enlarged by the addition of a new province twice the size of the Province of Utrecht. The now country has been already provided l>y anticipation with the name of “Willemsland.” The gospel tent was packed to overflowing this morning, says a Birmingham (Ala.) dispatch, and Rev. Sam Jones preached the grandest sermon of the week. His discourse was filled with brilliant thoughts, and it was only occasionally that he indulged in his inimitable “funny” sayings. He said that every man and woman had to get every vestige of the hog element out of his character before they could become Christians; that lie was here to assist in destroying that hog element, and at this point he exclaimed: “O Lord, come down aDd help us kill hogs! I want this to be a regular hog-killing meeting.” While discoursing upon the injunction: “Love thine enemies,” he said: “I verily believe I love every human being on the top side of this oaitb, and if you will bring a man whom I don’t love and stand him up here on this platform I’ll hug him till he squeals, and if you can find a woman in all this world whom I do not love and bring her up here, why, I’ll— I’ll—send for my wife and make her hug her until she squeals!” [Laughter and applause.]

The class of ’B7 of Cornell University, the members of the present junior class, have developed into genuine college martyrs. During their early days at Ithaca their class supper was stolen by the sophomores and eaten at Trumansburg. In their second year the immediately succeeding class captured the cane from them in tlid annual “cane rush,” an unparallelled exploit, and it has just leaked out that * heir third year in the university is likely to prove as unfortunate for them as the previous' two. Certain facts have come to light which tend to show conclusively that a party of Cornell men, representing for the most part the class of 'B7, were rather roughly handled while attending a party the other evening at' a wellknown mansion in Newfield. Several young men of that place, who, it seems, must have disliked the idea of having the Cornell students * tpin from them the affections of the fair ones, managed to spirit away the carriages in which the students had driven up to Newfield, and, taking the vehicles, into a field near by, the wheels were removed and tied to trees in the immediate vicinity. The horses also disappeared, and, after several hours of search, one was found in a dilapidated cowshed on an pdjoining farm. Upon the whole the Cornell men spent a busy night, and it is probable that the next party at the mansion alluded to trill probably ndt have a representative the university.

Ah! the youngest heart has the same waves with in it as the oldest, but without the plummet Arhich can measure their depthfe.— Bicliter.

It w ould be a matter of many chapters were I to describe ail the holidays which we have in China. The bare enumeration of them would be as difficult as tedious. In point of fuct we have almost as many holidays and festivals as there are days in the,year. Each prominent idol has a birthday, also anniversay of his death, Ixptli of. which are celebrated. There are sOino, the Goddesses of Mercy, for instance, who have half a dozen days sacred to them. There a/e a number of deities, great persons deified, that are common to the nation; while each city,- town, and hamlet, has numerous local deities who ate its special protectors. Extremely lucky it is for the aforesaid idols that their devotees are naturally fond of show, pageantry, and display; otherwise, idolitry would have little to attract the multitude. As it j is, millions of dollars are spent in these | celebrations every year. At the dedication of a temple in Canton, two years ago, $30,000 were spent. As I Avas present at> this really great exhibition, I can give you an idea of it. For a long time a committee of citizens had been collecting subscriptions from dwellers far and near; and weeks before the completion of the temple, a large pavilion was reared, the material of which was mainiy bamboo in the form of poles, mattings, and slips. Marvelous architectural results are attained by combing a iew wooden pillars with the bamboo in various forms, and soon,a light airy structure looms up in the sky, which can be seen from a great distance. The pavilion is directly in front of the temple, while smaller ones are built in Aacant lots near, by, all connected with the main building by aAvniugs pitched o\er the streets. There is a high tower in the middle of the great pavilion, on the ceiling of Avhich curls a dragon of many colors, gleaming with innumerable spangles, through Avhose mouth a rope is dropped on which is suspended an immense chandelier. The latter is finely carved so far as the body, which is of wood, is concerned, and for brilliancy of coloring; has no rival in China. It is octagonal and each side throws out four branches, which uphold kerosene lamps. The centers of each side are cut out, and glass inserted, behind which automatic figures are made to piove by clockwork. The finest effects of this chandelier are of course obtained when the lamps are lighted. Suspended from the roof in other parts are other chandeliers, less olaborato and smaller perhaps, but not less artistic and beautiful. Forests of pendants are attached to them, so that on all sides the light is reflected. Then, in the intervals betAveen the chandeliers hang oblong cases, all decorated with silks and satins, and finely carved, containing dolls, about two feet high, elegantly dressed in character, and grouped to represent historical scanes. These figures have machinery placed beneath them to make them shake their heads, or lift their hands, or sway their bodies, just as the role of each requires. There are also smaller cases in which are arranged tableaux from romance of Avhich the Chinese are very fond.

There are platforms in every goodsized pavilion where the musicans sit and discourse music for the pleasure of a most attentive audience. There are drums, kettie-drums, immense cymbals, gongs, cornets, flutes, castanets, two-stringed fiddles, and I don’t know what else besides, and when they are sounding together the effect is overwhelming on ears unaccustomed to such strange symphonies. The flutist first blows his flute, then the cornetist joins with his toot, and then the kettledrum man strikes up, which i 3 a signal for the symba's to clash and the gong to raise its hoarse cry, while the shril fiddles may be distinguished in the din like the witches’voices above the storm in Macbeth. Worse still follows, when the musicians tu/n from instrumental to vocal music, and one of them gives you a solo with that falsetto-pitch which is meant to imitate a female voice. While the crowd of people are enjoying the different sights and sounds in tlie pavilions, inside the temple various ceremonies are going on. The temple itself, entirely new, is finely decorated with both permanent and temporary ornamentations: Among the first are frescos and wood carvings, and figures in bas-relief; among the second, banners, flower-baskets, and pictures. Buddhist priests are praying to Buddali in the central hall, where the shrine of the chief deity is situated, flocks of worshipers flit to and fro making offerings of food, lighting candles, and burning incense. There is no scene in China more animated. Everybody who has any religion in him comes to worship and to ask home favor of the god, and each person leaves more or less money with the keepers of the temple. In my native city festivals similar to this occur two or three times a week in different parts of the town. —Yan Phou Lee, in Wide Awake. --. 1