Geneve L. A. Shaffer

“ About one-thirty, when the gay dance had ended at Hotel de Peking, which by the way, would be a credit to London or New York, we took an hour's rickshaw ride in the moonlight to the Forbidden City. The solemn pom-pom-pom of the funeral dirge for the Mother of the heir to the Chinese Throne, was indescribably impressive. About eighty men bore the casket from the dwelling to its canopied hearse. ”

“ To reach the very top, cozy wicker chairs, mounted on bamboo poles, carried by two coolies, are necessary. The movement of the chair while descending reminds one of a ride on a rather old, single-gaited horse.
Our party will always associate Macao, China, with "Dante's Inferno." To see the half-clothed Chinese bending over their open fires in the opium factory, to see children soldering the covers of the little boxes their brothers have just finished mixing and filling, will always be an awful, vivid picture in our memories. ”

“ Now, I suppose some of you understand why there are so many apparently contented men in Singapore, in spite of the climate.
All the lovers that were accustomed to haunt the top deck, called the "Honey-moon Deck of the Empire State," took rides through the jungle. The tropical moonlight reflecting the palms in the rippling water and the trip through the Gap (a break in the hills disclosing the sea far beyond, as one of the justly famous sunsets was in progress) , are said to have done their work, and four couples, the gossips say, are expected to announce their engagements. ”

“ When we saw one huge slab donated by some Chinese in San Francisco, we did feel toward the intelligent, kindly people just as our cultured host and hostess put it, "Right at home with them."
The General Chamber of Commerce gave a dinner at the Asia Hotel to the businessmen of the party, while the Chinese ladies gave a twelve-course dinner on the top floor of one of their new skyscrapers. This is said to be the first time in Chinese history that the sheltered and seldom seen Chinese ladies of rank ever gave a dinner to any, traveling delegation. ”

“ The United States stands for the development of trade and the open-door in the Pacific. One of the best piers in the world will be built; the harbor rivals Seattle, and Manila will be a great port and a distributor of the products of the Far East. There is room for expansion, labor is cheap. Germany, the beaten nation, has learned to live without import or export and understands cheap living. Competition will be keen. They are out to gobble up South American trade. ”

“ Louis Mooser, former head of the San Francisco Real Estate Board, was much interested in the situation. It seems that about one-seventh of the small area available for foreigners was under perpetual lease to the Germans and we were told that when war broke out it was taken over by the Japanese, who only allowed their own race to buy, and all rents were immediately raised.
It was said that instead of complaining about how little land Japan was allowed in the United States, it would be fairer to give Americans in Japan the same privileges that she enjoys in some of our states. ”

“ The second day in Manila we were taken to the Pampanga Sugar Refinery. Here the men of the party had lengthy talks with the officials, while the women of the party were being entertained at a luncheon. The ladies were told that the American factory girl who spends the best part of her week's wages for silk stockings has her equal in the Philippines. It seems that the natives (yes, the men too) are so fond of showy clothing that they will go buy some fancy trifle, when they are in need of food. ”

“ Frank Panter, gave a vote of thanks for being permitted to be a part of such an important tour penetrating an area where 900,000,000 souls are living, and wrote a resolution to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to that effect. It was up to the women to send "the last word" from the party, as Ou Wee of Canton, said, "The women of America are the real dictators,' 'and since the days of Eve, every man knows that women must have the "last word." But after seeing the treatment of the Oriental women, all the party of the feminine gender, were doubly glad to be Americans and to be going home. ”

“ Those accustomed to one servant in America usually find it necessary to have from three to six in Japan. Of course their wages are less than in the United States, but food is very high. Rice, for instance, was twenty percent higher than in America. Inferior coal was twenty-two fifty a ton, and the high ceilinged, furnace less houses require a great deal of coal and wood in winter. Very few Americans use the jammed street cars. Automobiles are very expensive to maintain, not only on account of the rough streets, but the licenses are very high. ”

“ Two large busses were placed at the disposal of our delegation. The Cercle Sportivo gave a dance at their club in our honor and two tea dansants were held at the Continental Hotel. Some of the ladies got quite accustomed to the bags of mosquito netting that one slips one's feet in, to evade the pests while dining, but most of us forget to step out, and, for a moment, thought we were in a sack race.
The elephant at the beautiful botanical gardens, that would go and buy himself food when given the proper amount of money was interesting, but he was not the real attraction at Saigon. ”

“ The feeling against the Germans in Hongkong, many of our party decided, must be very strong, as we saw cartoons showing a fierce-looking person killing everyone, and the same person in another pose, dressed as a traveling salesman, together with the warning, "Remember they are one and the same." We also noted sentiment against the Japanese in China, for instance, a Chinese gentleman told a group of our party that he and many of his countrymen taught their children that someday they would fight the Japanese. ”

“ In an interview, just after the "Wood-Forbes Report" had been published, Governor Leonard Wood said, "I look for great things from the women of the Philippines; the quicker they form a part of the Government, the better for the Islands." He seems to feel that they are the most important factor in the islands and considers them more dependable than the men. ”

“ We were told that there were three times the number of people in Java as in the Philippines, but that the Philippines could easily support a population of 50,000,000. We were so glad to hear this, as there are more babies there than any other place in the Orient, with the exception of Japan, but the Philippine babies seem to be free from the awful sores we noted on many of the Japanese children. ”

“ The fluent-talking Chinese officials, sent to escort our party, informed us that they were the pawnshops, and the wealth of the villages is determined by the number of their pawnshops, it being quite an honorable business in China, and all the inhabitants put their winter clothes in pawn. If, when they redeem this clothing, an epidemic of disease occurs, no one seems to think it might be because the clothes of all are put together unfumigated. ”

“ But, needless to say, the few American girls in Manila do not follow these rules, for we heard that an engagement for tea with one masculine admirer and to watch the oily seola nuts burn at dinner with another friend, and to attend an evening dance with a third, is not considered unusual. After the Philippine women get the suffrage, Governor Leonard Wood seems to want them to have, some of the ladies of our party wonder if things will not be a little different for the native women? ”

“ Very often the employer has to feed them so as to be sure they will have strength enough to do their work properly. It seems that many Filipinos regard the United States as a child regards a benevolent uncle - they want their independence knowing that the United States will get them out of any difficulty and protect them from all harm, at the same time, letting them have their own way. ”

“ But the guide-book authors do not seem to care whether the sun strikes the women or not. Guess they believe that the women's hair will protect them, or, perhaps, it is reasoned, that as the ships usually touch China first, (one of the greatest hair markets of the world) , the women cheated by nature, are supposed to have gotten a goodly supply before they reach Singapore. ”

“ Governor Wood added, "I want doctors, lots of them, modern equipment' and nurses to make more sanitary conditions. I also wish the diseases destructive to cattle studied." There are only 930 nurses in the islands and funds and equipment are needed badly. More doctors are needed in curing the lepers. In speaking of the present condition of the islands, he said, "The Philippines are not ready to cut loose from the United States."
Everything was done in Manila to make us feel at home, from the moment the Reception Committee landed on board and Mayor Fernandez handed over the keys of the city. ”

“ Some of us noted the beauty of a little plant, which at home we carefully water and cherish in some tiny pot, only to learn that on the Island it grows in such abundance that it is considered nearly as great a pest as the Mediterranean fly - so it would seem that beauty in the vegetable kingdom does not always mean desirability, any more than it does in the human family. ”

“ We began to feel a little easier, when we got out in the sun of the garden, but even there we felt formal, for in these sacred gardens no gay flower or dashing stream is permitted. Nature, too, must be subdued, and even the little trickle of water circling the buildings, was there for the sole purpose of suggesting purity, we were informed. ”

“ Americans had better get busy and do something positive to develop her trade as do the other nations. The French are importing Chinese to study in France and in order to get to know the French and like them. The Germans come and live among the Chinese to learn their ways and to secure their friendship. China is going forward. ”

“ But do not let this give our friends the idea that the women were neglected in Singapore. They say there are only three unmarried white girls left in that city and that these are taking their time about deciding upon which of the army of males they will select. One fine looking chap told a group of ladies of our party that it was two months before he learned that in order to secure dances with the popular matrons, it was necessary to phone the week before the dance to find out whether he was to be favored with the sixth or seventh or ninth dance. ”

“ Nikko's sacred grove of Cryptomerie trees said to be over three hundred years old, never looked more impressive than in the first rain we had had while in Japan. One of the party who had traveled extensively in the Orient previously, advised us to forget our trade commercial mission long enough to see Nikko and then we could afford to overlook all the other temples. Certainly nature and man's art achieved a double triumph here, and this advice must have piqued the curiosity of most of the stolid businessmen of the party ”

“ When we talked to some of the American residents in Japan, they all got on the old familiar subject, the high cost of living, but they seem to agree that it cost just twice as much to live in Japan as any other place in the world. ”

“ Many of us decided that perhaps the proverb: "If you want to make a Chinese happy, just buy him a coffin," is not so far off, because death to many of them looks much more attractive than life. We were told that if a Chinese falls off his sampan, his neighbor does not try to save him. ”

“ Why, even the man engaged to a girl cannot so much as walk with her on the streets in the broad daylight, and to take her arm - Oh, horrors! If a girl should permit two different beaus to call upon her, even if well chaperoned, it would eliminate her matrimonial prospects, as she would then be branded as a hopeless flirt, so we were told. ”

“ You know there is a law that if a Chinese accepts any amount of money after being injured, he has no redress." He went on to tell a story about using Chinese women to retrieve instead of dogs in snipe shooting. If these coolie women happen to stand up and get a stray shot, a few cents is given them, and it is called "square." One of the husbands of these women retrievers needed money, so his wife stood up in order to get a lot of shots. She got seven shots and went away with her husband rejoicing upon receipt of five dollars. ”

“ Their correctly spoken English, charming graciousness, and, in a few cases, rare beauty, would make any collection of American women look, to their laurels.
Another typically Chinese dinner was given for us where James H. Henry, an American living in Canton, made the best speech we had heard in the Orient. He laid stress upon the fact that we need China more than she needs the United States. As other nations are studying her people and her resources we are letting things drift. ”

“ The American Flag is still at the top of the pole. The progress of the Philippine people in the last twenty-three years cannot be paralleled, it could not have been accomplished without their cooperation and without our aid. ”

“ We were told that the natives carry long knives and often use them and that someone said, "Although they may be dressed in the latest style from toes to head, they are still savages from the waist up." This seems difficult to believe, in spite of the numerous scars one sees, as one could not but feel friendly toward the Filipinos. ”

“ Canton
Leaving Hongkong, we passed the typhoon shelter on the bay with its hundreds of floating homes. Next we noted the numerous curved graves (evil spirits, we were told, would not attack curved lines) and that all the graves faced the rice fields and the water for good luck. It seems that once a year, the relatives come with a big feast, and after waiting two hours for the spirits to eat, the mourners "fall to" and devour it themselves. ”