UNKNOWN

Dunstan Times, Issue 567, 28 February 1873, Page 2

UNKNOWN

Pie San Francuc* uulittin sta'e was rece itly afforded to a “few reliable [uon a; t u office of the 'ah Francisco Assaying and defining Works. It consists of a poiti .i of the treasure recovered from tl e i ,-t oner America lost many ytdr« ago, and 'ad been brought to San Francisco Ly the C»l ira lb. “The siei.e," says tie journal f ’ i which we quote, "was novel beyond coi'jptii n. Twi nty-thn e boxes of nnfiti d 0 n weighing from 2001b to 4001 be ch, w : ‘ scattered about the floor of the ncm aid beside i there were piles of bars a d egular masses of valuable metol lying oaiid loose. T«o pieces of the m lied n'iss wish a le gth e eh of about 3ft, a Uh of ISi , and weighing lOOnlb looked !c 3 a section of frozen clay bristli g «ith oy iters. These oysters were 3 did jie'es, icxican dollars, and halfdoraisofamerican ■inage, with dimes and half dimes for y mng oysters, andiior tjil et, bits of biais md steel to represent the shell fish that are • ntto burrow in the bed of the ocean he whole forming a valna le s ec'men c.f erustacea. In some instances the coins are m y welded together in rolls, and at o hir res they form on lava like gob. The a Ited matter and the coins a e of a deep green color. The large bars of bulln n • e.e I ss affected by the fire than the coin al l do not appear to have W mi ch in eight. The metal is to be re-coined. Tv o iOdol pieces in the lot wcie kindly donated ;j the represen'ativeS i f the priss, who were among the reliable pcrS' ns prisent, in I lial not the coins be n welded to a bar, hey would have been taken away. Three hundred thousai d dollats w<rlh of treasn’e half nelt d, colored by fire and the action of the water is a curiosity that fe" j eoplo hive ev r had an opportunity to s e Even the audacious and enterprising Barnum c i ild not give such a show’." LIFE IN CHINA. —o— Monks with hind furnaces. These oortable hand film cea are chiefly ■l'cdin the north of China during the winter months, when the fire, in place of being in the house, as we have it, is carrie 1 about the i erson, beneath the thick’y-padded cotton garments, or in the hand ; at times is placed beneath the chair on whi<'h one is sated. This contrivance {resemblin ' the charcoal pans formerly used, beforethedays of jit-coal, by the Hen ford shire straw platters), was first, introduced t‘ > our notice at a village in the Fu-kien province, which, before we had investigated the cause, wo noted as a place remarkable for the deformity of its inhabitants, old men and womm with strange swellings projecting in lha most unaccountable places. Our speculations wese, however, speedily set at r* st, and the matter satisfactorily explains I by an old gentleman, who removed his great coat and disclosed a small coppjer furnace secured round his waste with a baud, and neaHy covered with basket Work. T his artificial mode of hea.ing the body is only resorted to in time of extreme on d, as on ordinary occasions the people deem th ir thick clothing a sufficient piotection dm ing v inter. A STREET STALE. The street stalls, common lo all Chinese cities, are a great coi.veni uce to the pooler orders of the labouring clas-es of the community, as they furnish food of all kinds at a much cheaper rate than it could b procured in an iuu or restaurant. It i wonderful to sec the portah lityof their eo king arrangements, as an entire s nip ki oli u can be carried about from place to p ace ly its owner. Wherever labomers a.e co. gicgated you will find that thiir foo i and amusements lollow, if there i- a house b i g 1 milt there will be a soup and meat stall, where one may have a good iliuuei for about a penny. THE LESSON. The system of Government competitive examinations, which has been in opera.ion in China for many' ages, and which throws open to ihepoorest scholar of the land the way to the highest official apipoimmcui, las fostered among the people that r veiaico for learning and the lear icd, which ap. proaches to a fir m of woiship in the icspect they pay to their ancient sages. It also shows itself in the efforts made by parents to latiin fo; their call 1 reu a better education than they themselves enjoyed, end the strenuous efforts made by the ehialien in after lift to piss the offieiil exam nations, (forts that a’'o frequently never relinquished until the student fa Is back fnm the ranks of the literati, broken in hia tb, to drag out his life as a villaga schoolmaster or tutor.

A STREET BARBER.

Barbers are to lie found everywhere in China. No one need be at a Iss to have his head shaved in ary city < r village in the empire. Every day in the year the c mast be hundreds of acres of Chine e heads shaved, and tails combed out and dtested that were they united, would ]no uci an Atlantic cable of hair. It is customaiy for a Chinaman to have his head shavad and dressed by the barber two or three times a month. The parapherna'ia of the street barber consists of a sm ill cabinet, which serves as a seat for his oust nn r and receptacle for his instruments ; a round wooden case with metal basin for wate", which is kept hot by asm ill charcoal furnace beneath ; i Cached to this tbe-e i»» pole to indicate his profession. When* customer places bis head in the barbers hands, he has it steamed and rnbl ed with a hot damp c’oth. then shaved ; the face is then shaved, including nostrils and ears. The eyelids are then raised an 1 the eyes cleaned, after which the ears are operated noon with small instrnnnn's, cunningly deviled to remove all obstacles fr rn this particular gateway of odes i 1 k o"hihc The spine is then punched and kma lcd, to impia ss it with an acute s-nw of its fnne* tions, m Hho pa'ictit retires ' vnj P'U a tiitlingsiuu for the Unisonal operations. —The Qra^Jtic.