A CURIOUS CHINESE CUSTOM.--The people who live in the southern part of
China are said to observe, once a year, a festival to which all look
forward almost as eagerly as Americans do to the Fourth of July. It is
called the Filial Porridge festival. Instead of boiling rice by itself
on that day, sugar, seeds, fruit, dried dates, and other things are
cooked with the rice, making a dish which is almost black in color and
very thick. This porridge is placed in bowls, and is set before the
ancestral tablets and household gods which one finds in every Chinese
house. Here it is left for a time, with incense and candles burning
beside it. After a while, when the souls of the departed ancestors are
supposed to have consumed all they wish, the family are at liberty to
eat the remainder. Children who are married, and away from home, make
and send a dish of this porridge to their parents if they possibly can.
After the filial porridge has been eaten, the boys and girls amuse
themselves by firing off crackers, playing merry games, and having a
pleasant time.
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This is a pretty story about a terrier, is it not? A hungry boy called
at a house in Rochester, and asked for something to eat. He was told
that there was nothing, but he pleaded with the servant, saying, "Give
me only a piece of bread."
The dog, who had been standing by the domestic, suddenly ran away, and
in a moment returned, carrying in her mouth a large piece of bread,
which had been given to her for her breakfast. Going straight to the
boy, she laid it down at his feet, looking up at him, and motioning with
her head and paws, as if to bid him take it.
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Du Chaillu, in his beautiful stories of travel in Scandinavia related in
_The Land of the Midnight Sun_, tells about being driven through the
country by young girls. He says:
"At every station I had a young girl for a driver, and these
children of the North seemed not in the least afraid of me. My
first driver's name was Ida Catharina. She gave me a silver ring,
and was delighted when she saw it on my finger. I promised to bring
her a gold one the following winter, and I kept my word. She was
glad indeed when, at the end of the drive, I gave her a silver
piece. Another driver, twelve years old, was named Ida Carolina.
The tire of one of our wheels became loose, but she was equal to
the emergency. She alighted, blocked the wheel with a stone, went
to a farm-house and borrowed a few nails and a hammer, and with the
help of a farmer, made everything right in a few minutes. She did
not seem in the least put out by the accident. She chatted with me
all the time though I did not then understand what she said, for I
did not then know the Finnish language. She was a little beauty,
with large blue eyes, thick fair hair, and rosy cheeks. From early
life children are here taught to depend upon themselves."
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We would call the attention of the C. Y. P. R. U. this week to the very
interesting article on "Corals," by Miss Sarah Cooper, and to Lieutenant
E. W. Sturdy's account of "Tom Fairweather's Voyage up the Tigris."
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