Sedan chairs are the means of conveyance for people living on the mountainside. The chair is box-shape with a seat, fastened to two long bamboo poles. The passenger steps in, a Chinaman between the poles at each end, and grunts are heard while raising the poles to their shoulders. Off they start up the steep incline, no matter whether the passenger be light or heavy, with as apparent ease as if a chicken were inside the box. The charge for a long ride is 15 to 25 cents, divided between the Chinamen. Rickshas are the conveyances used in the city. A short ride costs three cents, and if hired by the hour the charge is 15 cents. The rickshas in Hongkong, Colombo, and Singapore are made to carry but one person, while the sulkies drawn by the Zulus in Durban, South Africa, are built to hold two persons. Zulus go as fast and as far with two fares as the pullers of other countries do with one passenger. Both chair carriers and ricksha pullers are in their bare feet.
Hongkong is very substantially built, and it is doubtful if there is a frame house on the island. No one who has not seen that city would expect to find the splendid business blocks that so creditably adorn the place. Some of these are seven and eight stories high. Most of the sidewalks are covered with cement roofing, giving the walks a half-arcade appearance, which is done when erecting buildings, as the sun is hot in summer.
Porcelain bath tubs and running hot water were found in Hongkong, the first we noted since leaving South Africa. In British-East Africa, Uganda, India, Ceylon, and Singapore round wooden tubs were in use, and hot water was carried to the bath room by servants.
The water-front of Hongkong was crowded with crudely designed boats, called sampans. The craft has a mast, and when in use sails—sometimes made of reeds—are pulled to the breeze. The quaint craft has a cabin, and large families are born and reared on board, it being their home. A large oar at the stern, rolled from one side to the other when the craft is moving, helps to advance the sampan and acts as a rudder besides; it has two oars at the sides also. In most cases the craft is manned by women and their children. Frequently a Chinese woman, who looks like a hunchback, is seen pulling an oar. The apparent deformity proves to be a delusion, however, as, when she has reached shore and secured the sampan, she unwraps a cloth and a ruddy-faced baby rolls into her arms. What would be a heavy burden to women of other races a Chinese woman does not seem to mind.
The Hongkong policeman is unique. He wears a bright, yellow-colored helmet, a jacket with brass buttons, knickerbockers, white leggings, and the scow-shaped Chinese shoes. His bearing is decidedly military, and he is unassuming when on duty. The Indian Sikh is also employed for police duty, but is not so interesting as the native.
Daily English newspapers are published in Hongkong, and linotype machines are in use in some offices. In one place a Chinese linotype operator could not speak a word of English, yet he could read English copy and set a clean proof. The wage paid was $15 a month. Europeans were in charge of the printing departments, but the mechanics were Chinese.
Mock Duck, Duck Mock, Fat Duck, Duck Fat, Wa Duck, Ho Duck were common names observed on signs above the doors of business houses in Hongkong.
Chinamen seem to be eating most of the time, the portable restaurant, as in Singapore, being in use here. Their food appeared to be mostly fish, vegetables, and what looked like spaghetti, and tea was drunk at eating-time. As all eat with chopsticks, table cutlery is little in demand among the natives. "Chou" is their name for food.
The dollar is the unit of money in Hongkong, but its value is much lower than the Straits Settlements dollar, being that of the Mexican dollar, which varies from 44 to 50 cents. Fractional coins are on the cent basis, and are made of silver, nickel, and copper.
When visiting a bank in Hongkong, hundreds of natives were seen at the rear, with a clerk shouting something in Chinese. Inquiry as to what occasioned so large a number of visitors at the bank, brought forth the information "They had just come from America and were having checks cashed." Every nation takes money out of America, the feeding ground of the world.