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Show Monte Carlo of The Orient (WW - - - 5.-, r . 11 Street Scene in Macao. Prepared by National Georraphic Society. Washington, D. C. WNU Service. MACAO, which has long been one of the gambling centers of the East, now, with modern mod-ern Improvements, Is earning the right to the sobriquet "the Monte Carlo of the Orient." It is the only place in the world where fan-tan houses, opium factories and lottery tickets finance a colonial government govern-ment Macao is but the tip end of the Island of Heungshan (also known as Macao island). All of the island except the tip belongs to China. The Portuguese area, which includes in-cludes two small adjacent islands, embraces less than a dozen square miles; but there are few places in the Orient where a dozen square miles contain so much of interest. It is the oldest European settlement settle-ment in the Far East and was for long the only haven of refuge for distressed mariners In the China sea. Its modest lighthouse, on Fort Guia, was the first that ever flashed a hp"'uu from the coast of the Chi- i. coe empire, and its little cemetery was for many years the only spot where a European might find an unmolested un-molested grave. ' Many wealthy Chinese live here, not merely because they find the climate more salubrious than that of Kwangtune province, but because be-cause their heads rest more securely on their shoulders here, under the Portuguese flag. The Praia Grande Is a cool and restful avenue and leads appropriately to a plaza which Is the vestibule of the grotto and garden of Camoens. The plaza is to be seen at its best on Sundays and holidays, when the band from the Portuguese garrison plays classical selections with the same ease and perfection that endear en-dear the Constabulary band to the Filipinos. On such occasions the plaza is adorned with the elite of Macao, with Chinese and Eurasian children of the "cunning" type, and with dark-eyed Portuguese girls, who flirt discreetly (but none the less effectively) with the young officers of-ficers from the garrison. Scenes on the Plaza. This romantic plaza in Macao serves the traveler like a page torn from a school geography. Here, stalking grandly across the square, one sees a swarthy oriental noncommissioned officer with his head draped in a striped turban and wonders what the Hindu is doing here. Some one explains that he belongs here, that he belongs to the battalion sent here from Goa, the tiny Portuguese colony in India. Then another apparition catches the eye, the silhouette of a row of ivory-black soldiers, topped off with red fezzes, festooned over the rail fence in front of the barracks. Plainly they are not Portuguese, nor Hindu, nor Chinese. able trees, makes an arresting silhouette, sil-houette, especially when you pause to consider that this Is the only ( place in the world where Portugal is bounded by China. The spot is more historic than the average visitor realizes. This' little neck of the island is the place where, in 1537, the Western World secured its first foothold in the Far East It is true that Magellan had landed in the Philippines earlier, but it was not until 1567 that Legaspi established a permanent settlement at Cebu. In 1557 the unwelcome Portuguese Portu-guese invaders were officially given permission to remain In Macao, and in 1573 the Chinese government built a barrier wall across the neck of the island to fence them out. Sis times a month the gate was opened to permit supplies to be imported by the isolated foreigners, who held tenure by virtue of the payment of an annual rental.. This arrangement was abruptly terminated in 1849, when the Portuguese Portu-guese governor general refused to pay rent any longer and ejected through the gate the Chinese officials offi-cials sent to collect it. The present Barrier Gate was then erected to commemorate the event. With a guard of Portuguese soldiers sol-diers on one side of the gate and representatives of the Chinese republic re-public on the other, the Barrier Gate reminds you of the neutral strip at Gibraltar, with Britain and Spain on guard at each end. Making Firecrackers. Returning along the beautiful driveway, you find it convenient to stop at the outskirts of the city and take a few lessons in the craftsmanship craftsman-ship of firecrackers. The process of manufacture Is so simple that even the two-hour tourist may learn to "roll his own." First, you make the tiny paper tubes and paste red paper around them. It is like the traditional method of making doughnuts first make the hole and then mold the dough around it Next, you take a double handful of the little tubes, stand them on end, and tie a string around the bundle. Then you paste white paper firmly across the top and the bottom, so that the openings of the tubes are covered. With a crude Instrument that looks like a nail punch you perforate the top paper rapidly to admit to each tube first a layer of clay, then the powder and the fuse and another an-other layer of clay. Finally you string together the required number, num-ber, wrap them in a neat package, affix your fancy label, and the work is done. Fan-tan is another monument to the patience of the Chinese people. peo-ple. It Is one form of gambling with which the Western World is not likely to become Infected; It Is too slow for the occidental, who Suddenly one of the dusky soldiers sol-diers lays his head back and laughs laughs loudly and long. The identification Is instantaneous and complete; there Is no mistaking that laugh; It is the same that you hear on the levees of the Ohio and the Mississippi. It was made in Africa, Af-rica, and these are native troops from a Portuguese colony somewhere some-where along the hot, steaming coast of the dark continent. To those who have sojourned among the frontier forces of the French In the Senegal, of the British Brit-ish In Sierra Ione, of the Llhe-rians Llhe-rians at Monrovia, or of the. Sudanese Su-danese on the upper Nile, the spectacle spec-tacle brings hack old memories. Where Portugual and China Meet. But these details are not for the speeding traveler. He gleans the essential es-sential facts from a guidebook en route; his all-comprehending eye sweeps the landscape while the Hongkong-Macao boat leisurely makes its -way up to the dock, where the Jinrikisha coolie Is waiting to whirl him around the circuit and back to the gangplank. A stroll past the grotto of the poet, a snapshot snap-shot of the imposing facade of ruined Pno Paulo's, a brief glance at ! a fan-tan game, a two-mlmite de- tour at the opium factory, ten min ; utes at the firerrnrkpr works, a i whirlwind finish at the Barrier : Oate. and Macao has hr-on "sr-en" et least on the avera?" tourist ; schedule. ' The Barrier Gate, designed like an arch of triumph and now wreathed by the branches of vener- knows many ways of arriving nt the same results more speedily. How Fan-tan Is Played. The paraphernalia of the game Is all downstairs, but the aristocratic gambler prefers the second floor. In the center of the large room Is a sort of light well surrounded by a railing, over which a motley crowd Is always leaning. Since the gaming gam-ing table is directly beneath, every movement can be seen. On the long table are charts bearing bear-ing the numerous 1, 2, 3. and 4, and the game is simplicity itself. Yon may bet on any one or all the numerals nu-merals and you may wager any amount you choose. Your stake Is lowered to the table In a little basket bas-ket and placed on the numeral you designate. When the crucial moment has arrived ar-rived the master of ceremonies, who sits at the head of the table, pours out a gallon or two of cash, the familiar fa-miliar Chinese coins with square holes In the center. Then, with a little rake, he begins rapidly to draw them In, four at a time. The spectators on the mezzanine floor stop cracking watermelon seeds and eagerly wsit for the last motion of the rake. It takes about five or ten minutes to reach the fateful termination, termi-nation, and the issue depends upon the number of cash left for the last move. If you have p!sn-ed your bet on number 3 and there are (lire's cash left, you have won twice Die amount of your water, less 10 per cent corn mission. If there are 1 or 2 or 4 cash remaining, you have lost. |