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Show Chtke (f(Mk KOPAL is S25 miles from a railway rail-way station and one of the last places on earth; a town with-7 with-7 out an inn, without a barber; a place you could run round in a quarter quar-ter of an hour, and yet having jurisdiction juris-diction over an immense tract of territory terri-tory along the Russian frontier of China. I came there late one evening and found the posthouse crowded with Chinamen; Chinamen on the two beds, on the floor, in the passage; chopsticks chop-sticks on the table. They were all travelers on the road to Peking, making mak-ing their way Elowly northward to the Trans-Siberian railway. At once one of those who occupied a bed got up, apologized, and vacated his sleeping place offering it to me. Despite my refusal, he took off his blanket and quilt and spread them on the floor instead. His humility was touching especially in contrast to my own instinctive loathing of a bed on which Chinese had lain. Fortunately I was not tired. It was only nine o'clock, and I had noticed as I came Into the town a considerable flare of lights, a large white tent and a notice of a Chinese circus. A Chinese circus was something some-thing net to be missed In this empty and outlandish country, so I put down my pack in the posthouse and went out to see the performance. It was something truly original, a piquant diversion di-version after a long day's journeying In the wastes and wilds of the mountains moun-tains of Alal Tau. It was a circular tent, small enough for a circus fnt, having only three rows of seats around the arena. The price to sit down was thirty copecks; to stand behind, fifteen copecks Soldiers Sol-diers came In free' and there were some thirty of them with their dull pea.-ant faces and dusty khaki uniforms. uni-forms. Near the entrance there was a box covered with red hunting, free for the chief if police and his friends. The chief ov' police has a free box at nearly every local entert.-iinmet.t in ItUHxia lie can permit or forbid the show. There were three musicians Russian peasants, paid a shilling a nit:tit. I understand ami they pave value for money unceasingly on a concertina, a violin and a balalaika. The public on the bare, rickety forms ringed round the as yet empty ntu0 numbered from 100 to IL'0, nnd were a mixture of Russians, Tartars and KirKlilz All the Russian olllcers and ofliclals of the town seemed to bo there and accompanied by their smartly smart-ly dreHsed wives and (laughters. The Tartar merchants looked grim In their black skull caps, their women queenly, with little crowns on the tops of their heails and long veils falling over their hair and their backs. There was a row of these crowned Tartar women together; a row also of Kirghiz women wom-en In high white turbans wrapped about their broad bron.i. There were colonists and their babas open faced, ."(iinple-Houled peasant women who came to be petrified by the seeming devilry of the heathen Chinee. To them the fact that the Chinese are heathen not Christian- Is no Joke but a fierce reality. They look upon the Chinese as being comparatively near akin to devils. Naphtha 'amps swung uneasily from the, high beams of the tent, and flung unequal volumes of light from dangerous looking ragged flames. Tho sandy arena and all the eager people round wcio brightly shown in the plenitude of light. ' A iJ T '""7",f p . 'f;',', 4. places on earth; a town with- r -7 out an inn, without a barber; a place you could run round in a quarter quar-ter of an hour, and yet having jurisdiction juris-diction over an immense tract of terri- ".m tory along the Russian frontier of .;i ; . "tiim""" tJi China. I came there late one evening . . v-rvw, j0---ar and found the posthouse crowded with f ' - if Chinamen; Chinamen on the two beds, , -" on the floor, in the passage; chop- -.Uk -jftr - ' jfa, sticks on the table. They were all -' travelers on the road to Peking, mak- i .-J- rjjfa)$?2i&&tt--t ing their way Elowly northw ard to the . 'J ifer Trans-Siberian railway. f Mf : At once one of those who occupied " a bed got up, apologized, and vacated x9- : -v v-1'-"' his sleeping place offering it to me. 4' " Despite my refusal, he took off his ;v.", .- blanket and quilt and spread them on K ' ' : '.fl-i1 "v. the floor instead. His humility was jjf v. v. 1, CZtf rfSSi' touching especially in contrast to my - " s-t j A7Q4 U . "s- ' si i . . - -, -r-,. - - -S." ' ; i'J ?HvmV, The first item on the program was not particularly striking. A bell was rung and a little Chinaman in black came out and twirled and juggled a tea tray on a chopstick. He was followed fol-lowed by a Russian clown with painted face, old hat and yellow wig. w ho proceeded to be very serious and show the public various tricks. He had three Chinese servants and the fun consisted In their stealing his things and spoiling his efforts. Finally Final-ly he took a big stick and chased liieru round and round the arena to the great delight of all the children present. The clown's turn ended, there came forward a very handsome Chinee In black satin knee breeches, tight stockings, stock-ings, scarlet jersey and Kngisli collar and tie. He was rather tall, had a big womanish face, ghaming teeth and long black hair. He walked jauntily in little slippers and carried a har.dful of ten knives. Another Chinaman came out with an old tree trunk, which he held up on end. A child came and stood up against the trunk. The handsome Chinee then stood and Hung tho knives as If to pin the boy to the wood, and lie planted them between be-tween the child's arm and his body, over his arm. between his legs and beside be-side his b gs, on each side of his neck, on eat h side of his ears and over his head and all the lime as he flung them he smiled, lie repealed his feat, placing all the knives round about the boy s head, never razing the skin No. 4 was the owner of the troupe, an old fellow In a light blue voluml-nous voluml-nous smock ami long pig-tall. He conjured a platter of biscuits and cakes, glasses, a teapot. B steaming samovar, nil out of nothingness. Invit-lug Invit-lug the public to come nnd have tea with him, and tnlklng nn amusing broken Russian. "You laugh, you think this fine trick, hut 1 show you 'nother mighty Juggle; took me ten years to learn thlH Juggle Jug-gle ..." nnd ho on. As the applause dies down the bell rings again nnd out comes the "China. man with the cast Iron head." All the time "the orchestra" plays Russian dances, plays them very noisily, lie with the Iron head lies down on tho sand nnd puts two bricks on his temples. At a distance of ten yards another holds u brick and prepares to aim It at tho head of his prostrate fellow player. He alms It, hut the Iron-headed one pretends to lose his nerve and Jumps up with u terrible scream, pointing to the music The music mind bo calmed down. The audience au-dience holds itH brenth as the trick is repeated to gentle lullaby airs. This time the prostrate man receives the bricks one by one as they are aimed square on the bricks lying on his templeand, tem-pleand, of course, is none the worse though he takes the risk of a bad shot. The old conjurer came out again ana danced to the Russian Kamarinsky air holding a bamboo as If it were his partner, and doing all manner of clever and amusing turns. The young man who juggled the tea tray on the chopstick reappeared and did a difficult diffi-cult balancing trick, raising himself on a trestle which rested on little spheres on a table. Then came two most original items, the dancing of an old man in a five-yard linen whip and the rolling round the body of a rusty eight-foot scepter. The man who danced made the whip crack and roll out over the arena in splendid circles and waves, and he was ever in the midst of it-The it-The juggler of the scepter contrived to roll the strange looking implement aU over his body, about bis back and his shoulders and Lis stomach, and never let it touch the ground and never nev-er touched it with his hand and at the same time to dance to the niui-ie. This was a most attractive feat, and was as pleasant to watch as anything I had ever seen In a large city There was an interval and a great buzz of talking and surmise. After the interval came wrestling matches and trick riding on bicycles nothing original. A clever little Mongol had no difficulty In deposing of those no offered to wn-fctle with him. and a Russian cyclist who rode on l.:s handlebars han-dlebars received great applause from the people of Kopal. most of whom had not seen m bicycl before. So the entertainment ended, and every ev-ery one wa.s"T7jl pleased. The Juggling Jug-gling was a great mystification to "! simple Russians, rind I heard many amusing comments from those b hind me and beside. The conjuring fcr.a of the steaming samovar u especially especial-ly troubling to the minds of the peasant peas-ant women, and 1 heard one say to another: "God knows where he got tt from-" And the other r. plied : "What has God got to do w::h It? it's the power o' Satan." I returned to tho tos'.houe la a pleasant frame &f mind, t.-ok out n.y sheets and blanket and si. ; t In a wagon In the yard. I said Ke;a had no barber, but next day 1 found a Sart. who sh.i 1 Picture n.e s:.;:r.ic j on a r.ig of carpet on the ,vr cf a j mud hut. a red h.iiidk. rch-. f t:. ci ticht-I ticht-I ly round my neck. A ha',! h- a.!, d cid ! Mahommcdan holds In l.-.s hand a broken mug containing vinegar, lie dips his thumb In it and then massages mas-sages my cheeks nnd chin nnd r,e,-'g It was queer to feel h;s broad thumb pounding against n.y sk::i and c:.;:i hone. My hair Is fairly torn off w (than (th-an unhandy rarer; no water In g-.cn me with which to rinse, but as tho stooi Ing Sart finishes h'.s Job. he put, into my hand three Inches of broken mirror so that I can survey my new countenance and Judge whether ho has done well. Tho Chinese t the posthouse be-haved be-haved like Christians, or. rather, ns Christians should, with great bumble, ness and altruism, giving up the a-movar a-movar to Russian visitor, fetching a. ter to fill the washing bowls, cleaning and drying tho dishes after their breakfast, ami sweeping the post room lloor before they went nwav. The postmaster's wife said there wa, constant flow of Chinese, and they always al-ways behaved lu that way Kop.il. 4.0101 feel above the sea level Is in the midst of (ilu, ncem-ry. and the frontier all the way to. Chutachak nnd the shoulder of the Altai i. tains Is wild and desolate The bout,, dary Is marked by numbered poles but there are few soldleis or excise " q-'stnn you If ,o cross eitl,. cr way. There Is certain amount of smuggling done, one of .-locf rH les brought through being n,,,,,,, cigars, of which (he local hnrcaucra, v Is very fond. |