From the outside it looks like the entrance to a temple whose very gods have gone out of commission. Stones misshapen to resemble - lions with mouths agape stand as guardians to its doorway; above. the, horned arches 13 an inscription' bestow: ing, benediction upon the world at large; while within a cavernous chamber sit coolly clad clerks, whose business appears to be the sale of tea done up in small packages of yellow paper, with red labels describing its Virtues. The traveller may check his progress to refresh his mind before crossing the threshold. The card in his hand, however, reassures him. It says quite plainly: "Foreign-style hotel. Barber shop. Movie picture: So this must be the hostel itself, disguised as a small grocery store supposedly in order to deceive the customer who wishes to find a purely Chinese inn, For a foreign-style hotel in the interior is an exclusive institu. tion. It is doubly exclusive if it has "movie pictures," even though they may be in the embryo stage. That la to say there are no "movie pictures, except in the optimistic mind of the manager. For him the "movie pictures" are already on view, since he has decided to instal the necessary apparatus some time or other, It is comforting, moreover, to think that "movie pictures" are not essential to comfort, however forcignyou may be, And s0, satisfied yourself that the combination of cinematographic entertainment and the provision of the staff of life has of no further than the stage of ricketts mat-shed, you seek ur room, Here you hope for foreign-style comfort.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.