She was a widow with four
children, daughters, and rather petite in form, and lacking the
physical development and beauty of the Caucasian race. They seemed shy
and timid, for Chinese women are not accustomed to the society of men.
In fact there is among them no such home-life as we are familiar with.
They were dressed in a measure after the fashion of our girls, and had
long, black hair. The mother said a few sentences in broken English,
and welcomed us with an air of sincerity, though not a little
embarrassed. She was a woman of about forty years, and from the
expression of her face had evidently met with trials. Brought over to
San Francisco from Canton when a young girl, she had married Shan Tong
with all the ceremony and merry-making which characterise a Chinese
wedding, with its processions and feasting and the noise of its
firecrackers; but some four or five years ago death claimed her
husband, and she was left to do battle alone, while he was laid to
rest in the Chinese burying-ground at the west end of Laurel Hill
Cemetery. But she did not suffer from want, for Chinamen are kind
to the needy of their own race.
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