On our way to the Chinese Restaurant we stepped into a goldsmith's
shop. There were a few customers present, and the proprietor waited
on them with great diligence. At benches like writing desks, on which
were tools of various descriptions, were seated some half a dozen
workmen who were busily engaged. They never looked up while we
stood by and examined their work, which was of a high order. The
filagree-work was beautiful and artistic. There were numerous personal
ornaments, some of solid gold, others plaited. The bracelets which
they were making might fittingly adorn the neck of a queen. I learned
that these skilled men worked sixteen hours a day on moderate wages.
Their work went into first-class Chinese bric-a-brac stores and into
the jewelry stores of the merchants who supply the rich and cultured
with their ornaments.
But it is time that we visit the restaurant. This is located in a
stately building and is one of the first class. It overlooks the old
Plaza, though you enter from the street one block west of the Plaza.
You ascend broad stairs, and then you find yourself in a wide room or
dining hall in two sections.
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