In the course of his lecture on the "Chinese at Home," E. B. Drew, Commissioner of Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, says: "The chief characteristic of the Chinese, as a nation, is industry. Their working day begins at dawn, and lasts till sunset. Schools open at sunrise, and do not close till 5 P. M., there being but one short recess during the day. The emperor and his court rise soon after midnight, and court audiences are given between 5 and 8 o'clock in the morning. After sunset very few people are in the streets, the Chinese, like domestic fowls, retiring early to rest. There is no day corresponding to Sunday, and only a few holidays in the year. Busily as they toil, these people are never in a hurry, are never nervous, and are not given to worrying; but are steady, cheerful, and sober. They rarely quarrel, and even if they do, seldom come to blows. There will be a little queue pulling, some calling of hard names, and then the bystanders will quietly separate the combatants. It is not physical timidity, but a sensitive consciousness of the disgrace of fighting, that keeps them from engaging in brawls. That they are not cowards is well proven by the fact that they submit without flinching to the most severe surgical operations without ever using anaesthetics. They maintain that it is very injurious to health to be nervous, to worry, or to give way to anger."