Manchurian small boy orphans

These two Manchurian boys, photographed near Port Arthur, were driven from their home by a Russian shell that killed their father and mother. The made a living by tramping from one Japanese camp to another selling eggs. Behind the taller one of the two boys there is another little fellow who was afraid of the camera. But the other two seemingly were not afraid of anything, but were happy in spite of their hard lot. The Manchurians are strange people. Civilization has been at a standstill with them for thousands of years, but they have handsome high foreheads, magnificent, strong, clean jaws and intelligent eyes. In northern Manchuria the women follow the Chinese fashion of bandaging their toes under their feet, even the poorest of them, and it is a wonder how they can do their hard work with such crippled feet. The two boys shown in the pictures were well-known characters in the Japanese camps, where they were given many a meal after pocketing the money for their goods.Original format: 1 photomechanical print on stereo card : halftone, stereograph, color ; 9 x 18 c