[Illustration: IN SOME PARTS OF CHINA IT IS STILL CONSIDERED A VERY MERITORIOUS ACT FOR A WIDOW TO COMMIT SUICIDE AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND--THIS PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS A WIDOW ABOUT TO MAKE AWAY WITH HERSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF AN IMMENSE AND ADMIRING CROWD.] Old customs die very hard in China, and in several parts of the Celestial Empire it is still considered a high act of virtue for a woman to commit suicide after the death of her husband. According to the law the proceeding is actually legal in some provinces, and such is the state of public opinion that in districts where it is officially prohibited the authorities rarely interfere. The striking photograph which we reproduce on this page shows one of these extraordinary voluntary sacrifices about to take place, with the widow herself, clad in white--the Chinese mourning colour--the gallows erected for the occasion, and the immense crowd gathered to witness the gruesome spectacle. [Illustration: AN ARIZONA BEDROOM--SO HOT IS THE CLIMATE, AND SO NUMEROUS THE INSECTS AND REPTILIAN PESTS, THAT THE DWELLERS ON THE VERGE OF THE DESERT FIND IT NECESSARY TO SLEEP IN WIRE CAGES SIMILAR TO THAT HERE SHOWN. _From a Photograph._] The desert bordering on the Colorado River, in Southern Arizona, is probably the hottest part of the United States in summer, where the condition humorously generalized at “a hundred and forty in the shade, and no shade,” prevails from June until September. The intense heat of the sun-baked houses then makes them unbearable even at night to the average sleeper, and open-air sleeping apartments are accordingly needful for comfort. The photograph shows one of these airy adjuncts to a desert home. The wire screen that encloses the little room, like a bird-cage, serves to keep out pestiferous insects, snakes, and other vermin. [Illustration: THE MAP-CONTENTS OF “THE WIDE WORLD MAGAZINE,” WHICH SHOWS AT A GLANCE THE LOCALITY OF EACH ARTICLE AND NARRATIVE OF ADVENTURE IN THIS NUMBER.] Transcriber's Note: Table of Contents added. Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation are as in the original. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wide World Magazine - Vol. 22, No. 131, February 1909, by Various