| Show f 2000 MILES ON CHINESE RIVERS I The Vnt WnioiWn + or tho Iinpltc nod lIw l I the Jnviuotil ol ill1 Jnpniiofo i Jiuleiimily 1 j I will Fill thorn with Tux Oiuhoioi oz 1 ili r A tMk of the llomg lit JW lu Ytngltt Kang Tki FttoJi and TM I HnH r DnJTht feltf M i < the AKftltf ff TltnTstHOiM Queer t 1 pl I llotl ItyxMloH MilXont alia me lama Uft and Die on Hit Staten b Kcnl life at anltmCHieie itaUft and Their Ufe fnanen GMi W y I far Mr at Out Cent a llttdLUmt tall Rot It and Ml Ttrti lht If I tin Cuilomt Hill be Motlfagit and t CkMtt for the Foreigner I 1 frH irrnredcwt or the Noel j J I I tcoifPaetaf l IW br rrasi U CII4 I It AIAN IT IS 1 J salt will de 1 tf A mnnd team I I 4 agOrou In gull I I 1 1 11 1 e r Com China III 1 e fIIY a its I dlon 10 the to aldch r m IJ I territory 1 n to IJe grant M iJ I eI a + the price I I I J 1 I 5 IIf sec e It I l I i a t IIulion In 1 IIl1nd of l all t who know anything any-thing concernIng concern-Ing the Chinese EI 1 II f f I 411 government at + r I 1 to how It will lie able to culled this vast f I JI turn It probably get the money In I the firat place In the shape ol a foreign I j I loan and the customs will be rnotlgiged I to pay the Inteiest t At present China I I has perhaps I the lowest taxes In the 1 world and the farmers pay lens I on their I lands than they do In any ol the coup I M trio In Europe The Increasing of t such lanes would create a icvolulion I f h The only way that the government can i 1 aloe money will be through levying i 14 l iiilie on import sod exports This I will fill the then with tan gatherers anil Chnaalll be hon cbed with a i network of official robbers Ivey I t olhcer will put tome of the receipts In i his own pocket and price of all kinds will me The I nvrri are the highway I of China The country U I said to have 1 4000 roads but It hat none 1 that arc 1 good and the rivers I and the cAnal 1 J form the chief meant of communication 1 communica-tion There It no land on the globe which it better watered There are 1 provinces In China as big as New York which are cut up 1 by email like lolland I iv and In which you ran viiit every mans i house by boat You can travel a dli 1 lance longer than a journey around the world on the Chinese Interior waterways I water-ways and 1 the Nile hat ill equals In the I IS 1 YallKlle Klanl and lloang I Ho i Earl I of thew rivers carries us much lilt a > 1 LI 1 the Nile every year and the tea U I yellow r i 11 yel-low for from thirty to filly mile on each dIy tide of their mouth At the rnoulh of t J Jln the Yangtse Klang the water li ai thick JI i ailpea loup and all along the mighty 11i river mm are seen dipping it up pourIng jt 11 t ai i pour-Ing r it Into ditches I In order thatrnay i I be carried oil and spread over the land noW I HUES UP CIIINKSk KIBK i I have traveled mlle than tvw miles i upon these wonderful rivers ot lllInl f I 1 he scenes along their banks are the I I those of no other streamt of the 11I101 I Irrigation goes Omt everywhere sal rho I fertilizing material 1 which 1 they cuntain I rejuvenates the Chinese snit ao the Nile I I does that ol IK1t I The heat Ilaln I I of China shish by the I vviv is the most tldc ° populated I part of the empire I t em-pire which I tits been built up brunt the lea by the Chinese I rivers It runs along the 1acihe coast for about oo j I I miles snit it is I Irom you to i u miles I wide It Is one ot the nchc plains m the world and its soil arc mined with I salts and the evidences ol decayed I I vegetation II tunics from the loco I legion in the far Interior of China 1 hit region is n vtit territory covered with a Ig Ise eolaltralitin 1 II or 1 i j yellow earth about loon Icel deep I I This toil Is very line and when a stream How Into II ll seems lo split open P AI1 J III I i vertically and the rivers I wluc hoI run ho-I through II past gorge of sand you feet y deep From lime to tune tliu yellow soil splits I oil In sheets Iran the sides ol I I 1 I these 1 gorges and It I in i carried thou u lo I I I the sea During the hoi season the winds blow through this Loess region I and carry the duct over Chin This aids in its feitllUation The Mils ear w Id town by l the rivers to the tea i < so I great that the hold every tear iiulict luo feet above the era and this has 1 been going on for ages Near Sliang hal i there nF tn large 1 island which I lions I lion-s been built up by tho VangUe Kung and tie land mirth ol this it to a great utnt the product ol Huang Ho and the Ielho fun Yange gong river Ii I said to be jvxi nubs lung The lloang Ho rl I ci in Ihlbet within leu miles of the mouth ul the N anglse uul II It almost of the same length It lluwt as far as from New York to Denver be lore it gels into u Urge bramli and by the time it has icuKcl the sea it has gone as far ai from New York lo bin I Francisco ll is only navigated I hy i small boats and a great part ol iu I course Is through the Great Ilain It 1 Its vast embankments to keep it m Us courseeverv year or 10 II great Hood comes and bundled ol Ihoutinds tad sometimes millions ol people lire swallowed 1 I swal-lowed up l by it When I lint visited tt China I 1 arrived just alter one ol these p big Hoods About twenty million lieu pin were ruined by tho liver and mil lions had been eirotvned During I my ttipol th last 1 your IU I wile 1 I up the Iciho to Tien1 sin and taw the eUdeiteesol I the great lluod ol the year previous I I1 This covered the plain surrounding rd Tientsin I It ruined 1t hundreds I of viI F r I vi-I lager and at one time it teemed a s 1 though I it would endanger the great ill Y ol Li 1 Hung Chang winch you kilo contain u milliun pcuplc Might blow Tienlsin I saw ihousindt of graves JI l 11 dlu which I i had bern washed out by the II lId The colhin were lying on rite ground and during tlie ilood the dead I floated by the thousands to the sea I A Blllf ON Till HMO I The Ieiho river i is i the one which 11lw I from near iekut iii iluun the rt 1 and i ytIIIt I I 7 up it all of the u iilit wlmh suppl i 1 the northern pruvuues ol limit must I I go It is a uimlmi muddy ttream laylgible r ea only for large l ship A about 1r I rll rl miles or ai laras Tien fsin Tins is a I 1 I11 t bar all lu mouth and It 1 It I only at high tide and with a proper wind tint you can gel over this During my inn this summer we lay l lot two I days outside the bar under Ihe shadW of the Taku attn before we mould get over and in onungawiv we had to wilt ho days ur the proper wind and flood lo get t Fueter Emr iiiltlde I ol the ruler Secretary I otter ml parly were on the tame ship t We had a cargo af bones for Japan rn9tty taint the t smell 1 and i the I sea the delay tout by no meant pleasant In going up I the 1itm t you wind jour way through a low Hit plain which Is I covered cov-ered with onetlory hooter of mud bulbhooter These houses are bulb right along the banks ol lIe river I and Ihe land hack of them is I divided up Into larnu and orchard char The blossoms were out during the lime that I went up I the Ieilio and the brown plain was spotted here and there with vast patches 01 white and Pink I lliwert I Half naked children I tiiiialled on time banks and there were thousands of people 1 al work In Ihe field III the early morning you could ee them g ilng out to work from the illages hey I marched by the hundreds hund-reds along Ihe paths itolug always InKle in-Kle file Al Tien1 sin I found nn wean of shipping tying al 1 the wharves thee are bouts nl all klndi and from oil 1 pain of China There were acres of f rafts mule ol logs winch were to IK I old I as lumber There a i re great barges barg-es and I junks loaded with I all kind of merchandise and as we neared the city oceanic into a forest ol mists among which swarmed 1 tens of thousands 01 blue coated brim naknned men lusting lust-ing and unloading the ships lo uhlili Ihey belonged T here were M many of I these coolies that they made me Hunk of a Ian of ants and they were quite as busy as ants at Ihelr work Ivery man went on the trot and I taw them at work from early morning until late at night There la no machinery used on the wharves ot any Chinese city There air 110 deirlcks and no steam engines Human muscle carries all the freight and Ihe heat lent of packages are borne oil IIn Ihe backs of men I was surprised sur-prised at their strength I taw cools alTlenTsin 1 who could lift yam pounds and some were carrying bales ot cotton on their backs At flankou IIw I cool les unfolding ingots of steel which weighed half 11 Ion These Ingots were brought from llelgmm to China In order or-der that the Chinese might experiment with them In the making ol railroads A half doin coolies would take 1 dd ol i one ol 1 these big pieces 1 ol 1 steel raising inry meant Ir ropet IIil poles and they would I grunt and ting as they carried car-ried It 1 oil of the steamer t All i the boils on the Yangtse ore unloaded In this way and at all of the purls there are great hulks or barges filled with men who wait for the steamer and who handle all of their freight CHINAS VAST noon COIULATION here I are millions upon millions of people who get their living oil of blue Chinese rivers China Is I said to have more boas than all the rent llIllhe world put together and Its boat population would In all probability lie I greater than that ol all I urope and America U i I the Icarl rlvir in South China at the lily of Canton there are said to be tooowi people who were born live and die upon the c eW wI I Io river which IOU I-OU reach from Hong Innll l it filled aldt crane of all kinds from the small steamer lo the great Chlmrn e junk There are thousands I of tampon or little Chinese gondolas I with great nl black snit while eyes pilntcd on ich side ol their prow There me laigo buat which have bigger eyes and there are tail ships the yes of uhlch ole as large around as a dinner plate The Chinese paint eyes on all tltlr boats and a sailor would ut soon think ol try Ing to travel through l n cily bllndloliled as ol sailing on 1 sit which had not a lyt + rilr ol eves painted on the front t of ll I r found 1 whole families living I on these boats I and I HIW some not niiite than twenty feet In length which eonfilned three generations ol Chinese I renumber re-number one warnin who rowed me to I shore at Hun l Kong She at 11 working nwty with 4 Atop of about two hO sold I s-old tied on her back I heard sit IU ill In the roar of the boat and looking I back I suv n raw red baby Iranllially waving In roy anon and ering out its l protests through t Us I toothless cum < this woman had no other I Inline thin I her boat anil on such boi u chllilrm are burn grow up 1 I and die Marriages lube t place upon diem and all of the leitiues ol household hie are lo be seen in eon nection with Ihem On some of ih > > larger boats it Canton Can-ton the children ably swarm and little ones of two and three jean play atiuul their decks I saw a number ol bats on these boats who hud little round barreli or drum about a fool lung and MX inches In diameter tied to their backs I was told these were life preservers and that it Ihe child overboard he could lloit till his mother or lather came to his rescue I was surprised to see that many of the girls of this boats had no mall protection and upon asking or i gnr 5 why I was told that It was considered hy some of the people a piece of good fortune lo tote a girl as they would In this way fate thin expense of raiting her I doubt this however It Is I a fact though that lair girls are of little uttl tl In China Tea In I pocla ly so among this boat population I I visited I one place twit ell me aver at Shan1 hal where there were perhaps five hundred Chinese babies in a foundling asylum One of the people in charge told me that IOU could buy girl babies all the way Irom n cent too dollar apiece and that they look babies Irom their m nh ret upon the payment of twunv t lenb I upiece b > the mothers Curls ore tome limes bought this way and nlsed for toa Improper I purposes women are told regularly lay their parents for wives and i concubines and I was told that a lull I grown maiden of fair beauty was worth I ram f ty and upward there are him dreds ol boats at Canton upon which dinners and 1 liiiniurn ure given and which have lImb II of gut I lonneited with turn who are kept 111 I Ih amu m1 01 he gurt I he are bunt IIhuh ore uansh hy hegglu I ind 1 wu told by ono 01 uur ull > iuls thai bbl we 10lllollm buught ono hell eye put out in order thai tin y 1n ght b 1 > II d I < Imd I beggar II 1 Ill IrAak4 AYU t 8 Ji J isih I of the high olhcul who live along Ihe Chinese rivers hsn his own boat This Is i decorated with fligs and the bigger the man the more lags and bunting II Hung Chang hat unlearn t rcn launch eurr wife died I not long ago a gorerou + funeral barge was made far her Thin wa decorated with white which is I Ihe Chinese color for mourning and it looked gorgeous to American eyes 1 I he Chinese have hoots which are worked b Ihe feel and which are shaped just like a slipper hoc are u led a < dispatch bunts 1 They are not much bigger than Ihe onhnar canoe and they can be made to > o very fast At Canton I was shown boat whli h had paddle wheels at the sides and which were worked bv man power The melt turned the wheel Inside the bout lh which connected with Ihe paddle wheels outside out-side and a half a doien men were doing do-ing the wi ik of an ordinary gas engine I could fill this column wish descriptions ol the different kinds ol boat used hy the Chinese iacli section has itn own peculiar make of boa and 1 a Chinese sailor can tell to what part of the country coun-try a hlp belongs at soon as he sees U There I is I a vast boat truffi In Ihe fir In tetlorof f China I saw hmt at Hankow which had come down almost from the I borders of Ihlbet Thy were nude so tint the > could jump Ihe rapids and sank hl their w ay through the great gorges of chang These gorges are two hundred hun-dred and seventy miles above Hankow and nesr ya tnousand mites Iron the l sea The great anglse river here llus through Immerse canyons the rocks of which rise I lor hundreds of feet strsitht l up above the I water The gorges are in glares r hens than a thousand feet wide dtll the great river rushes through them at the rate of nine I miles in hour It rises I and 0111I ten and lasses feet In a single night and It hulls and teethes AI It goes through Here It I an edify mete a whirlpool and there against the rocks it dashes In u spray almost e that of the eta 1 I he macla are filled with all kind of fern they are ol gram e and lone lime edgci blue loaned pig riled I workmen are ipiirryiiiii great i blocks of granite which arc shipped down the Vangtse Kiang TIe are miles of thee gum es and the scenery about them It I the most beaulilul I in Chine The boat are tracked through the gorges and there Ii I quite a population along 1 them whose main support It from such work UtCk AND 110USI IIOVTS The iueermt boats I saw during my trip on the earl river I were those devoted de-voted to the raising of f Rn e and I ducks The ChlncH are the best fowl raiser of the world They rush ee ducks by artificial artifi-cial intubation and they know just bow to feed I and care for them For five days alter they leate the hell Ihey are not illowed 1 to bear any unite and their foal contists ol boiled rice water Al ler this they are given boiled rice 1 10 I the tins two weeks they are kept In a coop and then Ihey are put on the boats and made lo shift for themselves The boats sense ry clumty and they are somewhat like malt One boat will sumetlmes hold more than b n thousand duck Inch are In charge ol one or too I keepers The duck fiimtr rows or scull the halt In the low land along the liinks of the river or creeki and t he drives the ducks oil from lime to lime to feast on the worms and snails uhlch are here tube bond II I Ic hat the duckt no trained II at he can call them back Iu the boat at will and he hurries Ihem up I by giving the last duck a blow with a stick filer the durit are grown he carries them from one n loanolher on hlI boat I There are fowl markets In allot I the cities I and the goose market of Canton is Idled 11 aith I ihotxnnds ol birds every day fouls are sold both dead and alive The ducks and geese are dried and pIed and they are thlppel I In large quantities all I over China Taxes will turn be collected r on all such article of food and there will be nothing which puses through the rivers which will not have to pay a sham lo tills fund demanded by japan MIT IIOVTI Ole of the thief resources of the Chinese government Is I through the tale of till and Ihu taxes un tall will now be greatly increased The tall trade in hll China In I a government monopoly and no one can sell U without a license from the salt commissioner There are salt boats and sail iunks on ill tile hen The salt Is carried in junks through the larger utriams and is taken to due vII ligcs time uh the canals in smaller boats 1 he1 mommy Is divided into cir 1 lulls and tin sail Jn each circuit It 1 sup wart d to b produced then It is I made from sea w iler around the coast and from brine in Ihe interior Jim above the mouth of tlie Iolio lgnmoJsthtnlc I tta nJ rlsa r 1 vast sat uoik Ihe ground looked much like Urn mirshiM near New Yoik and hue Mil wat produced by evapura lion There 1 were winiiniHU far pump Ing the brine from lie ten mid there were great mount inn ol alt 1 which h id been piled up really lo shipment The g ivernnieut ncy I tire th it all H sit hall be told 11 limn mania t In umininenl I agent It Is I dl tn I uMl 1 through salt i men hauls amid ov I lhc tiiiro it a plcal sit < one a uer for each div Irum t l do null I sun lei men pa for r llr n their place and a frud olhe l of this kind It I worn from 11 > uuo lot iiooo The tall after having wen landed In a district is kept in a bonded warehouse and the government htc the prices It makes a profit on every tale until the J r tall roaches the hamU of the retail dealer It has the right to Increase the prices and there undoubtedly be arise a-rise in till respect on noon at this war U over During late years the kovetmneiit Income In-come Item Hit hat I cn less than len million dollars a year lul I I was told that there had been i great deal ol Healing on the part ol I the commissioner ere and that it ought to bring In fully twice a < muchaii does I me tain should be colCvtcd by loielRiicrt Instead In-stead of by Chinese us Is I possible incase In-case of n lorelgn leas the salt renue will be doub nd At pic lent lIe marine cuttams are rllect hy forelynert under un-der an inkvlt I inspector getter I Sir Robert llrl All uf the olnciil get high talnrieJ but since they look charge ol blue eustunu they have tripled the receipt re-ceipt Irom hem to ihe governnunl The tame would be the result II hey had charge of the u er tune o the country The > ov rt intent wcM net all the money iiwal of one half ol it going as tellings to Ihe Cniese otli ciilt who collected it If Chun In fact was under tile lmullon of a foreign for-eign government it would tc n M one ol the Idlest of countries IS vet R slight has t upon it many millions of nronle would I net a vat venom tirf revenue lairs coul 11 l I be put iixm many things without the peop e really t knew II m that they were razed I be lew they would I spend being covernw bv forelgntis without I much trouble till though Ihe olhilalt and the robin would object the people night be glad ol lie I banie X NOH Tatiatue At present China does lethe le-the moil expensive ay leveling cuss ttn tit let as much as It doe lone There are no rah mils lluougli the thickly settled part ol ihe country and you bite lo lake a house boat and a crt v f you wish logo from one place to another II you travel by laud il is inn hlnesen within extra cart o carry tour baggage and II yon want bedding you must carry it with yoi It took eight sal on in filing me from Peking to rien1 bin anill I had to pay len dollars for the use of the boat I In audition lo my rook ig and eating Pekiii is just j about ninety miles from lienruin and the nip all told cost about l fifteen dollars by boat and took three days lip cart It cost me twenty In live dollars l lie two towns aie no fur er apart than New Turk and Ihila delphla The fare betHccn these cities on a lirttclast passenger tram is I think two dollars and u is made In a little lest I than three hours The tart trip to Peking requires two das or more and you have to spend one night tills Chinese inn where IOU bleep on Ihe stone Door and cook jour own meals One of the meant ol raising money which the government ol China will have will be the granting ul Cue gem lancet Ions brute liulluinit oti inroads I between points like Hen1 sin and Peking Such concessions would undoubtedly pty well and ll may be that Whaiinn Hat her if f he will get some abler linn than Count Mltklewiei lu represent him could now put through his scheme lor t lh establishing a gteit chmetu national bank and the ounding of railroads in the celestial empire Ul this however and 1 ol the chances Ion American capital capi-tal In China I will write In another letter nI C 1 f i CMtt s la |
