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Show CHINA'SGREAT WALL Wonder of World Is Literally Wall I or Blood. For Tweney-One Centurlai It Hat Remained Re-mained tne Most Amazing Construction Con-struction of H'jTan Hands Builder's Name Cursed. rekln llest known by repute of nil the wonders of the wor'd. the gre.il wall of china has remained for "I centuries the most nma.in corn-true-titm of human hands. Itulned ami broken a It Is, It Is clear at llrst sight that the amount of human labor required to build this majestic barrier Is without parallel 011 earth. Fifteen hundred miles long, with additional loops that add another 1 o n) mil. h, there were originally L'i.0"0 watch tocrs upon It. The wall wan built at the end of the third century before Christ by the lirM, nnd perhaps the pteate-t. of all j Chinese emperors. Che 1 1 w ang te. prince of Thin, Mlcieeded as a boy to the throne of a comparatively nnall kingdom and at once began to put Into a elate of order and defence a territory tint long had been allowed to tb gt derate Into n mere prey to an- j liual northern invaders, Alter it few ' yearB the young king assumed the ! fctyle of empctor cud organized Union Un-ion es of what for the tir-1 time In history was China I'or he at once gave to the whole of this new empire the name of his own small state Ik-then Ik-then mart bed out against the Tar tars, his leieilltary and peretnilal enemies In the north. After routing these marauding pests he was re failed for the usual oriental need of . -- - . , V- . 'V,, huiAf'ir v: J n Section of Great Wall of China. crushing out the seeds of rebellion at home. It was probably In order that he should not ugaln find himself thus J between two enemies that he conceived con-ceived the gigantic defense of which the larger part remains to this dsy. I 1'ndeterred by the magnitude of the task and the terrible loss of life that Its construction must Involve, Che Hwang te gave the word and the huge structure slowly forged Its way from many centers at once along the entire northern boundary of what was then the Chinese empire. Che-l (wangle (wang-le enlisted the workers In many ways and from many quarters. Some of his press gang work was hardly cred ltablo, for It Is on record that the mere (mssesslon of a book condemned the wretched owner to four cur' hard labor on the wall. Hut as the Chinese proverb has It: "The annihilation of one Kenerntlon haa proved the salvation of others," and for many centuries the great wall served Its purpose well. Disappointment generally awaits the mortal who has heard much about some celebrated object snd does visit It; so seldom do'-s the reality come up to expectation. lint tie great wall Is not overrated, lie- 1 hold It by starlight or moonlight, gnie on It In twilight or In sunlight; view It through the haze of a dust fog. or the spindrift of a rain shower, or between the flakes of a snowstorm, ever Is the wall one great, gray, gaunt. Kill specter of the past, cresting crest-ing the mountain peak or reposing In the shady valley. So vast Is It that perhaps alone of all man's handiwork I It could be discerned from the moon. So vast Is It that were Its material disposed around the earth at the equator they would provide a wsll eight feet high and three feet thick. When we reflect on tht labor needed need-ed to erect It we tilowly divine the toll exattel from countless thou- ' sands, the sweat and tears and blood that must l.ave been rl.d ami we are prepared to hear that after two millennia mil-lennia the name of Che Is cursed all a'ong the wall by the defendants of tho" who were driven to the hateful task, mho labored In d-atl ly fear lest when flefta and blood failed to respond re-spond to the taskmaster's peourire, flesh and blood should be hurled Into the mass of concrete to provide mote material for the all devouring monster. mon-ster. It is wall of blood! |