Show hwang ho called chinas cainas Ch inas sorrow river has cost millions of li lives ves and millions in wealth free pared by Nallon Hl geographic 9 society ashi D V C service I 1 I 1 japanese military forces have advanced westward lu in dehol bringing the upper hwang ho flo or yellow aler of china closer to international complications life on the tortuous stream has gone on in its own able way the hwang iio ho Is one of the most extraordinary rivers 0 of the world its disastrous flooding has cost the chinese millions of lives and millions in wealth through the destruction of homes and farm lands and because of this it has earned such titles as chinas cainas Ch inas sorrow the ungovernable and the scourge of 0 the sons of ilan iian at times it has changed its course over as much us its miles in a single flooding beagon se itson today it empties in to 0 the yellow fellow sea north of the shan tung rung pen peninsula but before 1852 18 ia it de bouchee bou clied its loess laden waters through a channel south of that peninsula it Is the second largest river in china yet in all its course from its headwaters head naters high up in the kanlun range in tibet all along its 2500 mlle mile path to the sea it Is not navigable for steamships or other deep draft craft its course Is alternately either too swift and broken by tur bultot rapids or widens and becomes become too 0 0 s shallow h 1 v and d 11 filled led with sand band bars bar oloti to t 0 allow a il 0 w the ie use of large bonts boats cut but over some miles of its course as it winds through hansu province and along the edge of inner mongolia from to plies an interesting raft traffic that has been carried on for centuries chinese literature confirms the fact that here the earlier sons of ilan han 2000 years ago were using sheepskin and rafts identical with those which one finds in use today there are two types of rafts one using as buoys inflated sheepskins sheep skins and the other large which are stuffed with wool and then tied up to keep them watertight water tight the sheepskin rafts vary in size according to the use for which they are intended ranging from as few as 12 or 15 skins on the small one man rafts to ns as many as in the large freight rafts for the large 0 x hide rafts some hides are used before being used the raw are treated on the inside with salt and oil to preserve and waterproof them as well as keep them flexible r 6 air filled sheepskins Sheep skins keep this hwang ho raft afloat raw hides cost about 10 in the local currency gold and tire are considered about twice as valuable after they have been properly prepared consequently the large freight rafts are often valued at as much as GOO gold but the hides are useful as buoys for three years and are then sold in the market for shoe leather rafts easily made raft making Is a comparatively easy task to a simple framework of poles lashed securely together are fastened th the hides or sheepskins sheep skins even the stuffing of the hides bides with tibetan wool Is a simple process but when it comes to inflating SOO sheepskins sheep skins on one raft before a voyage that Is a job I 1 without doubt the industrious rafts men can make strong claim tor for the record in the windiest win diest of all ship launchings the navigation of the rafts in the down river trade Is entirely in the hands of the Afos moslem lern chinese who form a considerable percentage of the population of the hansu district lite life Is not easy on the rafts with all the contrasts of heat find and cold and the strenuous labor indol involved ed in manipulating the clumsy transports through the rapids or in freeing them once they have stranded on a sand bar but these hardy craftsmen rafts men are a happy and friendly lot the great irregular S shaped portion of the course of the hwang flo through hansu and mongolia over which the rafts operate Is carved tor for a large part of the way through the extensive loess plain region here and in the wel wei valley whose tributary waters are gathered unto the hwang awang ho about 40 miles west of hanchow Lan chow was the cradle of the chinese race but through the centuries great quantities of loess or sandy foam loam have been blown across these lands submerging numerous cities and making desert many wide areas which were once fertile farming districts this yellow loess carried in suspension in the water has given the river and the yellow sea their names today there are only a few fertile localities in the hwang ho flo valley such as those around hanchow and these are intensely cultivated oases that have been kept productive through irrigation and in their dla I 1 tracts raft 1 carry on considerable lo 10 cal transport of vegetables dates wa ten ter melons and grain to the city mar bets the long distance freighting con on the large rafts however Is largely devoted to transport of quantities of wool skins hides bides find and other produce of the tibetan region down to the caravan center and rall railhead hend village 0 of f whence these articles of commerce can be sent by rail to and ultimately find distribution to world markets the majority of 0 the largo cargo rafts start star t frow from some ome distance upstream on the ho flo a tributary of the hwang llo but to these are also added other cargo which leaves from the important caravan center of hanchow Ijan Lan chow that lies on the historic old silk road between china turkestan Turk estan and the west hard work up stream the rafts can be managed with comparative para tive ease as they float downstream but their great resistance and their clumsiness make it practically impossible for them to be poled upstream even in quiet water they are taken apart at the end of the voge and the skins are carried back overland to the place ot of departure in the springtime as aa soon as the tee ice has cleared from the river which Is frozen from the end of Nov november emier to the beginning of 0 march the rafts are assembled buoys stuffed with wool no doubt originated through the scheme of crafty craftsmen rafts raft men to bootleg wool past the customs officials and thereby escape duty today although the authorities ties know that it will be sold at the end of the trip the wool still rides on down to pi escaping all of the tolls and duties imposed on the other cargo cargoes loaded farewells said the rafts push oil off on the first of the two journeys that are made each year they slip past water wheels that line the aler banks which are raising water to the thirsty fields in the hanchow region then past I 1 the he cites walls and under the only steel bridge that spans the river tor for many hundreds un of miles some fifteen miles below hanchow Lan chow where the village of la Is perched on a rocky cliff the current Is swift and all hands are called to man the large tillers as the rafts head down through the granite gorges gorge where the river makes an abrupt curve curva and then follows a northwesterly course all the way downstream to chung wel the craftsmen rafts men must navigate through rapid after rapid below Chung wel the course widens as it enters the and except for the passage through the fertile district around Ning sla becomes a ma monotonous noton passage through desolate yellow wastes all the way to grilling voyage the great loop around the ardol desert Is a slow grilling voyage during the summer months when tho sun throughout the day beats down relentlessly in a blinding glare on the th water and on the shimmering sand banks the craftsmen rafts men share the tasks ot of guiding the craft repairing punctured skins releasing the ungainly floats when stranded on sand bars a and cooking their meager meals on d deck after weeks on the way everyone eve Is glad when the rafts are brought safely to the journeys end the caravan town sprawls on a barren dun colored bIll hillside sIde of sand some little distance from the river low squat adobe and brick buildings line the narrow streets and winding alleys that find outlet through the guarded gateways of the rambling city walls caravansaries Caravan saries sarles and homes are concealed behind closed gateways and high earthen walls here in the bazaars and la in the cases of itinerant venders benders ven ders the rafts men find many oddments of western produce tor for which they can bargain to take back to their families trains that come whistling out to this outpost bring many things from and neiping marts that are not readily available farther inland at lasts last when all of the cargoes have been turned over to the wool and hide merchants the rafts are taken apart and the hides folded up and packed ou on donkeys or camels for the long journey home by caravan |