The Hickman courier., 1872-11-09
China.

OTk NllOlll AUlfld- w tlG GllGCG luAI
the Chinese Government has declar-
( ed its intention of siding with Corea
in the event Of the present dispute
between that country and japan
ending in an open rupture, gives an
/ additional interest TO the inquiry,
in what state of preparation would
a war find the Chinese forces at the
present time? From an article
which appeared In a reeeat number
of the Reuue des Deun Hondes, by Nj.
Ciiauel. the superintendent of the
Foochow arsenal, and from various
notices contained in some OF the
later issues of the 0epland China
NAL, we gather The foliowing par
ticulars on the subiec
Like al the rest Ct the world
China has, during th9.last few years,
been arming rapidly -
At the present moment the Gov
ernment has under its orders force
Of $4,000 men armed with Enfield
aud Remington rides, and drilled on
the European model by European
officers, supplemented by thirty
field and mountain batteries. At
Shanghai, Marking, Foochow, and
Tien- tsin, arsenals and dock-yards
have been established under foreign
superintendent, where the manu-
facture of guns, powder, and rifle,
and the construction of ships ofwar,
have for some time been actively
carried on. AtFochow 2, 500 Chinese
artisans work under the esuperintend-
ence of seyenty-hve Europeans, and
have so far become skilled at their
labor as to be able to build and
tit up three steamers a year. Five
men-of&ar have already been'
launched from the dock-yard at
Shanghai, and at the present mo-
ment there are two iron dispatch
boats and sister frigate to the one
Just launched On the stocks at that
place. Besides these, large iron
steamer is to be built, measuring 220
feet III length, and of 1,300 tons in
burden, and also a fleet of sailing
transports.
If we turn to the coast defences,
we find an equal degree Of activity,
notably in the neighborhood of the
capital and on the approaches there
to. The Taku forts, " hich proved
so fatally destructive to our gun
boats in 1869, and which offered
such a firm resistance to the allied
armies in the following year, have
been completely rebuilt, and the old
fashioned native smooth bore guns
been displaced by rified cannon of
foreign manuafacture The compar-
atiyeiy harmless forthicatiors at the
mouth of the Peh-tang River have
been made into formidable works,
while along the coast connecting.
these twd96rtifed pllces, as well as
above and below them, a series of
rihe-pits have been dag. The road
between Taku and Pekin has been
raised, and made available for the
rapid transfsss Isas ',asa W, ,.,aa a
terial, and half way between the
former place and Tien-stin forti
fed camp has been constructed and
armed with five Krupp guns. These
military reforms, however, appear on,
" in the Nighborhood of the prin-
cipal ports and of Pekin. Else
where, in Kweichow, Yunnan, and
the northwestern provinces, the
Nian-tsze aud MoLammedan rebels
have to contend with forces armed
and drilled after the manner of
their forefathers.
A correspondent writing from the
first-named province, gives an ac-
count of the melancholy condition
of the troops who are supposed to
be there engaged IN combating the
Main-tsze OF the hume erous battal-
ions returned by the General as full
ly manned, the merest skeletons only
exist in reality. The pay issued to
those actually serving is uncertain
and various N kind. Sometimes,
but very rarely, It is represented by
specie; at other times rice is given
as an equivalent, and often the men
are sent away from the pay-ofice
empty handeded. The natural re-
suits follow. Powder is to be bought
for two pence a pound in the streets
of Kwei-yang Foo, and matchlocks
are offered at sometimes less than
two shillings a piece. These are
constantly purchased and repurchas-
ed by the General who thus sue
ceeds in satisfying the wants of his
men at the same time that he gains
to himself credit for buying military
stores at a remarkably cheap rate.
Mr. Cooper, in bis book of travels,
gives much the same account of the
Imperial forces operating in the
province of Yunnan.