Sharp County record., 1878-09-19
Curious Chinese Vehicles

/ "BpN"l hllCC, COlllOll anu SpGGu VI WulCu
may be imagined if the reader can pic
ture to himself one of the old Bath Sc
lans with the bottom cut short oil, and
then mounted upon a springless clumsy
frame rolling upon two as clumsy
wheels, and drawn by sorry worn-out
mule or pony, over roads to which the
/ application of the name corduroy
would be euphemism. Taking stop
pages, owing to the condition of road,
hunger and thirst of driver and beast, ac-
cldentS, ETC.. into consideration, the speed
at which such a machine would cover
the ground might be handsomely esti-
mated at from five to six miles the hour.
These vehicles are mostly used in North
China, and the gentlemen as well as the
ladies who have the honor of represent
ing European States at Pekin and there
about might, if questioned, be able to
give some very interesting, not to say
melancholy, "reminiscences of their ex
periences of travel after this sort. To
Chinese, however, this sedan-cart, or
cart-sedan, whichever it may be termed,
is quite stylish turnout, mandarins of
the highest grade indulging in their use,
and they may constantly be seen cur
tanned and lined with the finest cloth OF
silk, and cushioned with the softest and
costliest of furs. Their one great lack
is springs, and, curiously enough, the
invention of John Chinaman, practical
as it in most cases, has not compassed
the idea of saving his skin and bones to
this extent, whether as regards the body
or the shafts of the conveyance. An
other wheeled vehicle, equally charac-
teristic but atrocious with the cart
sedan, is the wheeled barrow, or
chotsze." Not any thing like the ma
chine with the terminal wheel and box
like capacity which we are accustomed
to associate with the name; but much
more ingenious conveyance, in which
the passengers sit nearly back to back,
with their faces outward, and legs pend
ant, luggage, etc., cleverly packed
alongside of them. Could an Irish car
be reduced to miniature size, its two
wheels substituted, running under and
between the two seats, and could Chi
naman be placed between the shafts,
face toward the car, and driving it back
ward, the metamorphosis would come
nearer representing the Chinese wheel
barrow than any thing we can describe.
These barrows carry both passengers
and goods and are constructed of two
sizcs-the smaller driven by one man,
and having a carrying capacity of four
passengers or three to four hundred
weight; and the larger, requiring 8
tracker in front, in the shape of man
or donkey, and equal to the conveyance
of double that quantity. Often, in long
Journeys, the passengers for consider
alton get the driver to fit over their
heads hood of oiled paper, stretched
upon bamboo framework, to keep out
the rain and dust and at times the driver
eases his load by planting stanchion
on either side, and making sail, when
the wind proves conducive, thus giving
practical exemplifcation of the truth OF
the lines
- On the barren plains
Of Soricana, where Chinese drive
With sails and wind their way canny wagons
light.
A striking popularity of this class OF
conveyance is the excruciating shrek
which they invariably give vent to when
on the move, owing to the fact that both
axle and box of the wheel are made OF
wood. Chinese passengers appreciate
this music, but it was found so torturing
in the foreign settlement of Shanghai,
that the Municipal Council was compell-
ed to pass a statute forbiddiug the noise,
On pain of forfeiture of the barrow; and
it was always amusing to observe how
careful John Chinaman was to stop his
barrow on entering municipal limits, tilt
it on end, and grease up previously to
venturing upon foreign political terrific
rv. Wheel-barrows like their congene'S,
the carts, are confined to certain tracts
of the country only, and constitute, as
rule, the vehicle of the midland prov
inces. In Shanghai itself they have
been obliged to give way to a great ex-
tent TO the Ginrickshaw," " or man-cart,
a japanese introduction of recent date,
which is light two-wheeled spring gig,
drawn with ease at rapid trot by one
man, and capable of holding two pas,
sengers. The facility of jumping in and
out of this conveyance, and the speed
at which it may be bowled along the
excellent roads of Shanghai, combine to
recommend its use to the shrewd China
man, slow although he be as rule to
take up with new-fangled and foreign
notions. The fares paid to the wheel
barrow drivers are wonderfully low.
Their remuneration depends much upon
the level and condition of road traVersed,
as well as upon the load carried; but a
fair idea of its reasonable character may
be gathered from the fact that one pas,
senger can be conveyed from one end OF
the Shanghai settlements to the other, a