Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-07-23
CHINESE SUPERSTITION.

The Rev. Stephen Baldwin has recently
returned from a twenty-years' sojou1n
among the Chinese Methodist Missions.
He is brother in-law of +. A. d. Martin,
of the firm of Martin Il Runyon of Wall
street, this city, and Newark, N. j. At
present the Rev. Mr.. Baldwin is summer
ing with his family at Ocean Grove.
Speaking the other day of the only rail
road China ever had, the remnants of
which are soon to arrive in this port on
the ship Tiber, from Shanghai, he said :
81 don't believe that any foreigner, or,
for that matter, any Americanized Chi
naman, will ever attempt the construc-
tion of railroad in China for the
next fifty years. The Christian re.
ligion has made wonderful ad-
vances during the past twenty years,
among the masses. Turn whatever way
you will you will find that when afiic-
tion or disaster visits the Chinaman's
possessions in his own country he will lay
the blame on the foreigner and his contrI..
ances. The upper classes humor the-
beliefs. To illustrate When this rail.
road was about to be laid, Charles f. Hill
applied to the local governor or tontai, at
Shanghai, for permission to construct his
railroad, and received it. Knowing the
superstitious tendency of the people he had
to deal with, Mr.. Hill started his road from
nowhere in particular, with the intention
of finishing both ends as soon as he he'd
felt the pulse of the people on the question.
He never put on both ends. A severe
storm of wind and rain came up one after.
noon as the men were working, and
destroyed the crops of the farmers in
that locality. Immediately a cry was
raised against the rsilroad, and Nh. Hill
didn't believe he ever could complete the
road The rails lay there until some Eng
ish gentlemen believed that they could
build road between two storms. They
were of the opinion that if the road was
once built the Chinese would become ao-
customed to it. At any rate, they thought
that they would not be compelled to re-
move it. Mr.. Hills was horse railroad,
but the Englishmen were to propel their
cars with steam on narrow gauge road
When work was started at Shanghai to lay
the rails an excited mob gathered about
the laborers. All the arguments which
superstition could devise were tried
upon the coolie lahorers to induce
them to stop work, and, that failing,
denunciations were used. The local
and Imperial Government endeavored
to put a stop to the work. The Eng
lish company put Ia Mr.. Hills charter
and completed the road to Woo Sung, a
distance of sixteen miles. This place is a
fishing village of not the slightest import
ance, at the conference of the Yang-Tse
and Woo Sung rivers. The road ran
through low, level, alluvial tract only a
few feet above the river. The native gar
deners were accustomed to run their wheel
barrows all over this tract, and had cut
narrow canals, through which they could
paddle their boats to the Yang-Pse river.
The company ran locomotives and cars on
the road, but few patronized it. Then the
English company said that they had nc
hope of doing big business on this road
but it was to be the entering wedge of :
network of railroads that would in tim.
connect all the principal Chinese ports
with important interior towns. Several
heavy storms, however, occurred during
the month succeeding the completion
of the railroad, and the Chinese farmers
said the Fung Tsoor, or the spirits of wind
and storm, were terribly enraged. Ar
rangements were entered into between the
LID DpeTlal UONerHlhsn0 anu tie @lil oau Soni-
pany within year after the roads compile
tion, whereby the Government should pay
cost price for it. The spirits were propi-
tiated by the tearing up of the rails, which
were then sent down to Foochow, where |
was then stationed 1t was proposed to
use the rails in road that was to run coal
cars between the mines and the city, but it
was never done. ] don't know what it is
proposed to do with the rails now, but /
suppose American merchants in China have
the same feelisg in reference to the bnild-
ing Of railroads that the missionaries have.
The Christian religion will have to continue
its influence for well on to two generations
before the Chinese Government will think
of allowing railroad to kill its people,
blow cinders into almond eyes, or thrust
softcoal smoke down the Mongolian throat"
New York Sun.