Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-07-17

Crowd of Men and Boys-POliteness of
 the Governor GeneraI-An Apology Tor
 the Persistent Intruders.
 We had sent Wang Fuyeh with our
 passports to the governor general
 Yamen. with instructions to say 1T agree
 able to him we should call and pay our
 respects. and SO far as might be necessary explain the object of our travelling Tn that
 part Of HOuan. We had already been ln-
 formed by young mandarin connected with the Yanen who had crossed the riVer
 with us, that the governor general was
 only temporarily holding the office, that
 he was not we'll and that new governor
 general was expected soon, hence we
 anticipated that it might not be con
 venient for him tO receive us, and in-
 structed Wang Fuyeh 10 say, in that case
 that we wee examining the Yellow river
 and its embankments, and would nke 10
 have passports into the province or Shan-
 tung. together with a guard of policemen
 or soldiers to protect our inn and relieve
 US of the unwelcome attentions Of the
 crowd of men and boys who were gather ing there.
 During the absence of our messenger they continued to collect in the outer court, which was now densely packed, and | to press upon the inner gateway. Finally, through the persistency and activity or the boys in front. and of the pressure or the men behind, and perhaps also through
 the relaxed vigilance of our servants, they succeeded in unhinging the gate and gained admission into the inner court, ] around which ourselves and servants had | been assigned to rooms. The first thing which attracted their attention and seemed | in some degree to satisfy their curiosity, | was Ferguson our big Chinese cook, with his charcoal fire and pots and pans, preparing dinner. This was evidently | rare treat to them, and enabled our men 1 10 hold them in check opposite the kitchen | door, about twelve feet from our own, for perhaps twenty minutes. but during this time the pressure from behind increased, and the inner courtyard which was only l thirty-six feet long by twelve wide, became crowded 10 suffoca- | ton Li Aleck and the three | boys" aided at times by Ferguson, | screamed themselves hOarse and ex- | hausted all their strength in their efforts Co expel the intruders without doing them l bodily harm. Our visitors had but little | to say, but with wide open eyes and gap | ing mouths they pressed each other steadily forward, recoiling whenever the | servants made a threatening rush at | them, and then, as they retreated, edging a little further into the open space just
 outside of our door, which was closed and | covered by a cotton portiere.
 The governor general received our mes 1 senger very politely, but said it would not | be necessary for us to call, unless we had | something important to communicate, and | he would not call on us because he had | sore eyes, but would send one of his man | darins to give us such assistance as we might require He also said he would | send a guard at once. Wang Fuyeh had scarcely finished his report when man darin. wearing the crystal button and pea cocks feather, and clad in silk and furs, made his appearance, accompanied by his 1 Chairmen and retainers, bearing high state umbrellas and spears, and wearing official l hats. and all this state was to bring the | governor generals return cards. After | leaving them he departed hastily, and the | crowd lost no time in pressing into the | inner court and up to our door again. We gathered our servants once more and | drove the crowd back nearly to the street,
 when we were again stopped in the full
 tide of victory by the coming of a still
 more stately mandarin with banners and | umbrellas, and larger and more shOwy
 retinue.
 IL would not do to be caught out of our | quarters or engaged in such an occupation | by a distinguished visitor, so we returned
 10 our room and received him with all the
 state we could assume. On entering he
 bowed and saluted us politely in the usual Chinese way by clasping his hands and
 raising them to his face, and we turned Ia n.
 which we showed him to seat, and 8 | short conversation followed He told us
 that he had been set by the governor gen
 eral, and asked us what assistance we re-
 quired. Being a bright and intelligent
 man, he took in the situation at once,
 aDOlogized for the rOughness of the people of Rafting fu, and said he would explain
 Co them that we meant them no harm, but
 had come on a friendly mission He inti-
 mated, however, that as soon as we were
 rested and had got such supplies as we de-
 sired, we had better resume our journey.
 Before taking his leave he directed one of
 his own attendants to remain with us, and
 he would send a guard without delay to
 drive out our unwelcOme visitors and keep
 order The single man left with us did
 his level best to guard the inner gate and
 hold it against the increasing pressure
 from without, but he was oyerpOwered
 and pressed back like the rest, and finally
 folded his hands in despair. Our servants still stood their ground as best they could,
 but were at last pressed back against our
 door. It was now nearly half past ,. and
 no policemen had yet made their appear
 anCe.
 The most venturesOrne of the crowd had
 gained our windows and begun poking
 holes through the paper panes for the pur- pose of looking in, and thereupon we sal lied out for the last time and went for the
 heathen Chinee in way they were not slow Co understand. Our servants and carters came tO our assistance manfully, and even the solitary policeman plucked up courage tO pitch in By dint of push ing. yelling and gesticulating. aided per
 haps by fear on the part of the crowd, we gradually pushed those in front back upon those in the rear SO vigorously that in the course of ten minutes We had got the court-yards nearly clear. In the midst of our most vigorous onset we found our selves suddenly reinforced by a detach- l ment of six or eight policemen. with the 1 chief of police at their head. and this rein l fcrcemeut was less gentle in it's treatment l of the intruders than we had been; but it |
 was quite noticeable that there was no 1 clubbing. as would have been the case ! with an American mob who would not | move on In few minutes afterward ! we had the courtyard cleared and the ! gates barred. but the crowd still remained l .u the street and made one or two efforts ! Co regain its lost ground, but in vain. In this blOOGless contest men lost their hats and shoes, and the boys were knocked over and tramped upon Ssverel of them cried most lUstily, and there was babel of yelling and shouting. as is generally the ! case with Chinese crowd, but. SO far as we could make out. nobody was angry or inspired by any other motive than that Oi gratifying an unsuitable and ravenous cu- riOsity.-New York sun.