Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-06-01
SURPRISING SHANGHAI.

SURPRISING SHANGHAI.
The Interesting International Republic
OF the Far East.
AN AN6Lo-AMER1cAN COMMUNITY AND IT'S LrfE-
THREE KINDS OF POLICE AND THEIR DUTIES
THE SOCIAL LIFE or sHANaHAI-fINR SPORTS
SOMETHING ABOUT THE CHINESE CONCESSIONS.
From THE Stars Travelling Commissioner
Truly, the stay-at-homc is ignorant of many
| things. Who would have supposed, for in
stance, that in journey embracing the gran
deur Of the Rocky mountains, the charm Of ia
pan, the far-off life of Russian Tartary, the I'M
known interior of Korea the Celestial capital,
and the wall Of China, the greatest surprise
would be saved for the first sight of Shanghai
Yet SO it was was writing below as we
steamed up the Hwang-po river, and did not
| come on the deck Of the Hae-an till five min
utes before we anchored. ThenI could hardly
believe my eyes. had expected another port
like Tlentsin or Yokohama, a busy waterfront
with row Of offices and warehouses, and
small town Of foreign houses at the back. In
stead of that, saw magnificent city sur
rounding broad and crowded river. True, the
| magnifcence is only skin-deep. so to speak, all
the architectural beauty and solidity OF Shang-
hal being spread out along the river, but l am
speaking only of the first sight of Shanghai,
and In this respect it is superior to New York,
lar ahead OF San Francisco, and almost as i'm
posing FOR the moment as Liverpool itself.
A BROAD AND BEAUTIFULLY-KEPT BOULEVARD,
called, OF course, "The Bund," runs round the
| river. with row of well-grown trees and
grass plat at the waters edge, and this bund is
lined on the other side from one end to the
M 10 hui IN
OF their kind in the world-the 'hongs" of
Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., Russell & Co.,
Sassoon, Glib, Livingston & Co., Butterfield Il
Swire, the Hongkong and Shanghai bank, the
Chartered Bank of India, the Chartered Mer-
camille bank, the New Oriental bank, the fine
buildings of the Masonic hall and the Shanghai
club. and the only piece of Chinese architect
ure, the temple-like entrance to the customs
house. At the upper end of the bund large
patch OF green shows the public garden, where
the Dand plays on summer evenings. At night
all Shanghai is bright with the electric light,
and its telegraph poles remind you of Chicago.
believe l counted nearly hundred wires on
one pole opposite the club. And the needed
touch OF color Is added to the scene as you
look at 1t from on deck by the gay flags of the
mail steamers and the consular bunting float
ing over the town.
THE FIRST SIGHT OF SHANGHAI,
however, is only its first surprise. As was
| rolling away to the hotel the 'rickshaw coolie
turned on to the right-hand side of the road.
instantly familiar figure stepped off the side
walk and shook warning finger, and the coolie
swung back again to the left side. 1t was
policeman. no semi-Europeanized Monaghan,
languidly performing a misunderstood duty
as had seen elsewhere, but the genuine home
article, helmet blue suit. silver buttons regu-
iation boots. truncheon and adjust "bobby."
And his uplifted finger turns the traffic to the
left IN Shanghai precisely as it does in front of
Mansion hO1lSa A lrn1 t-or do
| farther on there was a fash OF scarlet in the
sun and there stood a second astonishing
hgure-a 6-foot copper-colored Sikh, topped
by huge red turban. and clad also in blue and
armed with the same truncheon, striding SOL
EMMY by on his beat.
CHINESE POLICE.
Then we pass the Chinese policeman, with
MS little saucer hat of red bamboo and his
white CATERS, swinging a diminutive staff, re-
duced and rather comical replica of his big
English and Indian comrades. Then az we
cross the bridge into the French Concession-I
| am ON my way to the French hotel-here is
positively the sergeant de viLe, absolutely the
same as you see him in the Place de lOpera-
peaked cap, waxed moustache. baggy red
trousers, saber and revolver And beyond him
again is the Frenchifed Chinese policeman. In
TACT, Shanghai Is guarded municipality by no
fewer than six distinct species of policemen
English, Sikh, Anglo-Chinese, French, Franco
aliu tie lOHS-legSeu mounted SlknS on
sturdy white ponies who clank their long swords
around the outskirts of the town. and carry ter
ror into the turbulent Chinese quarters.
MODERN SHANGHAI
is divided, like ancient Gaul into three parts
The English settlement the American settle
ment called Hongkew and the French Con
cession." The latter is the word used by the
French themselves. believe without much to
justify it. Three creeks divide these commu-
mites from each other, Yang Kingpang, Soo-
chow creek. and Defence creek, between the
| English settlement and China. One wide thor
oughfare, called 1.-THE Maloo," runs through
Shanghai out past the race course and the
horse bazaar into the country, and along this
| In the afternoon there is a stream of ponies
| and smart carriages and pedestrians and even
| bicyclists 1t is the Rotten Row of Shanghai.
leading to the Bubbling Well, and Jessfeld
and to the one country drive the community
| possesses. But in truth there is not much
country" about it, the environs Of Shanghai
being fiat and ugly and covered with grave
mounds as thickly as the battleields round
Gravelotte.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
Shanghai dubbed itself long ago the "Model
Settlement" Then a noble English globe
trotter came along and afterward described it
In the house of lords "a sink of corruption +"
Thereupon very witty consul suggested that
in future it should be known as the Model
Sink" For my own part 1 should not grudge
1t the first title for it is one of the best gov
erned places municipality, at any rate SO far as
the Anglo-American quarters are concerned,
that have ever known. The French live apart
under their own municipal council, presided
over and even dismissed at pleasure, by their
own consul The English and Americans coalesce
in an elected municipal council of nine men,
bers, with an elected chairman at its head And
short stay in Shanghai is sufficient to show
how satisfactorily this works. The roads are
perfect, the traffic is kept under admirable
direction and control, the streets are quiet and
orderly, and even the coolies are forbidden to
push their great wheelbarrows through the for
eign settlement with ungreased wheels.
COMMUNITY OF NATIONS.
The third surprise of Shanghai does not dawn
upon you Immediately. 1t is a republic-a
community of nations, self-governed and prac-
tically Independent, for it snaps its fingers DO
litely at the Chinese authorities or discusses
any matter with them upon equal terms, and it
does not hesitate to differ pointedly in opinion
from its own consuls when it regards their ac
ton as unwise or their interference as unwar
ranted Over the Chinese within its borders
the municipal council has no Jurisdiction. In
the "Maloo" there is magistrates Ydn,en. and
there the famous "mixed court" sits every
morning, the Chinese magistrate and one of the
foreign consuls in turn. All natives charged
with offenses against foreigners or foreign law
are dealt with there, petty criminals being pun