The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-04-09
LAND OF GOLD LEAF.
A Thousand Niles on an Ele-
plant in the Shan States.
THE GOLD FIELD OF ASIA.
Psassrsting Little Known Land IN
Search al Markets Tor Manufactures
"A Kemaace In Trsac.


New YORK Kvening Post
shut out from the markets Of Europe and
North America by rrchibisory tariffs, and
depressed by oveYrroduction. the british
manufactures Is ever searching for and
developing new markets for his machine
made goods As the seaboArd and nass-
gsose rivers OF the world give access 70 only
limited areas for commerce, the railway
must Be built TO open the great populoas
and iaad-locked interiors OF continents.
Cheap means Of communication must be
provided for those areas nov shut OF by
the prohahitive cost Of carriage, IL COM
aerce is TO advance and civilization over
spread the earth.
With characteristic British rluck ana
persistence. Mexsrs. A. Il. Co'qnhcun and
Holt 3. Hallet have since 1851 devotes
themselves TO practscing what their British
fellow countrymen 50 continually preach,
and have sought out railway routes be-
tween India and China. The Natsos. has
already reviewed Mr.. Coiquhonn's books,
ACROSS chrvse' THAT Is from Canton,
China. 10 Mandalay in upper Rnrmahl
ard amongst the Shans.' Mr.. Holt :. Hal
let like his fellow-traveier. surveyor. and
patriotic knight OF trade, has long been i'm
esd. Suvarens- Bami.or whatever elseSankrit
ssroek, Latin, British or other authors NAV
cali the peninsula between China and In
dia il is certainly what Mr. Colauhonn
names 1t, "fhc veritahle gold field al Asia
No wonder that Lady Dufferin, in her book.
''0ur Nice-regal Life in India" just fresh
from the press, writes that at Mandesay
she was tired Of gold II never conceived
- a. S..F
perstand IL all at once" To unite ths
people of India and China. = total popuis-
tion OF 7oo.ooo0U sculs-one-half Of
that is the British engineers
dream. The problem Is TO bring the
British machine-made goods TO their doors
at price below that Of their hand made
manufactures. I'VE are a nation OF shop
keepers. and il Is by trade that we i've" Is
the legend on Mr.. HaiIet's hsg. To get
the Msulmain route of iron rails extended
into Central China. ut chupg-King in
Sx-chuen province. and into honthsastern
China at Pak-hoi. and thus 70 See the rail.
way from the Persian Gulf to the sea OF
Japan completed through Chinese. Siamese
and British territory before the French get
a chance in the peninsula, Is the aim OF our
authors life. Hence, bis work Is less fssci-
mating hook Of travels and adventure than
another campaign document in favor Qf =
stalwart policy OF trade with "ali tho
Chinas." Nevertheless. apart from its In
tercst as bulletin OF advancing civillza-
ton and journal full Of the element Of
personal adventure. II comes into notable
touch with an American interest Mr..
Hailet's dedication il worth transcribing.
especially since his guides, Interpreters,
and fcllow-travellers were American mis-
sionaries. ITO the American missionaries
in Burmah. Siam and the Shan states,
dedicate this book, as q mark OF the high
esteem in which / bold the noble work the
American Baptist mission and the Ameri-
can Presbyterian mission arc accomplish.
ing in civiiixing and christianiElng tho peo-
pie OF Indo-China"
Having by long practice mastered the
difficult art Of surveying from an elephants
hack. Mr.. Hallet started on his journey OF
1000 miles or more. on the ed OF January
tiss5, II We conjecture Alright. for year dates
are notably scarce). and finished IL on June
% at Bangkok. His trip was from Maui
main TO Maingloongee. to Manng Haut, 10
kiang Hsen, to Lakon. 10 Zimme. TO Eah-
eng, 10 Bangkok 1--WE give only the main
points, and was full of interesting
incident voracious seeker for in
formation, good questioner. having
the eye OF an engineer, stasistician.
merchant. and trained traveller, withai OF
splendid physical powers and fun of kindly
sympathy aud humor, his book, In it's con-
tents. reminds us OF a successful hunters
gaIne-bag. IL is gorged to repetition with
facts. figures. observations. legend, story,
incident and anecdote. One learns the
full gamut OF an elephants tricks. though
the ways of the supple heather are some
what more mysterious. Evidently the
author kept the missionary guides busy In
answering questions. and putting them
for the quessioner to the natives. The
customs, manners, habits. morals, re-
sources of the people are described
in detail The ruins of old cities. the
deserted localities devastated By war. tina
local mythology and legend, are duly
noted. and the history and traditions Of
each place dlgested for US. OF the work
of the missionaries The author is an APP
preciasiye critic. He shows that the Kar-
ems and spiritworshiping tribes are easily
converted TO Christianity by pcrsevering
teaching. but that the Buddhists are sn-
sracsable. The manufactures and indus
trial habits OF the people were especially
studied. They are good metal workers.
and the Shan states may he called the land
OF gold leaf. so IavlsLiy In this article laid
upon idols. pagodas and works OF art
In short. the book Is an encyclopedia OF
information about the shans. with CON-
parative remarks about the Burmese and
Ssamsse.