The morning call., 1892-12-30
n THE YAMEN.
A Talk With Ii Hung
Chang.
ArIEREcAN INTERESTS ABROAD
The Asiatic Question as Ii Affects
the Affairs of the United
States.

AIsndHtekHu bOI1tI Qucstlou au0 u LII
Hung Chang?" re-echoeo Messrs. Allen
and Sachtleben, the round the world
cyclists. to a CALL representatives queries
in the Occidental Hotel last evening.
AT first they eyed one another hesitEting-
iy, and then frankly explained that they
were presently going TO publish book
which was to be addressed not specially TO
bicycIists but to the American public gen.
orally.
''Y on must understand we were not tray
cling as mere bieyclists." said Mr.. Allen.
"0uT bicycles were merely the means &C al
tain an end. That end was study OF the
United States in its position to the world.
The Afghanistan border question is, more
widely speaking. the Asiatic question, IN
which ali Europe is involved. But we made
another important discovery, and that is
that the United States also viii be involved !;
and we have such material collected TO sup
port that statement that we deem ii worth
publication.
.'In Russia we found the Afghan border
question the ali-absor6ing topic of the peo-
ajle. and we stayed there some time study
inE the question as 1t affects US as Ameri-
cans.
I'VE made some remarkable discoveries
as well as having some valuable ideas given
us by the russians
. Hitherto we had been under the placid
impression, which. we think, Is COMMON to
ali nnlraveleG Americans. and 10 many
.unthlnktng travelled ones, that We were a
thing apart from all other nations, exempt
from their strifes and cares.
Wei, we have changed our minds now
and will seek to persuade others TO change
theirs when we publish our discoveries.
Sentimental consideration Oh, dear
n m To l.a1 rof If1as-
Then. again, we have slipped enough
from the cup OF knowledge TO induce US to
drink again more deeply, and we purpose
10 visit Russia again very shortly 10 pursue
deeper studies of this AsiatIc question IN its
relation to the United States
MANY things were told us by high1tns-
sian officials, which we pledged ourselves mt
to repeat, and III telling you some things you
might shape your report OF the conversation
in such way as TO get us into ditfiedlties,
or al least par our progress on our return.
We can tell you this much about Russia
Every word uf your interview will be Tor
warded there tran slated, printed and dis
tributed over cur trail, SO please write eau
tInus1y"
:: Now let'sgo upstairs and we'll talk about
Ii Hung Chang much as you please, :"
said Mr.. SaehtleDeH.
Between the two Of them they kept up q
bright and interesting flow Of descriptive
experiences
when we arrived at Tisntsin the great
Eiesroy OF China. Ii Hung Chang, sent
woro through our consul. Mr.. Bowman. that
he wJnId like 60 meet Us
as we hRe fully intended to try to meet
him we were only too delighted 20 accept
the invitation.
''At the hour appointed we were earrisd
on fn sedan chairs 10 mis- yanIeu or com
blned official andtpriyate- residence. In this
building he has rooms specially furnished
and. arranged IN foreign style for the .Feeep-
ton OF foreigners, official and private; whom
he has constantly to meet
THE yamen was filed with the usual
crowd OF 'ragtag and b0btaiY. which eensti-
tute the retinue and bpdyguard OF Chimes Sc
mahdaTlns. Proceeding through tle court
yard We entered the house. and were
received and LED into The reception-rOOms by
the Iceroy' 81 son. This Young man has a
MI: Tenney, al American, as his tutor. and
speaks English fluently, being well-in-
formed intelligent y0nng fellow.
3: After some little time devoted to bril-
liant series of clever questions from the
young. man on our experiences. the great
Aiceroy was announced. lIeI me try to
make q pen picture of him.
tie is tai, thin man of about 20 years
OF age, with snakeD cheeks and high cheek
Danes. over which glitter sanaeD buf bright
aud piercing eyes. lie has q stoop IN his
shoulders and walked into the room with
feeble siep, and had 10 be assisted up out OF
his chair By aseryaRE when lie arose to BID
us ad{eu.
I'VE sat at table. he at the mead, we two
on either side OF him, while his son and Mr..
Ienney sat opposite MN and Interpreted.
Tor The Niceroy does not speak EEgiish
Rsireshment was given US literally IL the
silRpe Of champagne.
His dress was that Of high Chinese
n mandarin, with the usual buttons and
Insignia Of his rank.
There was nothing sHmptuous or mag
nj n q ha1 s-F
ings OF the apartments-in fact, we thought
both were rather shabby.
At hrst the receptions was q little stiff and
formal, but during the hour we spent with
hini he developed greater and greater inter
est III his questions and our answers and at
times broke out into hearty laughter.
- In telllgentF should think SO. He is
well informed Oh tile affairs OF the wide
world and takes care. To keep himself in
formed. The country in. which he takes
the greatest interest is Russia, for obvious
reasons connected with Chinese boundary
questions.
THE country in which he takes the least
interest IS the United States. The treat
mem Of Chinese In Amefica is of absolute
sndIf1eTence 10 him, and, en- parenthese. we
may say we found ii so with every. official
IN China. except perhaps few uuimportant {
ones al the coast ports and theirs is very
ephealeral Ii was astounding 10 US Ameri-
cans believing Our Chinese legislative acts
OF paramount importance In China.
lie asked US forty questions in forty
minutes and they were exceedingly difficult
ones t0 answer,
For instance. he asked us IL we had to
buy seats IN our Congress and we had to try
TO explain what we meant by .Ne-tha5 is,
Of course, indirectly,' while his bright eyes
twinKied in silent humor.
: HE managed TO keep ND snch q rafting
series OF questions that we couldn't do
much questioning ourselves, which was
perhaps his Intention, for, wien we asked
II II was true That Russia had made treaty
VIII emma permitting her to appoint con-
suis ID certain Chinese ports. he adruitly
twisted on his answer and rammed in more
questions. -
tie was highly annoyed when wo told
nini Ia answer 10 his uuery on the subiect
OF our treatment through China, that we
nad been obliged through motives ef policy
TO give several performances for different
officials at every town or village we stopped
al. lie made very kind apologies for his
superdtnates and explained that they must
nave thought We had dropped from tie
moon ana the occasion merited curious ex-
animation of our ways.
1--WE made several attemnts To lsaye hut
be gco0-naturediy feigned too great an in
terest TO let us 90 for at least an hour
" iien ne asked US If any ATTEMPTS had
Deen made TO rob US on the journey we told
him frankly that our appearance was al
ways 50 ragged that II would never occur TO
any one to Try. lie was immensely tfckled
a. the picture presented and laughed out
heartily.
Of course he asked us our age. That
IS TIE nrst question every chinaman wants
answered: When we informed him ne was
asionlshed al our youth and, after many
questions interesting themselves In our
lninres ano Intentions In life. bade as adieu
with she fatherly beuedictiop. You are
botn young and can hope for anything
Our general impression OF our visit To ii
Hung Chang and China? Well, we were
deeply impressed with the tiecadeuee of
American trade and influence there. and
are going TO dc our best TO call attention 30
X before both are dead"