The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1893-01-18
LETTER FKoM CHINA.

We are permitted to copy the following ex-
tracts from letter from Francis W. Davis to the
family of his wife, Mrs. Lydia Lord Davis. In
this city.
Having written of his removal from his late
location he gives his therefor as follows:
Why we GO. Because we are tired We get
tired as other people do. Besides the condl-
tions here are more trying than at home to
brain workers. The high altitude, over 3.OoO
feet (no ore knows exactly the extreme dry
ness, the rainfall last year and the two pre-
vious years was probably not over is inches
and it mostly fell in two months. July and A ug-
ust The annual rainfall in Ohio is about 4U
inches 1 imagine; the dusty and filthy condl-
tion of the streets and the same conditions OBJ
tain outside the city in large measure, espec-
tally the dust; the unpleasant and tiresome in
tercourse with the Chinese; this arises from
the extreme curiosity of the Chinese. like un
civilized people. manifesting itself by looking
in at windows gazing when foreigners are on
the street, calling foreign devil after us, and
the difficulty of buying and selling with the
Chinese on civilized principles; then while the
board makes quite liberal appropriations for
our houses, yet after ALI our houses are very
largely Chinese in materials and construction.
which makes them less comfortable and invit-
irg than a foreign built house of the same cost
in building They are largely without cellars.
owing partly to the porous nature of the soil
and the fact tn at the Chinese, caring little or
nothing for convenience and having little or
no use for cellars, have not Euilt them; there is
one on the place where we live, originally built
for shop or store in the house yari, two or
three steps from the door, which is 16 feet deep
reached by well 2K feet square lined with
brick having little holes left in the sides for the
feet SO that man can ascend and descend as a
man can a we'll stoned up as wells are in New
England At the bottom is an arched chamb er
at the side about 10x6 feet and Z feet high; in a
dry season this has been good place to keep
potatoes and other things. but SO difficult of
access that half its usefulness is destroyed,
though By means of tackle made by the Chi
nese under my direction and with my help a
box hangs in the well which or the cook can
hoist at meal time or when wanted and keep
things warm in winter and cool in warm wealth
er; then too as Lydia has told you before sup
pose. the house having no outlook, being: sur
rounded by high walls or itself it being con-
tra-y to law and custom to cut windows or
doors into neighbors court through the wall
which separates the two whether it be your
house wall or a division wall.
Where we go. To a valley called Zu tao no
meaning valley road river, distant from Fen
cho fu city about 25 Ii or or miles. We live
in an unoccupied flour mill unused for some
years. The mill proper is single room about
so feet long. 2U feet wide. 10 feet high at the
caves and 16 at the ridge pole. The roof is en-
tirely supported by beams about II inches in
diameter. These beams are supported at the
ends by posts imbedded in wall partly mud
and partly brick The first four feet at the
bottom appears to be solid brick wall about
1s inches thick; it may be. probably is. only a
two faced wall filled with mud, broken bricks
etc. Above to the caves is brick wall as thick
as brick is wide. little over inches, and on
the inside entirely mud. The mud is shansi;
beats Ohio, not in its consistency or its treach-
cry. but in its abundance. depth and universal
use. 1t varies according to the amount of sand
gravel lime, salt. nitre, feldspor. ETC., but 1
have never seen any that the Chinese could not
till or build walls ofhouses with. We find it as
good soil 5000 feet above the plain in "a gorge
from 100 to 1000 feet deep it is sometimes nea rly
just the same except in temperature and water.
In a wet year. the present, think good crops of
grain could be raised on the tops of some of
the highest mountains. The Chinese cultivate
their land almost universally in level patches
even on the sides of mountains by terracing
the hill or plain in width and height above each
other. Where the land is as level as prairie
the fields are frequently divided by difference
in level Of foot or two. The land is very ac-
curately graded by the irrigating bitches run
ning from streams and wells where these are
available. The land when irrigated is divided
into minute parallelograms perhaps 10 feet by
2 wide. These lay side by side. dirt wall
inches high bounding them with an alley or
ditch for water and path for walking between
the tiers.
We live about half way from the mouth of the
valley to the source of the river in several
springs gushing out of the bottom of the valley
at the foot of the mountains There is aline of
mills during the whole distance from 80 Ito a.
rods apart, as near. in some cases 1 should
say too near as t o avoid hindering the water
wheels by the back water from the mills below
There is no attempt to store water in reservoirs
the stream being never failing and varying but
little in its average flow between dry years or