The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1893-02-02
n GREAT Il d


MnmmOth Work,
In an article on ''The Great Wall Of
ohina,H in the current number Of the
Engineering Magasias, the author, John
A. Church, IN engineer who has had
much experience in China, states the
conclusions he has come to from his ex-
aminations of the wonderful wall. The
Chinese, he writes, say that one'third'
Of the whole population was forced to
work on the wall, but that means Of
course the population adjacent to the
wall. Another story-though IT was
completed In ten years-is Incredible,
though it has been carelessly accepted
by some historians
When we regard the character ofthe
work, we see as usual two classes OF
laborers elnployed,-the skilled and un'
skilled, The carrying OF materials was
probably done entirely by men and
women, and an immense amount OF
this crude labor was needed for making
brick, mixing mortar, and tamplng,
Achievements like this are not wonders
full IN China, which was a thioklY popu'
lated country twenty centuries ago,
History says thatRn army OF 100000 or
100000 men was sent to drive the
northern barbarians back and was re-
tanned in the country for the purpose
OF building the wall. No doubt the
available local population was also
pressed into the work.
Such dispositions explain the proyis-
ion Of crude labor, but since my expef,
fence in China have always wondered
where the skilled workmen came from.
Aside from four square feet Of rock sur;
facing for the foundation, there would
be from thirty to forty square feet OF
squarlng and facing IN granite for each
foot OF the wall. l have had this work
done in China. My engine foundations
were OF granite got out OF river houlds
era, as the wall blocks undoubtedly
we're, and after an experience OF the
tedious slownesa OF Chinese workmen |
looked at the wall with great respect, II
must have been n tremendous task to
collect men enough to do this work.
China is d~istinctivelY a country OF mud
and brick Indications. stonework in.
dressed material 10 by no means com'
mon, and should say that at the pres-
ent day there are not stonercutters
enough in China to make a visible inn
preston upon $50 miles OF now wall in
ten years.
In brlckmaking my wonder took an.
other direction. The large bricks used
in the wall, containing nearly q and
two-thirds cubic feet each, require not
only the best skill, but the best clay.
The labor could be obtained, but my
experience in the very country Of the
great wall taught me that supplies OF
proper clay were few and far between:
Several months passed before we could.
find any available clay nearer than
thirty miles from the mine, and the sup
ply found there was too poor for making
large brick. The makers Of the wall
must have been hard pushed to find
what they wanted, and it Is probable
that the whole great bulk Of the brick
work was transported overland, princi-
pally by human carriers, for distances
OF at least thirty miles, besides its dis
trlbntion along the wall.
Tho quantities Of material used in the
wall arc not remarkable when compared
with modern railroad building, but the
expenditure OF labor probably surpassed
anything we know. We have almost
eliminated labor from transportation,
brickmaking, and lifting to the top OF
the growing wall. With the Chinese
every one Of th csc tasks called for an
army OF men, The provision OF say 20
0OO,0 900 yards of earth filling was proba-
bly, the least part Of the task. Nowa-
days no engineer would hesitate to con
tract for 500 miles OF railway embank-
ment in China, and he would lay 1t up
with the basket and hoe Just az the
wall.huilders did. Lime.burning and
mixing, LAYING up the wall. and lamp
ing the filling were by comparison the
minor divisions Of the work, though
they too would call for an immense
number Of men.
The provision Of all Of these non.pro-
ducers was a task for a general. The
quantity of$food consumed by o yegeta.
rianis immense, and the neighborhood
| OF the wall is not a fertile region,
With only a thousand men to provide
for, l had to send a hundred miles fol
grain, and l doubt extremely If half q
milliopmen, in addition TO the ordinary
population, could be maintained to-day
along the line OF the wall on supplies
obtained within one hundred miles on
both sides.