The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-30
Each house boat has a lot OF sailors and a
captain, and you carry your own cook and
your provisions.

My captain was over six feet liz height.
He was clad in wadded blue cotton, and his
gown reached to his ankles. He lived in
the back Of the boat, and my quarters were
IN the middle. 1 slept at night under a
piece OF mating, and my servant cooked
my meals. When the wind was in the right
direction we put up the sails, and when it
died down the sailors pushed the boat
along with poles which they dug into the
bed Of the river, or fastened long ropes to
1t and dragged it along by walking on the
banks. We did not know how long the voy-
age was going to take, and we considered
ourselves happy in having made it in four
days.
The Chinese cart Is a surer means of
1ocomotion, but it is by no means so pleas
ant. The roads are full of ruts. The dust
sweeps over you in storms and your bones
are racked with the jolting of the cart. L
doubt whether there is a clumsier vehicle.
in the world, and certainly no other could
land such roads. The Chinese cart has
two wheels, each as big as the front wheel
of a buggy, and each has a weight about
ten times as great. The wheels have mas
sive iron tires. Their spokes are as big
around as a baseball club, and the wooden
axles are as big as your arm where they
come through the hub. The shafts are as
large as telegraph poles, and they are fast
ened directly to the axle. and the body of
the cart rests upon them without springs.
The bed of enc OF these carts is five feet
long and four feet wide. You cannot
stretch yourself out fiat upon 1t without
resting YOUR feet upon the shafts. There is
no seat connected with ii, and you lie or sit
fiat on the floor. A little box-like wall runs
about the edge of the cart, and there Is a
blue canvas covering three feet high
stretched over it. Sitting upright, your
head almost grazes the roof of this, and it
would be impossible to put a seat OF any
kind within the vehicle. Each of these
carts is drawn by either one or two mules,
which are fastened to the cart by a harness
Of rope and awhile. When two mules are
used they always work tandem, as the road
is too narrow for a two-horse team. The
driver sits cross-legged or the shafts, and
directs the mules with a pair of rope lines
and a long whip.
TRAVELLING BY CART.
1t was in such an outfit that ] went to
Picking. / had two carts and four mules
and the trip took me in the neighborhood
of forty-eight hours. / paid SIS for my
carts, and / had great trouble in getting
them. on account of the examinations
which were going on in Picking. / had Sc
cured two at SIP. While they were being
brought to the hotel one of the mandarins
saw them, and he forcibly seized them for
some student friends of his and 1 was left
out in the cold. The next day l had my
Chinese servant go out on the road about
ten miles beyond the city. He waited there
till two good carts came along, and then
Struggled these into the hotel in a round
about way, so that the mandarins could
not see them We started at 4 o'clock in
the morning, and after some tea and toast
by the light of the candle 1 inspected my
outfit. You will not see more villainous
faces in any rogues' gallery than those of
my two muleteers, and as for the mules,
Barnum's woolly horse had a coat of silk
compared to theirs. My bedding and eat
| ables were put into one cart and my Chi
nese boy crawled in on top of them. / took
the second, and before ~daybreak we were
ready to start. We drove for miles through
the city of Tien-Tsin just at dawn, and had
a chance to see how the poorest of these
five hundred million people look when rous-
ing themselves for another day of their
everlasting hustle. Men in sheepskin coats
more like animals than human beings filed
the streets. Already coolies were pushing
barrows over the rough pave
ments, and other laborers were
carrying mighty loads on poles
across their shoulders. In the suburbs
! we rode through long lines of novels out of
which disheveled Chinese men and women
crawled and looked at us with blinking
eyes. We passed the homes of thousands
of squatters, and as we drove along the
49,. - .o~, xbok 10 u,ac 1ipaI uith Eft1o
kennel-like sheds made of bamboo mating.
Many of these were not larger han a dog
house. and those of the size of a hogshead
looked palatial beside them. Many were
half cylinders Of mating just about large
enough to cover a cider barrel and long
enough for their owners to crawl in and
sleep. A screen of ragged blue cotton
formed the front of these huts, and all of
the cooking of the owners had to be done
| outside. 1t was cold and / shivered in my
overcoat. Issaw one family lighting a fire.
They had no matches and were trying to
ignite the wood with a flint. Another hut
had a jinkrikisha In front Of 1t. This was
the size of a baby carriage. and it's top was
a foot above the roof of the house. In
some places there were holes dug into the
earth and mating placed over them. The
walls of the city formed the back Of many
of these beggars' homes, and others were
built against the banks of the river. You
find beggars' quarters outside Of every
Chinese city, but there are few places
where the poor suffer more than they do ir
north China Tien-Tsin is as cold as Min.
neapolis, and these holes, covered witt
stray mating are the homes of thousands
CHINA'S GREAT ROAD.
Passing these we went over the Peiho
river on a bridge of boats, and then drove
through suburb after suburb, until we came
out upon the great plain, and began our
trip over the Chinese Appian Way.
The Appian Way! What a fraud! What
a, travesty on the name of road! 1t was
filled with ruts. and the dust was knee
deep. Here and there stood a ragged road
maker, who pretended to keep the highway
in order. He smoothed the dust down into
the ruts with a long-handled fiat hoe, max
ing it so that a cart could get a tumble
without being aware of its danger. The
road in many places was so narrow thai
two carts could barely pass, and nowhere
was it much wider than the average Ameri-
can alley. 1t follows the telegraph lines
and in some places it has been built above
the surrounding country. Here and there q
pretense was made Of repairing it, and
gangs of soldiers and half-naked cooiie:
were at work carrying dirt in baskets and