The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-05-27
A HUMAN BEEHIVE.
Hankow, the Chicago of
the Chinese Empire.
THE BUILDING OF RAILROADS
Great Rolling Mills Constructed by
Mongolians-Sights Along
the Yangtse.

HANKow, China, April 16.-This is the
Chicago of the Chinese empire. 1t is nearly
200 miles from the seacoast, and there are
at this point three cities which face each
other. much as New York, Jersey City
and Brooklyn, which have an aggregate
population of something like 100000 of
people. Standing on Pagoda Hill. behind
the city Of Hanyang, you look down in
TACT upon the homes of almost 10000 COO,
and YOU see hundreds OF villages, thousands
OF boats, in which families live and die.
apd have spread ont before you the three
great cities of Hankow, Hanyang and WIZ
chang, In front of you. facing the south,
hows the broad Yangtse River, which is at
THIS place still a mile wide, and which is
so deep throughout its course that the
biggest steamers that sail the ocean can
come up here and anchor at its wharves.
The city on the opposite side is Wuchang
IL mas, perhaps, three. quarters of a million
people, and the high wall which runs
around 1t is twelve feet in height. 1t is
the home OF one of the most progressive
Governors of China. and is the capital of
me State oil. Hupeh, which is bigger than
the whole OF New England. Turn Co your
lett and you see at your feet the city of
Hanyang, with its vast iron works, for
the making of steel rails. Beyond it
across the river Han, which is so
hlled with boats that their masts make
you think of thicket of hoOp-poes.
IS the vast plain covered with the
6ulldlngs'of HankOw. which is even larger
han Wuchang. and which is the CONNER
clai capital Of this part of the empire. As
you look over the landscape your eye
meets as much water as land. The mighty
1angtse above and below you flows on
ike great inland sea, its bosom loaded
with score of steamers and thousands of
queer-loOking iunks. There are boats be-
fore you which have come 1000 miles down
It's waters through the deep gorges of
lchang, and mixed with them are ships
from Canton. Annoy, Foo Chow and other
great cities along the coast. Z, ere are tea
Junks from the big POyang Lake, and
queer-ioOklng craft from a thousand differ
eut localities, each having q build and
make peculiarly its own.
AS you look you realize the force OF the
assertion that China has more boats than
All OF the rest Of the world put tOgether,
The 1aEgtse is here cut into by canals and
the great lagoOns lying back in the cOun-
try are spotted with sails. The river Han,
which has flowed 1900 miles in its winding
course from its source to its mouth, has
Dibh-b6 w " II IuuhItuS OF river 1un KS, and
shlps are being loaded at scores of these
wharves for all parts of the empire and of
the world. To-day the trade of this place
amounts to about S37, 00O,O 900 a wear and
every dollars worth Of this has to be car
rled away by water. 10 the years to come
large part OF 1t viii go by land, and rail-
roads may make Hankow the greatest city
OF Asia, if nor the biggest on the globe.
Inc PROBABILITIES ara that this place will
De some day one of the great manufacture
Ing centerS Of the world. There is coal
ana Iron near here in close proximity to
one another and the water communication
is such that coal can be shipped here from
almost any part of the empire. Already a
population Of more than 1C0OO coo is trib-
utary 10 this point by rivers and canal,
ana the great trunk line of future China
Will probably run through HaDkow from
Feklng TO canton, taking in more big cities
anc greater number of people than any
other railroad Ou the globe. Picking has a
million OF people, TlentSin has more than
a million, and 1t would be on the line only
eighty miles south of the Imperial capital
Inence il would cut its way further
south ABOUT 800 miles through one OF the
most thlckly settled parts of the empire to
Hank0w, where it would strike these cities
OF 100000. From here on to Canton it
cannot be more than 500 miles, and the
land is rich III the extreme and it teens
with millions. Canton is one of the great
trading centers of the world, and it is said
to have abOut 5000, 600 of a population.
Inc whole length of the road would be
less than 1900 miles. and there would not
ne vase spot on ii. 1t will take but
little grading, and it would, | Judge, be a
comparatively cheap road to build. 1t
would be bee line from North to South
CHINA and would be largely patronized as
soon as the Chin ese discovered its value.
mere are no people on the globe quicker
to make use of a good thing and a cheap
thing than these Chinese.
AS II Is they have the dearest modes of
travel and though their wheelbarr0ws and
boats carry goods for almost nothing in
comparison with the labor in running
them they are dear in competition with
steam. AS it is the steamers on the
angtse are kept up by Chinese freight
and passengers, and every steamboat l
have seen has been crowded with them.
They ride first and second class, and many
OF them take sort of steerage passage,
sleeping in hunks in a large compartment
in the rear end of the steamer.
The hrst railroad in China was from
shanghai TO WooSung, distance of about
twelve miles. WOOsung is the bar at the
mouth of the Whampoa River, and this
road dld a big business till some of the
Chinese thought it was injuriDg their luck,
and they complained to the authorities |
The officials bought the road at high
price from the foreigners who owned 1t, |
and threw the locomotive. which they said |
contained devil, into the river. Some of
the rails are still left, and it may be that
the road will be again built in the future. |
one thing is very certain, and that is the
moment the Chinese appreciate that they
can make and run roads of their own their |
superstition will not stand in the way of |
making them, and many OF the officials |
are experimenting to see what they can do. |
saw locomotive which had been re-
Gently built by the Chinese machinists at
the hlagnan arsenal, and 1t runs as we'll |
as any OF our engines. | was shown rail- |
road iroD-l mean steel rails-which they |
had made there with Chinese iron, and |
there seems to be no doubt but that they |
can manage rolling-mill very we'll.
There IS vast deal of waste now, 1t lie |
true, and this Will continue as long as the |
work is done by the officials, who expect |
To get big living out of their stealings; |
bus IL Will be different when factories of |
ms Kind are started as private enterprises. |
Just now the chief movements in the |
direction OF railroads are from the Gov |
eminent, and the idea is 10 render China |
lmpregnable in case of war. This is the |
purpose OF the VicerOy here. He hates |
the foreigners. and he wants To drive |
them out Of the country. He is using |
tEem TO build factories, and he has q |
cotton mill run by steam and filled with |
modern machinery, which is one of the |
largest In the world. 1t contains a thou |
sand looms, and it is located on the banks
OF the angtse. in the city Of Wuchang.