The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-10-10

N
nnI Talks rntcrtaiuingIy of His ob.cr-
Nation'-H Hung Chang statesman.
Not a Warrior
WASHINGTON, oct. 10.-Ambassadar Pr.
tcnotre, tha representative of the French
republic I'm the United States. is REGARDED
as one of the b'st informed men i'm dipIo.
matte life ON China and the scenes of the
present conflict between that country and
Japan. A good part of his life i'm the
French diplomatic service has boon spent
at Pekin and Tiontsin, whore NE was i'm
constant communication with hi Hung
Chang. 1t was NJ Patenotrc who signed.
with Ii Hung Chang, the famous Tiautsiu
treaty of peace between FrguCc and China.
Prior to that he had served some years uU
Pckin, first as the secretary ot the } rcnch
legation then charge d'aifaires. anG finally
minister He was the special envoy of
France to Anam and Tonquin in the stir
ring conflicts of 81, when France secured
her strong foothold i'm Asia, and he clos. d
that international event by signing the
treaty of Hue His views on eastern af-
fairs, therefore, pc scss unusual interest.
NJ, Patcuotre was asked by an Assocl.
ated Press representative as to the defense
of Pellin which the Japanese now threaten
to strike, and the roads over which the in
vaders will have to pass if they march on
Pekin
"The defenses are very primitive" said
the ambassador. "The outer wall is a
huge affair, completely encircling the city.
1t is about the height of six story build
ing, and wide enough for travel by horses
and carriages but as means of defense it
would amount to nothing against modern
artillery The walls about Tonquin were
even stronger being built by skilled en-
gineers, but they quickly gave way before
big guns.
"rhere is hardly any such thing as roads
about Peldn and lientsin, so that travel is
very difficult There are occasional
stretches of good roads, but these are ex-
ceptional. The trip from Tiontsin to Pellin,
about twenty miles, used to take me two
or three days. Usually it is made by tho
river route, and that also takes several
days. 1t is the most primitive kind of
travelling, each passenger having a boat to
himself. There was no steamer above
Tientsin, although the capital and thee en-
perOr were only ninety miles above"
The locality between Tientsin and Pekin
of which the ambassador spoke is the one
referred to in the daily reports from the
scene Of war as the probable route of the
japanese, Mr.. Patonotro was asked what
difficulties Of climate would be encoun-
tered by the invading force.
"The climate will be the greatest diff
Guilty" said he, lit gets intensely cold
about Pellin the latter part of Octohcr,and
everything is frozen up in November. The
cold is so severe that it almost puts stop
to travel and communication. 1t has
taken a fun month for me to get letter
from Shanghai to Pcldn in the winter.
The japanese are from "a warm country,
entirely unused to severe cold, and, as far
as we hear without special provision of
clothing for hcintcnse cold coming ON the
latter part of this month. That promises
to DE the greatest difficulty they will have
to contend aulinst"
1t is a singular fact that during NJ. Pa
tonoT2's Ion a'rvic, i'm China. much of
the time in til, same city as the emperor.
he did not see ,lt Chimes, r'rr. "Tho
emperor practically lives i'm % city by him.
self, " said hc "us the impgrial paIacc and
'Unds are surrounded by great wills.
from ,,- th the emperor does not come
from one years end to the other. and tC
which no one except the minister. and
court attendants ever penetrate. If at rare
intervals the emperor comes outside, there
is public proclamation i'm advance, and
any one in the streets when he passes
through is severely punished. The only
glimpse ever secured of the emperor is bv
pricking holes i'm the white paper windows
which take the place of panes of glass.
The ambassador was asked if his OBJ
servations of the great latent resources and
Il. 81 ..pf q