The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-10-14

thousands of eunuchs who make up the
servants. 1t has buildings in the center
for court ceremonies, and there are small
buildings arranged around on the two
sides of ridge of palaces, which runs
from the north to the south. The En-
perUr himself lives in the northwestern
part of the pen, and the Empress Dow
ager has a palace near by. In another
part of the Enclosure is the hall of
literary abyss. or the imperial library,
and in this the Cabinet officers
hold their sessions. and it contains
also department of the royal treasury.
No one outside Of the foreign legations
has ever gotten iuto the palaces of the En-
peror of China, and no foreigner is per-
mitted to see him. Our Minister has been
granted an audience. but even tie Chinese
of Picking do not know how he Jocks, and
of the hundreds of millions who make up
the empire / venture TO say that there are
not 5000 men outside of his euDuchs who
have ever set eyes on him. He knows alb
solutely nothing about the actual condi-
ton of his people and capital. When he
goes out into the city mating is hung
up in front of all the houses, and strips
of cloth are stretched across the alleys
and side streets through which the i'm
perial procession must pass. Our Minister
warns all Americans not TO go out at
their peril, for the Emperor is always
accompanied by soldiers, and the man
who peeps around the corner or has his
eye fastened to hole in the mating is
liable to be blinded with bullet or arrow.
The streets are fixed up for the occasion.
All the booths and squatters are driven
away and the roads are covered with bright
yellow clay. Yellow is the imperial color,
and | saw armies of half-naked coolies
carving such dirt into the city in wheel
barrows during my stay in Picking for one
Of the Emperor's outings. 1t is the same
when he goes into the country, and as
some of his tours to worship at the tombs
of his ancestors extend many miles you
will see that Ii costs something in the way
OF clay hauling to give him good track to
move on.
Ii is not easy to get reliable gossip about
the Emperor of China, and the only view
had of his palaces was from the city walls,
and during the time that l prowled round
the gate with my snapshot camera and
nv Chinese photographer Still, [ met a
number of officials who were quite close to
the throne, and | got good information
from one or two eunuchs. L visited
Picking six years ago, at the time that The
Empress Dowsger picked out bis first
wives, and some of.tbe stories ] will tell
further on were given me in whisper.
aud If their authors were known they
might lose their heads. The truth OF the
matter is that the young Emperor is by
no means an angel, ana the eunuchs
told me that he hops up and down
in his rage when anything goes
against him. He is merely the tool Of the
cid Empress Dowager. and he has been
under this old lady's thumb since he was
baby. She supervises his education. She
picked out his wives for him, and she
makes the ladies of his harem howl to-day
If they don't walk chalk in her presence.
Of course, she took her own friends when
she selected his wives. and she has him so
bemmed about with her ofAcials and girls
that If he had will of his own he
wouldn't know how to use it. The EE-
peror was II years old at the time of his
marriage, six years ago, and she gave him
three wives to start with. The selection
was curious. All the pretty Tartar girls
of the empire, numbering many thousands.
were gathered together and sorted, and
the best of them we're sent on to Peking.
The selection was first ~ ade by the Gov
ernors of the provinces. and no girl