The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-12-18

probably be foot or two of snow on
the hills, making travelling all the
more difficult. For in the sea-board
province-Fengtien- winters are Sc
we're; though milder than in the north
ern part of Manchuria. By Christmas
time at Moukden the thermometer will
go below zero daily registering any
where down to twenty degrees Fahr-
enheit, though further north it goes as
low as forty-iive degrees. The atmo-
sphere is intensely dry; and, when the
wind does not blow, most healthful
and eXhilarating. When the north
wind does blow, however, as one re-
marked, ''the less said about it the
better" I have walked along the
banks Of the Liao at Newchwang-th
port of Manchuria-clad in furs from
head to foot, both inclusive-and al
most felt the wind whistle through my
bones. The river Liao-about 600 yards
wide at Newchwang-is closed to navi-
cation from the third week in Novem-
Der till towards the beginning of the
following April. When the winter has
set in the ice on the river is about
three feet thick.
A Chinese Winter.
The only advantage, therefore, which
the japanese army would have in
marching through the enemy's country
in winter would be that the rivers and
creeks would all be frozen over and
the country bare, so that, when no
mountains intervened they could make
a bee line for their destination. Trees
near the coast and for miles inland are
conspicuous by their absence; a few
stunted willows being the sole repre-
sentatives of their kind. One reason
of the this is the fact that the land
has gradually risen, and is still rising,
along the northern shore of the gulf
Haicheng, a large walled city, forty
miles northeast of Newchwang, means
| "Clty of the Sea-" and about three GEN.
| turtles ago was a flourishing seaport
Now it is forty miles from the sea-
coast. Having been thus reclaimed
from the ocean, the soil is salt, and
trees will not flourish, nor, indeed,
other vegetation to any extent,
Live and let live" Is their motto. On
the whole l believe they would as soon
see q Japanese as Chinese army
march through their country For Il
large part of the Chinese army is re-
cruited from Honan and other distant
provinces, and to the unsophisticated
countryman in Manchuria these sol
diers are almost like foreigners. The
dialect they speak Is about as different
from the Mandarin spoken In Man
churia as French is from English. More
than once / have acted as interpreter
between native of Shanghai and a
Chinaman from the north; they could
only communicate by signs.
Once across this barren stretch, the
country improves, farms are plentiful
and mountains clothed with forest, add
to its beauty. Immediately in the
neighborhood of Moukden the country
Is comparatively fiat, the nearest hills
being a days journey away. The roads
through this district--or what do duty
for such-are simply tracks, good OF
bad according to the ground they pass
over. the bad decidedly predominating
At this season of the year, however
this would not matter so much, as
once the crops are all cleared away, the
traveller is allowed to strike out across
country, quite independent of the usua
route. There being no stone walls
barbed wire or any other kind of fence
this is not so difficult as it might seem
The Chinese in the north as rule
never fence in their land. A MAI
counts his fields by so many burrows
these being Of the same breadth from
time immemorial. Cattle are no.
raised for their milk. as with us, ant
but little for food and those that arr