St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-02-18
A VISIT TO YANGCHOW.

49, ~ xAAN ~ S4A ~ We
| 1.-THE interesting article on Yangchow
| given below was written by Gen. A.C Jones,
| United States consul at Chinkiang. China,
for the North China Daily News. Gen.
Jones is an old resident of ST. PAUL. a.
| 1angchow is city situated on the
Grand canal, in the province OF Kiangsu,
and at distance of ten miles from the
1angtze, where the Grand canal from
| Peklng enters the river, about one and
a half miles above Chinkiang. | left
] Clihlsiang ira house boat att O'Clock
in the morning and slowly made my
! way under sail through q large fleet of
Chinese craft. toward the mouth of the
canal. On arrival l found the entrance,
for distance of half mile or II ore. so
| crowded WiIh junks aud all Jinanner1of
native boats that my boatinen- had liter
ally to hight their way through, winch
occupied an hour at least, 10 enter the
canal the sail was fiirled, and the boat
men. with their poles ami boathooks,
grappled, pushed and pulled aud~shoved
against the other cfose-cr owding
boats cur slow, difficult way along;
all this, OF course, accompanied with
shrill cries, fierce yells. and generally
indescrlbable huObub. i'll which the en-
tire boating fraternity, and especially
the female element, took active part
We got safely through, however, and
The canal stretched peacefully before
us, though more or less alive with boats
coming and going. Tie shores of the
canal along here reach up to the banks,
| with gentle ascent. Il height of eight
j cen or twenty feet, and at the
! waters edge, in many places, are
covered with sand and gravel like the
shores OF clear water creek or little
river in Western lands. The canal from
! its mouth at YangchoW is about one
hundred feet i'll width, ana from ten to
fifteen feet in depth, the water empty
ing into the river with a current running
at the rate of three or four knots an
hour. The land on either side of the
canal, and for many miles in the
interior, is low and fiat. which neces-
stated the construction of embank-
ments or levees. These entertainments
are eighteen or twenty feet high
and fifteen feet wide OH the top. The
boats are propelled against the current
by sails, when the wind is favorable,
otherwise by oars, and by tracking
along the embank ments. Many of the
boats which we met We're war junks,
F., adapted to the canal, which exercise
police surveillance i'll all the interior
waters. on the lookout for smugglers
and petty pirates, They were filled
| with soldiers in their picturesque uni
| form Of black turbans and loose blue
tunics trimmed with red. with. from
| fifteen to thirty men at the oars. which
| are fitted to outriggers and are operated
! by the men standing with their faces to
the bow. who push the oars from them,
keeping perfect time. accompanying the
motion with sort of rhythmic chant.
more or less barbaric in its melody and
effect. These war iunks. ing their
shape and style, rem Ind one of,
and are exactly like. the war gal
leyS seen in the old pictures of the
Phonicians. These war junks have been
in use in China for thousands Of years,
| and modern, science in the shipbuild-
ing line has not replaced them or motif
fed them in any Way. Pbenicia per.
haps took the model from China. The
golden dragon of China ornaments the,
prov of each, and on it is fixed asmaIl
gun, and their triangular banners fly
from every masthead. presenting alto
gether avery picturesque, if not very
Warike appearance.
- THE GRAND CANAL.
1t IS necessary to travel on the interior
waterways of China to enable one TO
form any adequate idea of the .yast:num-
beers of the population who live OH the
water aud maintain themselves by boat
ing. This i'll itself is one of the obstacles
to railway system. The Grand canal
is the work of the great KubEai
Khan, in A. D. 1929. To see it; and
TO sail on it, and to understand
the topography of the country and
the needs of the people, is to lie inn
pressed with the grandeur of its concep-
ton. The engineering skill and coa-.
struction of So extensive a work, and DIT
such a period, were worthy of the ge-
MUS which conceived it. 1t opened up
an interior water communication from
Picking to Han schOw, 900 miles, more or
less, through the richest and most pop
ulous portions of China, atfording an
outlet and developing and encour-
aging an interstate commerce which
added great wealth and strength to the
empire, and which is maintained today,
600 years after. in unimpaired activity.
To have view of the surroundings, /
got off the boat and walked on the tow
path on top of the embank ments. The
day was bright and warm, and every
thing about wore cheerful appearance
The land Oh both sides of the canal
stretched away to the horizon low and
level, with every evidence of a fine
agricultural region. Thrifty looking
farms and comfortable farm houses
nestled in clumps of trees. were