The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-12-30


great deal more there than il does here.
The rivers which form the only means
or travel outside OF dirt roads are
frozen. and the only conveyances are
rude Chinese carts. Tien-Tsin is fifty
miles inland, and Picking is about
eighty miles north OF il. and is shut
of from the rest Of the world about
four months OF the year It is reached
by the winding Peiho river. which flows
into the Yellow sea near the Taku
forts. Letters which go to Picking in
the Writer have 10 travel overland sew
eral hundred miles after they reach
China. and they first go 10 Shanghai
and are carried by pony express.
Nearly all the northern Chinese
dress in sheepsl<in during the winter,
ar c coats of this kind ana Jackets and
pantaloons of quilted cotton make I'D
their clothes. The colder il gets the
more garments they put on, and a girl
who in the winter looks like the fat
woman OF the circus may slowly fade
into the ethereal type OF the living
skeleton as she sheds jacket after
jacket when the warm weather ap-
proaches. Clothes of this kind can not
be washed, and those OF the poorer
classes are dirty in the extreme The
richer people wear magnificent garments
or wadded silk lined with fur, and saw
one mans wardrobe which contained
at least $1,000 worth Of costly fur gar
ments. The furs used are Of all kinds.
and you can get magnificent cloaks OF
Thihetan goat, such as our ladies use
for opera cloaks. for about $40 in gold.
They have fine sables, but they are
costly, and a number OF II Hung
Changes mobiles had silk gowns lined
with mink. The fur markets OF China
are as fine as any in the world. There
are long streets in Tien-Tsin which are
filed with fur stores. and there is
square in Picking which is devoted to
fur market. Every morning about
o'clock you may find there several hun
dred wholesale fur dealers with their
goods spread out on the ground, and
you can buy all sorts OF skins from
the cheapest OF squirrels to the finest
of seals. There are lots of second
hand fur stores. and old furs are bought
and cleaned and resold.
CHINESE FUEL
The Chinese do not use fire to keep
warm, and it is only in the rarest of in
stances that you will find weIl-heated
houses. Fuel is remarkably scarce, and
everything is carefully saved / saw
hundreds Of women pulling up stubble
and gathering straw ana old weeds in
order to make fires, and one of the
chief businesses along the Yangtse-
Kiang is the cutting the reeds which
grow on the low shores and tying them
up in bundles TO be carried into the
cities for sale. i saw no iron stoves in
China, and the rooms which they pre-
tended to heat were furnished with what
are called hangs. These are lodges or
platforms Of brick about two feet high,
which fill one side Of the room. They
are heated by fiues and a fire of straw
is started under them and is kept burn
ing until the bricks are hot. The peo-
pie sleep on TIE kang, but the trouble
1 found with them was that when they
were fred UP they roasted me, and as
soon us the fire went out the kang be-
came as cold as a stone. / slept on
them many nights during my interior
trip and was continually afflicted with
| cold Had the fuel been wood or coal
| they might be better, but with straw
| they were worse than no fires at all.
| The stoves of China are usually of clay,
and charcoal is largely used for cook
| ing. There is said to be coal in nearly
| all parts OF the empire. but only a lit
| tie is mined. All of that brought into
| Picking is carried on the backs Of
camels, and 1 saw many coal merchants
who sold nothing but coal dust. They
| mixed the powdered coal with dirt and
nodded it up into Jumps of about the
| size and shape OF a baseball. Ii was
| sold by the basket and it brought high
| prices.
S4in. China has some of the largest
| coal fields in the world. and q German
sSoiogisI Nno mas examined into the
| matter says that the extent of the work.
| able coal beds of China is greater than
| that of any other country. There is
| coal right near Hankow which is now
| being used in the making of iron. and
| every province in the empire is said to
| have coal in it. There is, however, only
| one mine which is being operated on
| anything like scientific principles. This
| is at Tong Shan, about eighty miles
| from Tien-Tsin. and the Chinese have
| been mining about two thousand tons
| of coal a day here for years. / visited
| the works last summer and took a look
| at the miners. They receive about 63
| cents a week. or cents a day. and the
| mines pay very well. The coal is BIZ
| luminous. and is was about the only
| source Of supply which China had dur
| ing the trouble with the japanese. The
| railroad runs right through this region,
l and it was first built to carry this coal
| to the sea. There is said 10 be good
| anthracite coal in the hills near Picking.
| and when China is covered with rail-
| roads coal will be the cheapest OF fuel.
HOW THE RICH FREEZE.
| I was surprised at the way the richer
| Chinese suffer from the cold. / almost
| froze during my talk with Ii Hung
| Chang. and he wore fur gown during
| my interview. In some of the Chinese
| homes which visited there were little
| bowls of charcoal in the best rooms,
but there were no signs OF open fires
| anywhere, and the Chinese know moth
ing Of the joys of the fireside. Their
buildings have many draughts, and the
windows and doors seldom Mt well.
| When they get out of order they are
| allowed TO remain so. and nearly all OF
the old houses are shabby and dilapi-
| dated / took a trip over the great
| plain from Picking TO the mountains OF
| Mongolia on the edge of the winter, and
nearly froze to dSath in the hotels.
| During this time j passed many OF the
| Mongols riding on the great wooiiy
| camels which are common TO north
China. and which you find. L think.
| nowhere else in the world. These
camels have wool about foot long, and
| 1T hangs down in great fringes from
their necks and their bellies. They
have two humps and they are usually
| of a tan color The Mongols upon them
wee al dressed i'm furs. and both men
and women wore pantaloons- Both
SEXES rode astride. and they were very
insolent and rough in their greetings.
They are dirty and greasy. and they
cat ALI sorts OF fats. They carry great
quantities OF brick tea from Peking into