The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-12-04
TRAVELS THROUGH CHINA
Graphically Described by Frank G.
Carpenter 10 I. N. c. A. Hall.
AMERICANS ARE NOT LIKED
All Kinds OF Contempsuous Remarks Are
Directed Toward Them 1t Is Country
of Great Possibilities - Educated
Class Cause ALI the Trouble.

Frank G. Carpenter. of Washington,
d. c., widely-known journalist and
an extensive traveller, lectured on China
at Young Mems Christian Association
hall last evening under the auspices Of
the standard lecture course. His audi
ence comprised the prominent and liter
AIRY persons of the city. The stage was
arranged with large curtain on which
showed interesting scenes of persons
and places in the land of Confucius.
The empire of China Is wonderful
world in itself. he said: 1t Is as undis-
covered to the rest of the world today
as 1t was when Columbus started on his
voyage across the trackless sea. The
Chinese are not degraded in intellect.
but they are in a dormant state. The
struggle with Japan. however, Is going
to open up new era in that empires
history. 1t contains one-third of the
population of the globe and its people
are surpassed only by the Caucasian
race. Its mountains are rich in coal
and iron: and the speaker shuddered to
think of the possibilities of the future,
when its workmen will toll twelve
hours day for ten cents.
1t is as unfair to Judge China from its
seaport towns as II is to form an es-
innate of the American people from the
slums of New York. Ii Hung Chang
Is the ablest man in China General
Grant on his travels around the world
said that Gladstone, Pismark and Ii
Hung Chang We're the three greatest
men he met. Mr.. Chang Is 72 years
al nj nN-
height.
Poor Accommodations for Sicspcrs.
The Chinese hotels are like barn
yards; the beds are like bakeovens and
the rooms are heated by spasmodic
straw fires, which burn up fiercely and
then go out. The sleeper rolls over
and over again to find the soft side
of the bricks. Upon arriving at Pekin.
the lecturer was startled at the high
wall surrounding 1t. The mammoth
wall Is four stories high, sixty feet
thick at the base, and on the top four
haywagons can be driven abreast. 1t
Is twenty-seven miles long and encloses
an area of twenty-five square miles.
Three cities are built within its con-
fines. One of them is the holy of holies,
where the emperor lives; one Is the
commercial center. and the third Is
where the laws are made. On the
streets there is an everlasting hustle
and the Jam at the Worlds Fair was
like a Sunday in Glasgow compared
with 1t. The Pennsylvania avenue Of
Pekin Is $50 feet wide and a veritable
mud puddle. Decent language cannot
describe Its fllthiness. The streets are
subverted into sewers.
The popular color for mourning is
white; a bride walls Mt her marriage,
and when an almond-eyed Celestial
tells about death in the family he
laughs heartily. Long finger nails are
the sign of culture. When visitor en-
ters a friends house he keeps his hat
on and shakes his fist at his host. They
call names last. first. Mr.. Smith Is
styled Smith, Mr.. Their books begin
at the last page.
High Respect for Learning.
There Is no other land In the world
where learning Is more highly respect
ed. The humblest boy can attain the
highest position If he is competent. The
emperor meets the literati in the temple
of Confucius every year. In 1t there are
proverbs Of the sages Of the empire for
ages. The portal Of the temple Is made
of porcelain. Here is where gunpowder.
printing, and the mariners compass
were invented. For centuries this in.
tellectual mill has been kept going and
the future possibilities are impossible
to conjecture.
The average Chinaman thinks the
other countries are subject to his en-
pire. The literati of the country are
the cause Of all the trouble. They
spread the doctrine that foreigners
ought to be killed. They have cartoons
posted everywhere advocating the mur-
der of missionaries and travellers. The
learned men were the cause of the riots
of 1891 and the massacres of a few
months ago.
The Americans as nation are thor
oughly despised. Mr.. Carpenter had
great trouble to get guide to go about
with him and among the contemptuous
utterances that frequently greeted him
were: "See the redheaded, blue-eyed
devil" "See the baby kidnaper," "See
the palefaced barbarian"
Great Reverence for the Emperor.
When the emperor goes out he is at
tended by q large retlnue. Along the
route where the procession marches the
blinds must be tightly drawn over the
windows of the houses, and any curious
Celestial desirous of taking q furtive
peep from under cover at his royal
highness is very apt to get his eyes shot
out by the expert archers who attend
a ho
peror Is called the son Of Heaven,
No Chinese blood flows in his veins.
The emperor for centuries has been
Tartar. He comes out once q year to
pray and then bulloc,, Is offered up as
a burnt sacrifice In a furnace nine feet
high. The place where this service Is
held Is called the temple of Heaven,
1t was struck by lightning a year ago
and Is in process of reconstruction, Mr..
Carpenter was surprised to find that the
material being used is Oregon pine.
The government Is notoriously cor
rupt. The larger part of the public
revenues find its ways into the pockets
OF the officials. A rich Chinaman who
was impressed with the macadamized
roads In the parks Of some of the
principal cities Of the United States,
went back home and donated $2OO, 900
to repair the Pennsylvania avenue of
Pekin. The board of public works
gobbled UP every dollar of 1t. This
stealing goes on from center to circum.
ference and the government is rotten
to the very core.
The Power behind the Throne.
The ennuch who combs the hair of
the empress dowager has such infiu-
ence that he levied a tariff Of $3.50 900
recently on a politician who desired the