The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-03-10
KAnGaeeeN7ER.

OPSA N4eiA1S as 10 NIldI IDey want or emma,
but the ports of Asia are full of all sorts of
1t is well known that the Rus
slams are making their surveys of the har-
bors on the east coast of Korea, with an
idea of making one of them the terminus
OF the trans-Siberian road, and the latest
inside news is that the English have
offered the Chinese a large sum of money
IN exchange for the island of Formosa.
China can hardly hope to raise money
from her own people without a revolution
and the consequent establishment of
new Government. The empire, in fact. is
tottering, and the people neither care for
the war nor for the Government. In the
words of a leading business man of Shang-
hal, IN letter which | have received dur
ing the past week, they consider the
trouble with the Japanese the Emperor's
pigeon or business. He has got into
1t, they say, now let him get out of it.
There IS no land in the world where taxes
are so low, nor, strange as it may seem to
say so, where the people have so much
power, and where the Government is to
such large extent republican. The Chi
neSe viii not be able to pay the indemnity
demanded by Japan except by giving up
or mortgaging some of their territory. The
result Is, the outlying provinces of China
Will be in the market.
Few people have any idea of the i'm
menSe extent OF territory which China has
outside OF the empire proper. 1t is larger
than the whole United States. and it is
more than all Europe. Manchuria, which
lies to the northeast of China, and on the
edge OF which the japanese troops have
been lighting, IS equal to ten States the size
OF Ohio, or eight the size Of New York.
Mongolia, further TO the westward, is about
half as big as the whole United States, and
the immense province OF Hi is about as
large as one-third of our whole TERRITORY
Thibet practically belongs to China and it
Is about twelve times as big as New York
State. The Japanese got into Manchuria
when they fought at the mouth of the
Taloo River, and they have been march
Ing through the Couatry and pushing
their way up to the capital-the CITY
OF Moukden. 1t is by no means an i'm
possibility that the Japanese may ask
Tor slice OF Manchuria. and if so
some wonders in the way OF mineral wealth
may be expected through its DEVELOPMENT
The gold mines of Russia undoubtedly run
down to the mountains of Manchuria and
Mongolia. There was quite a gold excite
ment In the Manchurian mountains about
four years ago, and both gold and silver
have been found. The country is fertile
and 1t surprised me to find that opium
could proftably be raised so far north. 1t
was introduced about thirty years ago, and
the country now produces more than a
million pounds of opium a year 1t also
produces good tobacco, and it has vast
areas Of fine forests. Japan has practically
no timber left, and the country would be
OF great value TO her. 1t would act as a
bulwark between China and Korea, and the
Mikado would no longer need to fear that
the Emperor might form an alliance with
the King of Korea.
The inhabitants of both Manchuria and
Mongolia care but little for China. They
are of a different race, and they would ac-
,cept the government of the Japanese quite
as readily as that OF Picking. | met many
of these men during my stay in Asia. [
first came in contact with them in the
Chinese capital. l travelled with them on
my way to the great wall, and l saw hun
dreds OF them IN my Journeys through
Siberia. The Mongols have a market in
Picking. 1t is just back of the English lega-
ton, and the houses surrounding a great
square here are owned by them, and the
court is filed with camels and greasy Man
churians. All of the trade of Manchuria
and Mongolia is carried on camels. They
bring coal skins and bean cake from the
north down through the great wall into
China, and carry brick, tea and all kinds
OF merchandise back. l have seen 500
camels in a single caravan slowly moving
along IN single file over the country. |
have travelled for miles side by side with
these camels, talking through an Interpreter
with the COpper-faCed men and women who
rode them, and l have again and again
been threatened by the fiercer Of the lead
ers as l passed them on my way through
the country.
l was surprised at the size of the Tartars.
They are big men, many of them six feet
in height, and their features are for all the
world like those of our American Indians.
Their complexion is about the same and
their eyes are less almond in shape than
those of the Chinese. They have fierce
eyes, which look out at YOU over high
cheekbones and under thick fur caps.
They dress in sheepskin, and both women
and men wear pantaloons, and the women
ride astride. | remember one girl who
passed me on a camel. Her divided skirt
was made OF sheepskin with the fur turned
inward, and her fur cap was pulled well
down over her eyes. / said "Good-day" to
her as we passed, and her old Tartar hus-
band whipped up his camel and put his
hand on his knife as I came up. | looked
him in the eye and said, How do you do ?"
He answered by hooking me and gave me
10 understand that | had better keep away
Had l not had a good party OF men around
me doubt not that he would have as
saulted me.
There are no camels in the world like
these Mongolian beasts. The camels of
Africa and India have short hair like that
of a fairly well groomed horse. The
climate is warm, and they need little pro-
lection. These camels of Mongolia are
covered with wool which hangs in great
locks down from all parts of their bodies
In some places it is from eight to ten
inches long, and it gives them so warm a
coat that they can stand the rigors of a
Siberian winter. For centuries this wool
has gone to waste. 1t was allowed to
drop off the camels during the summer,
and it retted by the wayside. Within the
past few years, however, it has become
an article of commerce, and great bales
of it are shipped to London. L saw some
overcoats in China which were made from
it. They looked like chinchilla coats, but
they were wonderfully light and very
warm. The natural color of the wool is
q rich dark brown. 1t is now being used
bv the Chinese in making rugs and beauti-
full carpets so soft that you seem to be
walking on velvety moss when you pass
over them are made from it. The rugs are
wonderfully cheap, and | am surprised that
they are not shipped to the United States.
These camels have, as a rule, two humps,
which are said to be pure fat and are de-
Icious, if properly cooked. Their feet are
soft and spongy, and they become worn
out in travelling over the rough roads of
North China. In going through the Nan
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