The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-07-29
A FORBIDDEN CITY.
German Traveller Spent Two Hours
In Chang-Sha.

Some curious details are given in letter.
from missionaries in regard to the visi
of a German traveller. DR.. Wolfe, x
1 Chang-Sha, the capital of Human, wlicl
never before had been entered by for
/ eigner. Lit seems that the doctor gained
his point and entered the forbidden city
: but his visit was mere farce, as he was
NOT permitted TO go about the city or tc
/ see any of it's features. He simply was
carried in a closed chair to tine project
! room in one CT the government hai!s
/ where he was entertained with refresh
ments, and an hour later was taken back
F! swiftly in the same way.
Human IS the province of China which
has gained notonsety as the most bitterly
anti-foreign and anti-SthristiaD of any in
the empire. For years the mandarin in
charge of the telegraph service attempted
TO connect Chang-S(ha with the other
large cities of China, but he was forced
to give up, as the people burned his poles
and threw his workmen into the nearest
river or pond. Only three years ago an
e1forI was made to run the telegraph line
TO Siberia through one corner Of Human.
but native prejudice was still so strong
that the wire and poles were destroyed
and the workmen were driven beyond the
boundary Of the province and warned I'M
DIR pain of death not to return. 1t. is
only within the last year that an i'm
peTial decree was issued ordering the HUI
naneSe not TO modest the builders of the
telegraph. 1t is expected that Chang
Slaa n = few months Will be connected
with the rest of The world by telegraph.
Ii was at cslang-Sha tnat the atrocious
books attacking the Christian religion
were published about eight years ago.
Chou Han, a literary graduate and a man
of means. was the author of these libels
on Christianity, which were illustrated
WITH pictures too vile % describe. DR..
Griffith John. well known missionary,
exposed the authorship of the books and
described the publisher VITO was sending
them out. Through Ii Hung Chang an
imperial decree was secured prohibiting
any further publication of the books, and
an order was issued for the destruction
OF the wooden type from which they were
printed This order was evaded by Chou
Han removing the type to his country
place, forty-iive miles away, but curious
ieert on the part of Chou Han. DIR. John
sent him letters calling his attention TO
the injustice of attacking a religion of
which he knew nothing personally He
also sent to Chou Han the Bible in Chi
nese. with considerable literature that ex-
planned the chief tenents of Christianity.
Shou HIM made no reply, but his pub
l.sner. who IS now one of Dr. JOINS
friends, assured the missionary that Chou
Han had ceased TO rail against the Chris
tian religion, though the story of his con-
version was without foundation. Chou
t1aD appears to DE a man of much nobil-
ity OF character, for he has given away in
charity ttle greater part of a large for
tune, retaining only small farm suffi-
son. Formerly, when he visited Chang
.5ha. he put up at one of the temples;
now he stays at a cheap hotel.
II is Tie general opinion that DR.. Wolfe's
persistence in entering Chang-Slla has
aroused the enmity of the people, and
that his conduct Will make it more diff
cult for any other traveller to penetrate
into the interior of Human. Dr. Wolfe
waited fifteen days for permission to en-
ter Chang-Sha, and on March 10 this was
granted. In a closed chair he was taken
uarougn the gate at 3:4S p. m. and at 5:45
,. m. he was brought out in the same
way, his chair curtains being let down al
round so that he was in absolute dark
ness, unable TO see anything. After leav-
ing Chang-Sha ne went to Heng-Chou
where street mob hooted at HIM and
peited him with clods of earth. They
tried to pull him down 70 the water TO
drown him, but he escaped and reached
Lyntans- There his three bearers became
alarmed at the violence of the people and
deserted him. Left alone with no knowl-
edge of the language. DIR. Wolfe was
forced To make his way by water back TO
York Sun