The Press., 1897-08-19
THE WHEELBARROW.
USED EXTENSIVELY IN CHINA AS A
 MEANS OF TRANSPORT.

They Each Carry Six Passengers or 600
 Pounds of observation-disclosures and
 Rexulated-Hard on the Streets-How
 They Diner From Our wheelbarrowA
 The wheelbarrow affords one of the chief means of travel and transport in China, especially in the northern part of the empire and throughout the Great plain. The Chinese form is @ decided improvement on the types used in west ern countries, for it is so constructed that the load, which sometimes Is very great in bulk and weight, is carried over the wheel, and not between it and the man who propels it. The high cost of timber and the bad roads through out the country necessitate the wheel barrows being both rude and strong, with axles and wheels able to bear the strains which they experience. The wheelbarrow is generally constructed of oak, at a cost of about 16 shillings. Its weight is l20 pounds; extreme length, 6 feet inches (including shafts); extreme breadth, 8 feet 9 inches. and height, 8 feet 6 inches. The wheel is 8 feet in diameter and has an iron tire lA inches wide by quarter inch thick
 To aid ill steadying and propelling the vehicle the wbeelbarrow man wears a strap across his shoulders, which is attached to the shafts on each side. Boxes, bales of goods, or whatever the loads may consist of, are secured to the whpclbarrow by ropes The charge for carrying all average load Is about Is. 5d per mile, but varies according to tho load anl the state of the road to be travelled oyer The wheelbarrow has seating accommodation for four people, two on each side, and the fare for fur Ieople is 214d. per mile.
 Passenger furcs nre lower than tl:sc for merchandise on account of tho avuid- ance of labor in loading and unloading, X cushioned scat is provided for the passenger, who generally sits with one leg resting on the front of the barrow and the other hanging over the side Ill n rope loop, which serves as foot rt st. Thus n native is wheeled for miles over tho rough roads of the country, with severe jolting, accompanied by pccul far squeak of the axle in the case of most burrows Immediately behind the wheel barrow, between the shafts, there is q long, obIong shaped basket, in which the wheelbarrow man keeps his few be- longings. On the Great plain wheelbar rows are occasionally seen with sail set, when fair wind proves great help to the trundling of tho barrow over n level way.
 Since the institution of cotton mills at Shanghai (forcign sCttlcmCnts) tn" wheelbarIOw has been extensively used as passenger vehicle, especially for cur rying work women to and from the mills. One man can wheel six women for a distance of about three miles, morning and evening, the charge being Is. 5d. per month. The average earn ings of n wheelbarrow man are about sgd. per day. About 4, 900 licenses are issued monthly to the same number of wheelbarrows plying for hire in the streets of the foreign settlements at Shanghai, where, being under the mu- nicipal regulations, they are perhaps the best in China. The fee for license is l1hd. month, and no wheelbarrow is allowed, according to the regulations, to carry more than 6N chests of tea or 816 boxes of kerosene oil or 20h boxes of soap (30 pounds each) or 10 boxes of soap (52 pounds each) or 9 bales of American piece goods. The width of the packages must not exceed four feet that is, two feet on each side of the barrow-and no wheelbarrow is allowed under any circumstances to carry more than 600 pounds of dead weight
 These regulations are, however, not strictly adhered to. Sometimes in the streets of the foreign settlements at Shanghai about 50 whCelbarrows may be seen travelling one behind the other, each carrying two barrels of English portland cement and pushed by one man. Very frequently, however, load is carried on one side of the barrow on ly, so that the edge of the L inch tire cuts into the macadam roadway like a knife. The bales sometimes project three feet on each side, the man push ing the barrow being almost invisible from the front. The municipal roads are chiefly of macadaIn, and the dam age they sustain from this traffic is very great. It has been found, after re- peated experiments, that granite broken to pass through a three-quarter inch ring and rolled in the usual manner is the only kind of macadam roadway that will stand this severe traffic. It is extraordinary to see Chinaman skill. fully balancing and propelling a heavy load on one side of. a barrow, and, con. sidering that there are about 4, 900 ot these vehicles travelling through the streets of the settlements, in addition tc @ large traffic of other kinds, the upsets and accidents are remarkably few.- Iron Age.