Evening journal., 1897-07-22
PASSENGER wHeeLeARRows.
They Carry Six Persons and Are Ex-
tensively Used in China.

| y NIiGEGDtAn nONN
They Carry Six Persons and Are Ex-
tensively Used in China.
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 a decided
improvement on the types used in west
Urn 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 throughout
the country necessitate the wheelbar-
rows being both rude and strong. with
axles and wheels able to bear the strains
which they experience. The wheelbar-
row is generally constructed of oak, at
q cost of about 16 shillings. It's weight
is 100 pounds; extreme length, six feet
six inches Including shafts; extreme
breadth, three feet two inches, and
height, three feet six inches. The wheel
is three feet in diameter, and has an
iron tire IA inch wide by one-fourth
inch thick. To aid in steadying and
propelling the vehicle the wheelbarrow
man wears strap across his shoulders
which is attached to the shafts on each
side. Boxes. bales of goods, or what
ever the loads may consist of are Sc
cured to the wheelbarrow by ropes. The
charge for carrying an average load is
about one shilling and five pence per
mile. but varies according to the load
,,J fbo c4ofo of fbo ,.oo1 20 1,o f,.o xaiaI
over. The wheelbarrow has seating
accommodation for four people, two on
each side, and the fare for four people
is pa pence per mile. Passenger fares
are lower than those for merchandise,
on account of the avoidance of labor in
loading and unloading. A cushioned
seat 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 in rope loop.
which serves as a foot rest. Thus a ma
tive is wheeled for miles over the rough
roads of the country, with severe jolt
ing, accompanied by peculiar squeak
of the axle in the case of most barrows.
Immediately behind the wheelbarrow,
between the shafts, there is a long. OBJ
long-shaped basket, in which the wheel
barrow man keeps his few belongings.
On the great plain wheelbarrows are oc-
casionally seen with sail set, when a
fair wind proves a great help to the
trundling of the barrow over a level
way
Since the institution of cotton mills
at Shanghai (foreign settlements), the
4
as a passenger vehicle, especially for
carrying work women to and from the
mills. One man can wheel six women
for distance Of about three miles.
, morning and evening, the charge being
one shilling and five pence per month.
The average earnings of a wheelbarrow
man are about sh pence per day. About
1000 licenses are issued monthly to the
p same number of wheelbarrows plying
for hire in the streets of the foreign
settlements at Shanghai, where, being
under the municipal regulations, they
are perhaps. the best in China. The fee
e for license is 11h pence month, and
no whoelbarrow is allowed, according
to the regulations, TO carry more than
Gls chests of tea, or 81s boxes of kero-
sene oil, or 20i% boxes of soap (3o
!, pounds each), or ten boxes of soap (52
1 pounds each), or two 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 nc
Z wheelbarrow is allowed under any cir.
cumstances to carry more than COG
4 pounds of dead weight. These regula
4 II
\ to. Sometimes in the streets of the
y foreign settlements at Shanghai about
d 80 wheelbarrows may be seen travelling
r. one behind the other, each carrying
}. two barrels of English Portland cement
l. and pushed by one man. Very frequent
n ly, however, a load is carried on one
side of the barrow only, so that the edg,
of the 1H-inch tire cuts into the ma
. cadam roadway like knife. The bale.
+ sometimes project three feet on eacl
l. side, the man pushing the barrow being
e almost invisible from the front. Tn,
y municipal roads are chiefly of macadam
o and the damage they sustain from thii
e traffic is very great. 1t has been found
n after repeated experiments, that granite
broken TO pass through a three-qUartel
inch ring and rolled in the usual man
n ner is the only kind of macadam road
way that will stand this severe traffic
1t is extraordinary to see a ChinamaI
sBlfully balancing and propelling I
) heavy load on one side of barrow, and
l. considering that there are about 1000 o
IS these vehicles travelling through thu
s. streets of the settlements, in addition
d to q large traffic of other kinds, the up
o sets and accidents are remarkably few
u Iron Age.
II About this time the American pee