The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-10-05

man must kowtow TO every such object,
whether it be piece of paper or an old
hat.
The emperor is regarded as the direct
representative of God, and the ruler Of the
whole earth. The term Middle Kingdom, -
applied by the Cinnamon to their own
country. means that it is the middle Of the
earth The claim is similar to that made
by Boston.
The e1nperor's conjugal arrangements
are extensive and peculiar He was II years
old at the time of mis- first marriage, ten
years ago. The empress dowager gave
him three wives TO start with The selec-
ton was curious. All the pretty Tartar
girls of the empire, numbering many thou
sands. were gathered together and sorted
and the best Of them were sent to Pekin
The selection was first made by the gov
ernors of the provinces. and no girl was
presented who was over IS or under u
years of age
The choice lots were dressed in the finest
of Clothes. and were carted from all parts
of the empire to Pekin. They were sub
mitted to the inspection of the old empress
dowager, being brought into her presence
in lots of five. She passed upon them as
fast as she could and weeded out the
ugliest and dullest. Those who remained
were taken out for the time and brought
back again in new lots. and so the sorting
went on until the thousands had dwindled
down to the hundreds. the hundreds to
scores, and tn escores at last down to if
teen
- IL nut iY7fn "a IN
fng. Their PAGES were tested, and all sorts
of experiments were made as to their tenn
pers and traits. After some months the
old empress picked out the three girls she
liked. and the eldest Of these, who was IS
years old, became empress The two others
became what are called secondary wives.
and these two latter were sisters one Of
whom was 10 and the other IS years old.
The marriage of the emperor was cele-
brated in elaborate style. and the magnif1-
cence Of the occasion may be imagined
from the fact that it cost the government
$4,000, 600
Every three years new patches of wives
are picked out for the emperor. The pref
test girls in the empire are chosen
The dowager empress exacts as much
reverence as the emperor himself. Her
servants and ministers must not look at
her but kneel on the floor behind a screen
while she addresses them.
Persons who have thwarted in any way
the plans of the dowager empress have
shown tendency TO die suddenly and
mystertously. There have been hints OF
poison.
When her husban ddied he left the throne
30 his young son, Tung Chi. With the
cooperation Of Isl Shi, the senior dowager
empress. she gained control Of the govern
ment When the emperor manifested signs
Of independence he died suddenly. His
death was Immediately followed by that OF
his widow, who would have become q
mother.
The next one to go was Tsi Shi. the
senior dowager She died very suddenly
with symptoms of poisoning. Prince
Chung father Of the present emperor
quickly followed in her footsteps to the
grave. The Marquis Tseng, hts principal
ally, died likewise within short time.
It is extremely probable that the young
emperor. Kwang Su, who has just beer
deprived Of his power, will soon return
10 heaven" as the Celestials term the de-
parture Of their emperor from this earth.