The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-04-16
BEHIND CHINA'S THRONE.
The Emperor n Nopetity, the Dow
agor Empress is "It,,.-Charaotor-
istIcs, Surroundings and Physical
Appearances of the Young Ruler,


From the Washington Review.
There is a young man in Pekin who
would be trembling just now in his skin
if he were only able to realize properly
the danger that is threatened to him
and his empire. He is the Emperor
Kuang Hsu, euphemistically known as
the son of heaven and brother of the
sun. He is the most secluded monarch
on earth. When he appears in public,
which is rarely, mating is hung up i'm
front of all the houses and strips of
cloth are stretched aCress the alleys
and side streets through which the i'm
perial procession must pass. He is in
ariably accompanied by vast retinue
of soldiers and an army Of courtiers,
and the man who peeps around the
corner or has his eyes fastened to
hole in the mating is liable to be blind
| ed by a bullet or an arrow. When he
| is at home he is carefully hidden away
| in the center of a big Tartar city
| (Which is in the center of the Chinese
| city at Pekin), and you have to go
| through three sets of walls-simply an
| impossible task for European visitor
| before you approach the building in
| which he is kept, guarded by eunuchs.
| Though he is generally credited with
! the possession of an ugly temper which
| inciteS him to smash the brio "a braC
| of his apartments when he cannot have
| his own way, his efforts at ruling go no
| further than doing what he is told to
| do. He is kept in order-anCestOr wor-
| ship being a strong point in the Celes-
| tial moral Code-hy the old empress
dowager, who practically runs the state
| show, and who is Influenced some
! times by whims, working through a
thin leaven of diluted statesmanlike
feeling. and sometimes by that back
stairs palace intrigue which works
through the favorable medium of her
favorite eunuch, Pitsian-li Kuang Hsu
which means the illustrious success
| Sion--has been under the old lady S
| thumb since he was four years of age,
| when he was chosen to succeed Tung-
chi. She supervised his education. She
picked out his wives for him, and she
makes the ladies of his harem skip to-
day if they don't walk chalk in her
presence. OF cOure, she took her own
friends when she selected his wives
and she has him so hemmed about with
her officials and girls that if he had a
will of his own he wouldn't know how
to use it. The empress dowager. who
has bosSed the tSunE-li-yamen for a
generation, is now 63 years old. She
was the secondary wife of the Emperor
Hsien Fung. She was at the head OF
the empire during greater part OF
the Tapping rebellion. She managed
its affairs during its war With France
and she has had more than one taste
of Russian diplomacy. She is said tC
have a mind of her own, and al
of the Chinese respeCt and fear her
She is stCkler as to form. and insists
that all business shall be done through
the young emperor. though she really
directs what he is to do. She is ever
more secluded than the emperor ant
when she receives her officials and tn,
cabinet ministers her practice is to ST
behind screen while they talk at he,
through it--unless she has somethinl
strong to say to them.
The emperor is tWenty-seVen lean
undersi2cd and unhealthy. His fea
lures are Tartar as contra distingulshet
from Chinese; the regning family he
ing (as every one should know, but pro
bahly does nOO Tartar He does al
mis- business at night and he sleeps II
the daytime. He begins his worl
about two in the morning after mid
night breakfast when he receives hi
cabinet ministers, who, on being ush
: cred into his presence, go down on thei
knees and perform the seVen-faccC
"KO-tou"-that is, bump their heads
> again and again on the floor. The,
| also remain on their knees while befOr'
: him. Everything about and connected
with Kuang Hsu is regulated by law
even to his meals. According to the Ol,
Chinese books there must be placed be
fore him daily thirty pounds of meat il
a basin and seven pounds boiled int,
soup. lie has a daily allowance o
about pound of hogs Eat and butter
and he has the right To order tw,
sheep, two fowls and two ducks, Will
his drink for the day is restricted L
the milk of eighty COWS ana the steep
ing of seventy-fve parcels OF tea. |
; is probable that his real diet is differ
! cnt, but these are the regulation pro
, visions, and if he desires anything tha
> is not on the menu the board having
! charge of the imperial table has 10 b
consulted. 1t is more than doubtful
I whether his majesty realizes the eXalt
ed situation and his power. lie ha
Z been hemmed in and fooled all his life
He knows nothing of modern CiviliZa
= tion, and, in spite Of the recent wal
next to nothing Of modern warfare. II
4 has never reviewed, and is not capabl
( of reviewing his army, and his com
= mon amusement is to shoot with a boy
| and arrow. If he ever had in him tn
makngs of a character they must hav
t been ruined long since by his mode q
life and his surroundings.
FACTS ABOUT TOHPEDOES,