Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-02-24
cATHARINE II. OF CHINA.
Grand Old Woman Who Has So Gong
Ruled the Celestial
Empire.

Catharine II. of China is not merely :.
great empress. historiens of the future
may be trusted to regard her as great
woman. A dispatch rece.fiy cabled
from PekiRg 10 the Heral- describes
her as seated on a dais receiving thee
ladies of the diplomatic corps. The
emperor is reported TO have been also
present, but unimportantly, at her left
1t was nice of her, though, to let rim be
there at ALL He is but the nephew OF
his aunt. 1t is the lady who reigns and
who has reigned for 81 years. Said Con
fucius: Man is to woman whSts the
sun is to the moon; he sorders.' she
obeys, and harmony is the RESULT"
Confucius was wise in his generation.
but not in nineteenth century Cathay.
There the moon orders, and not the
sun merely but the nephew also CPeys-
1t is as well, perhaps. There are pTede-
cessors of his who baked and who be-
cause of it rejoined their ancestors in
stanter. Catharine III. of China is lady
who likes her own way. That, howev-
er, is natural. Catharine /. of Russia
began life as a servant. CatharineeIL.
of China began as a slave. 1t is. said
that, contrary to local custom. her face
is not painted. But everything about
her is contrary to local custom Never
till she emerged from her scullery has
a woman dreamed of usurping the
dragon seat. Fancy an odalesque step
ping from the seraglio and ousting the
sultan from his throne. Such q per-
formance is unimaginable, and yet this
lady has done better, one might even
say worse.
1nx- n
Tartar The fact is worth noting. Tar
tars do not mutilate their daughters
feet. The girl had free use of hers. AT
the age of II she was sold 10 a manda-
rim. In and about his household her
feet took her where her superiors could
not go. A Chinese girl who marries
passes from one prison to another. OF
the outer world shesknows nothing. OF
that outer world her slaves knoSS all.
1t was this way with little Isl .Au.
What she did not know she guessed.
and what she could not guess she
learned. She learned TO dance. \ bee
could not equal her. She learned ito
read. On the tip of her tongue were
a hundred stories each more dyerting
than the other. On the tom-tOm she
learned to strum. The three notes that
are dear to the orient she repeated sur
prisingly. She learned more difficult,
things, too; how TO arrange a basket OF
fruit, how to touch flowers, hoy TO
smile, and how to hold her tongue
Astonished at the prodigy, the manGa-
rim sent her as a curiosity to his sover-
eign at Picking. One day the Son of
Heaven noticed her. The slave became
a favorite, and. becoming a mother, be
came also a secondary wife. There. one
might suppose, that had she ambitions
they would have rested. It was there
they began Though that was 3! years
ago they have been increasing ever
since. AS recently related here. there
successfully departed this life the Son
of Heavtn, the Son of Heavens sson,
others who were in the way There
after she was supreme
Lately. when the ladies of the GiPlo
matte corps paraded before heF she
patted the wife of the British afnbas-
sador on the cheek The Herald states
that in doing so she wore charming
smile. One may readily believe il Her
hand is as strong as Ter rise rs pro
digious. In modern times both are un-
paralleled. There is indeed arotheE
instance of a slave attaining imperia!
power, but it occurred in Hay:i. and
what occurs in Hayti does not count
Even otherwise this lady is unique. Re
garded merely as Chinese firecTacker.
she is destined TO burn into history
with a flame intolerably vicious per
haps, and yet entirely her own Col
lier's Weekly.