The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-24
In the Strange City of Pekan.

4
/ Pekin, the capital OF China and the
| center Of excitement al present. IS
city Of more than a million inha bttants,
! located eighty miles inland from the sea-
port OF Tien Tsin To reach Pekin the
| traveller disembarks az Ten Tsin and IS
offered the choice of three routes he
may travel the eighty miles OF ROAD
either on pony back OF IN cart, ,t o. ne
may be rowei up the river in Chinese
boat. the distance by water being l-e
miles
| Approaching Pekin, he sees nothing at
first but the great wall entirely sur
rounding the city and looming up Ike
mountain on the sandy al4uvi2l pam On
which the city IS built.
Pekin consists CT four complete and
separate cities, each. within walls OF It's
own The walls OF the outer or Cnlnese
| city are thirty feet in height and vary IN
/ thickness from thirty feet az the bot
| tom TO fifteen feet 40 the top Next Is
! the inner or Tartar City, with walls
| fifty feet high and from SIXTY 70 totty
| feet in thickness Still within. Ike n
third in a series of a Chinese nest CT
eggs. is the Imperial City. and ~ N
| center of ali is the Forbidden City which
NAV be entered only by members of the
royal family.
{ Parts OF some of the walls still stand
ing are more than thousand years old.
Z and Rekln mas DSSn the SAt~ u q N-Nt
since long before the Christian era. Some
| idea of the conditions within the walls
| may be gained from the fact shat, with
| a population Of at least a million. there
! is no system of sewers in the city. and
! few, II any, cesspools or drains. Sew
| age. garbage. and trash OF all kinds are
/ simply dumped or poured into the
| streets. which are innocent even OF
suspicion of pavement. After a rain the
mud on the principal streets of Pekin is
| often three feet deep. In dry weather
| the dust Is equally thick. and the sterrors
OF a dust storm in the Chinese capital
are said 10 be at least equal TO those OF
| the mud
In Pekin even more than elsewhere In
| China, and even IN 10 the present day,
the foreigner particularly II he be
white man, is looked upon as devil. II
| is said to be dangerous for a white
/ traveller to walk through the streets. The
Pekinese have a pleasant way OF drop
! ping bricks and other heavy articles up
, on the heads of the white devils as
! they pass below the low roofs 81 their
/ filthy houses, and more than one has
| gone out from his hotel on a sightseeing
| tour never to be seen or heard of again
| In the swarming. Shiny alleys and streets
Of Pekin are a thousand hidden corners
to enter which is as good as death.
| Because of the fact that the streets Of
! Pekin are not paved and are filed vita
ruts and deep puddles Of filth no vehi-
| cles with springs can live more than
few days unbroken. A species Of enor-
mously heavy and clumsy cart drawn by
a mule is the usual and. in fact. only
method of conveyance. Most Of the show
places of the city are absolutely forbid
den TO foreigners. and. of course, not
even the most exalted Of visitors IS ever
| allowed to enter the royal city.
One of the most interesting of the
sights Of the city is the great monastery
of Tartar monks. Here, in q city OF
their own more than 1000 half-naked and
savage disciples of Buddha live. owning
no allegiance even TO the supreme au-
thority of the Chinese empire and living
a life which is described as most revolt
ing The chief treasure of the nonas-
terry is an enormous gold gilt Image o.
Ruddha in the effort to see which many
white travellers have risked their lives
The only way in which admission to the
temple can be gained is by bribing one
Of the monks to open the doors and Of
ten II is found much more difficult to
get out than II was TO force an entrance.
Few Of the travellers who have penetrat-
cd to the shrine Of Buddha have gotten
away without leaving all their money
and other property behind them, and
often they have been glad enough to get
away alive.
As soon as n white man appears on the
streets Of Pekin he IS surrounded By
swarming mass OF beggars and other
pedestrians. They poke their filthy I'm
gers into his face, search his pockets,
and tear his clothing. all the while sa-
luting him with the choicest Of Chinese
insults If he stands perfectly quiet and
submits to their examination he is like
IL 10 avoid personal attack but If ne
strikes or threatens TO strike one Of the
crowd the chances are that he VIII be
torn limb from limb.
AS the seat Of the Chinese government
Pekin is also the locet on OF the great
examinations, by passing which the am
bilious young Chinaman may earn title
OF nobility and high government office.
Though China is practically an abso-
Lutte monarchy. there IS no such thing IN
the empire as an hereditary title OF no.
biIity Even the son OF the great II
Hung Chang stands by birth No higher
than the offspring Of q coolle. In order
to reach fame and greatness he must
pass the national examinations. These
examinations are sort Of burlesque on
the civil service examinations Of this
country. All the candidates are exam
ined in the same way and on the same
themes The subjects are the writings
of the ancient saees and philosophers.
the history OF China. and the compost
ton IF Chinese poetry. II young man
Is proficient IN these directions II Is ia
ken for granted that he knows every
thing else 50 that a boy who has never
seen shin may he placed I'm command
Of A feet because he Is thoroughly ac-
quainted with the writings OF Buddha
who was not an expert on navigation.
II is the ambition OF every Chinese
youth 20 pass these government examin-
atoms. and every month thousands Of
Young men come from al over the coun-
try 20 Pekin T. take them For tbs pur-
pose a great section Or the city has been
set apart ~ one end IS the su-calea
palace OF the official IN charge - the
work Running almost ont Il sign, n
every direction are the tie cells 70 b
occupied by the candidates who come 70
be examined. These cells are 2 lttla
more than four feet in height and less
than three fec: wide. Each cont aims Z
board sea. AMI writing materials On
arriving a Pekin the young men sre
assigned 10 these cells, each having one
occupant. Once inside they arc not a.
loved n cone out for auv purpose Until /
the examination IS complete. 4 matter
o. fourteen DAYS Even their meas are
cooked on IRE outside and servez %
them as trey sit inside their cells TIE
first examination Is not parfic,s1sriy hard
ana q majority Of the candidates ere
likely % ras5 4 few no7ths later Tire
second examination takes place. Thl- Is
extremely difficult and f. f. Fsi5 'hg;
not NOR than one ont % 2 hundred g.
successfui IT passing 2 Ard even affe- &
this er5esf the yourg Cshinzusan ( rot
given a patent % nobility or ever 2 Vov-
eminent of3ce He has sirnp,y WA tha
right % wear q gold hu-t3a on ~ cap
and % FTave put ~ over his house 2 siru
reading Promoted Man Bhlch Is the
ssue .hirF 80 - every college ~ 6sate (