Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-03
the telegraph, so far as is known, had ever

the telegraph. so far as is known, had ever
been seen in Pekin
Invitations were sent out to members of
the tsung Ii yamen to come and witness
the experiments They came and during
the performance looked without, how
ever, giving any sign of intelligence or in
terest 1t is singular to reflect that one
of these academcans Tung, who after
ward signed the contract with the Danish
Great Northern Telegraphic Company,
should have upon this occasion made the
contemptuous observation: China has
has been a.great empire for four thousand
years without the telegraph Even more
singular still is the fact that Sheng. one
of the most bitter opponents of the idea of
connecting Pekin by telegraph with Tien
Tsin. should live to see his son appointed
director of imperial Chinese telegraphs.
Naturally the head of the Tungwen College
was by no means satisfied with the way in
which these delegates received his exhibit
ton of the invention, and the next day
offered to bring his instruments to the
yamen itself for the inspection of the
higher ministers. including. of course.
Prince kung He was politely accorded
room. and on the appointed morning the
ministers assembled to witness the expert
ments.
Everything" wrote DIR. Martin, went
off well, the old men being almost as child
like as their clerks, only they toyed with
the telegraph. sending bell signals wrap
ping copper wires about their bodies. break
ing or closing the circuit and laughing
Mccarthy as tnty saw sparks l6dplnS from
wire to wire and setting hammers In mo-
ton. In letters, he adds, they were men:
in science children" After this perform
ance there was, according to custom, a
breakfast in honor of the occasion, at
which the only other European present was
Sir Robert then Mr. Hart. When the lat
ter was asked his opinion of the little affair
which had just terminated he remarked,
dryly: Every little helps
In few weeks Tung, the minister of
finance, announced that he had changed
his opinion with regard to the telegraph.
He called frequently to examine the instru-
ments, and studied them to such good pur-
pose that he learned how to send messages
He salo devised an alphabet of initials and
finals in such a fashion that the needle
would spell a ,word by pointing to two char
acters, as simple as b-a, ba. Tung succeed
ed in winning over the grand secretary to
the emperor, Winsing, who often accom-
panied him on his visits. A class in teleg-
raphy was formed but after a year it
iapsed. and, as no patronage was forthcom-
ing by the government, the instruments
were put away, and it may be added that, if
the Boxers have not destroyed them, these,
the first Geographic instruments in North
China, are still in the Tungwen Museum at
Pekin.
The next stage was In January, 1874,
when General Rasloff, the Danish envoy,
asked permission for the agents of the
Great Northern Company to make for
NAL exhibition before the ministers of the
! tsung Ii yamen. The government was great
ly impressed. and, the Franco-Chinese war
having shown them the necessity of having
rapid communication with the centers Of its
numerous provinces, the electric telegraph
was adopted. The first message was sent
by Ii Hung Chang to Prince Kung. when
the former was stationed at Tien Tsin. 1t
consisted of precept. eleven words long.
from Confucius, which may be translated
thus: Let us choose out the good and
follow 1t; let US choose out the evil and
avoid it'-obviOusly a reference to occiden-
tai civilization.
Roughly speaking. the Chinese system Of
telegraphs may be described as consisting
10 the main of a line starting from the
northern part of China's colonial possess
sions to the north of China proper, and ex-
tending southwark not far from the coast.
In the southern portion there is an addi-
tional line forming loop further inland;
while from this northern and southern main
line spring three large lines running in
westerly direction, the northernmost one
through the northern provinces. the southern
one through the southern provinces, and
central one along the Yangtse valley. In adj
dition to these trunk lines there short
branch ones. connecting different places of
importance with the main lines. By means
of these Geographic communication Is MAIN
tanned with every one of the eighteen prov
inces. The greatest trouble in putting up
the wires came from turbulent HUMAN.
The wOrkmen sent to put up the poles and
wires were repeatedly driven off by the
people, but the engineers Of the Danish
Great Northern Company. assisted by SOL
diers from Pekin, at length triumphed.
Compared with the numerous important
centers Of trade. the stations are remark
ably few in number: and the rate for mes
sages even between contiguous parts runs
often high as seven pence a word. which
is of course prohibitive to the masses The
chief telegraph Office at the capital boasts
at the busiest times only six operators.
Time.
From Life
'"They say she is great deal older than
he"