The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-04-24
.CHINA'S RICH PROSPECTS
The Wealth Of the Sc Chuen Dis
trict Told by a Missionary.
Beds of Soft CeaI of Unknown Elk
tent-PrOject for the Building of n
for American Manufacturers Din
trOduee Goods Into the Empire

NEW YORK. April 24.-The Rev. Q. A.
Myers. for the last FIVE or six years mis-
sionary Of the Methodist Church stationed
at Shun King, fifteen hundred miles from
Shanghai. in the extreme western part Of
China. was at the Methodist Book Con-
cern on his way home to Newport. Ind,
where Ae viii try TO regain his lost health.
Mr.. Myers is a wideawake young Ameri-
can. apparently a keen observer. enthusi-
astic in his work. and will return TO Shun
King as soon as his health will permit. He
Is accompanied by his wife and child.
''Se Chuen. in which have been labor
ing" said Mr.. Myers TO a reporter, '"is
doubtless one Of the richest provinces in
the Chinese Empire. and il is densely pop
ulated- No strictly accurate census has
ever been taken. of course, but the lowest
estimates place the number Of people in
the province at thirty million. and / would
not be surprised IL there were forty mil
lion. The western border OF the province
stretches out TO Tibet. and wherever you
go there are villages. villages. villages.
with numbers of walled cities here and
there for trade centres. -Four or five years
ago. when ! made my first visit TO Chen
Flu. the capital OF the province, it took ten
days to go from Shun King and passed
through seven walled cities. A walled city
In China is a centre of commerce and
wealth. as wealth goes in China. and the
villages dotted in between those walled cit
les are in an almost continuous string. /
went there with Mrs. Myers in February.
1894. and our house was the first foreign
house built in Shun King. One could travel
ten days into the interior then without
meeting a single Christian.
-Industrially. Chen Fu is bound 10 figure
prominently in the future Of China The
Yangtse River runs through it, and there
is navigation for small boats a long dis
lance up from Shanghai. This province IS
sure TO be live spot in the development
of the empire. for the reason that almost
limitIess beds OF soft coal underlie the
neighbOraOc1 Of Shun King There is a
great deal of mining done now. but all the
coal is transported on the backs OF coolies.
who carry a basket with about sixty
pounds in il through the mountains. where
there are hills 10 be climbed and about
eighty pounds on the plains. In travelling
about one passes thousands of these coal
carrying coolies coming and going. They
work for pitifully small sums. few cents
day. This system Of transporting coal
PritchaTd Morgan. a member Of Parlia-
ment. OF London, and capitalists assOciat-
ed with him have obtained from the Chi
~nese Government a large concession. and
they are not letting the grass grow under
their feet
There is a good deal of rivalry in the
province between the English and the
French pioneer business men and promot-
ers- Mr.. Morgan seems 10 have obtained
q y n val rnf1T
/ left Shun King a few weeks ago Mr. Nor
gan's engineers were hard at work in and
around Shun King running lines. and no
doubt getting an early estimate Of the
cost OF a railway up the Yangtse Valley.
I tried TO get from Mr.. Murdoch. one Of
the engineers, who wanted TO rent our
house while I was away. some information
with reference 10 his plans, but he was
close mouthed- I guess he didn't want TO
run any>-S+sk nf Frenchmen finding out
what be was about Doubtless for several
years transportation OF coal will be By
way Of the river. but in time the railway
viii be built and it won't be so very long
either
Yes. American goods are beginning to
be sent up the Yangtse. 1 was agreeably
surprised when I w-nt cut 10 4 hardware
store in Shun King just before I left TO
find on sale American screws and American
wire nails They are not very extensively
used yet. as the Cinnamon don't know
much about them The storekeeper told
me. however. that several native carpen-
tiers had tried the nails and were greatly
pleased with them. The screws they know
nothing about. They understand the ne
chanical science OF the wedge ard lever.
but the screw is a poser for theIl- They
have TO be shown its utility in order to
know what il is intended for. II you'll
nq no I1E-a =ho ~
American screw has worked its way in,
and it's there to stay.
Another surprising thing in the way OF
innovation is the way in which the Ameri-
can camera has caught on in the interior
of China The old saying is that il is the
unexpected that happens The American
camera is the unexpected The Cinnamon
OF the better class are buying cameras
right and left. and swapping their children
and wives just as we do here
American soap is another thing that is
just making its bow in Western China. II
is a stranger there al present The ordi-
nary Chinaman does not wash. or az least
he does not use soap. The American arti-
Gle is getting recognized, however
Socks and undershirts have a future in
Western China. if mistake not Over and
over again, as l have travelled through the
interior Of the province. have I been ap-
preached by inquisitiYe Chinamez-and
they are all inquisitive-who would take
the liberty Of pulling up my trousers leg
and inspecting my sock. The well-to-do
Chinaman wears socks himself. and SPENDS
a good part Of his income for them, and he
likes to know all about your socks. The
American undershirt is something that in
terests him, too. There is no national
prejudice against it II is out OF sight. Of
course. and as its primary object is to keen
the body warm, the Ghinaman will buy the
American undeTshirt il he can get il
cheaper than his home weaver can make il.
The French are making progress in
commercial enterprises They recently
made enormous demands on the governor of
the province because French priest had
been imprisoned by a mob. They wanted
millions of taels and hundreds of acres of
land They have not secured what they
asked for yet, but they may follow it Up
with bayonets."
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