The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-28
CHINA's CLIMATE NOT SEVERE
American Soldiers Should not be Ex.
posed to Much Suffering.


From the New York Evening Post
Little danger, so far as climatic condi-
tions are concerned, is to be feared for
the American troops now ordered for ser
vice In China. Men who have lived long in
emma even say that a winter in Pekin is
quite as healthfu as a winter in New
York. Broadly speaking, the difference of
climate between Northern and Southern
| CHINA is just as great, and may be fairly
compared with that between the Northern
and Southern parts of our country. The
| summer weather at Shanghai and Hong
Kong is supposed to be unhealthful. but
in the latter city most of the foreigners
| live on an elevation called 1.-The peak"
and escape the worst effects. 1t is how
ever, into Northern China that our troops
are now being sent
| According to New Yorker who re.
cent came back fro m k n, the climate
there is chiefly remarkable for the wide
difference between the summer and win
ter tempe ratur5s The summer is very
hot, and the almost constant rains make
the air insufferably humid. 1t is healthy
enough climate, in spite of this, if pre-
cautions are taken. Bubonic plague, chol-
ere, and fev5rs are by no means the ever
present dangers reports would seem to
indicate. In fact, the foreigners in gen
eral pay little attention TO them They
are confined almost entirely to the Chi
nese- The worst month of the year is Au-
gust, when the rains are almost con-
stant.
Winter begins as EARLY as Nov /. and
there is no climate on earth finer than
Chinese winter. A man exhausted by the
summer months is braced up completely
and is very soon in splendid condition for
another year. 1t IS very cold to be sure,
but the dryness of the air-the same dry
ness Minneapolis men tell you about
keeps you from feeling the cold. Even for
men fresh from the tropics the only pre-
caut on necessary is to lay in a good sup
ply of winter clothes, and see that our
commissary department expects to have
these en- the ground before October l.
Most Europeans get vaccinated, too, for
there Is smallpox among the natives In
winter. Efforts to stamp out the disease
have been fruitless on account of the way
ia which the natives store their winter
clothes With the return of warm wealth
er all the furs and woolens are piled to-
gether in pawn shops or public store
rooms. where any infection there may be
i di tributed in the most effective man
ner possible. If our soldiers bring cloth
ing with them, and Go not rely en- native
furs, there is no danger.
LAS railway communication is at an
end 1t is likely that our regiment will be
tleu up Tor the winter IN or around Pekin
or Tien Tsin. All depends on the natives
whether their stay is one of the pleasant
est experiences of the soldiers lives or a
veritable nightmare The little snow that
falls evaporates quickly without melting.
and leaves the ground in fine condition
for horseback riding and plenty of po-
MES are TO be had. The river. and often
flooded land on either side, freezes
smoothly, leaving a fine surface for skat-
enc x1-inf x1ya haA -ioe- I.n,,
as well.
The food supply is a problem which
may present some difficulty In the past
invading armies have always been able TO
obtain food somehow, even when cut off
from their base of supplies. In the Tai
ping rebellion and in the Papan-China war
it was found repeatedly that the hostile
troops could easily buy all the supplies
they wanted from unpatriotic and mer-
cenary natives. In one case, l remember,
a Japanese force was hemmed in by Chi
nese on every side. With any other enc
my. as people said at the time, they would
inevitably have been starved out. As a
matter of fact, however all through the
siege they got supplies regularly and
Jared pretty well. 1t may be safer to de-
pend entirely on the regular commisariat
with base of supplies at one of the open
ports.
First on the list of native provisions is,
of course, rice. Dates are also staple.
Then there area great many sorts of
dried and preserved foods. In spite of the
cold winter fresh grapes Of a small
sweet variety, can be obtained all the year
round They are picked in the fall and
buried in a peculiar kind of sand from
which they can be dug six months later
with the bloom still on. In summer there
are many other fruits. among them the
finest pears you ever tasted. OF vege-
table food, In short, there is a great
plenty.
There is a great deal of game about
Pekin and Tien Tsin-wid geese, ducks,
teal, and snipe. 1t has been suggested
not jokingly either, that one of the deep
seated grievances of the northern Chinese
is due TO the great number of accidents
which have happened In China through
the promiscuous hunting and shooting OF
the foreigners"
Old Ulcers and SOres-No Cure, No
Pay.