New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-09-02
PEKING IN MAY
xUrTERINGs OF TROUBLE OVER THE
BoxERs-THE cITY's cHARAc-
TERTSTICS

Picking. China. May IL
II Is tiresome journey from Tien-Tsin to
pskiag. IN spite OF the existence Of the railroad
Vet IL is the acme of luxury compared TO what
!, has been for some thousands of years past
There are between three and four hours Of mo-
,otonous landscape, brown fields. brown villages
browu graves. relieved only by a bit Of green
4, the wrong place-and all the dead level
The stations are alike, the husbandmen form
Niue specks on the brown expanse, and the &C.
,ssional numbering country cart and miscela-
,Aous tandem cease 10 attract notice after
v,ewed in duplicate some forty or fifty times.
You are almost suffocating for air Open the
,-,ndow and the fine brown dust which before
hss been merely sitting in now fills your COM
aartrent with clouds. and you fulfil your al
Iorted quota for this world by swallowing all at
once peck of good measure. running over The
conductors ana the brakemen are Chinese, and
are far from reaching the spruce ideal cherished
IN the Occidental mind for these functionaries.
they are dirty and III clad. their saving grace
he.ng their knowledge Of a few English words
and phrases. so that you are able TO tell whether
rhev are calling for tickets or offering YOU tea
for which you are subsequently asked for a
commission the longest and most important
word in most Chinamen's vocabulary. Conduc-
r,rs is used IN the plural because there are al
the work but 10 share IT. In other words one
CONDUCTOR is sent TO punch the tickets, another
70 see that the first one does not cheat Some
tines there is a third to watch over the other
Two and in this way the company reduces the
-saueezing'' OF its employees TO a minimum. The
rad BY the way. was built by Chinese capital.
and is called the Imperial Chinese Railway.
PEKING THAT IS NOT PEKING.
Al 8 great stone station named Picking on a
huge sign IN front the passengers are dumped
ant But no mirage on tne desert Of green oasis
and sparkling stream ever raised falser hopes
in the bosoms of weary travellers than does this
sign in glaring letters-'Peking. The station
nay be Picking; yes, but nothing else is. 1t is
purely detachment; the genuine article is some
three niles and q half further on
Following bhndly IN the footsteps Of the coolie
who has valiantIy fought with and vanquished
dozen Of his brothers for the possession Of your
bag. you are led 10 a vast open space at the side
Of The station which resembles the grounds of a
country fair more than anything else. Here
stretched out in long rows, one rounded, blue
baize TOP after another are q myriad Of Picking
carts the mules tethered at the side The coolie,
OF course is IL league with certain Of the drivers
cas Of whom he accosrs. You repeat over and
over again. Hotel de Picking, Hotel de Picking"
The mule is now harnessed 10 the cart. your
bag pushed inside, and the driver gesttculates to
you 70 enter and place yourself by il The front
Of the cart to which you must climb is some
three OF four feet from the ground and there is
70 step, SO you hoist yourself up best you
may.
Responsiveness EVERYWHERE.
Il is two miles from the station 70 the outer
walls Of Picking. Your driver starts of, one Of
a crowd Of other jehus. who are all bound the
same way One soon wearies Of attempting TO
describe scenes and conditions in China. because
there are no beauties TO arouse enthusiasm.
Everything is such an exaggeration Of what is
most d5stesteful 70 our own instincts Of civil
zatI6n-1har adjectives and hyperboIe are soon
exhausted This road TO the outer gate to Pc
king IS Z series Of dust heaps and dust holes.
over which your springless cart alternately
wglows or tottsrs on the verge Of a declivity.
There are a few trees, and great many graves.
some cultivated fields and struggling houses.
Then you catch your first glimpse Of the brown.
jagged cutter wall Of Picking. and the gate
through which you are presently 10 enter. You
are Urfeignedly glad 70 find something at last
which Is impressive. He must be a matter Of
fact soul indeed who is not aWed by his first
glimpse Of that wall It stands as the outer
barrier Of the great Chinese capital wherein is
concentrated the essence OF conservatism. A
line OF moth eaten camels winds along under its
shadow, tied by their uplifred noses. one behind
the other On their backs are heavy loads
4 road Of electric cars has been built by some
Germans from the station 70 the nearest gate
q The outer wall This is q great innovation
bur here IL must stop II would never do TO
offend the spirits by allowing the road TO pass
through the walls Of the sacred city and thus
en6snger the lives Of al the inhabitants, in
Guiding the Emperor himself Until last year
The telegraph lines were not allowed to enter
ers~-r ,r7e-
ground system did not work well no kilograms
could be delivered after an early hour at night
when the gates were closed.
wide street runs in q straight line between
ne cutter and inner walls. At first there are
groups Of squalId huts and houses, huddled to-
ge'asr On both sides Of the way; little further
ana this broad way widens out to a thousand
Yards Or more and reaches to high mud walls
capped with ties which stretch for half mile
On either side. Here and there green treetop
SHOWS above. Behind one Of these walls is the
Altar Of Heaven, where once year, in blue
robes, the Emperor offers sacrifice: behind the
otner is the Temple Of Agriculture, where each
spring he is supposed TO repair plough a row
60 90 little symbolic sowing as a Precipitation
1T ne coming season Of agricultural toll and
IaiFest As a matter Of fact, he never goes
functions for him.
VILE ROADS
The way over which we are passing. which
-eaas straight from the outer TO the inner gates
s paved in the middle 10 a width Of some fifteen
-7et Without the previous experience Of what
OAineae road can be without paving, the treV-
=-sF passing for the first time over this way IN
Feking cart would wish this pavement where
Aere IS said 10 be another composed Of good in
'ehlons. There are abysses where stones have
sunk bodily. and they Of good size; there
hey some