The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-08-07
CLIFF JEWELLERS In CHINA.
of Pekin That Prof White Visited
Recently.

several nOnInS ago, reached Cnlna just
before the Boxer outbreak had assumed
dangerous proportions, and at once made
an excursion into Mongolia, returning
later to T1entsin. From there on June
2, he sent an account OF a singular and
interesting village of Catholic cliff dwell
lers which he visited in Mongolia. 1t
is quite probable that the native Chris
tians ne describes have since been massa-
cred. Prof. Wright prefaces the descrip-
tion of the village with few brief para
graphs about the curious nature of the
territory in which 1t is situated:
''The eastern border of Mongolia and
the northeastern part of China are large
~ covered with los (loess) one of the
most interesting and puzzling of all the
geological deposits. It's German name
comes nom the valley of the Rhine,
where loess is found in consi derable
quantities. The inhabitants of the Mis-
sissippi and Missouri valleys of the
United States are familiar with the de-
posit in the bluffs at Vicksburg, Kansas
City, Omaha and Sioux City. During
the siege of V1ckssburg the people took
refuge in spacious rooms dug out In the
deposit at a considerable depth below the
surface, At numerous places along the
Missouri river 1t stands in perpendicular
exposures more than a hundred feet
high and city streets are cut through It's
long, perpendicular sides which stand
like wall for many years When sec
tion breaks offsfrom the cliff it always
leaves OF perpendicular face.
''Yet the deposit is SO soft that its sur
face can be readily cultivated, and it can
be handled with shovel at any Depth
4 al, Of
tremely fine sand with little lime Until
mately mixed with it. 1t is so porous
that the rain which falls upon the sur
face passes entirely through the deposit,
preventing the formation of springs of
water until an imperviOus stratum is
reached underneath it all. 1t endures
drought better than any other soil.
"The most extensive development of
the lOess anywhere in the world is in
Mongolia in an elevated region from 5000
to 8, 400 feet above the sea, but it has been
eroded by water during long geological
ages into a very uneven surface, with
numerous narrow valleys from 1000 to
1900 feet deep, with 1nnumerable tribu-
tary gullies coming down the sides of
the intervening ridges. Many isolated
peaks, also, rise to an absolute height
of from 6, 900 to Z, 900 feet above sea level.
Into this rugged region has drifted dur
ing recent epoch an immense amount
of fine dust which constitutes the lOeSS,
That it has been blown in by the winds
is evident from the positions in which it
lies. 1T appears almost exactly like a Sc
rieS OF immense snow drifts accu-
mulated behind the barriers which have
caused lulIs in the wind permitting the
suspended PARTICLES to settle IN protected
places, while it has been swept bare from
the exposed positions.
''These deposits of loess are specially
valuable because of their fertility. But
in Northern China it is of especial inter
est in furnishing cheap, Comfortable and
saIubriOus dwelling places for multitudes
OF people. In a recent excursion through
the eastern part Of Mongolia, outside the
great Chinese wall, in the vicinity of the
famous city of KOlgan, l saw a large
number of such villages excavated in the
drifts OF lOeSs hanging on the sides of the
mountains. In walking over the grassed
surface 1T was no uncommon thing to
stumble against a chimney D sOtruding
from q habltatiOn below. From dis
tance the side of the hill looked like an
exposed bank pierced with innumerabie
swallows nests. The interior of the
houses are clean and comfortable. When
the walls have been mOistened and
SmOOthed over with a trOWel, they have a
hard finish which does not crumble off.
The rooms are uniformly dry and are
warm in winter and cool in summer.
On the sloping back Of a hill several
| stories of such houses are often seen
the rOof Of one being the front dOOryard
of the house above it.
''Ihe village of Shiwanze attract ed
our special interest. This is in Mongolia,
about 200 miles northeast of Pekin, and
can be reached only by mule carts or
pack animals. 1t Is reached from KOl-
gan by following for forty or fifty miles
the ascending course of one of the narrow
valleys already described as worn out of
the mountain plateau by small stream
OF water. For much of the way the old
Chinese wall is visible, running along
the sharp summit of the mountain ridge
to the southeast. The narrow gorge opens
at length into more undulating valley,
three or four miles broad, which is about
1900 feet below the general level.
Here, to our surprise, we came upon
a thriving Christian community of Chi
nese, living like their neighbors in
houses dug out of the cliffs of lOess,
| especially prominent here.
''Shuwanze has an interesting history.
In 1867 the Roman Catholic converts in
Shansi and Pekin were driven out by
bitter persecution. Some of the refugees
lied beyond the great wall to Mongolia
and settled in Shiwanze. The refugees
w ere never forgotten. Missionaries from
Europe were from time to time sent them,
until now 1t is bishopric and the centre
of Catholic missions in Mongolia, which
are supported by society in Belgium.
Here we enjoyed for day the hospitality
of the bishop and his Intelligent CO.
workers, two or three of whom spoke
English readily. The Christian village
contains 1900 inhabitants and has a
large church with girls school of 400
and boys school of 200. The total
number OF Christians in the diocese is
10000. We had occasion to note several
of the other Christian villages in our
further travels.
''The main physiological difference be-
! tween the heather and the Christian
women in China is in the feet. Those
of the heather women are made so small
! by their cruel mode of bandaging from
infancy that they are practically useless
in Shiwanze are of natural size. This
! permits them to frequent the streets
much as women do in Europe and Amer
lea, and is connected with a higher de-
YelOpment in every resDect When we