The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-10-27
THE GREAT CHINESE WALL.
It Is Like No Other Structure Reared
By Man.


From the London IelegrApn
For 10, 900 Ii, that is to say, for some
5000 miles, with any number of links, ad-
ditions and block houses, the Great Wall
of China stretches from Shan-hai- kuan, in
the Gulf of Lao Tung, on the northeast,
to little below Suchau, in Kansu, on the
west. To serve as a defence against the
Huns it was built by Tsin Emperor,
named Hwangti, in the early, one might
almost say the semi mythical, ages of Chi
nese history, more than 200 years before
Christ, and repaired by great Ming EN-
peror about 1880 A D., with the aid Of
so, 600 soldiers, to secure the frontier
against the growing power of the Tartars.
If It's age is semi mythical, its grandeur Is
also semi mythical Meandering over
mountain and across valleys, broken by
none of nature S obstacles, and taking the
ups and downs of one of the most sterile
ranges in the world as it happened to strike
them, the Great Wall is like no other
building reared by the hand ofma There
must have been ''giants in the land to
conceive the stupendous idea, and to carry
it out in the grandest way and by the most
solid and lasting of material.
At the port of Shan-hai- kuan, now con
nected with lien Tsin and so with Pekin
by railway the Great Wall dips into the
sea, and its nearest point to the capital is
up the Peiho, due north. West of Pekin
some hundred and thirty miles it touches
the important city of Kalgan, which Is the
portal of the Middle Kingdom TO the pla-
teau of Mongolia The line, or crosscut,
of the Great Wall, that can be visited in
three or four days from Pekin, was con-
structed about 500 years ago by the Mlngs,
and runs almost dne south from oint
below Ku-peh- tau, branching south and
west not far from Fau-pingfu, and 1t can
best be seen in all its majesty some fifteen
miles west of the city of Nankau, through
the Nankau Pass, which admits the great
caravans of Mongolia and Tibet to the
Pekin plains For this expedition it Is
well to have a couple of mule carts to take
baggage, provisions and the indispensable
cook, and the pleasantest means of doing
it is on Mongol ponies.
MEANS OF TRANSIT.
For carrying farm produce aud goods
taken in exchange the Chinese IN the
Province Chilli use clumsy wooden
wagon with broad, iron clamped wheels,
and passengers of less Importance than to
be entitled to the official chair are driven
in the notorious Pekin cart, which Is low
pitched trolly of hard, Imprinted wood,
with a blue arched canopy, utterly desti-
tute of the suggestion Of spring, aud with
shafts that do not give an inch TO the
deepest ruts. To make for Nankau one
leaves the city by the great gate named
Te-eheng men, passing through the impe
rial city and under the Coal Hill, From
early morn TO dewy eve the thoroughfares
of this quarter are crowded not only with
the normal traffic afoot, ON muleback and
in carts, but by the long lines Of Bactrian
camels, laden with the raw products of the
western khanates At the gate itself men
and animals jostle and oyerrun one another,
and the noise of humping vehicles Is only
equaled by the shrill bowling Of the drivers,
Not far away is the parade ground Of the
troops. and no funnier spectacle can be
seen than Chinese regiment on the march
When once the show piggin is over the
order Of the day Is Ego as YOU please
The rank and file, with eolored jacket
thrown over their coolie clothes, walk in
detached groups or fall cut altosetheNcar-
ryiny their old fashioned Snider rifie-'in a
way unreoosnzed by the drill book \
great difficulty in keeping any rifle isned
in a fit state for use Is that the Chinese
soldier viii use it as a carrying pole, with
which he can earn eOolie wages when of
duty Il is a good thing, no doubt, for a
regiment to take its refreshment on the
march without the necessity Of a formal
halt. but it Is none the less a quaint method
Of cleaning the rifle barrel, after firing, "a
pour down it what remains of the hot tea
that they buy en- route. To use tea A. a
substitute for oil may be economical at the
moment, but must cost the War Office a
trihe for wear and tear. Another strange
incongruity is TO behold the Manchu soldier
still practicing with his bow and arrow at a
distance Of about thirty yards. This re-
mains necessary and valued part Of his
training, and high proof Of military eff
Cheney it Is considered to be when troop
of cavalry gallop past By single file, shoot
ING at a target, with shouts of excitement
1t is still the custom to choose officers by
this test. aud Manchu General not long
ago issued manifesto deploring the ten
deney of young officers to imbibe modern
ideas of warfare, and laying down the prin-
ciple that the true trial of strength and
courage was in the use Of the bow. Once
outside radius of FIVE miles the only sign
of the neighborhood of the great camps Is
the passing of a military caravan of ponies
laden with stores, and decorated BY little
yellow flags, the guns bundled together
ike faggots.
picturesque sight was small camp OF
Tbetans with yellow covered Llama, on
their way home from Pekin Stumpy, but
not unkindly looking people, they have
much in common with the Mongols Of the
far north, and in their blue, triangular
tents seemed to be making the best of their
long peregrinations. Through the Great
Wall and the Nankau Pass. first crossing
the Wall at Kalgau, Is carried all the trade
of Central Asia. and much also that comes
by waterway at first along the tributaries
of the Hwang no Is diverted to this route.
To tap such trade by railway would OBJ
viously be a profitable undertaking, aud
there is talk of an American line, to reach
from Pekin to kalgan, along the pass and
up on to the first plateau. Under our
agreement with Russia, we leave to her all
railways "outside the Great Wall; but
what is the Great Wall? Is it the first OF
second wall One imagines that the origi
nal Wall Of Hwangti is meant by the limi-
tation, and, if 50, it seems pity that the
railway pioneers of Northern China, with
Mr.. Kinder at their head, do not go for
ward with the proposal for concession Of
such obvious advantage From the com
mercial as well as the political point Of view
it would be of great and increasing value,
for its underlying principle is just that
which is the best justification of railway
construction all the world veT-the
cheaper, easier and more humane carriage
of larga existino trade a trade which