The age-herald., 1900-06-26
THE CITY OF TEEN TSIN
One of the Largest Municipalities of the
 Chinese Empire

Tien Tsin the center of so many exciting scenes in China just now, is one Of the largest cities in the empire, having fully 1000, 900 inhabitants.
 It is the port of Pekn, and stands on the tortuous and muddy Pei-Ho river, SS miles below Pekin and 8 above the IaKu forts at the mouth of the river. The Pro- vince of Pe-Chi-Li, in which both Fekln and Tien Tsin are situated. is vast low lying plain, liable to floods of more of less severity. Only ten years ago it was Vixted by such a calamity, which counted its vic times by millions, the extent of the damage being measured by tens of thousands Of square miles Tien Tsin literally means Heavens Ford"
 The walled city proper has a circuit of only three miles, but the suburbs stretch out beyond the ramparts for miles in every direction, and harbor the greater part of the enormous population The big cities of the south of China have much about them that is picturesque, but at Tien Tsin there is little bright or attractive outside the for eign quarter except the dress of the inhab- itants. The wide-spreadng Chinese DOT tion of the place is pleasing neither to the sense of sight nor smell. According to the German traveller Won Werner, the city is dirty and odoriferous, and large part of the buildings are merely huts of dried mud. 'In the heat of the three summer months" he writes, the town is almost unendura- ble."
 Yet Tien Tsin differs from the cities of Southern China in the greater width of it's principal thoroughfares. While trans portation in Shanghai and Canton is usual ly carried on by coolie porters in the streets of Tien Tsin are seen hundreds of the heavy carts of North China, most of them drawn by mules or oxen
 Nowhere within the vast eXpanse of the Chinese empire are the inhabitants more enterprising than in this great port of Northern China. They own big fleets of junks and not a few steamers. Although the English at time controlled the larger part of the trade of Tien Tsin, the native merchants won back the first place twenty years ago, and have since fairly maintained it. In 1881 the city was con nected by telegraph with Shanghai, Pekin and the chief cities of the empire and for some years past the place has also been a railroad center on the route between the Taku forts and the capital
 The foreign quarter is called Tsz -chu- lin, the Red Bamboo Grove It is about two miles below the city proper and em- braces three "concessions,'' the British which is in the center, being the largest and most important, while the French is near the city, and the American the far thest away. This foreign quarter bears a striking contrast to the Chinese section of the city, and is ornamented by many fine structures, notable among them being d new hospital. Encircling the whole place, including the foreign quarter, is a rampant erected in 1858 by a Tartar British forces, and known, after it's de- signed as n-ko-lin-sn's Folly"
 The United States consulate at Tien Tsin, which is reported to have been destroyed, is situated far up on the Meadows road, which runs up from the Pei-Ho directly through the center of the town It is far removed from any of the other consulates and practically isolated from all other for eign buildings This fact might explain the report of it's destruction before the rest of the foreign consulates were molested The Japanese and Russian consulates are close together on the Meadows road nearer the river. And by themselves farther up the Pei-Ho stand the British and French buildings in close proximity to each other.
 A recent census of Tien Tsin showed the foreign population to be about 1000 per sons, including 110 Americans.