Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1900-12-13

E&EZ%p~ ldlltl, Il iHNA
HIK[SEfR AnysN Germany, and
AENIHEN%lH.$ Nthe population OF
H ,1NEf|YT8s 1.-THE Celestial
wv. AF%S * in z d IN Is
MI I'M CT3 6greater thanthat
llN%-~N$ II III of Russia, Ger
la.%7 ~ nv many, England,
~ - - S:y Japan, France,
Austria and the
United States combined The coast
line of China, an unbroken stretch from
Korea to Hainan, is LOO miles in
length. The center of China proper. by
which term is meant the original IL
provinces, exclusive of Manchuria and
Mongolia, is 1000 miles from the sea-
board. A division of the empire into
three sections-northern, central and
southern China-is a help to the com
prehension of it's varied physical char
acter. Northern China comprises the
great plain extending from Peking
south 1000 miles, the valley of the Ho-
ang- -Ho, or Yellow river, which courses
through the provinces of Honan, Shan
ST and Shensi, and the remote noun
famous province of Kansu.
Central China is separated from the
northern section by two lofty noun
tain ranges stretching from the bor-
ders of Tibet on the west almost to the
sea. South of these ranges lies the
basin of the Yang-tse-Kiang, covering
an area of 100000 square miles. In Sc
lecting the valley of the Yang-tse for
her sphere of interest England modest
" covets an area over six times as
large as the United Kingdom of Great
Britain.
The Chinese have two designations
for the Yang-tse to show their esteem
for the wonderful river. Yang IS the
name Of the ocean, and tse means son;
hence Yang-tse is the ''son of the
ocean" Generally the river Is called
"Ta- Kiang," meaning the Great riv-
err" The length of the Yang-tse is
about 5000 miles, and steamers have
ascended it 1900 miles to the geograph-
ical center of the IS provinces. lchang
is the head of navigation for foreign
steamers, but native junks and other
light draft vessels go as far as Chung
King. and even 200 miles beyond, into
the province of Szechuen. lchanS and
Chung King are treaty ports and, with
Shanghai, Chin-Kiang, Wuhu, kin-ki-
ang, Shashi and Hankow, constitute
the open doors for foreign trade in the
valley of the Yang-tse.
The various spellings Of Chinese
names render the. study of maps of the
country difficult, but there Is consist
ency in the arrangement OF syilaDles
which helps to fasten them in memory.
The points of the compass are often
added to the name Of city, province
or river. Tung means east, and Shan
means mountain, so Shan-Tung Is east
mountain, and Shan-Si Is west noun
tain, 81 meaning west. Pei means
north and nan south; tsin, kin or king
means capital or metropolis; hence Pe-
king and Nankin stand for the north
ern and southern capitals of the en-
pire.
Shang Is Chinese for city, and Shang-
hal means city by the sea, hal being
the word for sea as distinct from the
ocean. Ho and kiang both mean riv-
er; hence Pei-Ho is northern river, 81
kiang west river, and hoang yellow
gives its name to HoanS-Ho yellow
river and Hoang Hal yellow seal. ku
or kow means pass and cho or chow
depot or stopping place. These words
are often combined with others for the
names Of cities, as Ta-Ku, great pass
or mouth Of the Pei-Ho, and Tung-
Chow, the eastern depot of Peking.
Nan-Kow, meaning south pass, hap
pens to be on the northern borders or
China proper, but it means the south
pass from Mongolia into the Middle
Kingdom.
Southern China is a mountain re-
gion 1000 to 1,5O0 miles long and 400
to 600 miles broad. The highlands
touch the coast on the east and south
and on the north occasionally reach
the line of the Yang-tse. The mountain
ranges in the south trend with the
coast, but are short and irregular, Civ
Ing free passage to hundreds OF
streams finding their sources in the
hills and swelling to rivers on their
way to the sea- These rivers, in spite
of their numerous rapids, are used as
waterways by the patient and skillful
Chinese. Throughout the southern
mountain area of over 100000 square
miles there are no table lands, no ex-
tensive plains and no conspicuous
mountain peaks.
Central China has a vast lake region
comprising the whole of the province
Of Hupeh. the southern part of Honan
and the northern portion Of Human.
The Chinese call this section of their
country Hu-Kwang, or Broad lakes.
The scenery of the region Is pictur-
esque, the mountain sides often termi-
mating at the borders of a lake Of
crystal clearness. Lake Poyang, 80
miles long and 90 broad, and Taihu, 40
miles long and 80 broad, are very shall
low and are dotted with islands. Lake
Tungting, in Human, is the principal
lake in China. 1t Is formed by the wa
ters of the river Yuen emptying them
selves into basin 200 miles In circum-
ference, having an outlet into the
Yang -tse between Hankow and Ichang.
The great plain of China south OF
Peking includes the common delta Of
the Pei-Ho, Hoang-IIo and Yang-tse-
Kiang. but is not very productive ex-
rept In the south. Floods have been a
great curse to this region, and in some
districts dikes and canals have been
constructed to redeem the soil. Else
where the land along the rivers has
been raised to bring it under cultiva-
ton. The rainfall along the plain has
been very uneven, and the same region
will suffer from drought for years
and then suddenly become almost un-
inhabitable by reason of floods.
Central China, like the great plain,
is well supplied with canals, and for
merly the system Of waterways ex-
tended from Tien-tsin to Canton down
the Grand canal to Chin Kiang then