The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-08

sort for foreigners living In the hotter
parts of China and Corea. Surf bathing
begins in May and lasts until the fall,
and there is always cool sea breeze,
while the surrounding country inland may
be parched with the heat. In addition to
the hotels there are large boarding
schools for girls and boys, the children
of missionaries in the East. This part
of Che Foo is very beautiful. but unfor-
tunatelys there is another. The Chinese
Che Foo the native city, might we'll
stand for a Western mans ideal of
Hades, though even Dante's imagination
would here have failed unless he had a
glimpse of certain features Of Oriental
life.
a CHOICE COLLECTION OF SMELLS.
To begin with, the city is a revelation
in smells. Each street-or alley-has a
different one, and each house ernits an
odor peculiar to itself. The streets are
only few feet wide, and crowded with
a squabbling, jabbing, jostling throng of
Chinese. BeggarS in rags and filth too
awful to describe cringe and whine about
the foreigner who enters this bedlam,
and follow him until paid to go away
or else kicked side; nothing between the
two answers. In the tiny stores on
either side of the way the storekeepers
smoke their pipes over their counters or
their reckoning board-a device used
everywhere in Japan, Corea and China
and haggIe with customers. Coolies,
with poles over their shoulders to which
are attached heavy burdens at either
end swing along at a dog trot, crying
to every one to get out Of the way.
Chairmen, bearing a foreigner in bam-
boo chair or rich Chinese In a palan-
quin, obstruct the way. Lifting their
poles upon their shoulders they forge
through the crowd and traffic Is effec-
tually blocked. An open theater is
passed, and the din of the drums and
pipes and squeaky voices of the actors
join the already composite clamor. The
houses are of wood, one story high, and
the stores are open to the street. All
sorts of things are sold; a tea store Is
next to an apothecary shop, and a meat
store next to that: booths where cheap
trinl1ets for wonen's hair are sold pro-
ject into the already crowded alley. and
the hueksters sing loudly Of their
wares to the passers-by.
Unless impelled by an absorbing an
thropological interest one does not 1inger
in the Chinese part of Che-Foo. Still, in
spite of the jostling. dirty throng, in spite
of the confusing medley of sounds, the
squalor and the fearful odors one is i'm
pressed by the universal industry; bar
the wretched beggars. everybody seems
to be busy, and to want to be busy. But
this redeeming feature appeals to one
more after leaving the city behind than
when one is In the midst of it. It is
also pleasant to know that Che Foo is
one of the most dfsagreeabIe of Chinese
cities, though, according to our stand
ards, there Is not much choice among
them. The city is an important one from
strategical point of view, seeming to
command the approach to Picking, almost
sz4A h.
way to the capital 1t IS said out here
that the Germans have an eye on it, and
that they hope to include it in a con-
templated grab Of the whole peninsula
FROM CHE-Foo TO TAKU.
It IS about eighteen hours from Che
Foo to Taku Few are the steamers
which can go in any nearer than ten
miles of the low mud Forts which COM
mand the entrance Of the Pef-Ho river.
for there is q treacherous mud bar
stretching across, and at high tide
scarcely anything but a junk or sam
pan can cross it. The mud forts Of Taku
are visible from where the ship comes
to anchor only on a clear day. They
form a dim line along the horizon, and
this IS the only landIin sight. In sharp
contrast to the gagged peaks of Corea
and the sandy heights south of Che-Foo,
this strip of Northern China which
reaches to the sacred cap3IaI CITY, IS
dead level. There are absolutely no
heights to break the monotony of the
coast line. Beforeo coming to anchor
several Chinese men-of-war are passed.
They are white,n sleek looking ships
entirely foreign built The sailors are
dressed with a certain concession to for
eign ideas on the subject, wearing broad
brimmed straw hats and baggy trousers
of blue, tied in at the ankle. One is
possessed with strong desire to pop in
upon one of these ships when those on
board are unaware, for it seems certain
that all concessions are merely outward.
The foreign method of living has not
been fully adopted on board the ships of
the Chinese navy as 1t has in the Japan
80; neither t. Judge from the Japanese
Chinese war, have foreign naval tactics
been very thoroughly assimilated. From