Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-10-23
REAL EMPRESS DoWAGER.
Greatest Tyrnnt in the World-Quiclx
in Thought and Authoritative
agant Beyond Measure.

Many of the stories circulated about
the empress dowager to the effect that
she was a slave girl or came of poor
family are untrue. My wife has been
called as physician to her Niang CHA,
that is her mothers home. She was
the daughter of an official, was taken
into the palace and became the concu-
bine of the emperor, Hsien Feng. The
empress, his wife, has no children. The
son of this woman, on the death of
the emperor, became Emperor Tung
Chih, during whose minority the reins
of government were held by his moth
er. When he died without issue, she
selected Kwang Hsu to become his sue
cessor, holding the reins of government
from his infancy to his majority. Him
she has now dethroned, and she has Sc
lected the son of Prince Tuan as sue
cessor, not to Kwang Hsu, but to her
own son. During the whole reign of
Kwang Hsu he was compelled to kotow
to her at least once every five days. If
she was at the summer palace, 12 miles
away, he must go there every five days
during the hot summer and knock his
head to her. During his whole reign
she has compelled every official APP
pointed to viceroyalties to thank her
at the same time with the emperor.
She is the greatest tyrant in the world
and the strongest female character on
any throne, says Prof. l. T. Headland,
in Ainslee's.
She has never been seen by foreign
man, but she has been seen by the wives
OF all the ministers in Peking. When
she has an interview with Chinese of
fetal, according to Chinese custom,
she sits behind screen. Among the
presents she gave the wives of the min
listers We're lot of ivory combs-fne
combs as well as coarse-a present
which, it is to be hoped, these good
ladies will not have use for outside of
China. During the interview with
! these ladies she introduced them to
the emperor. She passed the tea to
them herself, taking a sip from each of
! the cups before she gave it, evidently
! to show them that it was not poisoned.
/ They came away infatuated with the
"Old Lady" as the Chinese sometimes
call her. The empress dowagers chief
Characteristic is quickness of thought
/ and action. When she comes to crisis
/ she does not wait to think twice. She
acts at once, and awes by her very
| presence. She does not take time to
reckon what the consequences will be,
( but when she has gotten the reins well
in her own hands she plans at leisure
1 how to avoid consequences. She has
/ always been hand and glove with Ii
/ flung Chang, and he would do anything
70 protect her. 1t was formerly sup
posed that she was for reform, and sc
she might have been had she not been
compelled to put herself behind the
conservative party when she deposed
Kwang Hsu. She is eXtravagant be.
yond expression. Her sixtieth birth
day fell during the Japanese Chinese
war. To celebrate il she had a stone
road built to the summer palace, while
the public road to Fungchou was in 6
dilapidated condition. When 10000 ,0OC
taels were raised for the construction
OF railways, it is said, she used larg,
part of the money in the decoration o
the imperial gardens, stopping the rail
way at Shanhaikuan instead of a.
Monkden, according to the origina
plans.