The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-09
TAKU TO PEKIN.
The Most Trying Perior OF the Year
for Military Operations.

+ IOul tue lOluoH ltttSfupll-
Remote unfriended. melancholy slow, "
is the region between Taltu (at the mouth
OF the sinuous Peiho) and the far famed
capital of the Celestial Empire For the
first twenty-seven miles IL is particularly
depressing constituting. as il does. from
The coast 10 Tien-Tsin. one vast mud HAT.
unrelieved by tree or hillock From the
great treaty port of The north OF China to
Pekin iteslf. distance of eighty miles,
the land is fairly well cultivated, but the
only objects on the landscape between he
various villages are the kraal shaped
tombs of the Chinese, who bury their dead
in meadow or garden quite regardless of
locality. In the railway days. there
were three methods of travelling from TIE
ccast to the capltal-thc first by boat, the
second by cart and the third on horseback.
Usually the first part OF the journey. as
far as Tien-Tsin, could he performed by
water. provided the vessel drew no more
than eleven feet of water. But even YES
sells of small tonnage, under the best pilot %
age, would get hopelessly stuck in the
mud. Seem plucky passenger would then
ride TO Tien-Tsn, purchasing a straight
necked. badly brokcu-in pony in the near
est village, and having run the gauntlet
of curious eyes in the towns en- route
relieve the vessel Of her cargo. ana 80 en-
hle her 10 float again.
In the old days fairly reliable scrvic
OF springless carts could be obtained be-
tween Tieu-Tsin and PeSin, but NJ traV-
eler with any regard Tor his bones would
ever tempt PTovidsn by riding in them.
With every revolution of the wheels they
threatened to dislocate every bone in the
body, and had they been known to inqui-
sition days they would have furnished the
GI and lnquisitor with matchle ss instru-
inert of tor ure. Drawn by two mu es,
tn, Sc carts Re cached Pekin in two days.
After passing Yang Tsun. which is sixty
H. or about twenty miles, from. Tien 8 n,
the road and the present railway part
company. the former trending to the east
cf Nan fiai-Dsy the Emperor's great
hunting around, and the railway to the
west. The Only towns in which the ira
veler by road could hope TO obtain re-
freshmeat for man and least were Yang
Tsun, Ho-Hsi-Wu Qorty miles from Tien
Tsin) and Nation about fifty-three mi es
from lien ISM. From the latter village
t. Pekin is a distance of TWEEN y-seveu
miles the direct road running through the
village of Hsln-IIo. an Almost impossible
route in some seasons, owing to heavy
foundations. These occur IN the autumn,
and then II is necessary to take a more
circuitous route through the village OF
Chang CHA Wan, a pace which is of es-
pecial interest at the pre- sent moment, in
consequence of its having been the spot
where the lasl stand was made by the
Chinese army prior TO the entry of the
al led troops into The capital in 1850.
The old order. much to the disgust of
the more conservative native. has latter
ly given way to the new. The vigorous
railway policy inaugurated by Ii Hung
Chang, and carried out in the face OF
untold difficulties by Mr.. c. Kinder. has
rendered the journey now one of com
parative ease. From Tangku, a village
situated about a mile from the forts
which were destroyed last week a single
track line runs 90 Tien Tsu. with two
stations on the way. From there to the
capital il Is a double line. The stations
and distances are as follows: