Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-07-18
On the Great Plain Of China.

worked up to state OF frenzy and Ia
naticism, have rendered impossible
any satisfactory action by the available
forces of the powers, the great Chin
ese population proper is agricultural,
and, naturally, peaceful and peace-lov-
ing. Agriculture, however. is most
primitive, and the wonder is how such
an immense population can be support
ed from the soil, until the great econ
omy practiced in all things Is under
every available foot of land Is utilized
for growing something, and every par
ticle of fertility returned to the soil.
Waters are used for irrigation, and in
many cases laboriously distributed ov-
er the fields.
The Great plain Itself is one of the
most wonderful sections of the globe.
1t is about 20 miles in length and va
ries from 200 to 400 miles in width, oc-
cupying the northeast part of the en-
pire and containing over 100000
square miles of wonderfully fertile
this plain is its enormous population,
soil The most interesting feature of
this plain is its enormous population,
as 1t supports, according to the census
of 1912, not less than 177,000,00 hum
an beings, making Ii the most densely
settled of any part Of the world of the
same size, its inhabitants amounting
to nearly two-thirds of the entire pop
ulation of Europe.
The most wonderful feature if the
physical geography Of China is the ex-
istence of a vast region of loess in this
portion of the emuire. Loess is a
very solid but friable earth, brownish
yellow in color, and is found in many
places from 500 to 1000 feet deep. The
loess hills rise in terraces from 20 to
several hundred feet in height. Every
atom of loess is perforated by small
tubes, after the manner Of root fibres,
only the direction of these littlechan-
nels is always fro mabove downward,
so that cleavage in the loess mass is
invariable vertical.
The loess region of China is, perhaps
the most broken country in the world,
with its sheer cliffs and upright walls
| terraces and deep cut ravines. Owing
to the ease with which it can be work.
ed, caves made at the bases of straight
cliffs afford homes to millions of peo-
pie in the densely populated north
ern provinces, where the Boxers have
thus far been most active. Whole viii
lagos cluster together in carved-out
chambers, some of which extend back
more than 200 feet. The capabilities
of defense in country such as this.
where an invading army must neces-
sarily become lost and absolutely be-
widered in the tangle of interlacing
ways, and where the defenders may
always remain concealed or have in
Vulnerable means of escape, is pecul-
iarly significant at tliis time when con-
sideration is being gwen to conquest
of China.
1t may not be generally known that
the Chinese We're the discoverers OF
coal as fuel. The Venetian traveller
Marco Polo says: 1T is fact that all
over the country of Oathay (China)
there is kind of black stone existing
in the beds of the mountains which
they dig out and burn like fire wood
This stone burns better and costs less.
The rivers of China are her glory
and there are few countries in the
world so well watered and none witt
such good natural water transportation
facilities. The great rivers of the EN-
pire are the ang-tse-Kiang (Child ol
the ocean,, the Hoang Ho (Yellow
river) and the Chu kiang pearl river
or Canton river. OF these the Yang
tse Kiang is much the largest, flowing
through extensive and fertile plains
and finally emptying into the Eastern
sea, after traversing a distance of 2OO(
miles Its discharge is estimated a
,O0OO0 cubic feet per second. Th'
banks of the Yang-tse-Kiang arr
crowded with towns and villages, thu
most famous of which are Nankin ant
the new treaty port of Hankow.
The Hoang Ho or Yellow river i
noted especially for its frequent ant
violent floods. Its current is very rap
id and its course sinuous, nearly ap
preaching in length the Yank tse. Th
Pearl or Canton river, while not nearl!
so large as the others, is stream o
great Importance and innumerable yes
sells trade upon its waters. At SOM
points is spreads into lakes; in othe
it passes between narrow gorges
which, If damned. would afford larg
storage capacity for irrigation. Th'
Chinese, however, have not PRACTICAL!
worked out irrigation in its differen
phases as completely as would be ex
pected of such an agricultural people.
Irrigation, nevertheless, is practicet
to considerable extent through thu
use of the waters of the Grand cana
and by wells. The Grand or Imperia
canal is a work Of great magnitude. |
was constructed in the seventh cent
ury and enlarged in the thirteenth
century. 1t traverses the great plall
and flows with but slight current for {
distanca of 7OO niIas While huilt 70