The Republican., 1900-09-27
POLICEMEN IN CHINA.
Appearance and Duties OF the QueeR
OmciaIs in the Celestial
Kingdom.

In costume a Chinese policeman is
| some thing between a circussclown and
a football player. His breeches are
always baggy and very well wadded-
so clumsy you wonder how he gets
around in them-particularly when. as
is often the case, he wears coat, also
thick aud clumsy, coming well below
the knees. Dark blue is the prevailing
color. set off and accented with bands
and facings of lighter blue, red, green,
maroon and brown, but never yellow.
That is the sacred or royal hue, per-
mitted to nobody below the rank of a
viceroy, says foreign paper.
In the treaty ports-that is to say,
those open to foreign influences and
commerce-the police force is largely
made up of Sikhs from northern In
dia. The reason, perhaps, is that the
Chinese themselves are so essentially
unwarlike; they have proverb to the
effect that mo good man is ever a SOL
der" AS men in the pay of the Chi
nese government, whether natives or
not, they have taken an active part
| in the present troubles in China.
The police rank officially as gen
iarmerie. In Peking the head of them
| is always a Manchu. Policemen must
be plentier than blackberries in the
Chinese capital. The sacred or i'm
perial walled city keeps between 15,-
900 and 10000 of them. This walled
city is two miles square. with two great
gates in each wall face, half mile
from the corners and a mile from each
other Broad streets stretch straight
| from one to another. thus cutting the
| space inside into big nine-block. Po-
lice stations are scattered all along
the nine squares, especially around
their outer edges. which face upon the
passway inside the wall. The head of
the police has charge of all the city
gates. They are nine in number-sinee
the side next the palace has an extra
gate in the exact middle of the two
mile wall. Policemen in this. the Tar
tar city, belong to what is known as
the Eight Banner corps. They do not
carry arms, not even so much as the
| baton of a civilized officer, but keep
| words. spears. guns and cutlasses in
racks at the stations. and make rush
for them when they hear the signal
gun. This is fired by an officer whose
| special charge it is. either upon orders
or if in his own judgment it is neces-
sary. The penalty for firing it at the
wrong time is severe-it may be deg
radiation and banishment or simple
strangulation.,
Upon parades and reviews the police
men are always armed, especially if
foreign devils are to witness the re-
view or the parade. The weapons are
curious looking, but wicked in the ex-
treme-the three-hooked spears they
| all carry in particular make jagged
and ghastly wounds. Besides the 20.-
| 600 within the wall Peking maintains
force of $4,000 with which to regulate
affairs in the outer city. They are
under comlAand of the same general
officer and governed by the same regu
| lations. though there are variations
arising from the differences of situa-
| ton. Men and officers alike furnish
| their own uniforms, but are armed by
the state, and receive a monthly rice
allowance in addition to their pay.
The chief gets a fair salary, but the
men and subordinate officers are mea-
gerly paid. Notwithstanding, they
make and save money enough to retire
after moderate terms of service. In
fuence" in the shape of cold cash
stands the prisoners friend in China
even more than anywhere else in the
world. In fact but for the presents"
the force is allowed to squeeze out
of natives and foreigners alike, there
might be difficulty in getting men for
the service, even though humanity is
cheaper than dirt cheap all over the
Celestial empire.