The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-08-12

troops were assembling at the fo.ts.
Searchlieht drill and signals from fort to
fort at n ght added TO the excitement. AMI
the talk of an outbreak was perhaps
natural.
There are two forts at Chefoo. 10th
admirably situated for the destruction of
the foreign settlement. Each is on a hill,
so high that it would be extremely difficult
to damage them from the sea, because
naval guns could not he elevated suthcieat-
ly. Each fort mounts several large Knapp
guns. One is on one side of the town an
the other is on the other side. so that II
it came to an atthek the foreign settlement
would be. helpless.
Chefoo is a bully place. Perhaps its
charms were Exaggerated by long resi-
dence in Manila, but the fine bracing
air, clear and cool, made it seem almost
like getting back 10 Gods own country.
The women one saw ABOUT the place had
color in their cheeks and the children were
sturdy and rosy. The town is all hills. and
there are no rickshas and very few chars
none public. The only reliable way OF get
ting about is to walk. If you want togo
out on the bay you must take sampan.
The business houses which have a great
deal of water work TO do have pull boats
of their own, but the casual sOjourner goes
per sampan When his ship lies well out
in the roadstead IL is a matter of half
day out and back. The sampans are much
more crude and clumsy than those OF
Honskong and Canton or even Of Shang-
hal. For speed they are not to be COM
pared to the Japanese.
We got a letter from the British Con-
sui TO the captain of the Humber, asking
him to take us to Taku. AS soon as the
despatch beat came in on her way from
Wei-hai-wei we dumped our luggage into
a sampan and started out The Humber
lay far off. We urged the coolies to their
best gait and tried to keep up good hope
that We should catch the ship. But when
we had been going an hour and half and
were still half an hour away, we saw the
Humber get up her anchor and steam off.
Then the coolies objected when We gave
them a dollar for their three hours work
The American Consul.
The first thing We Americans did when
we got ashore was TO get up TO the con-
sulate as quickly as we could, and there
we met in the person of the Consul, one of
the most remarkable men you will find in
much travel about the Orient. He is a
cheerful. engaging fellow, and he told us
in less than five minutes of several of his
engagements. 1t is one of his proud boasts
that he has been in China for eleven years
that he is the best man in the consular
service CT the United states in the tar
East; another that he has foreseen and pre-
dicted all this present trouble for months
and months. When Chicago newspaper
man strayed by Chefoo last summer, the
Consul says. he did his best to persuade
MIN to stay over for this war and get the
greatest scoop in the worlds history. 1t is
another proud boast that he has reported
all this trouble TO the State Department
long ago as sure TO occur. 1t is another
boast that he is now reporting it for
New York yellow journal. II is another
boast that he gets guinea a telegram for
this work, and il is yet another boast that
he means to charge guineas message.
II is a special boast that he has held Of
fetal despatches-in one case he mentioned
twenty-four hours as the time he had held
despatch-in order to give this yellow
journal a SCOOP. These are only some of
the boasts of this remarkable man. II you
have time to hang around for half day
until the first pressure has been relieved,
you may be able to switch him off that line
and get in word or two about business.
No wonder they say in Chefoo that the
American consulate is in the Burbling Well
Road.