The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-07-10


year, at least that part of it which came
through the customs, was about $69,
600, q Id the tonnage of its shipping was
over 500, 600. The rate of growth in
population is about three per cent a year,
in shipping four per cent, and in trade
seven per cent. The city has four first
class banks, branch o1fices.of five Euro
pean banks, and some thirty native
banks. IheSprogress of the city is all the
more wonderful when its disadvantages
are taken into consideration. The Pel-hO
or Peh-hO, sometimes called the Yientsin
river, is one of the most unruly streams
known to commerce. From Tisntsin to
the mouth at Taku it is sixty miles long,
although the distance between the two
points is but twenty-five miles In this
brief space the river turns and bends in a
way warranted to arouse the indignation
ana profanity OF any sea captain Its
channel changes from day to day, now
running close to one bank and then
leaping over to the other. Boats in as
cending and descending this body of
water touch the banks every few miles
Luckily there are not many stones and
no reefs. The shores and bottom are of
soft mud which, while it may hold a
ship, seldom int1icts any serious damage.
Large ocean steamers cannot go up the
Pei-ho. The commerce is confined to
junks and light-draught craft.
European merchants have taken ad-
yatage of these conditions and built
stanch Fand compact steamers drawing
from eight to fourteen feet of water for
this particular service The Chinese
themselves have one large steasmhip com :
pany, known as the China Merchants
Line. Two English firms have fleets of
not less than thirty steamers each, The
| japanese have three companies which run
ctn
the Germans one small company, and in
addition to these. there are about one
hundred tramp steamers which ply along
the China coast
The river at Tientsin is narrow and,
thanks to the merchants, is kept in good
condition for commerce. There is a bund
or river street, as in nearly every Chinese
city, where cargo is collected and dis
charged, and which is a busy place while
the river is open. In winter eYerythin G
| is frozen up, and for three months at
least Tientsin and the surrounding coun-
try ara imprisoned in a vast structure of
ice and snow. Formerly the winter was
very dull and uneventfuI, but the intro
ductlon of the telegraph brought it into
| communication with the rest of the
world, and of late years the opening of
the railway service to Pekin on the one
side and Taku and Shan Hal Kwan on
the other have enlarged the opportunities
of the population. Telegraph tolls are
very low, and the Reuter- Press sends
brief but comprehensive messages OF all
that is transporting in other lands. The
Imperial post, now under the control of
the Imperial Chinese customs, lives a
service which will compare favorably with
that of our own country.
WESTERN AND ORIENTAL VIEWS
A visit to Tientsin shows that the city
is not handsome from a European view
point Compared with municipalities in
the western world it is very dirty, even
filthy, but when contrasted with such
cities as Annoy, Flu Chau, and Canton it
is miracle of cleanliness. Although
there are no sewers, the natural drainage
is excellent. The land is flat, sloping
slightly to the various waterways and
the soil is largely sand and gravel, which
enables the surface water to drain off rap
idly. The streets are wide from the Mon
golian point OF view, and the houses
| small, strongly built, and wind and wat
er-tight. There is little pretensiOn to
architectural beauty, nearly all the edi-
| ices being square brick structures unre =
| lieved by color or by ornament. The
charm of the place lies in it's industrial
features 1t is the fayorite market of the
| breeders of the stanch little Chinese
pony. These wonderful brutes are about
the size of the Exmoor pony, and are
notable for their strength speed, and
endurance. They are popular through
out China, and are exported by horse
lovers to Japan, the Philippines, and
even to Java and the Strait Settlements.
No prettier sight can be seen than on a
market day at Iientsin, when a dozen
horse breeders come in from the country
each with his little flock of ponies, which
are vigorous and playful and nearly all
They bite, kick, charge, and scream like
demons. Chinese experts and English
amateur racing men go from herd to herd
and horse to horse picking out the steeds
which are to compete in The races.
Another pleasant feature of Yientsin
life is the ffgurine market. The Tientsin
figures or figurines are famous through
out the far East They are made of q
gray clay about intermediate in quality
between the Milwaukee clay and the
North Carolina kaolin. Unbaked and
baked the clay is OF delicate gray color
very much like the fashionable shade of
gray SUICIDES. The ARTISTS mould these into
little figures, ranging from one to ten
inches in length. Their fayOrite subjects
are the characters of daily life the beg
gar, the opium fiend, the leper, gambler
herdSman, d0tard, soldier, sailor, farmer
and fisherman. The modelling is admir-
able and the mimicry is reinforced by the
liberal use of color and of cloth, silk and
other material to form the clothing. The
best quality are startling in their fidelity
to nature. The fgurines are made by a
guild which claims to be four thousand
years DID, and which is certainly more
than a thousand years old. In the studios
one can see three generations working to-
gether upon the little modelling tables
In general the men mould the figures and
the women, whose skill is extraordinary
make the clothing.
RIVALS OF THE FRENCH.
A third local industry is the making of
paper and tinsel flowers and garlands
In this field the Chinese are equal if not
superior to The French. They manufac-
t11ra a hnnlrad ron.iaiias of M z,,,. 1nen,n, n