The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-07-24

views or the Sify OF Gaentsin-
BALTIMORE. July 2i.-The wife Of a na-
val officer stationed at Tientsin. some time
prior to the uprising of the Boxers. wrote
the following letter to friend in this
city. describing visit to Pekin:
Since l last wrote we have made a trip
TO Pekin and had very enjoyable time.
/ will try 10 give you a description of what
we saw and did.
1T is about eighty miles by Railroad
from Tientsin to the station at the ter
minus CT the road, which is four or FIVE
miles from Pekin. Our minister sent the
official chair fer me and the official cart for
Mr. - A 'Pekin cart is like nothing
enc ever rode in before and it is an expe-
rience to ride in one. II reminds one Of
railroad train of the track and humping on
the ties. Wherein the official cart differs
from an ordinary cart is that IL is Upbol'
stored and the other is not and neither has
springs. They have TO carriages Of amp
description. | went in ate in a closed
chair carried by four coolies, with man 40
run alongside and direct and a mafOO
(cCachman) on horseback 10 go ahead and
clear the way. All were the livery CT the
United States Legation, dark blue. trim
med in red and edged with white. IL took
us an hour and n half and was very in
teresting ride We arrived at the hotel a
little after / After resting awhile We
went to the Legation to pay our respects
to the minister AID his family. We found
them very pleasant and cordial. Mrs. Con-
ger told me she was at my service 10 30
where l wished They regretted not being
able TO have us stay with them, owing 10
their having TO give up all the spare part
of their house for the use Of the marine
guard, there being no quarters available
for them. The portion given 10 the guard
could be shut OF from the remainder OF
the house But they hoped we would spend
all our spare time at the legation.
The next morning We visited the astro-
nomicaI observatory. Il is OF ancient ca Q.
They have several instruments very old
and Of CouSid, Table size. made OF bronze
supported by dragons OF exquisite work
manship. They are the best works OF brorZs
/ to be seen in Pekin, probably the best in
/ the whole OF Eastern Asia In the after
I noon | received at the legation. il being
/ legation day at home and We both q .ned
| there that evening.
The following day we were kept busy
| sightseeing. Early in the morning We went
4 on q trip 20 the Great Bell Temple. the
minister ard family going with Us, There
I were seven in the party. three ladies' and
! four gentlemen-the minister. Mr. Dat
! ten our me~ine OfIicer with the guard at
/ Pekin. another gentleman. and Mr.. -
! The gentlemen rode horseback and the IA
| dies vent in carts. Ii took US two hours
to get there passing through the main
/ parts Of the city and going several miles
| out into the country.
We saw the bell, which was cast about
/ the year 1906. 1t is fourteen feet high, and
/ hangs in a tower back OF the temple It
bears Chinese inscriptions on the inside as
/ well as the outside. and there are many Of
/ them, extracts from the Buddhist classics.
! IL is said that in some respects il is the
most remarkable work Of art In China.
! and IL is the largest suspended bell In the
world The bell is thirty-four feet in cir
! conference at the rim and nine inches
/ thick II weighs 1000 pounds II is
I struck by q heavy beam swung on the out
side We aSCended the tower and amused
ourselves trying to- throw cash tCAinese
small money! into an opening in the top Of
the bell and l believe il is considered
good luck if you get any in. l succeC dei
five times We had cur lunch in buildir g
| in the tempik grounds. 4 very nice one.
for the minister brought his servants with
dishes etc.
"On our way home we returned by an
other route. We stopped at what is caIi-
Cd the Yellow Llama Temple, famous for a
white marble monument erectC : in the last
! century by the Emperor to the memory OF
the Dalai Llama from Tibet. The visitor
died there Of smallpox On the sides OF the
mausOleUm are engraved scenes in the LA
mas life. The carving Is beautiful Num-
bers o. beggars followed Us into the
grounds. They are the flthisst and most
/ unpleasant locking | ever saw. The sight
OF a foreigner excites their curiosity and
they want to handle ones e Nthing.
mot Oh oh . .al- al hon,
4 party Of US went 10 the overlooking
the forbidden city which IS in the centre Of
/ the Imperial city
The wall ayeraTSs 20 feet high 20 feet
wide al the top ana about 50 at the bot
tom. There are 16 gates. which are closed
a, night We stood above one Of the main
gateways and threw cash among the
crowd and watched them scramble Tor It.
One Of the gentlemen threw 4 cigar stump
over. 1t was picked up by a small boy,
but the little feHow was not permitted to
keep his prize and there was almost 4
fight over it. That night we went to din
ner with the First Secretary of the Lega-
ton Il was a beautiful. dinner. The next
/ day we returned 10 TieTtSin-
"Pekin is an enormous city and We went
through the greater part Of it. CT course
we were not able to 60 into the forbidden
city. The streets IL the best part Of the
city are wide and in ether parts extremely
narrow. All are most unclean and uncared
for They are thrCnged with people. most
" on foot. although many ride in carts and
on ponies Some ride on very small dom
keys. so small that they are almost
hidden by the rider and his feet almost
touch the ground You wonder how the
little creatures stand the weight with
their sim legs and small feet. You also
see camel trains of five or six canels.
! They are led by a line passing through the
nose from the first one to the last To the
last one is attached a bell, so that the man
leading them can tell If they are separated
You see numbers of them cut in the coun-
try. and at this season ii is very dusty
You can almost imagine yourself in the
desert.
Most of the Cinnamon seemed well clad
Now and then you would see one richly
dressed in silk. lined with Sabies. riding
on a pony. Then. again. you would see a
poor half-starved creature, almost a skei-
etoa. in such rags that am sure if they
were taken off 10 would be impossible to
put them on again We saw 4 dead body
lying by the wayside with his coat drawn
over his head. the rest of bis body exposed
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