Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-25
PEkIN AND TfEN TSIN.
american "Omnn's Impressions of
the Chinese Cities

American WOmnn's Impressions of
the Chinese Cities.
Mary II. krout In Boston TRANSCRIPT
When one is told that the railway now
carries you to the gates of Pekin. there
is a feeling of relief and satisfaction which
the truth does not justify. From Legation
street-upon which the hotel and the lega-
tons are situated-as the name would i'm
ply-there is a long stretch of thoroughfares
IN comparison to which our western cor
duroy roads are luxurious These must be
trtversed in the springless Pekin cart
out of which the unintiated alight more or
less bruised and battered. AT the gate of
the outer city the cart may be exchanged
for the electric tram which carries YOU to
the station-more than three miles from
the legations, and which will not be re-
moved nearer the gates until the Chinese
dread of flung shut is overcome. Fung shut
Is the mysterious influence erlanating from
wind and water, which may be propitious
or malevolent, as it is respected or defied.
A tall chimney, a telegraph pole, the rail-
way line itself. are all opposed to a benefi-
cent flung shui-a belief which the cunning
necromancer. like all of his craft, of every
class. condition nationality, cleverly
turns to his credit.
Tsin to Pekin. Two years ago. it was look
ed upon with much hostility by the more
SupersttiouS, and it required the utmost
tact and finesse en- the part of the pro-
greSSiVe element to carry the undertaking
to Il successful conclusion. One rumor in
dustriously circulated. was especially harm
ful, and this was that the foreigners had
proptiated the evil spirits by numbering
children and burying them under the ties;
the people We're assured that dead child
would be found under each tie, and 1t
never seemed to occur to those who spread
the stOry-an example of characteristic
ShortsightedneSs-that its truth or falSity
could be very easily demonstrated.
However. even in Pekin. the world
moves and the Chinese must move with it.
But il was picturesque to say the least to
see the strangely contrasted east and west
the SpiCk and span. glitternS. juggling
electric ear. spinning along on one side of
the road, under the gray and ancient walls
and the trains of camels with their loads
of skins and charcoal, crawling along the
other-just they did when the Queen of
Sheba went up to pay her respects to the
court of King Solomon.
The roaGbed between Pekin and lien
Tsin has been splendidly constructed-the
bed like adament and the streams spanned
by admirable steel bridges of the latest
pattern The little stations of gray chi
nese brick are a delight to the eye-the
work of an architect who was an artist as
well. for. while they serve the purpose for
which they were designed. they still con-
form SO1llclentlS 10 tnt architecture VI lIt
country 10 be pleasing and harmonious.
There are no baggage cars and no checking
system. which goes without saying. since
the line is the work of English engineers.
When your trunk is rescued from the cool
les it is placed on the platform outside the
door. where you can keep your e.e on 1t
and be ready to stop the train should it be
jolted off into the ditch by the roadside. A
stout Chinese was an unconscious aid in
my responsibility. as he kindly sat my
trunk and so held it down. Tien Tsin
resembles. in the Chinese quarter, the mar
rover streets of Pekin, with the same
shops. the same restaurants and the same
throngs swinging along in chairs or, best
of all. in the blessed jinrikisha. To get
back to macadamized streets, after The hor-
rors of Pekin. is like returning to the up
per regions after temporary SecluSiOn in
the neither world. For. being made posi-
BILE by the splendid streets of the foreign
settlement, the jinrikisha is in general use,
the Chinese being among its most liberia!
patrons. as they now are of the railways.
Light, comfortable, If one can ever be-
come reconciled to the toiling. sweating
human being as a beast of burden: the
charge IS - cents Mexican or re cents in
American currency an hour.
Too much cannot be said in praise of the
foreign part Of Tien Tsin. There are
number of excellent hotels where the food
and service are much better than could be
found in an American town of the same
size. The business houses English Ameri-
can and French, have been well and solid
ly built. while the private residences are.
nanv of them. very handsome, surrounded
by walls. the gates standing open. through
which one has glimpSes of sunny courts
filed with plants and howerS-chrysanthe
mums-at this season of the year In all
their rnagniticence. Tien Tsn is the most
important open port in North China-the
point OF distribution for two-thirds of the
imports from the United States especially
cottouS which widely distributed
through regions adjacent to the Gulf of
Pt-chi-Li. This region is bnrdered by the
Russian concession on the north and by
the German on the south Tien Tsin is the
dooI to Pekin and until the last two
years was accessible by the Pei-ho. the
yellow, muddy stream flowing like canal
between low, reedy shores, down to the
Gulf of Taku.
geography of China. the rivers have no
fined channels; they move in the impetuous
foods that come pouring down from the
mountains in the rainy season. sometimes
as much 100 miles from their old beds
leaving the intervening tracts buried deep
unGer the sand, destroying life, making, a
dc sert of cultivated fields over an area of
many hundreds of miles, and plunging the
farming population into terrible poverty
ard famine. The enormous canals. con-
structed by the government to correct the
evil, have been of no avail in this direct
although they have formed in the past
great waterways crowded with craft, along
which supplies of food and merchandise
cali be carried to the markets at a trif1nS
cost. Modern engineering. when the break
w of China comes. Will find the subsection
of Chinese rivers a problem that will chal-
lerge all its genius and perseverance, and
1t may accomplish here what 1t has failed
to do with other great streams where the
aluvial soil is carried down by the current
to block the mouth and place a tantalizing
obstacle in the way of navigation.
The Pei-ho as crooked as pennon flying
in the wind. and the present lowness OF the
water is due to the long drought that has
prevailed in the high lands to the north
where 1t rises. Two years ago steamers
that now anchor at Taku, twenty miles or
more down stream. ran to Tien Tsin, where
they could take their cargo and where Us,s-
sensers could go on board comfortably and
conveniently. The change, under the PIES
eut circumstances. constitutes the chief diff
fculty in reaching the capital. For at TIen
Tsin the passengers landing at Taku must
change cars. continuing the journey to
Pekin from the former point.
The bund, or water front. gives one some
adequate idea of the commercial import
ance of Tien Tsin. The docks of Liverpool
or New York. although many times greater
in extent are not more crowded and busy
, Here the lighters. anchored in the river,
just across the way from the great ware
houses, are loaded with cargo to be sent
out which has just been received from
tho ships at Taku. There are mountains
of bales done up in mating and bound Sc
Curely with iron for their protection in