The National tribune., 1900-08-09
CLIFF JEWELLERS IN CHINA.
Strange Catholic Settlements Northeast of
Pekin That Prof. White Recently Visited.

4
Prof. G. Frederick White, of Oberlin,
who started on tour around the world
| several months ago, reached China just
before the Boxers outbreak had assumed
dangerous proportions. and at once made
! an excursion into Mongolia, returning later
| to Tien Tsin. From there, on June 2, he
| sent an accouRtsof singular and interest
ing village of Catholic cliff dwellers which
he visited in Mongolia. 1t is quite prob,
| scribes have been massacred. Prof.
Wright prefaces the description of the vii
lage with a few brief paragraphs about
| the curious nature Of the territory in
which it is situated:
| 1.-The eastern border Of Mongolia and
| the northeastern part of China are largely
| covered with los Qoess), one of the most
interesting and puzzling of all the the
geological deposits. Its German name
| comes from the valley of the Rhine, where
| loess is found in considerable quantities.
| The inhabitants of the Mississippi and
| Missouri valleys of the United States are
| familiar with the deposit in the bluffs at
Sioux City. During the siege of Vicks-
burg the people took refuge in spacious
rooms dug out in the deposit at a consid-
| cradle depth below the surface. At nu-
merous places along the Missouri River it
stands in perpendicular exposures more
tudH lVO Iett uSu anu CITY streets are cut
| through its long, perpendicular sides which
stand like wall for many years. When
| section breaks off from the cliff it al
| ways leaves a perpendicular face.
"Yet the deposit is SO soft that its sur
face can be readily cultivated, and it can
| be handled with shovel at any depth.
| The material principally consists of ex-
mately mixed with it. 1t is so porous that
| the rain which falls upon the surface
passes entirely through the deposit, pre-
venting the formation Of springs of water
| until an impervious stratum is reached un-
| derneath it all. 1t endures drought bet
| ter than any other soil.
1.-The most extensive development of the
| loess anywhere in the world is in Mongo-
| liza in an elevated region from 5000 to
| 5,40O feet above the sea, but it has been
eroded by water during long geological
| ages into very uneven surface, with nu-
| mcrous narrow valleys from 900 to 5000
| feet deep, with innumerable tributary gul-
| lies coming down the sides of the inter
| vening ridges. Many isolated peaks, also.
| rise to an absolute hight of from 5000 to
1000 feet above sea level. Into this
rugged region has drifted during a recent
| epoch an immense amount of fine dust
which constitutes the loess. That it has
been blown in by the winds is evident
| from the positions in which 1t lies. Ii
mense snow drifts that have accumulated
behind the barriers which have caused
| lulls in the wind, permitting the suspend
| ed particles to settle in protected places,
| while it has been swept bare from the ex-
| posed positions.
''These deposits of loess are specially
valuable because of their fertility. But in
Northern China it is of especial interest
| in furnishing cheap, comfortable and salu-
briOus dwelling places for multitudes of
people. In q recent excursion through the
| eastern part of Mongolia, outside the great
Chinese wall, in the vicinity of the famous
city of Kolgan, l saw large number of
such villages excayated in the drifts of
| loeSS hanging on the sides Of the noun
| tains. In walking over the grassed sur
| face it was no uncommon thing to stumble
| against chimney protruding from a babi-
tation below. From distance the side of
the hill looked like an exposed bank
pierced with innumerable swallows nests.
The interior, Of the houses are clean and
comfortable. When the walls have been
moistened and smoothed over with a trow-
ell, they have hard finish which does not
crumble off. The rooms are uniformly
dry and are warm in winter and cool in
summer. On the sloping back of a hill
several stories of such houses are often
seen above and slightly back of each 9th
er, the roof OF one being the front door
yard of the house above it.
The village of Shiwanze attracted our
special interest. This is in Mongolia.
about 200 miles northeast of Pekin, and
can be reached only by mule carts or pack
animals. 1t is reached from Kolgan by
following for 40 or so miles the ascending
course of one of the narrow valleys al
ready described as worn out of the noun
tain plateau by small stream of water
For much of the way the old Chinese wall
is visible, running along the sharp summit
of the mountain ridge to the southeast
The narrow gorge opens at length into
more undulating valley, three or four miles
broad, which is about 800 feet below the
general level.
Here, to our surprise, we came upon II
thriving Christian community of Chinese,
living like their neighbOrs in houses dug
out of the cliffs of loesS, especially promi
nent here.
"Thiwanze has an interesting history
In 1896 the Roman Catholic converts in
Shansi and Pekin were driven out by bit
ter persecution. Some of the refugees fed
beyond the great wall to Mongolia and
settled in Shiwanze. The refugees were
never forgotten. Missionaries from Europe
were from time to time sent them, until
now it is a bishopric and the center Of
Catholic missions in Mongolia, which are
supported by society in Belgium. Here
we enjoyed for a day the hospitality of
the bishop and his intelligent co-workers, |
two or three of whom spoke English read
lily. The Christian village contains 800
inhabitants, and has a large church with
girls school of 400 and a l,oys' school
of 300. The total number Of Christians
in the diocese is 10000. We had occa |
sion to note several of the other Christian |
villages in our further travels.
THE main physiological difference be- |
tween the heather and the Christian |
women in China is in the feet. Those of |
the heather women are made so small BY |
their cruel mode of bandaging from in |
fancy that they are practically useless in
walking, but the feet of the women In |
ShiwanZe are Of natural size. This per-
mits them to frequent the streets much a.
women do in Europe and America. and is |
connected with a higher development in
every respect. When we asked the priyi |
lege of photographing a small group, the.
Immediately disappeared inside the d,oi
of their cliff houses, and we feare.l that |
we mad missed our opportunity, as we uni
fOrrnly did with the heather Chines,
wOmer, who fear some evil effect from
having a picture taken. But we were mis-
taken. Soon they all reappeared in their
best attire, and bringing their neighbors
with them" .t lv
Birds and Flies in Francs.
The systematic slaughter of small birds. |
nd in pfic 10,