The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-04

offices. Mrs. Little herself is woman OF
strong individuality and of great inteili-
gence and culture. and is also a we'll
known writer Her Marriage in China" is
exceedingly clever. and her Intimate
China spIendidly illustrated By photo
raphs which she has taken, Is pronounced
by comp etent critics to be of the ablest
and most accurate accounts that has vet
been given of the important political
changes that have taken place within the
past five years. It's descriptions OF Chinese
life and customs are equally accurate, and,
If the books had not been republlshed In
the United States, where there is no suc1
great interest in all things Chinese. they
should be. Mrs Little is one of the prime
movers in the Anti-Footbinding Soc;cry,
which is really making good deal of prog
ress. being encouraged by the more pro-
gressive of the native officials. in Great
ing a healthy sentiment against the bar
barous and cruel practice. Mr.. Little has
been laboring for years to extend English
influence in middle China, not to the det-
riment but to the advantage of the pep
pie themselves. He has succeeded I'm open
ing up navigation for his line of English
steamers to Ichung. distance of one
thousand miles. The steamers are most
comfortable and commodous, AMI are
manned by English officers. He has just Sc
cured an addition to his staff in a gentle
man whom he came across in London. and
who, he said, was just the man he
wanted He had been in command CT a
steamer on the Tigris, in Persia, where
1t was so hot that he had to go down into
the hold to get cool. No wonder that an
exchange to China and the Yangtse was
accepted without loss of time.
A SLOW JOURNEY.
The journey from Shanghai to Ichang,
which Is one that no traveller in China
should miss, can be made in a week.
From Ichung to Chungking 1T is but SOC
miles, but this short distance takes, un-
der the most favorable circumstances, from
three TO five weeks-"longer,' as Mr.. Little
states, ethan to go from London to Shang-
hail. The Yangtse, above Ichung, flows be-
tween lofty cliffs, its current roughened
by huge masses of rock that produce rap
Ids almost as turbulent as the falls at Nj
agara. The current, which is so rapid,
is a terrible obstacle to the frail native
boats, now the only crafts plying above
Ichung, although returning they are borne
along by an almost resistless force. gen.
tleman who had been two weeks going up
to some point this side of Chunking re-
Gently made the return trip in thirty hours.
AS this means fighting the rapids and
trusting the skill of Chinese boatmen to
steer clear of the rocks that would wreck
them in the twinkling of an eye, such
voyage would hardly commend itself to
nervous tourists. After prolonged "wrang-
ling with Chinese officialdom," the most
| timid. conservative and venal bureaucracy
| in the world, Mr.. Little is about to realize
the fulfilling of the hopes and labor of twen-
| ty years. In May he expects to put steam
| er on the upper waters of the Yangtse, thus
opening up to western commerce one of the
| richest and most populous provinces of
China, Sz'chuen. What has already been
accomplished on the lower waters of this
| mightiest of rivers-second only to the
Amozon, and rivalling our own Mississippi
reads like romance. To comprehend it
| thoroughly, to understand what such rapid
and costly communication means, 1t should
| be borne in mind that China is practically
without roads. There are tracks, worn into
deep ruts or INSTRUCTED by stones, over
which the carts and rude wagons can
travel through the water until the rains
begin, through north China, where the
Pei-ho. from Tonka to within twelve miles
of Picking, is the only navigable stream
This. for two years, has been to-, low for
| any but the smallest native sam.,,, IS be-
yond Tien-Tsin, at which point steamers
used to take on their cargo and passengers,
and which can now be reached only by
| lighters and launches.
| AN AMERICANS WORK.
| Through the South the rivers are the only
thoroughfare for the bulk of traffic; on the
| land the greater part of the carrying trade
Is dependent upon wheel-barrows These
| the straining, sweating coolies do manage
to load enormously, reminding one of the
little donkeys one sees in the Nank Kon
Pass, almost concealed by the bundles of
| grain which are bound upon their backs.
and under which they totter along, painting
for breath. Nevertheless, even large
| wheel-barrow does not make much of a
showing in the great volume of produce
which 1t is necessary to convey to and from
the markets: and Mr.. Little's work has
| practically put new life into those regions
| which are accessible to steamer traffic.
The slow, trundling wheel-barrows in the
South are of necessity confined to the mar
rowest tracks across or between the fields,
and the opening OF a great waterway like
the Yangtse is like opening up a new
| world. Trade has already more than
doubled. and. what has been lost by the
owners of junks whose business has been
necessarily affected-an objection urged by
the mandarines for Withholding their sane
ton to the enterprise-has been more than
made up to them, as Mr.. Little has pointed
out, and has so stimulated trade that more
people are furnished with work and wages
than ever before. The enterprise Is one In
which the United States is vitality interest
ed. Sz'chuen, which the steamer line will
place in direct communication with Shang-
hal, Hong-Kong and the west, is, as have
said. one of the richest provinces in China
and Ching-King, its capital, with more than
million population even In its present
isolation, Mr.. Little prophesies is des-
tined to become ''the Shanghai of West
China" of which he declares it Is the key
The province covers area of 6O00G
square miles, and it contains 1SO,0OO, OO(
people-a single Chinese province contain
ing more than double the number in the
United States. The people do indulge in
outbreaks once In a while against the stray
foreigners that invade their seclusion, but
Mr.. Little pronounces them. in the main
lone OF the most industrious and peaceablt
4 al l., ~