New-York tribune., 1900-07-01


come down from one generation to another hav-
ing in all probability enjoyed a long and sue
cessful career as pirates
Ihe shores Of the Pei-Ho are lined with Chinese
villages OF mud smoothly built first of mud
bricks then mud smeared outside The roofs
are thatched with reeds, and afterward mud is
Ialo on these There are apertUres for doors
and windows, and sometimes there are few
square feet of yard, inclosed Jy a reed or mud
fence. But the whole village is brown; brown
are the river banks, brown the houses and roofs
brown the streets There are no trees or shrubs
20 relieve It, In a heavy rainstorn the houses
are not always a secure refuge from the force
or the elements, for they are likely 10 be washed
down and run away. The demolition OF entire
villages in this way is not unheard Of
-Four or five miles up the river one comes to
the town Of Tangku. where the railroad to TEN
Isin begins This has been built about five
years ana obVlates a trip OF sixty miles by the
ciTcUitous Pei-Ho by going there in a straight
line twenty-five miles in length. The Junk is
brought to in a nest OF sampans. over which
unstable bridge the passengers must pass 10
reach the shore. beset in the mean time by a
crowd Of jabbering coolies who wish to divide
IHe luggage among themselves, each ap-
proprtat ting piece from the handbag and cam
era era 20 the steamer trunk The station is only
1e" steps or ana quite foreign, except for the
hangers on, Of whom there are more here, per
maps, than in those OF America Then the pas
SeLger HSt Is OF varied nationality. There are
coolies in the open baggage vans, which serve
as third class; middle class Chinese in the long
line Of second class cars. in which are separate
compartments for the women, and foreigners
and Chinese merchants of the better class in
the first, which is divided into five or six com
partments, ali equally dirty and uncomfortable
once every day noon, there leaves both
Peking and Tien-Tsin the Imperial Mail train.
Tor the privilege CS travelling in which one
ouys a postcard at a premium OF So Cdexican)
above the regular fare. This Is more Iuxuriant-
~ appointed. and bears the relation 10 the
Imperial Chinese Railway that the Congress
ional Limited does to the Pennsylvania. OF the
foreigners who travel on the road few are Of the
same nationality There are Americans many
English, Germans. Russians and French, in
Guiding officers of the army and navy; then
IneTe are always a number or Japanese. II is a
queer mixture Of natiOnalities that you meet
everywhere in the East
IN THE MIDST OF GREAT PLAIN
The country traversed 10 Tien-Tsin. and in
facr all the way TO Peking is absolutely feveI
1t IS aLUviaI soil, deposited long ages ago AS
such II should be very rich. but the prevailing
color at this time Of the year is brown, Just as
II was the river banks. The villages are
stlI built Of mud. and the fields being
ploughed and irrigated by primitive methods. The
wooden plough is sometimes pulled by mule or
an OK, sometimes by a tandem Of men: the irri-
eating bitches are filed with water by various
simple processes. the water being usually dipped
rom 4 Wen ana directed by other laborers into
the proper ditch. Il is the sight OF the husband
men dotted here and there over the level stretch
WHIcH gives NE 70 the landscape Sometimes
there is a group of cattle or Iurnbering wooden
country cart heavily laden. being Grawn by
tnree or four ragged ponies There many
donkeys' too, in China but these are especially
priced for riding.
But the principal feature Of the landscape
which aroUses the curiosity Of the newcomer
more than anything else, and makes more i'm
presslon on his imagination than the countless
editions OF mud huts which he sees in every
village, than the wide. titled fields or the
husbandman pursuing his calling in a manner
Oriental, is the myriad of earth mounds which
dot the fields everywhere. some times grouped
together, sometimes separate, many tiny and
with pointed tops, others curved 70 hemisphere
ana ranging upward IN size 70 that Of huge
tumuA- Some groups are inclosed by a low
mud wall, few by a circling line of trees. Many
are surmounted by a small knob OF earth They
are graves, the graves OF thousands Of dead
Celesuals whose bodies rest beside the fields
Whlcn taesS t-tled, under the very soil, perhaps.
from which they had wrested a scanty living
though have heard II said that in the matter
Of last resting place for his remains the China
mans surviving relatives like to steal q march
on their neghbors and place the honored bones
IN a neighboring vineyard instead OF their own
AS a matter of fact, il rests with the geo
mancer. or soothsayer. who selects an auspicious
spot for the burial place after the body has been
kept in the house for certain length Of time
carefully boxed. This is the same in Corea
The murdered Queen of that country should
have been kept twenty seven days before burial.
but that time elapsed before arrangements /
were made for the funeral. il necessary TO
In China the cofins are often left unburied on
the ground, and sometimes the bodies are ex-
posed to view.
THE FOREIGN PART OF TIEN-TsIN
Tien-Tsn is reached after about an hour and
half in the train, and the visitor is likely 10
be astOunded at the foreign portion OF il. In
he ample station a tall Sikh policeman with
immense turoan and feroclous expression on .
his swarthy face, s4unters about occasionally
whaCking a qua-relsOme cOOIe on the back with
his cane a squad of these Sikhs are kent bv
the British municipality, and the Chinese are
much afraid Of them. Tien-Tsin has jlnrikshas,
and q start is made at a rafting pace-aIro-
gether too rafting with the clumsy variety OF
vehicle which is made in China and the
Chinese coolies reCklessness A bridge is en-
COuntered, and here al passengers are re-
quested 20 get out and walk. The reason is .
obvious. It is a pontoon bridge of ancient pat
tern. and uneven, pOntOon heaving .
UP and another heaVing down al the same time.
So that there are yaWnlnS gaps and sharp
ascents and descents. This crossed. you mount
again into your vehicle. and are whired into
the foreign settlement. through the French and +.
the English municipalities, TO the hotel
There are beautiful houses ana lovely streets. F.
well paved and lined with shade trees The .
buildings are massive and stately. Of good ar
chitectuTe. and The result is finer in effect than
any Of the treaty ports OF Japan In fact. .
would think that with such object lesson be- +
and clean streets. well lighted. and law and .
order everywhere. the Chinese would make some .
effort 10 change for the better their own mu- .
ntcipal affairs. But the inertia OF Chinese Gus +
toms. Of Chinese methods of living and gaining '
q livelihood. is SO great and the desire for .
change confined 10 so few that anv radical .
change Of the Chinese In China seems almost .
hopeless. Such changes as are made such .
Improvements are adopted have been forced /
pressure or have been projected by the Chinese
themselves in extremis, with other idea than
that OF seIf-preservation.
The native part Of Tien-Tsin. however. is an
Improvement on Che-Foo, nor is IL dirty
Peking. It is composed OF a labyrinth OF mar
row streets, crowded with the tostling noisy
Chinese populace, the shOpnen in the open
stores either side turning over thsir goods
and shouting the virtues Of the in strident
side by the River Pel-Ho, filled with native
shipping the banks piled high with bales or
reeds used for rhatch. The great compound
which encloses the many houses composing the
residence Of Ii Hung Chang is plainly seen on
OF the banks.