The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-11-17
THE LATE Ii HUNG CHANG
HIS DAILY LIFE DESCRIBED By HIS
AMERICAN PHYSICIAN.
IN Famous VieerOy Lived in "A Tenn
pIe and Paid Rent Mt His own Fig
ure-He Was Worth s5,OOO,OOO.

correspondent OF the &A4GdEo OdAg -N"S
at Peking. China had the following stories
In the issue Of that paper Of June IS and
July I last:
Everyone supposes Ii Hung Chang to be
a very rich man. yet from the point of
view Of many American millionaires he is
not by any means "A rich man, being pos
sessed Of only S,000,Oc0. American money.
To visit his house. or rather residence-for
he is living in a ~temple-you would think
him quite a poor man If It were not for
the horde Of servants he keeps.
He is OF a very economical turn Of mind,
and lives in the Tsiem LANG Temple TO
avoid paying a high rent somewhere else.
To be sure, whenever he goes away from
Picking he has to make the priests a pres
ent in lieu of rent, but he gives what he
pleases, and that is much less than 1t
would cost him TO rent a decent house.
This temple is situated half a mile east
OF the eastern gates Of the Imperial City,
and about two miles from the American
legation. The buildings are in bad repair,
not having been painted for years, and
the whole place is in a depressing state Of
semi-decay. L does not mind this, as he
seldom goes out. and so does not often see
the exterior Of his dwelling.
The other day when 1 was calling upon
him he asked me whether it was warm or
cold outside. I told him very hot. and
asked if he did not feel the heat. He re-
Piled: L scarcely know when it's summer
or winter. i am never cold and never hot.
Ny servants dress ne to suit the day, and
as 1 don't often go out I don't know what
the weather is like"
At present mis- good friends. the Russians.
have loaned him two Cossacks, who stand
1900 - n-s-- - 80.
tinels you go through a small court about
100 by 70 feet in size and come to a second
door, where two Chinese soldiers stand
guard. Thirty feet from this door is the
waiting room. which is as near like a pig
pen just vacated by a hog as anything
else you could imagine. Never swept, new
er busted, except by the clothes of the
mandarins or foreigners who have to wait
inside while someone ahead of him Is OBJ
tanning an interview, the dirt goes on col
lecting throughout the winter. spring, sum-
mer and autumn until Ii leaves for some
outside post. Then the priests may sweep
out the accumulatiOns. Lis servants never
would
BLEED THE MANDARINS.
As you come to the waiting room a man
dressed in silk steps out and asks you
your business. If you are a stranger he
sounds you as to how much it will bene-
ut him If you are permitted to see the
vicerOy. / have witnessed Chinese man
darins going through this bleeding process
on several occasions, and It is very interest
ing TO watch the leech extracting silver
from his victim before an interview with
the @. o. NJ. Of China can be obtained.
Just outside the waiting room is the house
OF the main court, IN which his eXcellency
reads, writes, grants interviews and sleeps.
Brick floors. paper windows. dirty Brus-
sells CARPET and several gaudily upholstered
easy chairs, interspersed with cheap Chi
1ese-tea taoles, gave an incongruous,
rnfwad-rrn ~ tn the n1ara II has
a comfortable foreign easy chair that was
made especially for him and ne spends most
oL AIS time IN II occasionally ne reclInSS
ON q red plush lounge. lie IS an early
riser. usually getting up about $50 o'clock
lie sleeps IN a small, dark stu1y room
adjoining his little sitting room, in which
he sees most OF his visitors.
Upon getting up two OF his men servants
dress him. They are great clumsy fellows
and do IT clumsily. The old gentleman
curses them freely in choice mandarin
when they pull him a bit roughly. AS he
cannot stand alone on his weak old legs
ne Is then hustled out OF the bedroom that
is never aired into his chair in the sitting
room. Here a basin OF hot water is placed
before him on a rickety stand and he pro-
ceeds TO parbOil his face, putting and blow
ing Ike a pOrpOise. After his wash his
spectacles are handed him and his little
round silk hat is put on. Then the Picking
Gazette Is hastily scanned by Ii to see
what court news may have been made
public. About 5 o'clock he eats his break
fast.
From 2 till 1880 O'Clock he grants inter
views with Chinese and foreign applicants
and transacts official business generally.
Usually IL is not difficult for a foreigner to
obtain an audience with him. as he is DOS
sessed of considerable curiosity and likes
TO question his wOuld-be interviewer.
OF GRUFF ADDRESS.
His manner is direct. blunt. aggressive
and often offensive. When met by retorts
in the same way he does not get angry or
embarrassed. but seems to enjoy this
ro-ugh-and-tumble fencing. The English.
who as a nation hate him. were very glad
when he. along with Ching Hsin, was re-
moved from the Foreign Office by the En-
peror in 1898. but it was not long before
they wished him back. as he was the only
man in the Office that would give them a di-
rect answer. Sir Claude Macdonald, pleased
at his removal, expressed before many
months his deep regret at LIS absence.
y feature of these interviews is the pres
ence of the inevitable water pipe. Ii has
one servant. an old man Of sixty, whose
sole duty il is TO stand in front and a little
10 one side of his master and watch for the
pause in the conversation and poke the sill
Yer mOuthpiece of the long water pipe be-
tween the viceregal lips. A deep inspiration
carries far into his capaCiOuS lungs the
fragrant mixture he enjoys smoking, which
he then eXhales through the nOstrils into
the room in two snowy clouds Occasion
ally he chOkes over the process, and then
he sneeZes his spectacleS off. his face be-
comes livid. tears I'll his eyes and a violent
tit Of coughing winds up the paroxysm.
As soon as he can get his breath he NUT
tiers 10 the stOlid old man, You little rotten
egg. how dare yOu2'
At 3 p. m, after another wash, Ii is ready
for afternoon visitors. He is always more
tired in the afternoons than in the fore
moons. and those acquainted with him pre-
fer 10 see him in the morning. He doZes
OF a great many times in the afternoon
while sitting in his chair. Unless the topic
of conversation is one of considerable inter
est he viii dOZe repeatedly. If, however,
when he is doing, some new topic of inter-
est Is preached he brightens up immediate
~ and takes part in IL. His laugh is bolster
Gus and infectious. / have often heard him
as far forward as the front court, and
could not help smiling myself.
PREFERRED AMERICANS.
His wife resides in a back court and he
seldom visits her. but all the same he likes
10 know she is on the premises and feels
in a sense lonely without her. She is a
quiet. sensible woman about forty-eight
years Of age and the mother Of two chill
dren. Her daughter, a sweet young girl of
eighteen. has commenced the study Of En-
gish and Will pursue her studies here with
a lady teacher. an American. Ii undoubt-
eddy prefers Americans 10 any other for
eigners. but he does not like any of them.
The breakfast OF Ii Hung Chang in
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