The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-14
CLIFF JEWELLERS IN CHINA.
A Strange Settlement, Like n Colony
of sand Swallows
IRON the snrlnefeld RennhIIcan

From the Springfield Republican.
Professor G. Frederick White. of Ober-
lin who started on tour around
the world several months ago. reached
China Just before the Boxers outbreak
mad assumed dangerous proportions, and
at once made an excursion into Mongolia,
returning later to Tien-Tsin. From there,
on June 2, he sent an account of a sing
ular and interesting village of Catholic
c-in dweLers which he visited
In Mongolia. IL is quite probable that the
native Christians he describes have since
been massacred Professor White prefaces
the description Of the village with a few
BRIEF paragraphs about the curious nature
Of the territory in which It is situated:
THE eastern border of Mongolia and
the northeastern part of China are largely
covered with los Goess), one Of the most
interesting and puzzling OF all the geologi-
cal deposits. Its German name comes
from the valley of the Rhine where loes5
Is found in considerable quantities. The
inhabitants of the Mississippi and Mis-
souri, valleys of the United States are
familiar with the deposit in the bluffs at
Vicks0urg, Kansas City, Omaha and
Sioux City. During the siege of Vicksburg
the people took refuge in spacious rooms
dug out in the deposit at a considerable
depth below the surface. At numerous
places along the Missouri River 1t stands
in perpendicular exposures more than "A
hundred feet high. and city streets are
cut through its long, perpendicular sides,
which stand like wall for many years.
When a section breaks off from the cliff
II always leaves a perpendicular face.
YET the deposit is so soft that its sur
face can be readily cultivated, and it
can be handled with a shovel at any
depth. The material principally consists
OF extremely fine sand. with little lime
intimately 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
underneath il all. 1t endures drought
better than any other soil.
1.-THE most extensive development OF
the loess anywhere in the world Is in
Mongolia in an elevated region from 5000
feet 10 5,400 feet above the sea, but it
mas been eroded by water during long
geological ages into a very uneven sur
face, with numerous narrow valleys from
1000 feet TO 5000 feet deep, with innumer-
able tributary gullies coming down the
sides Of the intervening ridges Many iso-
lated peaks, also, rise to an absolute
height of from 5000 feet to 1000 feet above
sea level Into this rugged region has
drfted during recent epoch an immense
amount OF me aust WHICH cJHStllutco
the loess. That It has been blown in by
the winds is evident from the positions
in which 1t lies 1t appears almost ex-
actly like a series of immense snowdrifts
that have accumulated behind the bar
riers which have caused lulls In the wind,
permitting the suspended particles to
settle in protected places. while it has
been swept bare from the exposed posi-
tons.
These deposits OF loess are specially
valuable because OF their fertility. But
I'm Norhern China it is of especial in
terest In furnishing cheap, comfortable
and saubrious dwelling places for multi
tudes Of people In d recent excursion
through the eastern part of Mongolia,
outside the great Chinese Wall, IN the
vicinity Of the famous city OF Kolgan,
saw a large number Of such villages ex-
cavated I'm the drifts of loess hanging on
the sides of the mountains. In walking
over the grassed surface 1t was no un-
common thing 10 stumble against chin
ney protruding from a habltation below.
From a distance the side Of the hill look
cd like an exposed bank pierced with in
Vulnerable swallow nests. The interiors
of the houses are clean and comfortable.
When the walls have been moistened and
smoothed over with a trowel they have
q hard finish which does not crpmble Off
The rooms are uniformly dry and arc
warm in winter and cool IN summer. ON
the sloping back of hill several stories
Of such houses are often seen above and
slightly back Of each other. the root OF
one being the 'FRONT.' dooryard OF the house
above f.