The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-12
WHERE CHINA LEADS AMERICA.
Minister WI Says Roads and Bridges
Are Better.
From the Boston Herald.

From the Boston Herald.
III was amused" said Minister WI,
when newspaper man asked me the
other day If could use my bicycle and
automobile in China.
my friend seemed to be under the
impression that my country was not
provided with streets and roads suit
able for such purposes.
ut is difficult to imagine the care
that is taken of the streets and COM
mon roads, the latter being generally
eighty feet broad and kept In perfect
condition. In Pekin almost all the
streets are built in direct line ana
are more than 100 feet broad, so you
see / will have good places to use my
wheel and auto.
II may say that of ali public works
in China, none do my people so much
honor as their canals. roads and
bridges. BY means of these canals al
most the whole trade of the empire Is
carried on, with the advantage or
water carriage, and in this manner one
may travel from Canton, the most
southern city, to Pekin, the most
northern, without travelling above one
day by land. -
ing: they are often lined on each side
with square stone, and in some places
with marble. At proper distances many
of these great canals. are covered with
bridges of three, Ave or seven arches,
SO that barks may pass through with
out taking down their masts. Some OF
these bridges are the finest in the
world.
Mountains have been leveled and
bridges made from one mountain to
another, and, when valleys were too
xx,taa pttIa uyara areQfad 70 GuOnOFf
the bridges. You must remember that
this great work has been going on a
long time, and many of the bridges
were built more than n century and a
half ago. There are in China some of
the strangest and most extraordinary
pieces Of bridge architecture in the
world, and the common roads are kept,
as a general thing, in perfect condi-
ton.
'sThe United States is just now paying
great deal of attention to the ques-
ton of irrigation, which fact~reminds
me that for more than a century past
China has been actively engaged In
irrigating. China is of great extent in
area and the nature of the soil is Diff
ferent according to its situation.
1.-The land. like all others. is divided
into hills and plains, but the latter are
SO even that a stranger would imagine
that the Chinese have always been en-
gagged In dwelling them. Their manner
of ameliorating their ground condi-
tions being to let water through 1t,
they could not think of better way
of rendering the whole country fertile
than that they have taken, for, IL 1t
was not for the numerous canals those
parts that lie highest would be sub
ject to continual drought and the rest
under water.
MANY mountains are cut out like q
pair of stairs, from the top to the bot
Tom, that the rain water may spread
equally and not wash down the earth,
A long series Of such hills, surrounded
with such terraces. losing In breadth
as they gain IN night, afford very
entertaining landscape. The plains are
extremely beautiful and are all Guilt
waited, and so afraid are the inhabit-
ants of losing an inch of ground that
they have neither hedge nor ditch.
when read in the papers of the
great work of the United States Fish
Commission IL reminds me that In Chi
ma this work has been carried on for
centuries, although. of course, not on
such large scale.
About the month of May the Chi
nese. in the years long gone, would
draw mats across the great river
Yang-tse- <iang In order to stop the
spawn, which they knew how 20 dis
tinguish at first sight. though the
water was scarce altered in appear
ance by II. With this water mixed
with many spawn they would Ill YES
sells and sell TO the merchants. and IL
would be sent into different provinces
and sold by measure 10 those who had
fish ponds In few days the young
fish would appear I'm great shoals. This
work is still carried on In many por-
lions OF China.
'"rhe Chinese display great ingenai-
~ IN fshing. / venture 10 say some
OF my people could give Mr.. Cleveland
valuable pointers IN this sport. Be-
sides the line, nets. reels and other IN
atruments used in this country, which
the Chinese employ az well as Amefi-
cans. they have two methods that may
appear extremely odd.
~One ~ pfhcfieed IN the night by
They take two long straight
boat and feEfen them together. q
b0afd about two feet broad h painted
white AMI finely varBisbed. ana IL eon-
Deefed with the boats. This beard
SLOPES oufNhf9, and almost touches
fae surface ~ thf water. They furn
iie surface toward the neon, thai the
feflefiion - Mss iununafg mag inr
efeaae ~ bIlRbtnhak. Tbe san saln.
teAins ~ eeler for fhst u fhs waf-a.