The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-01-05

Special Correspondence for The Sunday Republic.
. Saigon, Cochin China Nov S.-These
.Ehotes are written IN Saigon, the capital of
cochin China. at the tail-end of the French
I possessions IN Asia. 1t Is west of Siam. far
below Anam and Tonking, and hotter than
Java on the edge Of the equator. To-day
the thermometer was 100 in the shade, and
tonight the warm, moist air of the tropics
wraps one around like a sweat robe. 1 am
on the French mail steamer lying at an
Choir. and I might as well be IN a Turkish
bath. for the perspiration stands out IN
white drops on the back OF my freckled.
sunburned hands. and my collar IL whiting
with the heat I have left the colonial
Empire OF John Bull on the Strait of Ma
iacca. have shaken the dust Of the Dutch
islands from my feet, and am now In the
chief city of the French colonial posses
sions In Asia
Cochin China 10 the smallest OF the
French colonies of Farther India. It is only
about as big as West Virginia. almost three
times as large as Massachusetts. and it
has a population of a million and a half.
Still. It is the most prosperous Of the
French possessions out here and the center
Of French influence. Just back of 1t is
Cambodia, which is as big as Ohio. and
north of It is AnaIm. larger than Cam
bodia and Cochin China put together, and
still farther north the Province of Tonking,
which, with the protected State of Laos, Is
big ger than all France. All together, the
French have here over 10000 square miles,
which is 10000 square miles more than
their possessions In Europe. Their country
is one OF the richest of the Far East. 1t Is
inhabited by 22.O0.N0 people, among whom
are some OF the widest and l~east-known
people Of the world. Those along the
coast are a kind of cross between the Chi
nese and the Malays. and at all the large
cities there are thousands OF pure Chinese.
Saigon Is the Metropolis
OF French Asia.
You can easily see that the French rule
Saigon. There are French signs over the
stores, French buildings in the business
parts Of the town and French people ev-
erywhere. A dozen natty French girls
dressed in Partisan style with parasols in
their hands met US at the landing. The
customs officers were French, and there
Were scores OF well-dressed officials and
merchants on the wharf dressed in white
Apck with white helmets. who spoke to us
in French as we went on shore. The ma
tives here talk pigeon French. and alto
Eether there is French everywhere.
l Xix Saigon. 1t is a beautiful city, as
we'll built as any of its size In the tropics.
IT IS situated on the river Saigon, a branch
Of the Donai, about forty miles from the
sea. 1t IS not far from the great Mekong
River. which rises in the Chinese Empire
and flows more than q thousand miles south
between French Indo-China and Siam until
1t enters tambodia, and then flows on in a
mighty stream to the China Sea. There are
canals here which connect the Saigon River
with the Mekong. The country is fiat, and
* Is cut up by waterways. The Saigon
River Is as wide as the Mississippi at ST.
Louis. and deep enough for. the largest
steamers. We had no trouble in making
our way from the ocean up TO the city.
Near the sea the land is SO low that the
\hrmhouses are built on poles. but it rises
u little as you go up, and tie river takes
|you through plains as rich as those of the
Nile Valley The river is lined with thick
cts of palm trees. There are cocoanut
groves here and there, and back of these
vast fields of rice and other crops
Our first signs of European occupation
were great white oil tanks on the left
banks as We came up the stream. and q
little later we could see the masts Of the
shipping In front OF Saigon. The red spires
of a great Cathedral stood out against the |
sky, and a half hour later We were wind |
ing our way through craft of all kinds into :
the heart CT the city.
Landing on the wharf. I took a stroll. |
saigon has some of the aspects of a French !
interior town. You can easily see that a |
western hation has the place in hand. Tho |
streets are wide. and so well m~acadamized |
that tho red earth upon them is as hard |