Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-02-22

mastS. The women work as hnrd as the
men, a thrifty boatman having several
wives, each extra wife being an extra
slave to the husband
HOW THEY FISH.
An the canals are filed with fish and
there are fishermen everywhere. There
are fish traps built at intervals across
the waterway, through which our boat
goes with scrapng. grating sound.
There are wicker fences so fixed into
the OF the canal that they Will bend
down when the boat presses against
them They are meant to stop the FISH
from coming down or up stream and TO
turn them into the sinuous pens OF
bamboo at the sides. where once In they
cannot get out Such pens are fire.
quently near great stone bridges.
There are also fishermen using hooks
and lines and fishing parties with nets
and also many men fishing with cor
morants The cormorant fisherman
paddles along In a canoe upon the
sides Of which sit from twenty 20 thir-
~ birds which look much like ducks
They are on the rim OF the boat fas-
tened there by strings tied 10 their
legg At word from their master they
viii dive down FOR fish and bring them
M I'm their mouths Each cormorant
has ring about its neck which pre-
vents II from swallowing the FISH II
catches. The fisherman sits IN the stern
OF the boat and paddles II along,
IN sooCHoW.
one Of the most important cities on
the Grand canal Is Soochow. II Is big
ger than St. Louis and was founded
about 800 y. c. It is the capital Of
Kinagsu province and is In the heart OF
a district ms thickly populated perhaps,
az any part Of China, II Is very rich
city and a great manufacturing CEN
ter 1t makes silks, linens, cottons, and
all sorts OF things OF iron, ivory ana
glass. In the new China II Will be one
of the great cities Of the empire and
one Of the chief railroad centers Rail-
roads have already been surveyed 10
connect II with Shanghai and before
many years II will he known all over
the world. IL Is only five years now
since II was opened to foreign trade
This was at the close OF the Chinese
Japanese war. At present there is n
foreign settlement and the English,
Germans and japanese are already be-
ginning to do business.
Right near Soochow Is the great
Taihu lake, which is connected with
the Grand canal by n marble bridge
with SO arches. This Is one Of the iin-
est bridges IN China II Is very long
and It's arches are as perfectly made
as though cut with rculptors chlsel, |
sailed by this bridge on my way to the
city.
A NEW ROAD TO LITERATURE.
soochow has many pagodas and It Is
also celebrated as literary center one
group of pagodas has a queer story
connected with H. which shows the
superstition Of the Chinese. Originally
the group contained but two pagodas
with a pool OF water near them, Not
far away was the examination hall
Shortly after the pagodas were built
a was noticed that the students from
Soochow always failed IN their exami-
nations when they went 10 Pekin. The
necr0mancers were asked 10 determine
the cause. They found 1t In the pago-
das. Said they
"You have here the water" pointing
to the pond; you have also the ink
brushes" pointing to the pagodas
"but you have no ink pot or ink block
How can your scholars write essays
with only the brushes and waterl"
An said the Chinese 1--WE VIII fix
that" And so they built a third
pagoda In plain black the shape Of a
Chinese Ink pot, This changed the
fortunes OF the scholars Immediately,
and Soochow since then has become the
Athens Of China"
WALLED CITIES IN 1902
II took US a long time to get round
the walls Of SoOChow into the city.
Soochow has at least 70 miles Of wall
about Il, The wall Is as high as a
three-story house and as wide as the
ordinary country road Il is today al
mos, as perfect as when II was built.
and there are parts OF il which have
been recently repaired other parts ar,
being torn down and rebuilt. The
Chinese have walls about all their
cities and II a new city were built to-
day II would have a wall about Il. Not
long ago some hundreds OF thousands
Of dollars were spent In repairing the
wall ~ Nanking; and suppose that
one OF the first appropriations made
by the government after they have ar
ranged for the interest on the foreign
debt brought about by the late war.
win be TO repair the walls Of Pekin.
Soochow nlls the most OF the space
within this wall, and In places the city