The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-09-18

beds to expectant mothers. for they
believe that if they spend night in
the temple they will assuredly have the
male progeny they desire.
Henry Norman, the well-known Eng
lish traveller, saved his life when he
was in Pelxin. a few years ago, sim
ply through the grating propensities
of the priests. He wanted to take
photograph of the interior of the LA
ma temple, one of the most sacred in
Pekin. 1t is inhabited by the most
bigoted of the Buddhist monks from
Mongolia and Tibet. Norman got as
far as the court yard of the temple.
but the monks would not let him do as
he wished.
Fooled With "A Camera.
AT last he got one of them into a
corner and told him, through an in
terpreter, that if he would let him
take photographs he would give him a
dollar. The ignorant monk did not
know what a photograph was, but the
idea of dollar Immediately inter-
ested him. The interpreter explained
what shadow picture" was, and the
monk, horror-stricken, declared that
the wallis of the temple would fall
and crush them If such a sacriIege
were attempted
But as Norman increased his offer
ne began to change his opinion, and
When twenty dollars was mentioned
he agreed to smuggle the Englishman
IN next morning and let him do what
he wanted.
The conversation had, however,
peen noticed by the other monks.
Ihey barred the doors of the monas-
tery and made Norman a prisoner.
Then they gathered around him, de-
cIaring that he should not be allowed
10 leave the place alive. One monk,
more daring than the rest, rushed at
the white man, but was Immediately
Knocked down by the latter's fist.
Norman was in a tight fix. Just as
the monks were about to tear him to
pieces the venerable, gray bearded alb
bot interposed and suggested that the
matter was capable of adjustment.
The Englishman was not slow to
take the hint He was at the mercy
of two hundred savage Mongols and
I1betans, who could have knocked
him on the head without anybody
being any the wiser. He asked how
much they would let him out for.
'As soon as the question was heard
by the crowd he said, 1.-The pugulistic
gentleman who attacked me was
squelched by common consent"
The monks asked fifty dollars Nor
man said he had not got so much
money with him, but if they would go
to his hotel. on the following morn
ing he would pay them. The monks
however. were too old birds to be
caught by such chaff, and they in
sisted on being paid cash on the nail.
The Englishman had to pay. and then
he was forced to pay few more dol
lars to each of the monks to open the
numerous gates that barred him from
the street.
Graft in the Chinese Navy.
The almost incredible inefficiency of
the Chinese navy. as revealed by the
war with Japan was due to the fact
that graft has been carried to its ulti-
mate point in that service. One of
the Chinese warships actually went into
the battle of the Yalu lacking one of
her guns. The commander had pawned
1t, and had not been able to redeem it
in time for the battle.
1t is a common thing for officers in
the navy to put their relations and SER
wants in uniform on inspection day
and draw their pay for all the rest of
the time. The consequence is that the
real crew of a warship only numbers
about a quarter of it's inspection crew.
In such a service it is only to be ex-
pected that kissing should go by favor.
The service is democratic. The Chi
naman does not particularly care
whether he is an officer or an enlisted
man so long as he has a chance to
graft. One admiral. who held high
command during the war with Japan,
actually appointed his brother-in-law
cook on his own vessel, and his cousin
boatswain.
The mandarin in charge of the de-
Tense of Port Arthur i'm 1895 imported a
cargo of powder for his guns. When
the time came to use it. it was found
to be cocoa powder, and, of course, it
would not ignite. 1t was dumped in
the sea, but several officials had made
big profit out of it before that hap
pened.
The superintendent of large arsenal
in China regularly receives. an allow
ance with which to purchase steel for
making gun barrels. He imports iron
instead, pockets the difference, and
makes the gun barrels of the inferior
material.
A Viceroy's Rake on.
A Chinese Viceroy ordered estimates
from a big firm in the United States
for a complete set of alternating ma
chnery. The estimates. amounted to
100000. The Viceroy drew that sum
from the treasury and cut the estimate
down to $400000 pocketing the differ
ence and simply removing some of the
items from the list of machinery re-
quired. Then he sent the money and
the estimate to another official with
an order to get the goods The other
official also took his rake-off, cutting
out some more OF the items to make
the estimates tally with the dimin-
ished total In due time the machin-
cry arrived. but, of course, IL was use
less and could not be set up, as about
one-third the essential parts were
missing.
When the foreign troops fought
against the Chinese during the Boxer
troubles they got some amusing revela-
tions Of Chinese methods. The French
warship Gallissonniere was struck by
a shell when bombarding a Chinese
fort. The shell did not explode, as Il
should have done, but imbedded itself
I'm the woodwork of the ship. II was
taken out and examined, when u was
found 10 be filed with charcoal In
stead OF high explosives. The con-
tractor and some corrupt mandarin
had split the difference.
Charity Funds Grabbed ny Omcinls.
n ~ wellknOwn fact that funds
kraiaed abroad for the relief ~ suffer-
ing Chinese during q famine Or plague
never reach the people for whom they
arc Intended n the Chinese rlflcials
sre allowed 10 have any share M their
REMUNERATION Lately these funds
have been administered by foreigners,
buf ~ fret they were unsuapectingly
handed over 90 the Chinese govern
$1,000 f-....H I......... A. saaa