Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-09

where the chief trade centeTs are now"
said Mr.. Ferguson. First. take Canton.
1t has been a trade center for hundreds OF
years and as the terminus of the trunk line
from Canton to Hankow. il W II grow more
rapidly than ever. II is situated near
Hong Kong, where the most of the imports
from Europe and some of those from the
United States are now entered. and 1t
will continue to he great distributing
point for that place.
Going northward Shanhai will hold its
own a trade center in the railway devel-
opment Of the future. 1t is near the sea
that nearly all the big ocean steamers call
there and it is the terminus of the steam
boat traffic on the fangtse and of the steam
launch traffic of the vast system of canals
from the region about. 1t is already good
manufacturing place and It's mills VIII
grow in number and size. Another center
will be Hankow, which might be called the
Chicago of the future China. 1t lies al
most as far inland as Chicago. and IL
has the broad and deep Yangtse kiang
connecting II with the sea. 1t will be mid
way on this trunk line from Picking to
Canton, thus giving it railroad commune
cat ton with nine of the provinces OF cen-
trail China. Hankow has two sister cities,
Wuchang and Hanyang, which are OF
great size. There are already cotton mills
there, and large iron and steel works
In the north Tientsin will be the chief
trade center. and from IL roads will radiate
In every direction. Since the Boxer trouble
it has been growing by leaps and bounds:
the old city wall has been taken away. and
a broad rriage road has been made In its
place Indeed Tientsin will always be one
of the chief trade centers of the empire"
The Chinese and the Railroads.
Just one word more, Mr.. Ferguson" said
l. Are not the Chinese changing in their
opposition to railroads?"
'"To a great extent yes" replied the chief
secretary to the railway administration.
These of the people who have had an OPP
portunity to use the railroads realize their
advantages and are anxious to see the con-
struction go on. AS soon road is built
people of all classes, officials merchants.
farmers and workingmen. take advantage
of 1t and ii is patroniZed in every way.
During the Metropolitan examination held
last year at Kaifeng-fu. the capital Of
HCnan province, thousands of students used
the railway from Hankow northward 10
Smyang, the then terminus of the lire. Ae
Sinyang they had half of their journey yes
to make and the only means OF travel was
by mule carts They found that the second
half of their journey would cost them from
twenty to thirty times more than the first
half and that instead of having comfort
able cars they should have to ride In dirty
carts through the rain over almost Inn
passable roads. AS a result five six
thousand OF the students refused to under.
go the hardships of the rest of the journey
and went back by rail. Those students
ten years ago might have written essays
against railroad introduction a pieoo
of foreign impudence. Today they will
be among the most ardent advocates OF our
modern methods of transportation.
No concluded Mr. Ferguson, II think
the better class of the Chinese are now in
favor of the railroad development of tho
empire. There will always he more or
less opposition at the start from the PEG.
pie owning property through which tho
lines are to run. but this is an incident
OF construction rather than a fixed ops
position to railroad development"
FRANK G. CARPENTER