The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-03-03
vX THILE on duty with my reg
NV iment at Manila, P. l.,
Y during the war with Spain
Paper Read Before the ChastauQua Circle.

IHILE on duty with my reg
wv iment at Manila, P. l.,
Y during the war with Spain,
or rather while negotia-
tions of peace were pending and previ-
GUS to the opening of hostilities with
the Filipinos, 1 was somewhat run
down physically and asked for and re-
ceived thirty days. leave of absence to
visit japan. Together with three 9TH
er officers of my regiment, took ship
for Hong Kong and after crossing the
proverbially rough China Sea arrived
at that place. In passing wish to re-
mark that the China Sea, or rather the.
trip from Manila to Hong Kong, is, on
account of the prevailing trade winds,
or monsoons as they are called, almost
always rough passage. The ships
course being quartering to wind
and waves, as the sailors express it, the
pitch and roll of the boat produces
that delightful corkscrew motion so
fascinating to people subject to sea
sickness.
Hong Kong, or more correctly speak
ing, Victoria, strange as it may seem,
is an English city, but with great
predominance of the Chinese. Built up
on an island, with landlocked har-
bor having adequate accommodation
for the immense shipping interests
which center here, magnificent modern
buildings, parks and paved streets in
the English portion, and a large sec
tlon Chinatown in reality, or, as we
might say, on its native heath, the city
presents beautiful picture to the
tourist. After having citizens clothing
made to order in "a hours by Chinese
merchants, we went on board the mag
nificent steamship China and started up
the coast, our next stopping point be-
ing Shanghai. In due time we passed
the Island of Formosa and arrived off
the mouth of the Y Yang-tse-Kiang Riv-
er, so we were told, but we could see no
river, no land, nothing but muddy yell
low water. This river is one of the
largest i'll the world. It washes down
vast amounts of earth and refuse from
the continent of Asia and carries it for
hundreds of miles out to sea. The
ships have to anchor off the light boat
until such a time as the tide permits
them to cross the bar, and then they
proceed cautiously up the river until
they arrive at the mouth of smaller
river OH the south bank of the Yang
tse River, where they drop anchor.
Shanghai is situated on this river,
about fourteen or fifteen miles inland.
We took small tug beat, reaching
there in about an hour. A few hours
were spent in visiting points of inter-
est i'll the English concession. Then
we employed Chinese guide to pilot
as through the old city of Shanghai
which is many centuries old, portions
of the ancient mud wall still standing.
The streets are very narrow, winding
about in all directions, reeking with
filth, smelling intolerably, and crowd
ed with jabbering Orientals. We would
have been lost many times had it not
been for our guide who kept us to-
gether, keeping up an incessant jabber
in his native tongue, none of which
was ineligible to us. At last we
reached our ship and weighed anchor,
dropped down the river and taking al
most an easterly course across the Yel-
low Sea for Nagasaki, Japan, where
we arrived the next morning.
PRIMITIVE METHODS.
Nagasaki is one of the most import
ant points on the Asiatic coast, both
from commercial and a military
standpoint At this point ships of all
nations coal up and it is said that the
mines are inexhaustible. The process
of taking on coal is both curious and
decidedly primitive. The coal barges
tie up to the side of the ship and inn
mediately swarm of small boats, or