The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-11


periods in different articles. And if the.
contrast between the China of yester-
day and the China Of today is great,
what shall We say of the contrast De
tween the Flowery Kingdom and our
own country? The same stars shine
overhead and the same laws of nature
operate on the earth. but in mode of
living, appearance. customs and habits
of thought the Chinese people could
scarcely be more different from ours.
First, a word as to the land which
they occupy its very vastness i'm
presses one, unless he has recently
consulted his geography. While the
eighteen - provinces which constitute
China proper have something less than
100000 square miles, yet the Chinese
empire with its tributary states has an
area of about $500, coo square miles and
extends over 80 degrees north and
south and 20 degrees east and west. We
hardly realize when we speak Of China
that her emperor holds sway over a
territory nearly twice as large as the
United States; that his DEGREES are law
to a population estimated at from ESQ.,
600 900 to 400, GOO, 600; that her climate is
like that of Russia in the north, while
in the southern provinces her people
live under a tropical sun: and that she
has so many mountains and such
mighty deserts that more than half of
her population is crowded together
upon a plain which contains but a lit
tie more than 200 600 square miles.
Williams. in his work entitled THE
Middle Kingdom" calls this district
the most densely settled of any part
of the world of the same size" and
estimates that upon this plain. less
than three times the size of Nebraska,
177,0O0,0O0 of human beings dwell.
The harbors of China are hardly
what one might expect on so extended
e
at HOngkOng is an admirable One-One
of the best in the wOrld-the one at
Shanghai has no hills TO protect it, the
one at ChefOO is open to the storms and
the one at Taku does not deserve to be
called harbOr at all In leaving
Shanghai We went an hour and half
by launch in order to reach a steamer
of only 5000 tons; at ChefOO a still
smaller ship was delayed a day because
the lighters could not unload it in the
wind, and at Taku, the seaport of Ten
tsin and Pel1in we spent a day on the
bar waiting for ten feet of water.
The capital of the empire has until
recently been so difficult of access that
comparatively few tourists have visited
1t. The large ocean steamers stop at
Shanghai and HOngkOng only, making
It necessary for one desiring to visit
Pekin TO take a smaller boat and risk
indefinite delays on account of wind
and tide.
Since the completion of the railroad
from HankOW to Pekin it is possible to
accomplish the journey from Shanghai
TO PekiT in less time, and in addition
enjoy the advantage of a trip inland.
When the projected road is completed
from Hankow to Canton the tourist
can land at Shanghai, take a river boat
500 miles up the Yangste Kiang to
Hankow, then by rail to Pekin, about
500 miles north, then back through
HankOw to Canton nearly as far south.
from which point there are daily boats
TO HOng'kOng. This trip, covering near
" a thousand miles Of river travel and
about LOCO miles of railroad travel mot
including the return trip from Pekin
to HankOW) can be made in the time
; formerly spent in travel along the
Coast and furnishes an infinitely better
opportunity for the study of the cOun-
try and the people. As a matter of
precaution ! ought to add that Pekin
is so far north that before the opening
Of the railroad it was extremely diff
cult to visit it after the first of Deem
her, and even now II is desirable that
the trip should be made before the mid
die of November.
China is well watered; the largest
river, the Yangtse Kiang, which emp
ties into the ocean at Shanghai, is
5000 miles long, drains more than
half a million square miles and 700
ume Of water estimated at 500 cubic
feet per second. It is one of the great
rivers of the earth and is navigable
for large vessels for more than a
thousand miles.
The Yellow river, or, in Chinese,
the Hwang HO, drains a basin almost
as large and is nearly as long, but
does not carry so large a volume Of
water. This is the river whose over
flows have been so disastrous as to
earn for it the name of THE Great
Sorrow" This river carries down so
much deposit that within recent times
s. it has so chOked its original outlet
as to form a new channel entering the
ocean some 300 miles farther north.
At that time thousands of villages
were swept away and the loss of life
was estimated at several millions
The current of the Yellow TiVer is so
shifting, the sandbars so numerous
and the volume Of water so change
able that the river is practically use
less for navigation.
Besides these, there are a number
OF rivers of less Importance and trib-
utaries of these two large rivers which
only seem small by comparison.
AS if inspired by the numerous and
extensive natural waterways the Chi
nese people centuries ago connected
its great water systems by an i'm
mense canal which, with the streams
utilized by it, gave water communica-
ton between Pekin and Canton.
This canal, sometimes known as the
Transit river, is nearly twice as long
as the Erie canal and is not only the
greatest work of its kind in Asia, but
at the time of its construction was the
greatest in the world
Before speaking of the people, a
word should be said in regard to the
Great Wall It extends from the
ocean westward along the northern
boundary of China proper for a dis
lance of about 1,500 miles, climbing
in its tortUOus course hills and noun
tains, one more than 5000 feet high.
Tt is about % feet thick at the base
and Is at the top and varies from 10
to so in height It is made of earth
with a shell of stone or large brick to
hold the earth in place. The watch
towers built at intervals along the
line add to its imposing appearance
and make it an object of historic in
terest although large part Of the