The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-06
CHINESE !Nns.
Those In the Interior Are About TIE
Worst In the World.

WorSS IN the WCrid.
An amusing picture of the difficult
ties of travel III China i drawn by
W. J. Garnett. third secretary OF the
British legation i'll Picking. III Il report
issued from the FOREIGN office GA
tourney he made through Shangtung.
Mr.. Garnett had iatenGed to go far
Their than he actually Went. but he
suffered so much from being jolted
about III a Chinese cart that one por
ton of his tour had to he abandoned,
Innkeeping in the Chinese interior is
not business that calls for the law
ish sinking Of capital.
Nearly every village" says Mr..
Garnett, possesses an inn, and the
only difference between them is the
varying amount of discomfort the tray
eler has to endure. for hone is good.
The best room of Il Chinese inn con
siSts of four walls Il matched roof and
a door though this is not essential.
The floor is of mud and very far from
being level, and there is the 'kang. or
Chinese bed place, on which camp beds
can be erected.
Chairs and a rickety table can fire.
quently be obtained, though the inn
keeper may have to borrow them.
There are always windows covered
with filthy paper broken in a thou
sand places. bat rarely is glass to be
met with The walls are usually Of
mud bricks. sometimes partially GOV
cred with paper as filthy as that which
acts as windows and usually bearing
a few red paper Chinese characters
expressing happiness and similar
good wishes.
IN many cases the walls 90 not all
touch the ceiling. and the rooms are
in consequence always open TO the air
somewhere. It is perhaps needless t"
say that the dirt is usually very ho.-
rible. and there are plenty of verinin
The door frequently ends a foot from
the ground. and in consequence TIE
traveller may find in the morning that
he has had visitors during the night
in the shape Of cats. dogs, chickens
and even pigs.
The question of payment is always
difficult one. The innkeeper never
likes to tell the guest the price. as he
is terrified at naming a sum smaller
than the guest would perhaps pay if
left to himself to decide. but the right
price seems to be about 20 cents for
lodging if the travellers consume fair
,1,n, Of nd o. f
ed for boiling their water. Eggs and
chickens can nearly always be obtain
ed in the villages; also Chinese bread.
which is by no means bad
Mr. Garnett was compelled to take
to a cart between Chinanfu and the
Grand canal. and the experience in
capacitated him from pursuing Il part
of the contemplated journey.
These vehicles are two wheeled and
Of the rudest description. They are
enormously strong to resist the terri
bic humping they have to undergo.
They are also srringless. The driver
sits on the shaft. and this is said to be
the most cOmfortab bic place. The IN
fortunate traveller inside is pitched
from one side to the other against the
wood iatticework of the sides as the
cart plows its way over every obstacle,
however large or difficult. until he is
black and blue and indeed sometimes
breaks limb.
AS for the roads, in bad weather they
are practically impossible, being sew
eral feet deep in the thicsest imagina-
bic mud. When there is bridge over
a stream it is in the majority of cases
avoided by the carts or mules because
it is either broken through in places
or else in such 4 bad state of repair
that it would be dangerous to use it,
and so every one fords the river as if
no bridge eXisted.-Cincinnati CONNER
cial Gazette.