Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-18
TELEGRAPH Lines in China.

Mr.. w. W. Rockhill our minister to Pc
king, tells me that the Chinese govern
ment is extending its telegraph system to
every corner of the empire, and that Pc
king will soon be in communication with
all Of the principal cities of Mongolia.
Turkestan and Thibet> as we'll as those Of
China proper.
The wires are being erected and operated
by native Chinese. The telegraph system
of the empire is under the direction of
Mr.. Tong. Yale graduate. who came
over here with a commission of inquiry
two or three years ago. and ] believe he
Is chairman of the Yale Alumni Asso-
citation of China He occupies a large
building in Shanghai, with force o. forty
or fifty clerks and operators. and has been
directing the extension of the lines from
there.
1t looks little odd to see a Chinaman
at telegraph key, and people. wonder
wire in their own language: But the
process is very simple. They use
phonetic system based upon the Morse
code and wire the syllables as they sound
for there is no alphabet in the Chinese
language.
There has been a telegraph line from
Darjeeling, India. to Llassa, the capital
of the British army led his expedition
to that city in 1904, and English resi-
dents are now representing the Indian
government of India there who need it
to communicate with the viceroy at Cal
cutta. But the line is not open to the
public. and the Chinese government needs
q means Of communica ton with Thibet
very much. because 1t is engaged In the
organiZatiOn Of that province. The
nearest telegraph station to Llassa on
the Chinese side is at the city Of Ia
Chien-lu. on the border between Szechuan
and Thibet. and the wires will be ex-
tended from there.
Chinese Control of Thibet.
China is taking a stronger grasp of
Thibet than it formerly held and here
after will exercise firmer control OF
the government Of that province. which
has been practically ruled by the grand
lama, who is the highest ecclesiastical
authority. and has assumed civil and
judicial jurisdiction also. This has been
recognized from time to time In semi
official manner by the emperor at Peklng,
but hereafter the dalai lama will not
be permitted to interfere with the civil
administration. Great Britain. Russia,
France and other powers have recognized
Chinese authority over Th1bet, when
makes the Reputation of the lama SIM
pier than it otherwise would have been.
When Col. Younghusbands expedition
approached Llasss the grand lama Ned
from the city and kept on fleeing unit!
he reached Urga, a town in the extreme
northern part Of Mongolia. not far from
the Siberian boundary, and almost directly
south of Irkutsk. the Siberian capital. and
Lake Baikal. over which the trains on
the Great Siberian railroad are ferried.
The grand lama has never returned. He
Is now supposed to be at the famous mon
astery of bum, near Shining. city of
about oO,OOO inhabitants. $500 feet above
the sea- where Able Hue. the famous
French explorer. lived for several months
In 1915 Shining is the principal city of the
province of koko-nOr. and Is near salt
lake called Tsing-Hai uhe Azure seal.
This is a remarkable body of water. and
resembles Lake Titicaca of South America
in many of it's features. although the
latter is sonewha. larger. and is filled with
fresh instead OF salt water. The Azure
SEA is 10, go feet above the Indian ocean.
and is incosed by high mountains. whose
shadows falling on the deep water pro-
duce a blue color from which the name
is derived In the center of the lake Is
an island where a Buddhist monastery o.
lamasary stands. which has no commun
cation with the shore except in winter.
when the ice furnishes a bridge. There
is no boat upon the lake. Between thirty
and forty monks are living in solitude in
the monastery. and each winter they carry
over all their supplies for the coming
year.
The Chinese government has no respect
for the grand lama, although 1t permits