The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-05

the United States, with Boston. st.
Louis. New York and ChiSago printed
in type half an inc Ions. and in
other rooms We're mineral maps and
others illustrating physical geography
| heard a lecture on ethics delivered
in Chinese by a celestial professor. and
saw about thirty-tNo boys practicing
mathematical drawing. In the latter
room. l asked one Of the boys il he
understood English. He replied:
Only a little but added that he
was studying German. then address
ed him in German. and found that he
could speak the language better than
/ could.
| examined the dormitories To see
how the boys live. There are six stu
dents 10 every room of about fifteen
feet square. The beds are single. aud
are arranged against the walls at the
two ends of the room. In the center
is the study table. and about stand
the boxes where the young men keep
their clothes. There is no privacy.
and an American boy could hardly
study in such surroundings. Still, the
rate for tuition aad board is all told
less than s. Il month, and many Of the
students who have scholarships are
charged only for their food. The boys
work hard and learn easily.
From this language academy. in
company with Or. Tenney. the chimes
secretary Of our legation, ] Wen TO the
Imperial University of Peking. This IS
also in the Imperial city. not far frum
Coal Hill. in which the emperor was
temporarily buried a few months
The buildings are altogether Chinese.
They are low one-storN structures run
ming around paved courts. The walls
have large windows OF q beautiful lace
work of wood. bached With white pa
per, and the heavy tiled roots so over
hang that each ouT has a promenade
round it, reminding one of the quad
rangles at Oxford. There are many
courts and many buildings. and The
Whole has a college atmosphere quite
equal to Princeton, Cornell, Harvard
or Yale.
I was especially interested in the IL
brary. with its thousands of old Chi
nese volumes. now mixed With q sparse
and scattered collection OF books in
English. French. German and RUS
sian. The Chinese books are on fina
tissue paper. printed in characters
like those one sees on the tea ooXes.
The most OF them are bound in paper
or cardboard. and some Of the works
comprise many parts. There Is an
encyclopedia. for instance. which close
ly fills a set of shelves twelve feet IN
height and thirty feet long. 1t contains
over 5000 volumes and has perhaps
1000, 600 pages. 1t was printed from
blocks within the past five years and
each Of its characters had TO be Gpe-
O. III Il'o, &c On - - 4 bA
high into the millions.
This book is only one of about nine
encyclopedias which are now i'll use IN
China. The most Of them are equally
vOluminOus. and All are largely based
on the great encyclopedias written dur
ing one of the first Ming enpeTOrS.
That work contained 22,9@1 books: it
took $4,000 scholars to write il and
required sixty volune for its table Of
contents. 1t was never printed. but
/ understand that the manuscript IS
still in existence.
In looking at the new encyclopedia,
7 asked one of the professors if il was
revised from year to yea and kept
up to date. He replied that it was not.
but that extra volumes were added
from time to time recording the
changes. I doubt seriously if the work
is of any value; it viii probably soon
be consigned to the archives of the
old ChineSe past.
The Picking University is the same
institution which was founded years
ago under DR.. W. p. Martin. Il was
~reOrganized after the Boxer rebellion,
and it is now teaching the modern
languages and ciences through Japan
csc and European professors. and the
old Chinese literature through Chinese.
1t is not a university in our sense Of
the word, but its courses will be added
TO from now on, and it may some day
become one
College Athletics and Sports.
While at this university, ! saw the
students go through their regular at
ternoon drill. Every boy carried q
gun Of the most modern make and the
c%Opanies marched like veteran sol
diers. And still they seemed odd. They
wore blue uniforms with low crowned.
broad-bTimmed hats of blue felt. The
hats looked as though they came
from q millinery store, and as the
boys wheeled about and showed their
long braided queues. they made me
think of girls dressed in boys cloth
ing.
Nevertheless. they marched We'll and
are learning to shoot. / saw q similar
drill at the language school. and in the