The farmer and mechanic., 1909-12-07

prince regent is in favor OF the
scheme. and since the deaths OF the
emperor kwanG-Su, and the great
! dowager a number of imperial edicts
| have been published urging that the
work he carried on along the lines and
upon which it has been started"
The Canton Hankow Railway.
here referred TO the Canton Han
kow railway, and which they finally
sold back To China, and asked whether
that road would be built. His ex-
ceilency replied that the matter had
been given Oyer to other officials but
! that he thought that it ould he rapidly
/ pushed on TO a completion. ] under
stand that the road IS surveyed. and
/ that the rails for it are already being
made at the Han Yang iron works
/ The Nlceroy tells me he is anxious
( to have railroads built throughout his
provinces. and tht their industrial re-
sources will probably make Wuchang
! and Hankow great railroad centers
! He then referred 10 the fact that one
, can now go from Hankow to Paris by
rail. Thereupon the American con-
sui rather facetiously ventured that
| the time might yet come when one
would be able to go from Hankow
even TO New York in comfortable
cars.
But how could that be-" said the
viceroy. You cannot cross the oceans
| by railroad
No" returned the consul but we
/ can go under the Pacific ocean at
/ Bering Strait, and we might possibly
makea bridge there by which we
could cross from Siberia To Alaska,
/ and thence go by land 70 New York.
You know, Asia and North America
are only thirtyfive miles apart at that
point. and if Russia is willing. think
we can build the bridge
Upon this burst into a laugh. in
. which both our consul and the vice.
roy Joined.
Chen kweiLng Sends Greetings TO
Uncle Sam.
The next subject vas the boycott
ting of foreign nations by the Chinese.
His excellenCy said that ne hoped
there would be nothing Of that kind
in the future in China's trade rela-
tions with us. He thereupon added
some kind expressions as to the Uni
ted States, saying that the Chinese
have always felt that the Americans
have no desire to take any part Of
their empire, and they look upon US
AS their safest friends. 1t was at this
point that / asked his excellency if
he would not send a greeting to the
people of tha United states through
this paper. He replied that he would
gladly do so, and that he would for
Warit with his photograph by one Of
his deputies to HankoW.
This message has just come in.
nave taken II out or us long white
envelope bOrdered with pink and it
lies before me as I write The mes
sage covers two sheets of yellow pa
pe~ the characters being beautifully
written by the Viceroy's hand. Trans
lated. it reads:
Sir: The friendly relations existing
between my country and YOURS have
long been known to all nations on
earth. l therefore appreciate the
courtesy of a letter from the Secre-
tary of your Department Of Agrfcul-
ture, whose reputation has so long
been known TO me. / should have
been glad to lave had a conversation
with him. but as that is not possible
! on account of the great distance that
separates us. I appreciate the courtesy
of his letter, and l beg that You will
kindly present my compliments to
him upon your return.
1T is my sincere desire that the
! friendly relations between our two
countries may never be interrupted,
so that the blessings OF an nterna-
tional peace may abide with us.
I'm closing I have the honor to pre-
graph, which will serve to remind you
of me when we are thousands OF
miles apart.
tSigned) CHEN kWEI-LUNG
.Niceroy of Hukwang"
With this came the viceroy's two
ctiIuS, one Oh DToWi1 paper dnO one
/ on light pink. The colOrs were used
on account of the imperial morning
period. instead Of the bright red al
ways employed in times Of joy
The Viccroy's New Schools
AS ] left the yamen, his excellency
requested me to visit his new schools
and he directed the comm issioner Of
education, d fne-loOking Chinese, to
go with me. We had also another
Chinese, who spoke English, to act as
interpreter as we'll as two young Ce-
lestial who have just returned from
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