The farmer and mechanic., 1909-09-07
THE NEW lPEkING
Continued From Page F1fteen.)


| roller then crushed the stones fin
and the roads thus made are perfectl.
firm.
The Pelxing streets are clean. Whel
| T was last here they were covered VIII
filth. The city had no sanitary con
| avervwhere The streets were no
watered, and in the summer the dus
| frenuently obscured the town like {
fog. Today Peking is putting IL
Waterworks, and pending their crea
ton, is sprinkled by men who fetcf
| the water in tubs from wells to th'
center of each block and then spreae
it over the reads with dippers of bas
network, to which are attached Ions
wooden handles This watering goes
on summer and winter and the dus
is we'll laid.
The pipes of the new WaterWorn Ks
are now on the ground and they vii
have been laid before this letter is
published. They will go first through
| the main streets, and thence be ex-
| tended to the side streets and houses
! The water from a river nine miles
away will be raised to a tower inside
/ the Chinese city and will be distrib-
uted by gravity The neW%Peking mas
| many artesian wells. At two hundred
feet an inexhaustible supply Of good
water is reached, and many Of the
! larger buildings, including some Of the
palaces Of the imperial city, now have
| plants of their own.
Electricity in Picking.
| Modern Picking has it's telegraphs
| and telephones Every official and
prominent business man now has his
own phone. The service is under
| government board Of communica tions
and L understand it is good. A few
years ago. the city had no street lamps
but candles placed inside wooden
framework backed with white paper.
1t was impossible to walk the streets
after dark without a servant and IAN
tern, and the night life Of the people
was confined to their houses. At that
time a story was current In the for
eign quarters that the government ap-
prOpriated $4,000 year for lighting
the city, and that this sum was dis
tributed as follows: The official in
charge of the matter took $4,000 as
his squeeze and the other $40, 600
was handed over to his chief lieuten-
ant. who pocketed $4,000 and gave
the balance to third man. who made
similar division. The distribution
went on until the sum was at last re-
duced to a few copper cash, which
were given to coolies to buy Oil and
wicks to be placed in saucer-ike
lamps They set the lamps on the
Streets where the beggars drank up
the OIL. anu tuaI vi DIS lHc emu VI llc
light az preparation.
However this may be. no real light
was furnished until the new Peking
was created. Today the city looks
most beautiful at night It's long, wide
streets SHINE with incand descent globes.
There are thousands of lights about
the gates of the palaces anc on those
which go through the walls. There are
many street lamps, and one can find
his way anywhere at any hour of the
evening. The new electric light plant
stands close to the wall of the Tartar
city, and its sTnokestack is visible for
miles over the country In addition
there is plant which lights the pal
ace, and for obvious reasons the le-
cation city has a plant Of it's own.
50 The New Government Buildings.
The Chinese government is just be-
ginning to erect office structures in
accord with the new civilization. It
has already built many schools of
modern architecture: and it has just
completed large office building for
the Wal WI Pu. OR the board of for
eign affairs This is the best office
building I have seen in eastern Asia,
and is by far the finest of the Chi
nese capital. 1t is right next to the
old Tsung Ii Yamen, on the ground
where stood the old mint which was
C0ld LII y -lWo years U0IOIc our
world was discovered and which was
coming money for the government up
until the year 1900
The new building and it's grounds
cover seven acres; and the building
itself one-fOurth Of an acre, not in
Guiding the large Offices for clerks
at the back. The Wal WI Pu is a
great structure of two stories, built
Of gray bricks. It's hitecture is
entirely foreign and is remarkable for
its massive simplicity and beauty. In
deed, it would be an ornament among
the public buildings of Washington or
London
The Wal WI Pu is heated by
steam. lighted by electricity. and has
all modern sapitt111t11,~ it1t1 ~~-eanVepiences. |
There arc a number of rooms for en-
tertaining. including large reception