Evening star., 1909-09-12

came down from heaven. in the mouth
of the Phoenix. This, according to the
Chinese tradition; is "a part par ec,ton ot every as
carried out in reality as far as appear
ances went. A golden bird with the
proclamation in Its mouth was let down
caught as it fell by the proper officials
below They took out the paper and
put it in sedan chair, which was COW
cred with yellow silk. and then started
in a grand procession to lay IL away IN
the imperial archives There We're sol
diers to guard the procession, and men
with whips went in advance to drive
the common people out OF the way
Incense was carried In front OF the chair
bearing the proclamation. and men with
great umbrellas of imperial yellow fol-
lowed behind. The officials who went
with it were gorgeousiy dressed, and ana
the whole was really imposing. Inc
PROCESSION marched right down to the
gate above which I was standing, and
I photographed it as It passed On below
me.
The baby monarch began to work i'm
mediately after he came to the throne
According to law. all the imperial edicts
are nut forth in his name, and many
have been issued which seem RIDICULOUS
as coming from the mouth of a two
year-old child. ! understand that they
were written by the great statesman and
scholar. Chang Chi Tung, but that the
people suppose that they come from the
mouth of the emperor. Here Is the way
in which Pu vi describes his feelings as
to the deaths OF the emperor ana Inc
old empress dowager:
~
"Au who have blood and breath can
not but mourn We weep tears OF blood
and beat upon our hearts. How can we
bear to express our feelings. the la1e
emperor has ascended the dragon to be
guest on high, and we have received the
commands of the empress doWager TO en-
ter upon the succession. We have Ia
mented to earth and Heaven, ana we
stretch out our hands. wailing our lnef-
ficiency We had hoped that her majesty
would be vigorous and live to ne nun
dred wears old, that we might receive hef
instructions But her toll day ana nlshI
weakened her, and on the 2lst day OF
the moon, when the late emperor ascend
ed the dragon to be a guest on hlgh, her
grief was SO excessive that the END sud
denly came. On the following day she
took the fairy ride, and ascended to the
far country We shall strive to be tenn
perate SO as to comfort the spirit of the
late empress dowager in Heaven;
1t was at this same time that the baby
emperor sent his first telegram. to the
United States. 1t was addressed TO the
President and read:
Again the imperial family Is unfor-
tunate. Again we have met great ca
lamity. The 22d day of the present moon
our holy grandmother. the great en-
press dowager, was taken up by the
fairies to the far-off land Our mourning
and lamentations have no limit Pros
trate, we reflect how the gracious counsel
and excellent virtues of the great depart
ed were revered by all beyond the seas.
China has long been on terms of friendly
intimacy with the United States. and
your excellency, the President, on re-
ceiving this news will surely mourn with
u.s.
! wish I could take you into the home
OF little Pu vi. From now on he will
live in the palaces OF the Pink Forbid
den City In the most secluded part of
Peking To this city strangers are never
admitted. except they be members of the
foreign legations or ladies invited to visit
the empress. Such visits have been made
only within the past few years, and 1t is
a question whether any but the minis
ters will be admitted in the future.
\
I have information. however, from con-
fidential sources among the highest Chi
nese which enables me to give you one
or two peeps at these royal quarters
The palaces are surrounded by yellow
tiled wall more than two miles in length