The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-10-17
Pekin. China.


~ TAND with me beside the great tow
er above the gate of Chen Men and
~ look down upon the home of Uncle
Sam in Pekin. We are In the center of
the wall which separates the Chinese and
Tartar cities and in the very heart of
the Chinese capital. The legation city
lies right below us. We are 90 feet above
it and high over the vast mass of low
tiled buildings which form the two sis
ter cities. Turning to the south we look
over business Pekin, with its thousands
of Chinese stores, and beyond it can see
the Temples OF Heaven and Agriculture,
where the little Emperor gets down on
his yellow knees and prays for his people.
1t Is there that he sacrifices, and there
he starts the spring blowing for the ma
ton.
Now, let us turn to the north. We are
facing the huge Tartar city. Its resi-
dences are almost hidden in q forest of
low trees, but the temples show out here
and there and the imperial city is right at
our front The legation quarter pumps
up against 1t, and Uncle Sans home ad-
joins the wide road which leads to the
Pink Forbidden city, which Is in the CEN
ter of the Imperia$l city. It Is there that
the baby Emperor lives, and there, sur
rounded by countless yellow servants
and 5000 pig-tailed eunuchs, he is now
suuaiing for his bottles and nurses. That
American marine at the guardhouse be-
side us could by lifting his rife, send q
ball into the palaces, and the south-cen-
trail gate, which leads to them, is not 1000
feet from where we are standing. See
how the yellow tiles OF the palace roofs
blaze under the sun and the towers of
the great gates stand out against the blue
eli hat 4...A Ill IT.
hugs the American legation, goes on to
the palaces. 1t is the chief path of the
officials on their way to see his majesty,
and they must walk under Uncle Sans
walls part OF the distance.
The Legation City.
Now turn your eyes to the foreign city
which extends along this wall to the Hat
amen, and to the wide street which runs
from that gate until it Is parallel with the
palace entrance before US. 1t Is perhaps
a mile long and a half mile wide, forming
a rectangle in the very heart of official
and business Pekin. This massive wall,
as high as a four-story house and so wide
that 50 soldiers could march abreast
upon It's paved highway, is the southern
boundary. An open space several hun
dred feet broad, which was cut away after
the siege and cleared of all Chinese build
lHSS, lies DelWctll II anu Ilal-a-licii olAOSl
on the east, and there Is another wide
space along the whole northern boundary.
During the Boxer uprising this foreign
quarter was surrounded by Chinese houses
from which the natives shot at the bar
barians within; and on the northern
boundary, opposite where we are stand
ing, between the English legation and
the Imperial city was the Hanlin lib
rary, one of the largest in the world,
with It's tens of thousands of volumes. 1t
contained literary treasures of vast value;
but the Chinese set 1t on fire in attfnpt-
ing TO drive away the defenders by the
heat and the smoke. We ell know the
history of that terrible siege, when for
weeks the lives of the Americans AMI
Europeans hung by thread, and were
only saved by the troops marching on TO
Pekin. At the close the powers de-
termined that such aedanger should never
happen again, and it was that resolutio n
which created the legation city OF today
An Armed Camp.
What would you think of great armed
camp. filed with ammunition guarded by
soldiers and surrounded by walls, in the
very heart of London, Paris, Berlin or
Washington? That is what the legation
city is in Pekin. The rectangle l have
described is made up of many Walieu
compounds. Each legation has Its own
compound or grounds; and each set OF
grounds it's own walls about 1t. The walls
about the American legation are at least
12 feet in height, and the walls OF some
of the others are SO wide that the soldiers
march upon them. The city Is cut up
nv macadamzed streets which cross one
another at right angles, and going through
them one rides everywhere between these
high walls The entrances to the COM
pounds are through great doors which are
barred after nightfall, and in front or
each door a soldier stands guard Some
of the entrances are beautifully orna-
mented with huge marble lions on pedes-
tails The soldiers usually stand between
the lions or Just outside them, and one
sees uniform after uniform as he walks
through the streets. The greatest nations
Of Europe have their representatives here,
and the soldiers of each legation have
thier own dress. One sees the Cossack
II, his fur cap, long coat and high boots;
the Japanese in Khaki; the French Of
ncer looking as though he came from a
handbook, and at the British leTation the
bare-kneed Highlanders who march to
the sound of the bagpipes as they go
through the streets. In all. there are
more than 1860 soldiers and officers in
charge of this camp. They are tried men
and ready to shoot at command. Each
legation has quarters for its soldiers and
each has its own ammunition and guns,
az well as stores of food In case Of
siege.
Uncle Sam Holds the Key.
Tn the scheme of defense of this little