Norwich bulletin., 1909-05-29

been no attempt made 10 StretCn II when it was put down. The two off, cials who met us could speak very l good English so that we had quite a | lively little chat while waiting for the | vlceroy But hd kept us waiting only
 some seven or eight minutes. He put
 me through a complete catechism,
 asking many questions about my per l sonal affairs and my family which would have been the height of imper- l thence from a European, but which, according to Oriental etiquette, were ! the proper thing. He wanted to know i all about the resources of California. | the harbor protection of San Fran cisco, the navy and whether or not | we were afraid of the French. The in
 terview lasted about an hour and was 1 very pleasant as well as quite satis- | factory. On taking leave of the vice. roy saw us to the outer gate and bade l US good-by very pleasantly.
 | 1 think l may say that I enjoyed the 1 personal regard of the late Ii Hung | Chang to an extent that was given to | but few foreigners. From the time of our first meeting he took very kindly | to me, and I am sure I did to him. | His first question was to inquire my age always a point of great moment l with the Chinese. When he found I
 was five years older than he the favor | able impression I had made seemed ! 10 QeeDen kIcdLlYs TTOll tlldL llliAC | the only two men in the foreign set
 ten ent who were received by Lii Hu9c | Chang at any time without the for 1 mality of sending in card were the l British consul and myself. When ! General Grant was in China the vice. | roy manifested for him a stronger
 feeling of kindness than he ever felt l for any other foreigner. Grant re- turned this feeling an6 always called
 Ii Hung Chang the greatest man of | the age.
 The viceroy was fine looking man, J over six feet tall and unusually well ! proportioned. He wore a moustache I and had a very pleasant face. lie was | a man of simple habits, despite his l great wealth, and his yamen at Tien-
 tsin was a one-story building of clay, | very modestly appointed. Earl LIS l most striking characteristics were his close observation and knowledge of i men. He was looked up to by Chi
 nese officials as the greatest man in | China, and was a good friend to for
 eigners. He was generous, and it cost | him thousands of dollars every time | he went to Picking. The poor would l hold him up at the very gates of the | city. Of course he had faults and
 made mistakes, but he knew China 1 couldn't get along without him, and | was reconciled to disgrace when he l ltSl HIS UdQ8tS. AGlllc, III lIly OplH4DI, | will never have another LiN Hung | Chang.
 | When about leaving Tien-tsin went with my yice-consul to dine with the viceroy. In speaking of my being five | years older than he, he inquired into my habits and wanted to know if I | drank much champagne. I said. Not 1 when I can get whiskey. which I much prefer" This statment seemed to
 make great impression on the vice. | Toy. Two years later I received a let I ter from my vice. consul, who had re-
 mained there. saying that Ii Hung | Chang had taken to drinking whiskey i think that helped him make his last l trip round the world. He never could | have done it on champagne.
 On our return from my first visit
 to the viceroy, We called on the taotai. | who ranks next to the viceroy. Our
 reception there was about the same, | only there was not so much slam | bang nor quite so many soldiers, nor
 did we have to wait for an audience,
 as the taotai stood at the gate and re- l ceive us and himself escorted us to | the reception room. The taotai was a fat, jolly sort of fellow and seemed to
 enjoy our call very much, though all our conversation was carried on through an interpreter, as not one of l the officials spoke a word of English. 4NCllueF OI lneIn IVoQ WlC0ln the WdltS of Tien-tsin, and I could not blame them, for the first time that I pene- 1 trated to short distance I was glad l to get out again. The city was one of the flthiest places I ever saw and the stench so horrible that I conclud- l ed to defer my explorations until the
 weather became cold enough to freeze up the smells.
 After making all the prescribed off,, l cial calls I discovered that would be | obliged to call on the Jadles, mission aries and otherwise. They expected It as matter of course, and I learned that one of my predecessors had made
 things unnecessarily disagreeable fol himself and his family by standing
 upon his dignity and waiting to be | called upon first. He saw no reason why the cutsoms of Tien-tsin should differ from those of his provincial vil- | lage, but such things are as they are in this world, not as we would have l them.
 When the present emperor came. to the throne. his father, Seventh Prince,
 had to leave the Forbidden City, in accordnce with the law, and in order
 that he should be provided for he was appointed head of the army and navy. | AS he had never seen a ship or a for tiacation, 1t was decided that in order to qualify him for his new duties he should visit Port Arthur and at the same time witness the manoeuvres of the Chinese fleet in the Gulf of Fichili In order to reach Port Arthur he would have to pass through rien- tsn, l and his person had always been re- garded as too sacred to be looked up- | on by a forigner, he had never seen
 one, nor had a foreigner ever seen him. | When he came to Tien-tsin it would ! be as the guest of the Viceroy Ii | Hung Chang, and when he left the viceregal yamen it was understood | that he would be carried in a closelyr l curtained chair concealed from the profane gaze of all outsiders The | prince, with his bodyguard of Chi
 nese soldiers, arrived yin Tien- tsin citv and was duly received by the viceroy with all the honors befitting the oc- casion Soon afterward a message
 was sent to all the foreign officials in l the settlement to the effect that the | Seventh Prince would receive them
 at the Treaty Temple at ten o'clock | on the following day. This startling announcement almost took the com munity off it's feet. However, at half | past nine the cavalcade of officials in | seday chairs with gay outriders, was ready to move. Arriving at Tien-tsin city, we were obliged to pass through a long line of Chinese soldiers, who | came to a present. with the quaint | est implements of war that I had ever seen. When we reached the
 Treaty Temple we were ushered into | the waiting room with great pomp, and ! the preliminary refreshments of tea | and cakes were served, after which it 1 was announced that We would be re- | ceived in the order of seniority. That | meant that the Russian consul should l n rrrifh Nrff. I