Evening star., 1909-08-29

comfortable train on to Peking. A road
from there is now building which takes
one northward through the great wall
to Kalgan, Mongolia, and which will
eventually be connected with the Trans
siberian railroad. Another road has
been projected from here south through
the most thickly populated parts oe
China down to the Yangtse. and in
time Tientsin will have tracks radiafing
from her as our roads do from Chi
cago. This city has now perhaps mil
lion people. What it will have in the
future I iarc not predict.
Just now business is bad all over
Ch,.:a The low price of silver and TIE
financial distress which has prevailed
throughout the wos Id have stopped the
progress which the city was making up
uatll about two ) cars ago. Th1S Is only
temporary. and Tientsin will soon be
agar. OIL the boom.
X X
The great powers of the western
word fully realize the Importance of
this city. and they have business repre-
s.ntatives on the ground. There is a
largo territory outside the native set
tlement which has been taken by them.
Much of this was seized just after the
Boxer rebellion when China was forced
to submit. As it is now. every one of
these powers has it's own little city
here on the banks of the Pei-Ho. Each
concession has its police, it's consular
court, its town hall and its own troops.
One sees companies of Japanese, Ger
man and French soldiers marching
here and there through the streets. The
British have a regiment of Highlanders
who show their bare knees and t1irt
their short skirts in the faces of the
natives, and Russian Cossacks. with
great fur caps. gallop through the city
on horseback.
There are altogether ten different
settlements in the combined city, so
that one may visit a half dozen nations
in the jinrikisha ride of morning.
These foreign concessions have magnif-
cent buildings, many of which would
be considered fine in London or Paris.
The hotel structure in which I am
stopping would be good in New York
or Chicago and there is an English
clubhouse adjoining it which must nave
cost several hundred thousand dollars
to build. There are magnificent bank
buildings here, representing millions
of dollars of capital, and there are
stores with plate glass windows hlled
with all sorts Of European and Ameri-
can goods.
In the British concession where live
is a large public park where the mill
tary bands given open-air concerts, and
it has also golf grounds, tennis courts
and parks for foot ball and cricket. To-
night the club is giving a dance, and
by turning OFF the electric light in my
room I can see the bare necks and short
sleeves of the Tientsin foreign ladies
who are whirling about in the arms Oh
their partners over the way. The Brit
ish and American settlement has pub
lie school for its boys and girls and
also a swimming bath. The French
concession has a cathedral, town hail
and a park, and the Russians are build
ing up city over the river, the stores
of which are marked with Greek signs
One of the largest of these foreign cities
belongs to the Japanese. 1t is several
miles in circumference, and Is being rap
idlv covered with substantial brick build
inss. all put up since the Boxer rebellion
There are many Japanese merchants VINO
have come here to engage in trade with
the Chinese and there are some large I'M
norting firms with Japanese capital.
The Germans have fine concession.
including a magnificent building just