The farmer and mechanic., 1909-09-14

Frank c. Carpenter.
ager was on the throne, and, ac-
cording to the Peking Gazette, the
baby emDerOr got down before her
and made three kneelings and nine
prostratiOns. The officials also kneel-
ed when they asked his majesty to
accept the throne, and after lot OF
other fubdubbery they placed him
on the ieweled seat with his face
to the earth" If the regular cere-
this little twO-year-Old monarch then
changed his clothes half dozen
times. and at the end put on somber
garments as a sign Of his grief tor
the deaths of Kwang Su and the great
dowager.
The Golden Phoenix.
All that / saw of the crowning was
from the gate of Chen Men. on the
top of the wall. opposite the tower
which rises above the gate of the For
bid6en City. I was several hundred
feet away, but I could see the gOr-
geous officials come out OF the palace
and stand under that tower waiting
for the proclamation of the croWning
of his majesty as it came down from
heaven, in the mouth of the Phoenix
This, according to the Chinese tradi-
ton, is a part Of every emDecor's coro-
nation, and the fiction was carried out
in reality as far as appearances went.
golden bird with the prOclaratiO
in it's mouth was let down by a string
from the tower, and was caught as it
fell by the propt officials below. They
took out the paper and put it in Sc
dan chair, which was covered with
yellow silk and then started in a
grand procession to lay it away in the
imperial archives. There were soldiers
to guard the procession, and men with
whips went in advance to drive the
common people out Of the way. In
cense was carried in front OF the chair
bearing the proclamation, and men
with great umbrellas Of imperial yell
low followed behind. The officials
who went with it were gorgeously
dressed, and the whole was reall.r i'm
down to the gate above which I was
standing. and I photographed it as il
passed on below me.
Pu Yi's First Edicts.
The bay monarch began to work
Immediately after he came to the
throne. According to law, all the i'm
perial edicts are put forth in his name,
seem ridiculous as coming from the
mouth Of a tWoyear-old child. I IN
derstand 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 en-
peror and the old empress dowager:
t"All 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 late emperor has aScended the
dragon to be q guest on high, and WE
have received the commands of the
empress dOWager to enter upon the
succession. We have lamented to earth
and Heaven, and we stretch out oul
hands, wailing our inefficiency. We
had hoped that her majesty would
be vigorous and live to be hundred
years old, that we might receive hel
instructions. But her toll day an6
| night weakened her, and on the 21s1
day Of the moon, when the late en-
peror ascended the dragon to be g
guest on high. Her grief was SO ex-
cessive that the end suddenly came
On the following day she took the
fairy ride, and ascended to the fal
| country. We shall strive to be tenn
| perate so as to comfort the spirit OF
the late empress dowager in Heaven
It was at this same time that the
| baby emperor sent his firt 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 presen
moon Our holy grandmother. the grea-
| empress dOwager, was taken up by tn,
fairies to the far-of land. Our mourn
! ing and lamentations have no limit
Prostrate, we reflect how the gra