The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-10-26

oA1 y" liz JI1N-
eIed from official to official over the
empire and demanded gifts. One of
Lnese collectors was named Kang-Yi.
ne was sent on a squeezing tour south
having been ordered to bring back at
least two hundred thousand ounces of
silver. When Kang Vi visited Shang-
hal he demanded that the Chinese
Merchant Steamship Company, then
under the control of Sheng kung-PaO.
should pay the government two hun
dred thousand dollars per year. Sheng
complained that the business would
not stand 1t, and compromised at half
the sum.
The vicerOys of Marking and WI
chang We're heavily bled by Kang Vi.
as were also those Of Tientsin and
canton The squeezing in the latter
place was probably aided by a
brother of Ii Hung Chang, who was
an official there. He was a friend
OF the dowager, and he squeezed so
much that the people nicknamed him
The Bottomless Bag"
Was She a Demon?
One hears all sorts of stories about
the empress dowager. All acknowledge
her ability and say she will rank
among the great queens of all time.
There IS no question as to her strength
OF character. Some exalt her to the
skies as an angel of mercy and light,
Whlle others says she was q demon
lncarnate, and they her pri-
Vate life to that of the Russian en-
press Catherine the Great. AS to
her demOniac character, her detrac-
tors says she poisoned her husband,
the Emperor Hsien Feng, and thereby
became ruler in connection with
another empress whom he married
before her. They suspect that the
death of that empress was caused by
the doWager's Vaccinations and
plots, who then reigned supreme dur
ing the minority of her son, the En-
peror Tung Chieh, who was a baby
when chosen.
When Tung Chieh had reached the
g Of fifteen, at which time he might
aspire to rule independently, he died
of smallpox, and there are some ma
licious enough to say hat his
mother. the empress dowager, as
sisted him on the fairy ride to a far
country. They allege that he had be-
gun to resist her Elimination, and that
the smallpox was really an overdose
Of opium pills. They say also that
after his death the suicide of his wife.
the empress, who threw herself into
q we'll. was assisted by this same great
woman, and that other crimes Of a
similar nature may be laid to her
charge.
How KwanS-Su Was Punished.
Take, for instance, a story which is
whispered among the officials here at
fehIDS. II relates u N"diS-od, llG
late emperor, and to a favorite concu-
bine of his whom the great dowager
thought was melting him to rebel
against her. She ordered the en-
perOr to come before her and then
had his sweetheart brought in. When
the two We're kneeling she charged
them with treason, and said to the
emperor:
I shall now show you how I
treat traitors
She thereupon gave q signal, and
her exe~cutioners seized the c~oncubine
and with a silken cord s~trangled her
to death before the yes of her i'm
perial lover.
The W of h great dowager
was supreme. A word from her could
slice off a head. and her followers
knew it. They trembled in her pres
ence. and dared not resist her. When
her majesty lay on her death-bed
some of the grand councillors pro-
nosed 10 raise to the throne another
prince thar the one she had selected
and to make Prince Chlng regent.
Thereupon the great doUager gath
cred her strength and rose up, say
ing:
s.You officials think YOU can num-
bug me because [ am old. Verify, |
mink the time for your death has ar
rived.
Possibly an Angel.
Such is one view OF JllS SItdt
ruler's ~haracter on the other hand,
Miss Carl. Who wrote a book giving
her experiences in painting the en-
nress d~OWageroS portrait, says lTat
she was kind and sweet ana gooo-
Mr. Conger, the wife of our former
minister. speaks of her as a scholar
and an artist, and there are many VINO
will tell YOU that the charges OF her
being an assassin are false ma
1icfo1s. | know the story about her De
49, = c1aye Girl is untrue. She came
from one of the best OF the Manchu
fani1iac Her father was Duke Chao,
. military man, who was beheadeo
after she had married the
Hsien-Feng. - uoe
u,bare IS no doubt but that she was
+r,,a 70 her friends; and that Pu y