The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1910-12-26

y special train was furnished by the
government to convey the party to
Marking, distant from Shanghai about
two hundred miles Stops were made
at SoochoW, where banquet was ten
dered, and at WusIh and Chang Chow.
at each Of which places a reception was
heId, committees from the chamber OF
, commerce being lined up to receive the
party, as we'll as great crowds of the
populace, at each station, to get view
Of the visitors.
The commission was much surprised
and very favorablv impressed with the
excellent railway service of the Shang-
haiNanking railway. The cars are up
to date and the ROAD well ballasted.
Our visit to Marking was most interest
ing from many standpoints 1t was our
first real sight of rural inland China,
although with the immense mileage of
natural and artificial canals one never
appears to be very far inland. Nan
king is one Of the oldest cities in China
and was formerly the capital.
Approaching by the train, the walls
of The city look very formidable, but
upon our entering the city at night the
sight which greeted us made it very
hard to believe other than that we
were approaching a great exposition IN
a modern city. OF course. this applies
only 20 the exposition grounds, the num-
: berless buildings of which were bril-
liantlv lighted by thousands Of electric
/ lignts-making a veritable fairy land.
Nanyang Exposition.
The Nanyang Industrial Exposition is
! the first exhibition ever held in China,
! and marks a great step in the forward
! movement of the Empire. The build
! ings were Of modern architecture. well
! arranged. and the exhibits from all the
J different provinces of China, besides
great many foreign exhibits, We're very
I creditahle.
! Notable among the many entertain
ments at Marking was the banquet Civ
en- US by the Viceroy, and I must not
forget the reception rendered the ladies
Of the party by the wife of the Niceroy,
Lady Chang, who not only speaks eX-
! eellent English but is In every way
! thoroughly accomplished.
| From Marking the party went by
! train to Chinkiang. by which time the
! commission were getting accust omed to
! looking forward TO a banquet at each
| stopping place when travelling by sedan
! chair. and when travelling by rail, about
| three banquets each time the engine
! had to take water. In this respect we
were not disappointed when we reached
| Chinkiang and among other entertain
ments at our disposal was a beautiful
| launch and house-boat ride to the Col
| den Island Monastery. in connection
with which is one of the most stately
| pagodas we saw III China. Nearly all
these pagodas are occupied by Bhuddist
| priests.
Great River Trip.
! Chinkiang lies at the junction of the
Grand Canal and the Yangtse River,
and il was here that we boarded the
steamer Kiang Hsin, which steamer was
not only put at the disposal of the
commission for the trip to Hankow, but
was remodeled and painted throughout
| especially for the comfort of the party.
/ This steamer is the fastest of the line.
and the China Merchants Steam Navi-
cation Company have the gratitude of
| each one of the party for the comforts
attending the six bundred-mile trip up
| the Yangtse River to HankoW.
| The river runs through a wonderfully
| fertile country, most OF the land lying
| fiat. with Just enough occasional hiIly
|
sibIe monotony. The principal crops
| through this section are cotton, rice and
| corn, and not one square inch of the
| land but what is utilized. Even hills
which in any other country would be
! too steep to consider cultivation pos
sible are terraced to the top, AMI are
reputed as having been cultivated IN
! this matner for the past two or three
| thousand years.
! On the way to Hankow, stops were
] made at Wuhu. Tatung. Nganking, Kiu-
: kiang and Suiyou. Each of these places
/ is large trade center, with popula-
( tiOus running from seven hundred and
( fifty thousand 10 a million or more. The
manner of landing at each Of the river
, ports is BY means of hulks mostly old
sailing vessels of a large type, anchored
! from two hundred to three hundred or
more feet from the shore. The trans
! feIring Of freight and passengers is
done by the junks and scows, and the
river up as far az Hankow can accom-
modate vessels drawing twenty or more
feet.
! Wages of Miners.
/ AT Suiyou we took the train for the
great Tah Neh mine, which is about
: sixteen miles from the landing In
place Of seeing underground workings
as we had expected, we found large
hills, almost mountains, of solid ore
! which runs sixty to seventy per cent
pure. At this place ! enquired par
tjcularly as to the wages paid the
labor and found that the eight to ten
j. vear-oId boys carrying dirt and ore for
4b0Il+ SIX hours per tav received typn-
ty cash. or about nine-tenths OF a cent
gold, per day. The men We're paid at
The rate Of fifteen cents mex" or
seven cents gold per day.
For the luncheon provided by the
management for our party, large cor
rugated iron building had been special
ly erected and profusely decorated with
flags and foliage, and it kept large
guard Of soldiers busy in their efforts
to keep back a crowd Of thousands Of
. oil Of