Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-12-14


as are some Of the lectures OF Bob
Ingersol.
On the following evening at the
second and last meeting, he showed
up the superiority Of many features
of the Chinese civilization: and I re
member ne produced a profound i'm
preston by adding up 20 large num-
bers read to him rapidly from a pa
per by a man in the audience. and
when the last number was read. he
gave Immediately the correct answer.
This was done on a small square
frame across which u wires were
stretched with large beads or pith
balls on each wire. These he NOV
Cd very skiIlfully and rapidly with
his fingers as the numbers were read
to him. The principles Of that de-
vice are now utilized in our modern
adding machines with the help of a
keyboard.
On the day following the second
and last lecture, he was informed by
someone that there were Indians en-
camped near our city, and as he had
never seen an American Indian. he
asked me to take him to their camp
which was located a short distance
east Of our present cemetery.
l went out with him and when we
arrived there we found a dozen wig
vans, but no Indians in sight. The
men were away hunting deer, and the
squaws and papooses were inside the
wigwams; but by the time we got our
horses tied they began to, come out.
They looked at him with a degree OF
astonishment and curiosity seldom
seen on the face of an Indian. They
gradually came closer and closer to
US, until we were confronted by a
group of about 80 squaws and pa
pOoses.
For a while, he seemed wholly alb
sorbed in studying them, and they
were equally absorbed in inspecting
him. At last one of the squaws ask
ed, who he was, you know Indians
seldom ask questions; but without
waiting for me to answer he replied
pointing to himself ''MeSoux" She
signified her disbelief by a shake of
the head He then gave her the
names of three or four other Indian
tribes, but she continued to shake
her head in token of disbelief. He
then stepped up along side Of this
squaW and taking hold Of her long
black cue he placed it on his broad
silk sleeve, and placed his own black
cue along side of it, The similarity
was most remarkable same
straight black hair,-braided in the
| same Way,-tied at the end, hers by
| string, his by silk braid In this
way he gave by a fIash-light glimpse
| the probable Chinese origin Of our
Indians. The probability of this is
increased by the fact that the PEG
pie of China proper were a civilized
nation more than 1000 years before
the birth of Christ. They were skill
| full naVigators, and used the mariner
| compass when our ancestors were ye.
mere saVages, as can now be proved
from their own written historical re-
cords.
| On our way home from the camp I
asked him to tell me who he was?
and the real purpose of his mission ?
He told me he was a native Of what
is known as China proper His IA
Their was wealthy, he was educated
in England He hated the warlike,
barbarian Tartars and their foreign
Manchu Dynasty that held his coun-
try in subsection On his return to
his native country he soon began
with other students educated abroad,
to plot a rebellion to drive the hated
Manchus from his country. Their
pIottings were discovered, he fled to
Japan, and from Japan he came to
America
He said if he could get 10000 A
mericans armed with the modern wea
pons of war to go with him to China
he could drive out the Manchus and
make all his soldiers rich I told him
this government would never permit
any one to raise such an army to
attack another nation, and that he
might as well abandon any further
thought on that line.
About year later I heard of him
in Chicago, where he had establish
ed a newspaper published in the Chi
nese language. I have heard nothing
Of him since, but I have thought of
him often since the breaking out of
the present Chinese rebellion, and
wonder if he continued to be the
same enthusiastic agitator that he
seemed to be when he was here,
and if through his Chicago paper he
soWed the seeds of rebellion among his
fellow country men in America? If
SO, it would seem the Chinese revo-
lutions like our own, are begun by
a few lone agitators who lay down
doctrines, that years later, are ap-
proved by millions.
Are our Chinese carrying back to
their mother country the notions Of
liberty and higher civilization they
find here, just as the Irish, Germans
and Scandinavians are doing. Where
is Wong Chin Foo now? If living
he must be nearly go years old, and
is he taking any part in the rebel
lion he SO ardently advocated 80
years ago?
The leaven of Christian civilization
is certainly spreading faster now
than ~ o. 1:- -, L =