The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-08-26

stantly was (which is DR.. M~orrison?"
A vigorous. sinewy man, with. a
walk that had a slight suggestion Of
the sailor in it; there was also m
thing that indicated the horseman
about him. The fact that he had
lived in the open was apparent. Rath-
er careless about his clothes. direct
of speech. very courteous, you felt
that if you had met him casually you
would have decided that here was a
somewhere. Sitting on the palm
room balcony he would discuss Chi
nese, Russian or japanese politics
with IL precision that could be only
the result of his having been a part
of the events, o merely a chronicler
an accent that suggested England
rather than his native Australian,
lucidity was the great thing. AT the
same time it was good conversation
n not a case of some one airing his
knowledge.
In his quarters you realized at once
that YOU were in the presence of the
born traveller. His equipment was
v%ariegated. but was the result of
what must have been the long expert
ence thai had showed him what to
leave out. No doubt he could have
packed up and started for anywhere
at a moments notice. 1t was not
for nothing that he had footed it
across Australia. or circled T%onquin.
He holds that the only geography
anybody can know consists of the
and DR.. Morrison's eyes are very
steady very keen, and take in every
thing. He knows China. north and
south, east n west, knows it better
than n Chinese. One government
official might NOW this or that pro-
vince, but DR.. Morrison, on a big
horse-the bigger the more the ma
tives think of the ridcr-had trekkeG
all over the Flowery kingdom. being
received everywhere as if he were Il
sort Of ambassador. On one occasion
the mead OF a province sent him two
porcelain lions. to 80 one at each
side of his door. He tool them in
priceless objects in a place where
they would be safe from possible
damase, rather than ovcrawe the
populace by the insignia of influence.
With no office, no patronage, cor
respondent of the London Times at
Peking, he was admitted to be the
most powerful European in the far
east. His strength lay in what he
knew-apparently he knew every
thing, n to know what was going
on at Picking it was necessary to know
what was doing at st. Petersburg and
Toxic. He trod his way with assur-
ance through the mazes of a diplo-
macy that vas neither scrupulous nor
disinterested Foreign offices were
afraid of his gifts for inquisition
Whenever it was desirable that the
world at large should not know what
rearrangements for mutual profit
We're In progress. here or there. For
he has been in a position, time and
again. to describe the cards as they
lay face down on the table.
AT Portsmouth he stayed apar from
the official crowds of various COM
pleXions. For days he avoided Mr..
Whites emissaries. AT last one night
after dinner the secretary of the Rus
sian ambassador cornered him and
he went off to the suite of the cars
~representatiev with a shrug, to come
back silent but with a suspicious
gleam in his eye.
M~orrlson's reputation is the result,
not of proclamations from the house
top. but of remarks dropped about
by those who have been in a position
to realize what friends and foes think
of him. But they are very respectful.
n softest thing about him is his
name, George Earnest Morrison. One
day he complained pathetically, some
people in England seem to think that
l am a retired missionary" Then
ne added, perhaps it is because of
llle uOSCOE.
In spite of his serenity and his de-
liberate way of going about his work,
his capacity for Characterization is
something almost appalling. To hear
him describe SO and so of such and
such a foreign office in terse and old
fashioned English is something not
easily forgotten. And if the far east
has few mysteries to him, his lack of
delusion as to the honesty or inten-
ton of some distinguished ~personages
would be irreverent if it were not that
he is notorious for his capacity for
just anger.
Strictly western in person and man
ner; he always shows that he is SYM
pathetic to what is strange and UNI
usual. That is where the traveller
comes in. He can adjust himself
without the slightest difficulty, as it
We're instinctively. to new surround
ings. His curiosity is Unsuitable about
people, about customs and
about national peculiarities, as about
scientific discovery or the last book
of any consequence.
Their was bound to be a difference
of opinion over the appointment of
DR.. Morrison to the place of general
adviser to the president of China.
of office. is a long time to look for
ward to. Picking is full of clashing
foreign interests. 1t is natural tina
they should be wondering at the Rus
sian, German. Japanese and English
legations how. where and when the
influence of this man, a new figure
in official life. will be exerted.
DR.. Morrison's influence is, of
course, for keeping China intact. that
is the biggest part of the problem
of bringing order out of the present
disorder. He is known to have taken
the same view as the late John Hay
on the subject of autonomy. and our
secretary of state was the best friend
that China had among foreign states
men.
Here is a unique man in Il unique
job. and his success or failure may
affect the whole future of the far
east.
)TuE DDTnh DIES