The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1913-06-12

4 aa8aa.
era to isolate China and to discourage
advances on the part OF foreign nations
seeking commercial relations. An
other hindrance has been the custom OF
ancestor worship, the reverence for old
custom and habits. and so horror OF all
innovations. 1t speaks well for the
organization of the Standard Oil COM
pany that kerosene oil is the only we'll
known product Vi foreign origin in the
country.
AS early as the seventh century AID.
the Chinese manufactured paper and
printed in crude sort of way. The
baking porcelain and the weaving OF
silk, some processes connected with
which have never been improved upon,
antedate records. One OF the. wonders
OF the world and remarkable feat OF
engineering, the great wall OF China
was built in the third century Is. Z.
as a protection against the raids of the
Tartars. 1t stretches for nearly l,5OO
miles along the northern border OF
China proper, often reaching the height
of SO feet, and supported by frequent
garrison towers, and was so thoroughly
constructed that portions OF it today re-
main in good condition.
Intensive agriculture and horticulture
and the processes of irrigation and fer
tilizing have been highly developed; in
China proper, in the valleys of the
Yangtse and the Hoang-Ho, water is
pumped to the very hill tops 1000 to
5000 feet above sea level, and two or
three crops year are harvested.
These valleys support denser popu-
lation than any similar area in the
world. If all the people in the United
States and 10000, 900 more were crowed
into the state of Texas the population
would be no denser than it is in south
ern China. The Yangtse is one of the
principal thoroughfares of China and
is navigable for nearly 1000 miles, but
the Hoang Ho is shallow and frequently
overflowsSts banks. In the last 1900
years it has changed its course eleven
times, and the different channels it has J
occupied are hundreds of miles apart.
The great loss of lfe-on one occasion
reaching 200, 000-and the damage to
property resulting from the floods
accompanying these changes have given
TO the river the name OF ''China's Sor-
row."
The natural water ways, supplement-
ed by the Grand canal, which is l,2OO
years old, furnish elaborate means of
intercommunication, and the tonnage
Of China inland commerce is estimat-
ed larger than the combined tonnage of
all the rest of the world. The boats
and methods of handling the cargoes,
however, are antiquated, and steam is
barely known. In all occupations the
great motive power for the $50, 0O0,0
is manual labor. Collies or porters,
the laboring class, earn seven cents a
day Oxen and mules are used to some |
extent at the irrigation pumps and in
packing. Cattle and sheep cannot be
raised for there is no ground that can
be spared for pastures. There are no
roads, only foot paths, and in some
parts Of China passengers are transport
ed overland by wheelbarrow.
The great industries outside of the
production of food for home consump-
ton, are the raising of tea and silk
worm and mulberry tree for the worm
to feed upon. While few agricultural
possibilities are now undeveloped, that
is, land possibilities, for the tools and
methods are unutterably crude, the
mineral resources have barely been
touched. The coal fields, the largest
in the world, alonel represent incalcul-
able wealth, and many other minerals
are found in commercial quantities.
Whenever China permit the invasion of
foreign capital and enterprise there
will be revolution in the commerce of
the world. Chicago Record Herald.