The Springfield herald., 1913-05-23

N TdE heart OF Peklng, Close 10
the gates Of the imperial palace.
the legation quarter stretches
along the huge wall OF the inner
or Tartar city and covers an area
a mile long by half a mile wide. Be-
fore the Boxer uprising of 1900 there
was NO legation quarter distinct and
separate from the rest Of the city.
The legations were then scattered in
and about Chinese shops and houses
in that part OF tho city now definitely
set spart for the residences Of for
eign ENJOYS.
After the siege Of the legations by
the boxers the foreign powers decided
that 1t was necessary to fortify the
legations and to maintain permanent
guards for their protection. The
Chinese buildings in the area set apart
for the legations were demolished and
tie grounds of the respective legations
were enlarged. A high fortified wall
was built on three sides of the lega-
ton quarter, while on the fourth the
wall Of the Tartar city was occupied
by soldiers Of the American and Ger
man legation guards.
In order to render the corner more
defensible a deep moat was dug out
side the fortified wall and outside Of
this large space was cleared Of
houses. This open space. which sur
rounds the quarter on three sides. Is
called the glacis and is used as a drill
ground by the troops of the various
legation guards. Viewed from the
wall Of the Tartar city the legation
quarter with its palatial buildings, all
erected in western style. presents a
striking contrast to the rest of Peking,
with its curved roofs. pylos and pago-
das.
Eleven Of the fourteen nations rep
resented in Peking have their lega-
tions located inside of the legation
quarter. Each legation has spacious
compound In which there is a group
of large. modern buildings Besides
the residences of the minister, each
legation has houses for the legation
secretaries. interpreters and clerks.
Attached to each legation, excepting
the Spanish. there the barracks for
the soldiers of the legation guard and
houses for their officers. Besides the
legation the quarter also contains the
Offices of the Chinese customs serv-
ice, which is managed by foreigners.
seven foreign banks, representing the
financial interests Of European and
American capitalists doing business in
China. several commercial establish
ments. and large European hotel.
There are few communities In the
world more cosmopolitan than the
legation quarter Of Peking. In the
course of an hour one may hear most
of the languages Of Europe and Asia
spoken. There is, however. no con-
fusion of tongues, as everybody speaks
English. which IL the "Lengu. Franco"
Of the far east. One is impressed
by the international character of the
place more by the uniforms of the
military than by anything else. Sim
ply by walking down Legation street
and observing the sentries at the vari-
GUS legation gates one may see the
uniforms of the worlds greatest arm
les.
By taking promenade around the
glacis one may observe the military
tactics OF many nations. Near the
front gate of the imperial palace one
sees company of Uncle Sans SOL
diers of the marine corps drilling;
across the street on the Russian
glacis there are cossacks performing
wonderful feats Of horsemanship;
further up toward the pink wall of
the imperial cit some of King Georges
royal fusiliers are engaged In sig
nal practice to the north of the lega-
ton wall the Japanese. Italians and
Austrians are drilling furiously; on
the east glacis the celebrated French
Infanterie Colleonisle are performing
evolutions. while to the south. near
the Tartar wall. the Germans are
maneuvering huge neld guns.
In Peking. as In the far east gen