Gilpin observer., 1913-07-24

HOhSDAI morning IOuuu uS III
another world. The pretty. If
squalid. Chinese villages -
matched roofs and embowered
in billowy foliage: the endless
stretches of plowed grain land
dotted with laboring natives in blue
overalls and straw lampshade hats;
the great herds of cattle and horses
and the browsing camels had gone
Our train was rolling slowly through
\ wooded hill country. Virginia to
the eye. though the map called 1t
western Manchuria. writes Bassett
Digby In the Chicago Daily News.
Here and there we cut athwart a
water meadow, skirted by noisy lit
tie creek that foamed and frothed Its
way through half a dozen channels In
the pebbly bed. "A smiling meadow"
is a popular figure of speech that you
can understand when. after many
weeks sweltering in the hot. treeless
plains OF the Liaoyang peninsula you
wake up among the hills OF Tsitsitcar.
The fowersi
/ sat on the step OF the end plat
form of the coach as we toiled up
steep gradient and counted over four
dozen kinds in full bloom-wild roses.
red, pink and white Flaming acres
of peonies: shoals OF Iceland peoples
over the rocky hillside and along by
the track-yellow Iceland poppies as
big as those unattainable ideals in the
seedman's lists.
vetches. yellow and mauve. A
kind OF double daisy. now blood red,
now snowy trimmed. Waving edges of
yellow and blue and the little pale
blue Chinese ground sedge. Henlock
starwort and bedstraw. Wild straw
berry in profusion. Dandelion. thistle.
buttercup and feathery marsh flowers.
bushy heads on stout stems that over
topped the rushes. Lilies OF the val
ley, pink stock, yellow trumpet lilies.
In the meadow grass. up on the dry
hills. great drifts OF deep blue forget
me-not
The brakes ground, and we came to
a standstill at tiny wayside sta
tion. On a parallel siding lay a long
train OF windowless horse boxes. dark
and filthy horse boxes packed with
Russian emigrants bound for Amur-
vostok.
It costs nothing to emigrate to 81
IBERIA, even though you. do not jour
ney as a convict In consequence.
some half a million peasants come
out every year. while 10000 return.
An annual emigration-by far the
most gigantic the world has ever
known-of twice the bulk of that to
Canada, yet one OF which the nations
have no cognizance. A Russian peas
ant today can receive free transporta.
ton Of himself and family. his Hocks
and his herds and everything that he
hath. from his native village to a set
tlement in faraway Siberia. and there
will be given land and the loan Of a
grant that will cover the expenses of
the first years operations
On an EmIsrant Train.
On the emigrant train you see what
purports to be civilized humanity at
its very lowest level You do not
quail at the housing and surroundings
of the black races, but you will
be unprepared for this degree Of
degradation among whites.
During long waits on the sidings-
nm emigrant train Ia sidetracked to let
coal trucks pass!-the poor creatures
risk a call-down from the station DO
lice and slide open the middle door of
the horse box for breath Of air and
q ray Of light.
There are trucks for families and
trucks for single men. Both are sta
bles. In the former three human gen.
erations. the grandparents. the man
and his wife in their prime. and their
children. herd together with the popu-
lation of their little farm yard back In
Russia Three cows and half dozen