Omaha daily bee., 1913-11-30

oiety. dropped In upon me fresh from
China. l spoke Of Tuan Fans and asked
what had become of him. He replied
His enemies have cut him shorter by
head"
Such was the fate OF man who in
many respects was like Gladstone. and
who was as much OF patriot as was
jefferson or Washington.
IL Hung ChRnE's Fame Grows.
I am told that IA Hung Changs name
grow greater in China as the years 70
on. A memorial tablet has been put up
fer him In Peking and temples have bee,
erected in his honor in the many cities
whore he ruled as an official I visited
the temple In Tientsln II is in the heart
Of the new section Of the city, sur
rounded by great schools and factories.
Two mighty marble lions, larger than
life, guard the entrance; II has a high
all about II, and also huge gates with
tiled roofs. The temple grounds cover
acres. A wide stone pavement leads
from the front gate to the main building,
in which IL a great tablet Of stone bear
Ing an inscription commemorating II
Hung Chang's greatness and services.
The temple Is large; Il is beautifully
carved and magnlficently decorated with
r,d and gold. on the road leading TO u
stand twelve marble tablets. each about
four feet wide and twice as tall as
man. Upon them Is inscribed short
history OF II. In this building Is an altar
upon which sacrifices are offered.
There is statue OF IL at Shanghai
and he has a temple at Canton am
told that he could have made himself
emperor OF China at almost any time
during the last twenty-five years Of his
life. and that even before that General
Chinese" Gordon planned to do this.
Gordon had asked II for the use Of his
army for a month. and IA had consented.
supposing he intended to put down some
minor rebellions nearby He was about
TO start when II asked whore he was
going General Gordon replied that he
was about TO march on Peking and pro-
claim him emperor OF China ii at once
countermanded his promise and the plot
fell through.
have had half dozen interviews with
II Hung Chang during my several visits
to Asia. Before I first went TO see him
In lsSS, when he was viceroy OF Chlhh,
was warned by our consul that Il was
foolish to try to get newspaper story.
Said the consul:
You will not have n chance to ask n
question. The old viceroy will turn you
inside out like a glove He will ask you
about everything under the sun and will
keep you talking while he himself says
nothing"
Forewarned In this way, decided 70
tack a question to my every answer and
did 80. The plan worked like a charm.
Las brain was n dynamo which could
not help throwing out sparks II anything
struck II, and as a result my questions
gave me three columns OF excellent stuff.
pursued the same policy in future con-
versations and was always successful.
My last interview with Prince Ii was
az Canton In the year 1900 The conversa-
tion covered a wide range, and among
other personal questions his excellency
asked me how much money l made IN
my newspaper work. My answer was
evasive, but tackled the question at the
end OF II. saying; 1T Is currently re-
ported in the United States that you are
the richest man in the world. Our papers
say you are worth ti00o0o,0oo have
wondered whether that is true"
The old viceroy laughed and replied:
Most of my riches are In American
newspapers Indeed, l am 80 poor-here
he chuckled-that I think you rich Amer
lean editors ought to raise a fund for me-"
When ii died he left an estate which
was actually worth over si2oooOCo. He