El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-01

Libraries with tones devoted to Chi
mas history, its people, its peculiarlties
and its possibilities. A survey OF al
this might make one think that ives
tern workers in the Celestial empire
have done nothing there, are nothing
there. For every 20 writer's who serve
uD musty lore there IS hardly one 70
tell the vivid story OF occidental IN
fluence in that old but not uncnange-
able land. Whenever such a rarity ap-
pears he gets his inspiration from
Shanghai, the hub of foreign activity
in China.
Pekin has its matchless treasures,
SoochOw its grand canal Marking its
relics of the Ming emperors, Che1oo
its missions and its laces, Canton It's
curios and HOngkOng its peak, but
Shanghai is just Shanghai and there
is none like it. Shanghai has refresh
ing bits of the wonders the others dis
play to the extent of safety, with
plenty of additional attractions dis
tinctly Shanghaiese- Its rivals cannot
even DO it the compliment of imitation.
Shanghai is oriental Shanghai is &C
cidental- All roads lead to Shanghai
as they are supposed tO-lead to Rome.
They reach IL through river junks, rail-
roads from the interior, merchantmen
from the north and south coasts, liners
from Japan, Astralia, India, Europe and
America
Shanghai occupies the tip of Kiangsu
province, the Garden of Central
China" The site is on the west bank
OF the HWang-pO river, IN the extreme
eastern part Of the province, just
stones throw from the mighty YangtZe
kiang, and only 20 miles from the
ocean. Back of II is a fertile allu-t
vial plain of $1,000 square miles, sup
porting q population Of many growing
millions, the fruits of whose labor go
to Shanghai by steam and sail In
front is a large share of the Chinaward
commerce of the world.
Has Marvellous Growth
In 1872 Shanghai became an open
port for foreign trade along with
Marking, Annoy and Ningpo, following
the oDfum war Waged against China
by Great Britain and France. At the
end Of the first year Of general trade
it boosted Of only % foreign residents,
one lonely consul, II business houses
and two Protestant missionaries. with
a small native population Today it
is one Of the worlds great ports and
boasts four hundred and fifty thOus-
and people, Of whom fifteen thousand
are foreigners CLEANED from every
country on the globe, all beneficiaries
Of a total annual trade aggregatinS
two hundred and twenty million dol
lars, gold
western official rule over Shanghai
began over 50 years ago. At the sug-
EestiOn Of the British consul a narrow
strip Of land about one mile long and
about half as wide was set aside for
foreigners. This became the British
T
SuchOW creek and the Yang-king canal.
Later the Americans were given a
concession across the creek. For a
time the settlements were governed by
the British, French and American con-
suls. As the foreign city grew and
foreign interests developed, so the ad-
ministrdtiOn of its affairs became Sys-
tematized Management of public
business was later vested in NUM-
clpal council elected BY the tax pay
ers- For reasons of their own the
French withdrew from this plan sew
eral years ago and established their
own little government on a strip Of
land separated from the main settle
ment by a baby canal over there
Shanghai is wholly French in architec-
ture. customs and people, and is we'll
worth visiting. A municipal council
elected annually IS IN charge Of the
foreign settlement. Britishers usually
control the council. but there are al
ways American and German members,
and there IS very little national rivalry.
City Is Improving.
The area administered, or influenced
to the point of control by the west
erners has grown steadily, so that the
modern city Of Shanghai is very imDOs-
ing. Four, five and six story gray and
red stone buildings with elevators line
the wide, clean streets. Uptodate
stores sport plate glass windows, am
pie show cases and a first class line
Of goods, sometimes a little out Of
York. The best ric1shaws in China.
with wide seats and fat rubber tires
Wriggle their way at all hours between
carriages and motor cars. Small draws
lumber about with merchandise, and
painting coolies trOt along all dav uu-
der their long poles laden at either
end with packages Launches and
tugs shrek up and down the river
from morning to night Big Chinese
and indian policemen stand at busy
corners and direct traffic with all the
imperiOus grandeur of a Fifth avenue
cop, but foreign sergeants and inspac-
tors are their superiors. and instruc-
tors.
All the banks. leading business
houses and principal clubs have their
own buildings. There is a plentiful
supply of newspapers in English
French, Chinese and japanese The
North China Daily News. a typical
British organ Of the colonial type. is
a powerful daily with a record of 40
years OF publication to bolster up its
conservatism The China Press an
American daily started two years ago
by Thomas F. Millard, is already a
huge success by virtue of hard work
and good editing on the best American
lines, and enjoys the largest circuIa-
ton of all foreign journals in the far
east.
Chinese faith in occidental methods
is shown in the way the natives have
flOcked into the settlement. Their
stores are seen everywhere, and scores
of eN-Officials or wealthy men own
and occupy palatial residences. An
prOXimately 125, 600 Chinese live there
while the population of the old Chinese
city with its typically dirty streets and
cluttered up stores is about 100000.
Foreigners in the settlement number
1000 BritiSherS. 5000 Japanese. 1900
Portuguese, 1000 Americans. possibly
1000 Germans and over 500 Indians The
Chinese who have Il right to vote and
otherwise control the settlement, and
there are thousands Of them, are 50
well satisfied with matters as they
are that they leave public business en-
tirely to the foreigners. This is worthy
of note inasmuch as the total assessed
valuation at the present time is $50
COO 200, gold.
One of the interesting features OF
Shanghai is the composite judiciary.
BY virtue Of their extraterritOrial
rights the nations have their own con-
sular courts. To bring criminal prose-
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