El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-03-08

: land Of Yunnan are held by chieftafns
under a species of feudal tenure, and
| over wide areas the crOssbOw is today
the most advanced Of weapons. In
many districts The railroad surveyors
advance agents of a future commerce
are the first white men ever seen by
the natives; even the adventurous mis-
siOnary having as yet failed to penC-
trate so far.
Chickens Five Cents Each
In the province of Shansi one can
buy nine eggs for a cent, a chicken for
five cents. mutton at four cents a
pound without bOne), pheasants at six
cents a brace, wheat for Csc a bushel.
corn for 20 cents a bushel, and coal at
80 cents ton
These figures are taken from the
notes Of a 1,20C mile trip made last
summer by representative OF our
Department of Commerce. Mr. Julean
II. Arnold. through the region in ques-
tion. 1t is one of the most density pop
ulated parts of the world and devel-
Oped TO the highest degree agricultur-
ally. vet for the lack of roads or com
Portable means Of conveyance, M
Arnold was obliged to cover zoo miles
of the journey on foot 200 mules on
mUieback, and 500 miles in sedan
chairs.
A missionary in Shansi told Mr.. Ar
mold that his bills for food supplies
amounted to only $3.50 a month. With
flour at half cent a pound. bread is
cheap. and unskilled labor all over
western China is Obtainable at from
to cents a day. The low prices are
thought TO be largely attributab bic to
the fact that owing TO the commercial
isolation Of the region, the worlds
flood of gold has not yet thrown its
first ripple upon the borders OF the
land. TO raise the scale of values
Wheat - Cents BusheI
The provinces of ShanSi and Shensi
grow something like 5O,0OO,OUO bushels
of wheat per annum, but cannot Ilnd
a market for it at % cents Dushel
patient and pluc6y little ralroao
has managed to penetrate as lar as
Taiyuanfu. the capital of Shansi, ana,
as a result. the town which has bU,UuV
inhabitants, has become WonderIuIIy
mOdernized with broad, Wen paved
streets, electric lights, telephones. fine
school buildings. a salaried police,
and a uniformed street sweeping DrlS-
ade. Women go about shopping ana
visiting and school girls march IN pun
lie Darades There is even an uptOdaIe
match factory which ships ii products
by rail to Tientsin and other Chlnese
cities. But in the outlying country
only a few miles away, conditions are
wholly medieval
some complaint of the rise of the cost
of living One must pay a cent Ior
only five eggs there, and otner ne
cessarfes of life are going up proper
IlOnaTelK- rms state VI chAAeLA-1 60 ---f
to some extent, apparently IRON re-
cent Initiation of the local currency que
to the Importation into the province
Of hundreds Of carloads Of brass cash
These cash are discarded money from
East China (where they are DelnS
dfsplaced by copper cOin), and 1lIteen
pounds of them are equivalent 10 -
in gold. ,- -
SZechaun. the most extensive and
richest of all the eighteen Chlnese
PROVINCES has a population not far
from eouaI numerically to that OF the
United states. It is an inviting field
for foreign commerce, as yet practic-
aIIy- untouched: but as soon as the
Hankow-Szechuan Railroad (noW IN
buiIdinE) taps it. there VIII De wonder
full transformation
Another very promising region, com
mercfaII,- speaking, is the Wei Basin,
in Shensi-Iznown as the Cradle of the
Chinese ErnDire. It is one of the most
fertile valleys in all China, producing
enCrnTous 0rantities Of cotton. The raw
cotton is transported out of the valley
to northern Shanst by carts and muleS'
and to Szechuan and the Han valley Dy
coolies over high and difficult noun
tain passes-each cOOlie carrying on
his back $50 pounds distance of six
teen miles per day, for wage OF 4
cents per diem.
Great Cotton District
Says AIr. Arnold: Travelling across I
Honau Province. through southern
Chilli. southern Shensi and southern
Shansi during the summer months. one