The Washington times., 1915-06-15
Get Official
Money Saving Lesson
Mthe National Lottery
"Issue of Deposit Receipts of Sin Hua Savings
Bank" Is Great Show and Puts $300OO,OO0 at
Disposal of Government Finan.
cal Plan. ..'
By OSCAR KING DAVIS.

| when the Chipese government gave the
| Chinese people an official lesson in saw
| ing money.
On the face of the matter some Of the
people have a chance to win handsome
| ly. mono Of them need lose more than the
use Of $40 for three years. and the gov
ernment is sure to have the use of any
where from slo,ooooOo to $50, oOo, 900 over a
considerable period of time at a mod
crate rate of interest.
The plan adopted by the Chinese gov
ernment for giving this salutary lesson
to the Chinese people would be called
lottery If 1t were not that its official
name is the Issue of Deposit Receipts
premium Bonds) Of the Sin Hua Saw
lngs Bank"
| Chinese officials who do not lack skill
in drawing fine distinctions. differen-
tiate pleasinsly between lotteries and
the drawings Of premium bonds of the
Sin Hua avings Bank.
1t Was Some Show.
But whatever 1t was this was the day
when the drawing took place, and by
| the count of the Peking police 100000
persons, not to mention horses, ponies,
mules. donkeys. burros, dogs, birds,
rickshas, wheelbarrows. automobiles.
Peking carts, bicycles and every other
Kind OF wheeled vehicle known to Chi
nese ingenuity surged into the grounds
OF the temple of agriculture to see the
show and learn at the earliest possible
moment the numbers of the winning
tickets and who held them.
1t was some show-in fact, II was
several shows ali in one. The lottery
itself was one show, and a good one.
There were all kinds of side shows, ba-
zaars, and that sort of thing. and the
enormous crowd was the best show of
all.
The grounds of the temple of agrlcul-
ture are familiar to a considerable num-
Der OF Americans as the location Of the
camp of the United States troops who
did moro or less hectic tour Of duty
here after suppression of the Boxer re-
bellion and the relief of the besieged
legations. They embrace somewhere
near quarter section OF level plain in
the southwest quarter Of the Chinese
city, directly across from the temple OF
heaven.
Sell Million Tickets.
The show had been advertised to be-
gin at o'clock in the morning. There
was a big Job to be handled. One
million tickets had been sold, each for
SO. Each ticket was divisible into ten
sections. and the great majority OF
them had been divided and sold in parts
to two or more spectators-or rather
savers of their money.
! The tickets had been on sale all over
China since January. and the entire
, issue was taken. good sized block
: course. every one who had ticket or
part Of one was anxious to be on
hand to see the drawing.
Consequently the crowd began to ar
. rive long before s o'clock. and by the
, time the preliminaries had all been
: completed there were 5000 or 1000
coolies and poorer people standing IN
frSn of the main s Payi.Sn aS and the side
| In the main pavilion ten great copper
| globes. each about five feet In diameter
] had BEEN set up in iron frames. Back
of each globe, on a tall rack strung with
> wires, there hung a hundred Thousand
. small wooden balls. These ten rack'
contained the million balls that wer<
t numbered consecutively to represent the
= tickets which had been sold.
8 Poured Into Globes.
The lottery being backed by the gov
v ernment which guaranteed the pay
: ment Of the prizes and the repayment
Of the purchase price of non-winnini
b tickets. the drawing was officiall!
superintended by two censors from tn
administrative court, representative
!, Of the ministry of finance and tw'
= members of the Peking Chamber o
a Commerce.
When they arrived in the main pa
vilion. shortly after o'clock, the
+ first inspected the racks holding tn
y million balls bearing the ticket mum
o bers. AS each rack was found to b
= correct the wires holding the balls wer
u wire basket. from which they wer
poured. through huge funnel. into on
- Of the big copper globes.
I To each globe there was affixed
l spout, operated by a valve SO that tn
i numbered balls could be be withdraw
= one at a time. Four husky policemen
in gorgeous full dress uniform, turne
a the cranks Of the big globes and CAV
l. the wooden pills inside fine shaking vi
- Then, when each globe had received II
i, hundred thousand wooden pills, and a
le had been thoroughly shaken up. ever!
1t thing was ready for the drawing
Is begin.
! List of Prizes.
" The first prize was 100000 China b'
= ing on the silver basis, that means Mex
le can dollars. worth something less tina
O. half as much as Uncle Sans big ire
IA bones. Inc StSOho Pi+NS was ~fO'NN
II, third, $4,000; fourth. $4,000, and fit
o. $4,000
4 Then there were two sixth prizes
A s5, 900 each; sixth seventh prizes OF $40
r each; thirty eighth prizes of $1,000 eacl
h sixty ninth prizes Of $500 each; goo ten'
prizes OF $3.50 each: coo eleventh priz
Of slO0 each. and 1000 twelfth prizes
I $50 each. o.o -.
each for numbers having their three te
. n1inal figures similar to those of u
ot ticket winning the frst prize, and sin
IS liar number Of terminal prizes on q
e. second and third grand prizes. Alt
O. gether there were 5000 prizes aggrega
g, ing s65s, ,9lo 1t was fairly good siz'
We lottery. :, =
re cause IL a ticket holder did not win
tn prize this year he will have anoth
es chance next year when there VIII be
other drawing And II he doesn't win
I'M prize then he will have still anoth
It's chance at a third drawing In lslf.
eeSS No Way to Lose.
d. And II he doesn't win then he may 7
mt turn his ticket to the Sin Hua Savin
70 bank at any time during the year a.
"a 49, e1A thnt M Maid for II Ori