South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1916-06-03
PARTS Of CHINA
WALL STANDING
Greatest Work of Human
Hands Begun Three Gen.
turtles Ago.

Perhaps the most impressive
work OF human hands i'm all the
world is the great wall Of China. 1t
is a thing % dream about. II is a
kind of dream i'm itself. for until
one has seen IL one has only half
belief i'm its reality IL seems like
an invention of the Imagination
rather than an actual achievement
Of man.
II belongs To Aladdin's world. in
hich impossible things We're done
10y supernatural powers coming 10
the aid of favored human beings.
The pyramids of Egypt are only
piles of stone "a few hundred feet
square at the base. but the great
Chinese wall Is fertilization of
masonry 1900 miles long, averaging
% feet i'm height and 20 feet m
width. along whose summit as ON an
elevated roadway. protected 10y bat
Elements armies could march
Eurrying this way or that. 10 reach
the point of danger
Thousands of SQUARE towers.
placed hundred yards apart,
strengthened the wall and gave ac-
cess TO it from the inner side. IL
runs in serpentine curves over hills
and mountains and across valleys
and ravines bridging streams. skirt
ing precipices. and keeping on
ridges where possible.
1t was a literal war wall between
two nations or peoples. u divided
China from Mongolia. the land of
eastern Asiatic civilization from
that OF central Asiatic barbarism
China protected itself with this as
tonishins wall upon the same prin-
ciple by which Babylon and other
ancient cities constructed their &C.
I lenses. only an entire country was
walled in instead of a single town.
Photographs Of the great wall.
made by r. G. Andrews Of the
American Museum of Natural His
tory. show i'm what a surprising
state of preservation the work re-
mains AT least over large sections
/ Of its long course. In some places
/ where il was made of brick. il is
/ now only a range Of mounds. Pass
ing through a mountainous district.
YOU see it running like the coils Of
! q huge serpent. over nearby hills.
! then plunsinS out of sight into "a
/ valley. then reappearing and disap-
/ bearing, again and again. with
/ its towers crOwning commanding
/ heights. until the last distant
/ glimpse shows it winding away
over the far-off dim horizon.
! This great wall was begun three
\ centuries before the Christian era.
/ but the parts which remain i'm fair
/ ~ good condition were erected in
! the 18th century a. u. In its time
/ II seems 10 have been a satisfactory
/ means Of defense against the inva-
/ siCns Of the savage Tartars. and if
/ its builders had been people fond
/ OF celebrating their deeds of arms i'm
ballads and epic poems. we might
| find in ancient Chinese literature
thrilling stories of the defense of
the great wall. when hordes of wild
riders assailed il in vain.
But Chinese literature is mostly
devoted TO the discussion and illus
/ tration of moral virtues. the cele-
I bration of peaceful triumphs. and
the lyrics Of unambitious life. The
wall was begun two or three cen
turtles after the time of Confucius
but this great national work did
not change the current of literary
tradition from the channels in
which he and other moralists had
set IL flowing.
sometimes the emperOrs Of China
erected hunting lodges outside the
wall and protected 10y strong milf
tary escorts spent weeks beyond the
frontier Readers of De Quincev's
romantic history of the flight of the
Iorgote Tartars from the borders OF
Russia back 10 their old mother
China. will recall the exciting ex-
perience of the Emperor KEN Long
when he had ventured several hum
dred miles beyond the wall. and b,
his lucky presence was the means of
preserving his returning children"
from the avenSins pursuit of their
fierce enemies. who had followed
them thousands of miles with I'M
bated fury But at last THE an
cient Children of the wilderness
rested from their labors and from
great Affections under the shadow of
the Chinese wall"