Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-07-25
ALONG THE BUND IN
SAANGAHI, CHINA
In the City the Men are Harnessrd to
Heavy Loads and Haul Them
Everywhere, as Horses are
Unknown in China.
THE MEN ARE HITCHED
TO CRUDE PLOWS
The Man is the Beast of Burden and
His Appearance Bespeaks of
His Hard Life.

A walk along the Bund in Shang
ahi would convince anyone of the cos
mopolitan population of this city
All shades of and styles of dress and
faces of every nation, but the Chin.
ese predominating. The bund fol
lows the Whangpoo river; along its
bank are monuments of Sir Robert
Hart and other men who gained a
name from caucasian enterprise In
China. h
On one side of the street one sees
as fine buildings as you find in Eur
opean cities. The English, French
and international settlements max
ing of itself a modern city. There
are about 10000 foreigners in the
modern city.
Here you see the tall Indian po-
licemen as you do in all places DOM
mated by Great Britain in east Asia,
his shaggy beard sailing in the wind
his air of authority always the most
noticeable feature.
The streets in the European part
Of the city are wide and autos are
readily used but the throng of men
hauling and wheeling loads make
progress very slow.
Taking Cadillac auto we ride out
on the Bubbling well road. Here
the dust, as in all China, is so thick
it almost smothers you. This road
is about three miles long and from
here we find some grandee is tc
pass that way and for miles we drive
between soldiers lined on either side
to do honor to others not us.
We are going to a large temple
and as We pass along these streets
we see nothing but the mounds over
graves on all sides where the terri
tory has not been occupied by build
ings. The strangest sight was to
see the immense collins standing in
many places within ten feet of a
house, and what surprised me more
was to be told that human remains
were in the coffin. Hundreds of these
can be seen all over this portion of
China.
was told that the timber of China
has been depleted by using for these
great coffils. They are made of the
heart Of the trees cut abop six in
ches square and put together firmly
making a coffin about five feet high
and eight long. The coffin industry
is one of the greatest in China.
When a Chinaman dies his remains
are placed in these great arks and
carried out on his land to some spot
where they think luck will spread
it's generous mantle and here the
coffin is left until the astrolger shall
pronounce it lucky day when the
covering process takes place. Some
times it is years before such time
is named and these remains lie here
to poison the air, I saw literally
thousands of these during my trip
through Central China. sometimes
a dozen on a plat of not over an acre
or two, l presumed where such a
number had died in few years that
it must be that small poX or some
virulent disease must have carried
them off but the cotfins We're there to
carry the germs to all that came
that way. Were it not that quick
lime is placed in the coffin with the
remains it must be impossible to live
under such surroundings. 1t is said
that one seventh of China and Korea
is graves and l think this would not
cover the space as to look no matter
where you may be you see what looks
like from the size of hay cocks to
stacks that are ten feet high cover
ing every field and in every door
yard. Once year all the relatives OF
the deceased gather round the grave
to worship their forbearers and keep
the mounds in perfect order and woe
to him that does injury to grave
Passing through such scenes as
this we visit the temple and ride
through those surroundings where
an auto can travel the streets, on
our return we visit beautiful parks
surrounded by homes that were as
inviting as any in our American
cities.
On another occasion we enter the
native city-the walled city. Would
that ! had the language that would
describe the awful poverty of this
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