The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-12-09
FOOCHOW: AN INLAND PORT

less biography are not his racial her
/ itages.
! zone should not hurry into Foo
chow proper, even II one could. for
! To do so would be to miss the physical
beauties and tabled history that &c
oentuate each step Of the journey
| from the ocean 10 this viearious
| port. Along the Min one may See
pearl divers Should diver be
| drowned his fellows stoicaiIy con
cludc that he has fallen q victim to
the sea-turtlc. Chinese equivalent for
! tho legendary sea-serpent Of the
West.
Near Pagoda anchorage rises
sharp Peak, capped by tower built
by q wife to welcome home an ORR
entail Enoch Arden, when he saw Ii.
thought he had mistaken the river
| and sailed away again. never to re-
turn. A mandarin's footprint m a
/ rock commentaries the summary
i punishment of auarrymen who kept
right on choppng away its compan-
inc footprint despite the flow OF blood
that spufted out at each stroke
When removed to place in bridge
ii registered protset by kicking Its
bearers into the river, so the compan-
ion was not molested.
The rivers obstruction at Pagoda
/ anchorage il artificial: formed when
stone lnden barges sunk there TO pre-
vent French fleet from reaching the
city. during the. France Foochow
troubles in 1894. II Ia characters
tice nj the Chinese love for the status
quo that Foochow business men have
waited so long to take steps to clear
the channel and thus ayoid the end
less annoyance OF constant reloading
Of carcoes. Measures are now being
considered to connect Foochow with
! the sea byEa channel At for ecean
going vessels. Boards of trade and
rivers and harbors congresses ate re-
cent civic concomitanfs Of the nation
| that built the greatest inland water
way the world has known--the Grand
canal.
But the most conspicuous lAcf OF
Foochow. your nose would know.
upon entering the congested streets
of the walled city, is n board OF
health. 1t has been said that for
'offensiveuess TO the serrSeS no town
can compare with Fooehow. Tho
older streets are so narrow. ana Do
tortuous, for the most part, that
wheeled vehicles cannot - traverse
them, and even were they wider their
surface would be too uneven for pas
sage. Broad streets. narrowly paved
now traverse many sections. I'm
dergrouud sewers have q habit of
flowing forth into these cran.ped
toroughfares. and the SUMS purifying
rays are estopped by roofs from
rca ching many of them. Children
pigs aud dogs commingie about. door
ways: cholera occasionally renps an
indiscriminate harvest of man and
beast, as II did only last summer
when the local supply OF collins soon
was used UP and bodies were carried
off in baskets.
The older city Is enclosed by
wall some thirty feet high, twlve feet
thick, and its circuit of FIVE miles Is
pierced by seven fort gates. ono OF
these being the, North Tower, at
which are curious spirit shrines The
population of Greater Foochow. in
Guiding it's numerous suherbs, l. rs
timated at nearly zoo eeo~ II IL thu
capital Of the province Of Tuklsn.
which produces the taa which makes
tooehow important, where tigers arr
10 he hunted, and where formerly
grew the popies which made II no
tofious In the days when there were
said To he more opium dens than ten
and rice shops In the city.
Conspicuous proof that Fanrhow
is capable of civil reform, when oace
Stirreds was it's campaign against
| eniurt, conducted with poster and
orainrs, after the manner Of n local
option drive in the wetter days OF our
own country. The campaign was sue.
ces4ful In first having license and
permit system established and ulti-
rnately in banishing the dens In 1915.
FOREIGNERS live on pfcturesoit.
Island across from the city, reached
by the Bridge of the. 10000 Ages
Tho high popped tunks with elab-
crate decoration on their sterng form
m interesting feature OF the river
life
Foochow supplies much lumber
from interior F>nkien and huge lutn
Der RATS can usually be seen In tha
river, An industry Of note is that of
lacquer ware. made by secret PRO.
cess handed down from generation To
generation Of one Foochow family"