The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1919-02-03
IGNORANT
THERE'S BEEN A WAR
Polyglot Nation in the Wilds Of Western
China Where Foot of White Man
Never Before Trod-Dr. Joseph
Beech Found an Odd
Situation.


New York, Feb. 3.-Fifteen thousand
miles from Broadway, in the wilds of
western China. where the foot of white
man never before had trod, according to
Rev. DR.. Joseph Beech, a Methodist mis-
sionary, lives a polygiot nation OF more
than 100000 persons, "95 per cent of
whom do not know that there has been
a war"
DR.. Beech, who Is president of the
Western China university at Chengtu in
the province of Szechuan, maintained by
five evangelical denominations of Eng
land, Canada and the United States, and
who recently arrived here TO participate
in the Methodist centenary, to-day told
of a journey he took alone, with a ma
tive guide, last sumper, far into the
depths of the habitat of "the 'tu.ren, or
children Of the soil, the strangest people
in the Orient"
The doctor passed three weeks among
the 20 or more tribes in the land, which
is as inaccessible as Thibet, he said, and
while there found almost every type of
mankind, including pygmies, men and
women resembling negroes, American In
dians, East Indians, Gurkhas South Sea
Islanders, Europeans and other races APP
parently from all four quarters of the
globe. These people, of course, he said,
bad never been anywhere else than in
the country he found them, namely. in
Il region about the size of New York
state, bounded on the north by the prov,
ince of Kansu, the south by Burmah, Yu-
nan and kweechow, the east by Szech
uan and the west by Thibet.
81 found a land of beautiful valleys,
covered with fine farms and homesteads,"
said the explorer missionary, while tow
ering above them were mountains from
5000 to $4,000 feet high The frontier of
the country was protected by queer look.
ing stone fortified buildings, manned by
natives armed with weapons resembling
the old-fashioned blunderbuss 1t is not
impossible that these people were the or
iginators Of gun powder, for the Chinese,
who for years have tried to rule them,
admit it is of better quality than the
powder they make themselves.
Although suspicious and war.like, and
hostile to some kinds Of Chinese, the 'tu-
rem proved to be most hospitable and
fed and sheltered US. Huge smokestacks
in their communities gave ahem the APP
pearance of thriving industrial cities,
When we arrived we found they were
employed solely for the purpose of dry
ing and curing vegetables meat and fish,
which were suspended tier upon tier the
entire height Of the chimney.
THE architecture OF the country was
distinctiyely foreign to China, resembling
in many respects the feuda castles of
Normandy. In other respects.it was not
unlike the structures of Bablyonia and
Palestine. Grain, for instance, sitter be-
ing harvested, was threshed upon the
roofs Of the houses, just as in the Holy
Land. The houses themselves are moth
ing more than boxes, with perhaps one
window from which the doors and smoke
Of cooking escapes.
"On top Of practically all the fortified
castles flag was flown. | was told
these were prayer flags and had no spe-
cial tribal or patriotic significance. Every
man in the country, apparently, is "a law
unto himself Each tribe has its chief
tain but there is no national head and
China exercises only nominal sovereign
ty.
"Quarrels are settled on horseback by
means of bunderbusses, spears, bags of
stones and broadswords The enemies
challenge one another and at given sig
nal ride full tilt on small, wiry ponies,
at each other. 1t is seldom that both
combatants escape alive but the survivor
is required to feed and clothe the family
of his dead adversary as long as they
live and this makes 'duels' rare. In many
respects these c6frbats resemble the tour
naments of the middle ages"
DR.. Beech said that while he believed
he had penetrated further into this sec
tion of western China than any other
white man, he regretted that he had not
gone still further. "For my guide" said
he, said that four or five DAYS Journey
beyond there were tribesmen near Sung
pan who are just like you are That is,
natives who appeared like Americans"
Their dress, conversation and mode of
living of course, he said, was character
istc of the country.
"IIow so many different types of peo-
pie located there is a problem for the
cthnologist," resumed DR.. Beech. cone
theory is that they represent all the war.
ring tribal clements that have come into
the continent OF Asia and, driven by the
Mongols and Tartars, made their last
stand in this natural refuge between In
dia, China and the northern part of Asia
Each tribe is Independent of the other,
all speak patois of Thibetan and Tur-
kestan, and their religion seems to be
animistic or that of the Llamas. The
most numerous are the Lolos, which,