The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-09-08
A Bridgeport Boy In China
Consul at

Foochow
NUMBER 2

1t is pretty sme11ie' in some sections. |
There is a very high rate of infant |
mortality. AS result only the tough |
est live to grow UP. There Is always |
smallpox present in China. 1t is hard |
to find a Chinese who has not had it, |
They call it the 'dowery sickness
They have It in a. mild form bbt if a |
foreigner contracts it is apt to be very |
deadly
with most Of the Chinese the mis- |
sionaries are welcome and they feel
kindly toward them. They have APP
preciated very much the work of the
medical missionary and in "a lesser de-
gree the educational work of the mis-
sions. This has paved a way for the
introduction of religious teachings.
Chinese think every American
very rich. I heard of a Chinese
teacher in Picking who told his pupils
that a long time ago great meteor
fell in America and that when it
burst great quantities of diamonds
and pearls rolled out and made every
American wealthy. This is typical of
many yarns concerning America. Of
course the more educated Chinese
know better but such stories pass cur
rent at their face value among the
lower classes.
Means of travel differ in different
parts of China. In the southern part
along the coast and rivers much of it
/ is by boat. In the north, where the
country is fiat. they have rude. two
wheeled, springless carts drawn by
| small horses. which resembles the
| mustangs of the United States. and
mules. Pack animals are also used.
| In the mountainous interior the roads
are barely four feet wide and go up
| the Ztaan 1)1acaS nv a series of
| steps. Here travel is almost entirely
! in chairs carried by coolies. These
| coolies will make as much as 80 miles
| in a day.
| when an official is on a journey in
! China the magistrates in the different
| towns are obliged to furnish a supply
| of coolies for him if he asks for them.
| On one of my trips in West China I
called on the magistrate in Chatting
] coolies for the next morning. I need
| ed that many for when a foreigner
travels in China he needs to carry his
bedding, food, etc. The magistrate
said it would be impossible to secure
them in less than two days. I insisted
| that I must have them at a. m
| the next day. In his dilemma he sent
| out a squad of soldiers to wander
| around the town. Every toolie they
saw they seized until they had enough
and placed them in a corral under
guard. 1t was the most high-handed
proceeding for my benefit which ever
knew of.
There is much brigandage in
China and it is serious matter.
When the soldiers pay gets in ar
| rears or from any cause he gets dis
satisfied he simply takes his arms
and ammunition and walks off to be-
| come a brigand- He then preys up
on travellers and robs the farmer of
his crops and holds up the postman-
They also make raids and carry away
men for ransom. They group them
selves into powerful bands and the
soldiers often being acquaintance
and friends it is next to impossible
to do anything with them Then too
| when the farmers crop fails he is Ii
able to join band of them until
times are better. But in spite of civil
wars and brigandage trade increases
year by year and as a whole China is
coming up
although there are so few rail-
; roads in China mail is carried prac-
ticaIly all over the country, much OF
it by couriers. Long before the es-
, adjustment of the present posta
system in China there was an I'm
, perial Post wholly given up to gov,
/, eminent dispatches and letters. Pri
vate concerns also made a by5ines:
of carrying letters for merchants ant
people in general Early in the 80:
the Legation mails and Chinese Gus
toms mails between Picking and
, Shanghai began to be carried b.
couriers Of the government. From
r this beginning there gradually de
veloped a postal system connected
e with the customs and controlled b.
, foreigners.
TN 1896 a decree was issued to es
tab1ish an Imperial Post for all China
modelled on Western lines. Sir Rob
| ert Hart British Inspector General o
Customs was placed in charge of ii
o This new government service at one
began to compete with the older pri
vate mail companies but as both CAV
z employment to thousands of people j
| was not thought best to get rid of th
g old ones summarfly. It was left 70
them to die eff from the effects O
the government competition but eve
8 today there are some OF these nativ
r mail companies in existence. Sine
Il 1917 the postal service has been Sc
parated from the customs service an
g a Frenchman put at the head of Il
q In fact it is said that China ha
f promised France to always have
d Frenchman at the head of it.
ei The United States has only on
n Post Office in China. This is a
- Shanghai. The British, japanese, an
~ French have them scattered all owe
o the country. The British and Frenc
n are willing to remove theirs but tn
lsi japanese want to hold on. thin
Ne all should be removed and leave tn
= field entirely to the Chinese.
II s'Of course much of the mail no
goes by train and boat in the NOR
y developed portions of China but ther
sr is still a vast territory which has
10 be reached by courier service an
'e this courier service is most interes
10 ing to me. The courier with speci,
II uniform and a big hat with his il
'r sigma and number on it starts o.
~ with a fifty pound sack on his BAG
a. and keeps up a pace which at tt
"a end OF ten hours has carried hi