Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-02-15
Travel in China.

The title is much too large for my
limited experience, for / have seen
only Shanghai, Soochow, Huchow,
Marking and Kaifeng. The visits to
these cities involved journeys OF a
thousand miles by railway and fifty
miles by canal boat But when / re-
call the crowded incidents of this linz
tied range 1 am willing to retain the
title. for / feel like a traveller IN
China.
A word about the railroads. The
North Station in Shanghai is nearly
if not quite as spacious as the Terml-
nal in Atlanta and more convenient
in some of it's general appointments.
The express trains that go out from
it to Hangchow and Marking, the lat
ter with through connections for Pc
king, are in every way up to date. nj
roadbed is as fine as any in the world
and the rolling stock is of the latest
British models. Many of the coaches
are built in compartments, and a par
ty of friends can make a journey IN
the privacy of a family group. | heard
q much travelled American say the
other day: "Tm for the compartment
construction" The service includes
the attendance of a neatly clad car
bow who provides tea for a few cop
pers on the table between the seats,
and who will ill your orders on the
same table from the kitchen. At In
tervals he passes through the car
with steaming hot crash towels, one
for each passenger; and it is aston
ish;ng how refreshing these are. |
had the privilege of a journey with
DR.. T. B. Ray and family. We went
together into as we'll furnished a din
ing car as the Southern can boast,
and we noted, of course, that the
price of the excellent meals was about
half what the Southern would have
charged.
Nothing I have thus far said suggests
China. Well, China Games into the
picture when I recall the crowds and
the crowding and the mountains OF
luggage. The onset of the coolie por-
tiers, grabbing at your hand pieces,
when the train comes to a stop,
chokes the doors and passages, and at
the larger stations ten minutes are
required to discharge and receive
passengers. I say mountains of lug
gage, for every Chinese on a journey
carries his bedding with him and he
has not learned that it is safe to
check it and leave it with the bag
gag master of the train. Result:
what with beds, suit cases, grips and
parcels, the car quickly takes on the
aspect of a storage warehouse!
Yes, 1 tried out a Chinese Inn, and
there 1 learned why bedding is a nee
essary part of a travellers outfit. |
took advantage of a China Inland
m~issionary's knowledge of Chinese
and went with her to the said Inn.
We reached a junction point at 500
p. m. and could not get a train for
the further journey till the next
morning at $50. The little English
nurse had a room reserved at the
Wing Pin-"the best in the city,
and when she had finally identified
the Ying Pin porter in the rush, |
gave him my suit case and followed
his lantern from the station to the
house, a walk Of some two hundred
yards. He turned in from the street
and led me through three courts to a
stone prison cell against the rear wall
OF the compound. My lady friend he
turned into the next cell. My cell had
for furniture a table with a small
kerosene lamp, a stool, and a hard
bed without a trace of bed-clothes. l
noticed that the floor was. damp as
was also a portion of the wall. The
inevitable tea, boiling hot, was quick
ly brought and when l closed the door
and attacked my lunch box for feed,
my ten feet square of space, enclosed
top, bottom and sides in cold stone,
held me in as complete isolation from
the world as l have " known.
By eight o'clock thought to COM
pose myself for sleep. With all my
clothes. on-including shoes, top
sweaters, a heavy overcoat and a
wooden cap for my bed, l rolled my
self in my steamer rug and, with my
suit case for pillow, stretched myself
ON the bed. The stiff boards were sup