Evening star., 1924-09-16
GREAT WALL AGAIN
FIGURES IN STRIFE
Worlds Eighth Wonder,
Built Before Christ's Birth,
Long War Fortress. 8.

Two armies reported marching on
north threaten to make that eighth
wonder OF the world once more the
front-line trench of China Built in
the third century before the birth of
Christ. to be a barrier between civil
lied China and barbaric Mongolia, the
wall has been the scene of hundreds
of conflicts for the dragon throne.
"The 'Wan-li- chang -cheng. or Myr-
lad Lii Wall. as the Chinese call it.
extends more than 1850 miles. while
its turnings and WindingS make it's
actually length almost 1000 miles. This
means that it would stretch from Portu-
gal to Naples or from Philadelphia to
Topeka. in nearly the same latitude"
says Adam Warwick in a communi-
cation to the National Geographic
Society.
Forms Racial Boundary.
AT all times and at all seasons
the great wall gives the impression
of being boundary between two
worlds-not only a natural boundary,
but a racial boundary also. 1T is as
Cell says. "a dividing line between two
civilizations and two areas. In space
II cuts off the herdsmen OF the north
from the tillers of the south. The
wave of true Chinese civilization
rolled southwark, engulfng all it met
on its way until it reached the
boundary of the ocean. Thus all.
from wall to water. owned the sway
OF the sons of Chin
The great wall was never effec-
tive. China was overwhelmed again
and again in spite of il by the. huge
racial movements of the Tatar hordeS
which for 1000 years devastated Asia
and even troubled Europe. But it
did prove valuable as rampant
against petty raids and it's moral
effect on any but the greatest ron-
querorS must have been tremendous.
only man with stout heart and
tremendous military resources would
dare attempt a passage of a barrier
whose watch towers in accessible e
passes were only 100 yards apart and
even in the remotest wilds were never
more than a mile from one another.
Cities Still Use Gates.
Nowadays the idea of the great
wall as a defensive fortification is
entirely abandoned 1t is left frankly
undefended, though the gates at the
passes are still closed at night as a
measure of protection against local
disturbances for the cities near them
chin Shih Huan I'll, cotem-
porary of Hannibal. frst built the
long rampant stretching from Shan
haikwan, on the seacoast to Min
chow, in distant kansu. Begun in 2l9
Be, the barrier was completed in
204 B. c. Thus it was Is Years in
building. of which were after the
mighty emperor's death.
Three hundred thousand troops.
besides prisoners of war and all the
criminals in the land, including many
dishonest officials INN n
for work. How these unskilled la
borers accomplished their task with
the primitive means at their disposal,
how they overcame the physical diff =
culties imposed upon them by the
steep slopes of the high mountain
ranges, remains a marvel to this day.
Moreover, the problem of getting fpod
to them can be judged from the state
ment that of 1S2 loads Of grain dis
patched only / would reach it's
destination, the rest being eaten or
sold along the road
Despite the time and labor ex-
pended upon it, Chin Shih Huan Ti's
mud barrier soon crumbled away
There was so little left of it by the
spoke of building, not rebuilding, the
great wall. But when the Mngs
U36S to 1914 ADJ ousted the de-
scendants of Genghis Khan from the
dragon throne the great wall again
assumed much Importance. The res
torations of this period were solid
and even elegant, long stretches be-
ing incased in brick or strengthened
with blocks of stone.
throughout the eastern section
the wall was made 25 feet thick at
the base, Is feet at the top, and va
ried from Is to 80 feet in height. It
was, in fact, under the Mings that the
defenses Of the great wall were most
fully developed, with more than 10000
towers which were practically a
ch ain of small fortresses and more
than 10000 signal beacons"