The Monmouth inquirer., 1925-10-08
prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety. Washington. d. CO.

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington. d. CO.
A THOUSAND miles westward
~ from the coast of China the
n Yangtze river, which in Chi
nese means "The Child of
the Ocean, in its passage through
the outer rim Of central Asia's noun
tain system has carved, in surprising
beauty and majestic grandeur, the five
gorges of the upper Yangtze. rightly
called the gateways to West China.
They stretch from Ichang, until re-
Gently the head of steam navigation,
TO Kweichow, a distance of 125 miles.
The traveller is prompted to call
~hats OFF !" as he sails between these
massive walls. crowned with cathedral
domes that companion with the clouds,
and his admiration is mingled with
awe of the river, with its succession
of rapids and tr~eacherous whirlpools
that take heavy toll of life and mer-
chandise from those who enter, thus
creating the tradition that only the
hardy and the favored of the gods pass
through.
Such is the entrance to the country
which the first western traveller, Mar
co Polo, who visited that region in the
Thirteenth century, described as a cul-
tivated garden with great cities, and
a recent visitor calls "Sze-chuan the
Beautiful, the richest and most popu-
1ous and altogether the most pictur-
4esque part of China"
For many centuries and until yes
terday, the Journey from Ichang to
Chung-king, a distance Of 500 miles,
required fully a month and sometimes
two. 1t was made by native junk,
pulled along after the of the
old-fashioned canal boat. but, instead
of the tow-path mule, by a crew of 20
to go men Juggling at the shore end of
a bamboo hawser sometimes fully one-
half mile in length.
Today dynamite is blasting a safer
course, and 14-knot steamers make the
Journey in 40 steaming hours. The
devils of the waters, as these rivermen
will believe, have won their victories
also, for a large German commercial
steamer lies buried in 100 feet of wa
ter at the entrance to one of the
georges.
Railway to Be Built.
Tomorrow it will be the railway, for
1t IS now known that Sze-chuan holds
a golden store for the first road that
enters 1t. The French have long
planned to extend their Tongking-Yun-
nan line northwest to C~hing-king and
Cheng-tu, which will connect the prov
Tnce with the railway systems of north
west China and Manchuria; and the
four-nation Hu-Kwang agreement, in
which America has a share, calls for a
line from Hankow to Cheng-tu.
A company Of American engineers
has completed the survey Of this last
namgd line and a start has been made
on it's construction. When this is
completed it will be supper in Ichang,
breakfast In Chung-king, and tifin In
Cheng-tu.
Time, which in the West is born
with wings and flies. but In China
stands footIess, content to crawl, viii
be saved, and the Sze-chuan Alps will
vie with those Of Europe as the mecca
of travellers. But with the gain will
come the loss of the most extraordh
nary journey in the world. for the
spirit Of the Orient departs when the
locomotive enters.
Gone will be that growing sense Of
the grandeur and majesty Of Gods
creation, which is experienced as one
o slowly through these gorges to
their climax in the Woosang gorge,
where IS peaks rise n above another
5000 feet into the clouds.
No longer will there be the thrill of
danger overcome, and n Will not
hear the weird antiphonal songs Of the
boatmen as they ply the a or swing
along the shore, nor join in their whis-
tied prayer as they call to the spirit
winds for favor in the gorges.
Sush passing sights as the trained
cormorant catching fish for his mas
ter, the gold-washers securing the
gravel for its gold, and the daily sport
of half a hundred men struggling to
be the first to devour his morning rice
will not be encountered or enjoyed.
Neither can we challenge another boat,
bearing another flag, for a 30 days
race to the city Of Chung-king, n
reap the joy of finishing with the