Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-05-13


very important parsonage, indeed, be
cause when he called on officials he
always got himself up In golf trousers
black leggings, bright smoking jack
ct, and trimmed his hat with bright
colOred CLOTH
The road to Chinese Turkestan from
India leads not over a single mountain
range and a single pass, but involves
crossing belt of high mountains and
deep valleys about 200 miles broad,
through several major passes and
numerous minor ones. The most di.
rect route leads from Srinagar, capital
Of Kashmir, as an advance base, north
by way of what is sometimes called
the Hunza Pass into the Taghdumbash
Pamir, the Chinese portion of ''the
Roof of the World" This road leads
over the final barrier between British
and Chinese lands close to the point
where British, Afghan and Chinese
territory have common corner, and
Russian territory lies only about TWEEN,
ty miles away. From the Chinese
Pamir, a region whose valleys lie at
an altitude of from 10000 to 12,O00
feet, the route runs down some of the
headwater streams Of the Tarim
through a rough mountainous region
and foothills, to Yarkand, metropolis
Of Chinese Turkestan.
The less direct route from Kashmir
to Chinese Turkestan leads first to
Leh, remote hill town of Ladakh,
about 200 miles to the east. From
Leh eastward leads an important, cara
van road into Tibet, while to the north
lies the eastern route to Chinese T'ur'
kestan. The Karakorum Pass, over
$4,000 feet high, the key to this route,
is about 100 miles north of Leh. A
short distance beyond Chinese terri
tory is reached and the way then leads
through a rough country, following
river gorges and striking across ridges,
to the lowlands Caravans both to
Khotan and Yarkand follow this route,
diverging In the latter stages of the
| journey.
AS a traveller approaches Yarkand
after trip through the bleak regions
! fertility of the oasis in which this re-
mote metropolis is situated. This is
especially true if he arrives at sea-
son when the extensive orchards of
! apples, pears, peaches, apricots. null
berries and walnutS are in bloom or
fruit. The soil is a deep, fertile loess
which needs only water to make 1t ex-
ceedingly productive.
Yarkand a Busy Place.
Although a large community, Yark-
and is uninteresting. There are nc
structures of architectural value. The
mosques are devoid of beauty and
there is squat sameness to the
dwellings. The structures lining the
principal streets have Sidewalks
protected by fiat matched projections
to afford protection from the sun.
Considerable business is conducted
in the bazaars at Yarkand. During
the open season in the mountains
caravans are constantly coming IL
from India, China and Russian Tur
kestan, and leaving for those coun
tries. The various GASES of Chinese
Turkestan each have characteristic
handicraft products, and selection o.
these are always available in Yark
and: carpets, rugs, silk and cottoI
fabrics, metal work, leather goods
Most characteristic Of the country are
Jade ornaments, for the mines of chi
nese Turkestan are the most prollh'
| of SoH m
Since conditions in China have beer
so disturbed in recent years, the out
put of jade has fallen off markedly
Khotan, being nearer to the mines, 1
the particular jade center of the coun
try.
Kashgar. a hundred miles to tn
northwest of Yarkand, has a pOpula
ton only about half as great a
; Yarkand, out it's inhabitants seer
more prosperous. It's bazaar is clean
err, its shops better and the streets ar
wider. Kashgar is not so fortunate
however, in the matter of fertile sol
and must import some of its food
{ stuffs from other GASES.
Chinese Turkestan has a scieAtii
interest for ethnologists and sent
mental interest for all Westerners, TO
1t is the reputed early home OF tn
Aryan race.
The Pamirs. which lay for centurie
. almost a mystical region, became we
, known during the Nineteenth centur
: due TO Russian and British rivalry l
that part of the world, and the dis
{ patch by each of surveying partie:
: When this activity began the Chimes
, too. established military posts nea
; their borders. Almost as effectual |
clearing up the geography of the re
: zion have been the numerous exped
lions of big game hunters, chiefly Brit
$ ish. who have gone into the regioI
A The world long spoke of the Pamir r.
/ gion as a very high plateau. Marques
' CurZon of KeddleSton. then an Nj. T
, visited the country in 1894. and wa
{ among the first to brand this miscol
( ception. and TO describe the Pamirs
8 very lofty, f1at-bottomed mountain va
leys. walled in by still more loft