Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1925-10-14
prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington. D. c.

A THOUSAND miles westward
N from the coast of China the
Yangtze river, which in Chi
nese means 1.-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, 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 it's succession
Of rapids and treacherOus 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
recent visitor calls "Sze-chuan the
Beautiful, the richest and most popu-
lors and altogether the most pictur-
esque 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 manner of the
Old-fashioned canal boat, but, instead
of the tow-path mule, by a crew of 90
TO 60 men tugging at the shore end Of
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
gorges.
Railway to Ee Built.
Tomorrow it will be the railway, for
It is now known that Sze-chuan holds
a golden store FOR the first road that
enters it. The French have long
planned to extend their Tongking- Yum
nan line northwest to Ching-king and
Cherg-tu, which will connect the PROV
ince with the railway systems of north
west China and Manchuria; and the
four-nation Hu-Kwang agreement in
which America has share, calls for a
line from Hankow to Cheng-tu.
A company OF American engineers
has completed the survey of this last
nGmgd line and a start has been made
on its construction. When this is
completed il will be supper in Ichang,
breakfast in Chung-king, and tiffin in
N}heng-tu.
Time, which in the West is born
with wings and flies, but in China
stands footless, content to crawl, w4it
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 extraordi-
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
moves slowly through these gorges to
their climax in the Woosang gorge,
where 13 peaks rise one above another
5000 feet into the clouds.
No longer will there be the thrill of
danger overcome, and one will not
hear the weird antiphonal songs OF the
boatmen as they ply the oar 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 80 days
race TO the city of Chung-king, and
reap the Joy OF finishing with the