New Britain herald., 1928-10-10

los A. d.. while the first recipe for
true lampblack ink appears in =
document dated $40 A. D.
Newspaper and Paper Money
THE Picking Gazette. which
ceased publication in 1900, had been
issued daily since about ia A. D.,
and thus was one OF the Oldest of
newspapers. although in the style OF
government bulletin. Some Chi
nese claim that their nation had the
first well-developed postal system
and the first air mail. In support of
the latter tradition the Chinese post
al flag bears the design of a flying
goose recalling that trained geese
cnce were used to carry messages.
The Chinese were also the first to
use paper money. Printing of paper
money in S07 led directly to the or
ganixation OF the first bank at Ichow
about $50.
Civil service tests for the selec-
ton Of government officials began
in 40 B. c., but the examinations
were refined and their use extended
under the Mings about the period
when America was discovered. Mems
colleges, and even women's colleges,
date back many centuries. These
facts and many others on China's
civilization are obtainable because
Of ancient books preserved in an
Gent libraries. The antiquity of such
libraries in Cathay is shown by the
report that the imperial library
contained. even as early as the Sth
century. 1891 books.
Silk Goes Back to Dim Past
yet much of Chinese progress
belongs to past so dim that fixing
the discovery of silk in 200 3. c..
and the invention Of the pillow in
$500 b. c.. and crediting the first
to Princess 81 Ling-chee and the
second TO man named Snennung.
must be rated as mythical as the
deeds of the Knights of the Round
Table. Even the earliest contacts
with Europe are little known. So
many Chinese discoveries appeared
in Europe Immediately after Genghis
Khan struck farthest west, that it
seems probable he spread informa-
ton as well as terror. Trade with
China was so uncertain that Chinese
figured silks we're called damask
for Damascus, hallway shipping
city; Chinese ink was known-and
still is known-as India ink.
Later, as exchange of ideas in
creased, China put more indelible
marks on the newer Western civili-
cation. The fine old colonial chairs
in the American wing of the Metro
politan Museum of New York are
really Mr.. Heppelwhite's adaptations
of Chinese designs brought to Lon
don from China by English travel
ers in the 18th century. Designs for
decoration of chi1aware have also
been copied: for example. the ia
nous willow-tree pattern. copy of
Marking blue china, introduced in
England in 1880 and now collec-
tors prize. Inspiration for the en-
tire rocco period of furnishings in
the 18th century has been traced to
China and the vogue for Chinese
ga rdens is still with US.
brill With Bamboo Pipes
with nothing more than bamboo
pipes to work with the Chinese drill
ed salt wells 1000 feet deep years
before occidentals attained such
depths. Without scientific back
ground the Celestial has been for
ages a successful fish breeder. and
he learned. no one knows how or
when. to feed his soil the proper
food and TO rotate his crops with
lseumes which add nitrogen to the
soil. Oriental farmers practiced bud
and may have been first in
this art. and their ancient but prac-
teal methods OF cold storage insure
Picking a supply of fresh. big. red
rerSimmcns all winter and spring
While tire American South was
clogging its streams with discarded
cottonsaod Cathay already pressed
cottorseed oil and fed stock on cot
cakes