Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-16

DullG upon Tie 6lIS OF an Ola CIllIlSSS
graveyard. There were hundreds of
mound tonbs there, and before the
Japanese government could move toward
the construction work it had to buy
these graves from the immediate de-
ScendantS of their occupants, the rate
varying from two to four dollars a
grave It is said that lively trade in
graves was had, and also it is said
that some enterprising Chinese did not
hesitate to provide fake graves for the
sake Of few desired dollars.
Going eastward from Changchun,
after passing Kirin, the country gets
rougher and the hills draw closer. The
fields become smaller and the tillage
is less exact. There are more weeds
on the roadside and between planta-
tions. These weeds make us bit home
sick, for they are like our own, dande-
lions and daisies, ragweed and that
growth from the brown seeds OF which
we as boys used to make tobacco" to
which I have long forgotten. There
are willows and naples in the lower
lands, and on the hillsides are pines
and all sorts Of American" trees.
Then comes the sign Of frontier work,
the newly cut forest. Great stretches
of stump land appear, running up the
hillsides From time to time lumber
towns as we used to call them at
home, come into view. But they are
strangely unlike our lumber towns.
There are no sawmillS. One looks in
vain for a smokestack. One listens
when the train stops for the sound OF
the big circular saws, but also in vain.
Tucked away to one side there may
be seen a sort of treStle, perhaps a
dozen feet high, across the beams of
which rests large log. That IS the
sawmill The power consists OF two
men, one on top and one beneath.
pulling and pushing at a great cross
cut saw" fully eight feet in length.
These men make the lumber out OF the
heavy logs that have been f1oated down
the rivers from the back hills OF new
timber work operations.
Sees Signs of Pioneering.
There is a sense of pioneering in
this. In some cases the dwellings OF the
workers are mere shacks, roughly built
of mud or even Of straw mating. TneSe
are the farm makers of the first stage.
They move about from job to job, COM
ing as rule from the Shangtung
Peninsula Of China.
Scarcely is the timbering done when
the farming begins The Chinese I'M
migrants are pushing out to the more
distant areas because they can get land
cheaply, or, lacking funds for buying or
leasing land, can hire out readily to
large farmers on a crop-shar1ng OASIS.
In some of these cases the land owner
does the first blowing with tractor
and takes 60 per cent of the initial crop
as payment for this service. Later the
tenant makes whatever bargain he can
with the owner, who is usually glad TO
get service on his land.
TIrY1nI1o &c CTnnH S1ZQd river
the Manchurian streams are all much
larger than those of Japan or Korea,
which is natural, inasmuch as they
come from vast backlands-and this Is
bringing down great quantities of logs
from somewhere upstream. Yesterday
morning the train was backed up so
that we could visit the scene OF opera
lions. The place is what Is in Ameri-
can lumber parlance called 'pull-up."
At home. however; the logs are haIlso
from the stream by machinery. Here
they are pulled out by sheer man pow
er. Twenty men, Juggling at ropes in
the rhythm Of a chantey, bring them
out on shore. Then later when they
are squared somewhat by first cutting,
they are pushed up Skids to the fiat
cars and tumbled over upon the loads
for shipment. The pullers and the
pushers are all stout Chinese, who work
WODQGTlUlly well COIlSlOCLAlS TIC
caps of slippery logs and soil and enor-
NOUS weights. The chanteyman who
leads them starts the singing and with
a swish and swing the log goes up
hill. I tried to get the words of these
chanteys, but failed. Perhaps it is just
as well, for have been given to under
stand that most of these Sing-songs
of toll are untranslatable for polite
printing.
Soil Is Feet In Depth.
Now for a paragraph or two am
going to be statistical, just to give an
idea of the immensely Of the work that
is going on here in this richest Of lands.
To begin with, remember that the new
corners from China, drawn by the won-
derful qualities Of the soil-it lies is
feet in depth in the northern areas
number now million year, and are
growing in numbers rapidly. There are
In the three provinces which constitute
Manchuria 382,627 square miles, or
244, 881 ,280 acres. The cultivated land
at present is 30,744, 100 acres, or 1913
per cent. This percentage Is rapidly
increasing as the forests are cut and
the land Strengthened out for farming.
In 1919 the cultivated land was esti-
mated at 17,788, 100 acres. 1t Is be-
ieved that the present area of titled
land can be doubled in a few decades.
Next, for what this. land produces.