Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-18
II '(Continued From Third Page.)

U8llOIS 1Gb OOWkA U 4uuOC1 1A0 cCNCAoA
Enotted ropes.
"A few moments later the entire ship
vas surrounded by these boats. About
two thousand passengers were clamor-
ing to be taken aboard. Two thousand
when our vessel was too small to hold
more than half that number comfort
ably.
Fingers reached out. grasped the
knotted ropes Men began to climb up,
hand-over- hand. Old men and young,
each was CARRIED in that pervading color
Of poverty, coolie-cloth blue. Garments
patched and faded. A few of the on
coming voyagers had wooden boxes,
but Gre greater number carried all their
worldly goods attached to their girdles-
cloth-wrapped parcel no larger than
muskmelon.
watched their faces as they nego-
tfated that difficult ascent up the iron
side Of the ship. The visages were
gaunt. the high, Mongol cheek-bones
standing out starkly against tightly
drawn skins. The lips were pressed
back in a snarl that was disturbingly
animal-like. Gone was the usual
Chinese placidity. that philosophic good
nature. The efforts of these men were
almost those of persons in a panic.
Here and there was a cadaverous
woman, her head almost bald, her tiny
bound feet fumbling with the rungs Of
that swaying pilots ladder. Usually
she added to the difficulty of her ascent
by carrying on her back thin baby
its head lolling on a scrawny neck
without a single exception. the bodies
Of these voyagers were emaciated.
Go North Every Spring.
spoke to the British captain who
was leaning over the railing of the
bridge, watching this assault on the
ship.
He answered: Its the yearly migra-
ton. Hundreds of thousands of them
go north every Spring. They pack our
boats like sardines."
ut must be a problem, feeding
them?"
mo. they must feed themselves. We
charge so little per head that we
couldn't afford to furnish food"
And do you bring them all back in
the Fall?"
mot many most of them stay up
north. They've come from Shantung
Province trans-shipping at this point
don't blame them for migrating. Man
churia is the richest land in the world
The skipper turned back to the tele-
graph: the signal bell changed In the
engine room below. Already, In the
few moments that We had been talking.
that huge crowd had managed to work
itself aboard. Only a few latecomers.
feverishly grasping for the knotted
ropes, gave squalls of fear at being
left behind. I realized now why the
main body had been in such haste to
get aboard.
Yet until few years ago Manchuria
was terra incognita to the Chinese
They knew 1t to be peopled with
copper-colored tribes Of horsemen
that 1t was filled with demons and
ghosts. There was the COW with two
heads and no rear chassis, which would
eat a valley into starvation And
there was peculiar devil that stole
ones possessions, carrying them off
slung to pole that pierced the breast
bone-instead of being slung over the
shoulders in coolie fashiin. In those
northern plains great bands Of fox
spirits that delighted in stealing a
mans soul were thought to roam
Withdrawal or War.
It was as much to keep out this host
Of deadly spirits as it was to check the
Tartar hordes that the Chinese built
that stupendous chain of masonry, the
Great Wall.
And now, today, China is fighting to
keep her foothold in the Three North
ern Provinces. To retain a place there
for that great overflow of needy mil
lions. In the streets of Chinese cities
these last few weeks, students have
been parading, bearing placards de-
nnanding the withdrawal of Japan In
Manchuria. Withdrawal or warl
1t is strange that in centuries past
the Chinese did not brave the demons
and explore Manchuria. for China has
sent her sons to far more remote
places. Economic causes-those same
factors that today are forcing the
Chinese to penetrate that ghost
haunted north and to beard Japan in
the process-have operated in favor of
such migrations. China has scarcely
known the day when she was not
dreadfully overpopulated. Men have
always fought the bitter fight to keep
body and soul together. They have
made themselves beasts of inordinate
burden.
All over China this grim struggle is
waged. In times of famine men strip
the bark of trees for food, and eat even
the earth itself And each year there
Is famine in some portion of the
land. HardshipS abroad the Celestial
has suffered, but these diminish sharply
beside the grim struggle that has never
ceased to face him at home.
No Protection Abroad.
The Chinese adventures have always
Jared forth at their own risk. The
Emperor proclaimed himself Sovereign
of All Under Heaven, but he took no
steps to protect his subjects abroad. In
fact the law. as late as 1860, read "All
Chinese who remove to foreign islands
for any cause shall suffer DEATH by
being beheaded."
But in spite of this threat of decap-
itation, the Chinese migrated, some
times in small groups, sometimes in
hordes, to a score of Occidental lands
They were pilgrims of necessity.
The greatest Western invasion in
point of numbers has been to Mexico.
This is explainable by the fact that in
the past this Latin American republic
has welcomed the Chinese. Mexico went
so far as to sign, in 1899. most
favored nation" treaty with China.
Mexico has sold many millions of her
silver dollars to the Flowery Land. Even
in far Szechwan, on the Tibetan bor-
. der, it is a common occurrence to re-
ceive change from a bank bill in large
cart wheels" bearing the stamp, Re
publica Mexico
Many of the Chinese pilgrims have
gravitated to the border states of
Sonora and Lower California. Their
massing at the boundary is due in part
to the underground railroad" which is
in operation to smuggle them into the
United States. For this feat a fee of
$1,000 is said to be charged. After a
Chinese has made his illicit entry the
sum is collected from him in INSTALL
ments.
Mexican Oppose Chinese.
R,lt for the great mass of Chinese who