Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1933-05-03

tables, dates, watermelons. anC
grain TO the city markets. The
long-dlstance freightlng on the
large RATS. however. Is largely de
voted to transport of quantities OF
wool, skins, hides, and other pro.
duce Of the Tibetan region down to
the caravan center and railhead VII
lage of Paotow. whence these ar
ticles OF commerce can be sent by
rail to Tientsln and ultimately find
distribution to world markets.
The majority of the large cargo
RATS start from Shining, some dis
lance upstream on the Shining Ho.
a tributary of the Hwang Ho; but
to these are also added other cargo
which leaves from the important
caravan center of Lanchow. that
lies on the historic "old silk roadv
between CHM, Turkestan. and the
West.
Hard Work Up Stream.
The RATS can be managed with
comparative east as they float down
stream, but their great resistance
and their clumslness make 1t prac-
tically impossible for them to be
poled upstream, even In quiet wa
ter. They are taken apart at the
end of the voyage and the skins are
carried back overland to the place
of departure.
In the springtime, as o as the
Ice has been cleared from the river,
which Is frozen from the end of No
vember to the beginning of March,
the RATS are assembled.
Oxhide buoys stuffed with wool
no doubt originated through the
scheme of crafty raftsmen to boot.
leg" wool past the customs officials
and thereby escape duty. Today,
although the authorities know that
II will be sold at the end of the trip,
the wool still rides on down to Pao-
tow, escaping all of the tolls and du-
ties imposed on the other cargo.
Cargoes loaded. farewells said, the
RATS push Off on the first of the two
journeys that are made each year.
They slip past water wheels that
line the river banks, which are rails
ing water to the thirsty fields In the
Lanchow region then past the city's
walls, and under the only steel
bridge that spans the river for many
hundreds of miles.
Some fifteen miles below Lam
chow, where the village of Hsia-
shuitsu is perched on a rocky cliff,
the current is swift and all hands
are called to man the large tillers,
as the RATS head down through the
granite gorge, where the river makes
an abrupt curve and then follows a
northwesterly course.
All the way downstream to Chung
wei the raftsmen must navigate
through rapid after rapid. Below
the course widens as II
enters the Ordos. and, except for
the passage through the fertile dis
trict around Ningsia, becomes a mo-
notonous passage through desolate
wastes all the way to Pao-
tow. ~
Grililna Voyage.
z-H
The great loop around the Ordos
iesert Is a slow, grilling voyage dur
ng the summer months, when the
sun throughout the day beats down
-elentlessly In a binding glare on
he water and ON the shimmering
'and banks.
The raftsmen share the tasks of
the craft, repairing pune
.ured skins, releasing the ungainly
when stranded on sand bars,
md cooking their meager meals on
ieck.
After weeks on the way, every
)ne is glad when the RATS are
safely to Paotow, the jour
end.
The caravan town sprawls on a
dun-colored hillside of sand,
iome little distance from the river.
.ow, squat adobe and brick build
ngs line the narrow streets and
alleys that find outlet
through the guarded gateway of
ambling old city walls. Caravan
aries and homes are concealed be-
lind closed gateways and high
arthen walls.
Here, In the bazaars and In the
asses of itinerant vendors, the
aftsmen find oddments Of western
lroduce for which they can bargain
o take back to their families.
that come whistling out to
outpost, bring many things
rom Tientsin and Pelping marts
hat are not readily available far
her inland.
At last, when all Of the cargoes
ave been turned over to the wool
nd hide merchants, the RATS are
AIKEN apart and the hides folded up
nd packed on donkeys or camels
or the long journey home by car ,
van.
.