The Coolidge examiner., 1933-04-28

1
wool, skins, hides. and other pro-
duce OF the Tibetan region down TO
the caravan center and railhead viii
lage Of Paotow. whence these ar.
ticles OF commerce can be sent by
rail TO Tientsin and ultimately find
distribution TO world markets.
The majority Of the large cargo
RATS start from Shining. some dis
tance upstream on the Sining 10,
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 road
between China, Turkestan, and the
| West.
Hard Work Up Stream.
The RATS can be managed with
comparative ease as they float down
stream. but their great resistance
and their clumsiness make it 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 soon 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.
Oxhlde 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
IL 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 clty'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 rocky cliff,
the current is swift and all hands
are called to man the large tlllers,
| as the rafts 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
J through rapid after rapid. Below
Chungwei the course widens as 1t
enters the Ordos, and, except for
the passage through the fertile dis
trict around Ningsia, becomes mo-
notonous passage through desolate
yellow wastes all the way to Pao-
tow.
Grillino Voyage.
The great loop around the Ordos
desert is a slow, grilling voyage dur
ing the summer months. when the
sun throughout the day beats down
relentlessly In a binding glare on
the water and on the shimmering
sand banks.
The raftsmen share the tasks Of
guiding the craft, repairing pune
tured skins, releasing the ungainly
floats when stranded on sand bars.
and cooking their meager meals on
| deck
After weeks on the way, every
one is glad when the RATS are
brought safely to Paotow, the jour
ney's end.
The caravan town sprawls on a
barren, dun-colored hillside of sand,
some little distance from the river.
Low, squat adobe and brick build
ings line the narrow streets apd
winding alleys that find outlet
through the guarded gateway OF
rambling old city walls. Caravan
saries and homes are concealed be
hind closed gateways and high
earthen walls.
Here, in the bazaars and In the
| cases of itinerant venders, the
| raftsmen find oddments of western
| produce for which they can bargain
to take back TO their families
Trains. that come whistling out to
this outpost, bring many things
from Tientsin and Peiping marts
that are not readily available far
ther inland.
At last, when all of the cargoes
have been turned over to the wool
and hide merchants. the rafts are
taken apart and the hides folded NJ
and packed on donkeys or camels
for the long journey home by car
avan.