Evening star., 1937-04-25

the next afternoon 1t was announced
that the special was waiting. Would
the students please come aboard and
travel in first class coaches - the
guests Of the government
The beggars in Peking once staged
a strike. While wouldn't say that
begging is considered to be an honor
able profession there, 1t nevertheless
Is recognized as q definite business.
Certain places in the city are passed
on from generation to generation, and
the beggars have organized themselves
into a guild. A reform mayor of
Pekfng decided that he would do a
spot OF reforming. and begin with the
beggars.
One morning I went to tho polo
field on Hatamen street and my IA
vorite beggar was gone. He had .
sort Of booth made out Of q box near
the gate, and always gave him q
few coppers. wondered II he were
Ill.
The second morning when I went
down for practice. there he was in
his box.
We'll" said I, "where have you
been? Why weren't you at business
yesterday? Were you sick?"
"Oh, no, Honorable Master, I'm
never sick. I never felt better in my
life. But strange thing happened
yesterday. When 1 came here in the
r1nrniru
family have begged for three genera
tions, the policeman drove me off.
He said I couldn't beg here any
longer; that the Great Man who runs
the city had sent out the word.
Il couldn't understand it, being
driven out like that. But I left. What
else to do? Then I walked up Hata-
men street and outside the gate.
Dozens Of my friends had been driven
out just like me.
Protest to Great One.
so we had a meeting of the Guild
and We appointed committee to see
the Great One and the head OF the
police. The committee told them
| that If We were to suffer this injustice
II We were not allowed to beg where
our ancestors had begged, all the beg
gars Of Peking would stop begging
Then the city would have to give us
rice. Why not, If they took our busi-
| ness away? We are respectable
people; we are not thieves!
"And If the city would not give us
rice We would have to steal, for we
| could not starve. With all the beg
gars Of Peking becoming thieves, what
would happen? Oh, we had them
there! We knew they couldn't stand
that; there are too many thieves
already. Then the Great One sale
that all the beggars could return tt
the places where they have alway,
begged, so here I am. 1t is good tc
be back"
In 1928 I was involved in an affair
with the Chinese where the threat OF
a sit-down strike produced results
which the combined efforts OF the
Secretary Of State at Washington, the
American Minister and the Chinese
Minister Of Foreign Affairs were moi
able to obtain. That year interna
politics were in highly inflammablt
condition. China was flooded with s
wave of nationalism which found one
expression in anti-foreignism.
| The Central Asiatic Expedition hac
just returned from the Cobb Desert
| u'ith nd rf a,-+1
An unofficial body, styling themselve.
the COMMITTEE for the Preservation
OF Cultural Objects" confiscated oul
collections when they arrived at Kal.
gan. The IS boxes of collections. the,
announced, would be distributed
among Chinese institutions.
Secretary OF State Stimson did hi
best in our behalf, and made repre-
sentations to the minister of foreign
affairs at Marking. Weeks of negotia.
tions got us absolutely nowhere. Th,
boxes still remained at Kalgan unde
the guard Of soldiers. Finally tn,
Cultural Society" informed me tina
they intended to bring the collection
to Peking.
| Sit-Down Threatened.
"All right" said I, and I'll tell 70,
what We intend to do. Those collec
tions are our property and you know
it. But you have military force
When you bring them down we viii
meet the train with the whole stat
Of the Central Asiatic Expedition. W.
will also have all the foreign CORE
spondents, press and newsreel pho
tographers. We will accompany tn
collections to whatever institution yo,
take them.
In front of this institution w
will make our camp We will ca
there and sleep there and, so help m
Buddha, we'll stay there until 70,
return the collections to us. W.
will issue daily press bulletins: tn
newsreel and press photographers vii
get wonderful pictures and the stor
will 60 to every paper OF the cart
from Vladivostok to Valparaiso. I
will be great fun for us, and you wi
be the laughing stock Of the world.
They knew We would do it, too. I
was something they simply couldn'
stand. for above all things the Chi
nese individually and nationally hate
to be made ridiculous. That brough
results and brought them quickly. TIL
collections were returned to us.
Doctor J. G. Anderson, formerl
mining adviser to China, had a,
amusing experience when he was col
lecting fossils in one of the interio
provinces. He had the owners per
mission to excavate on his land, bu
operations were suddenly halted b
the appearance of an irate old lady
Angry men are bad enough, heavel
knows, but when a Chinese womal
works herself into a frenzy everyon
hunts cover.
This particular old lady was s
enraged that she seated hersel
squarely in the hole that the pale
ontologist had dug, and refused t
move. Arguments were useless. An
dersson could not well shovel her out
SO he tried other tactics. He 60