The Coolidge examiner., 1938-06-23

j Prepared bv National Geographic Society.
Washington, D. C.-WNU Service.
w THILE the major bat
w ties between Japanese
v v and Chinese forces
have ragged of late in the
northeast province of Shan
tung, Shanghai still has re-
minders of the conflict which
swept through the city last
year.
In accordance with ar
rangements of long standing
between the Chinese and
foreign governments, the lat
ter maintain units of their
troops at several points in
China, one of the most inn
portant of these being the
International Settlement in
Shanghai.
Excepting occasional stately junks
with eyes painted on either side Of
the high bow to enable them to see
their way" there is little to suggest
the Orient on the way up the Whang
poo river in Shanghai. Before the
dock is reached, however. China OBJ
trudes itself upon the sight and its
odors penetrate the nOstrils.
From a downstream wharf it is
half hours ride in a tender to the
customs jetty in the city. Wharves.
warehouses, and factories line the
shores.
Immediately beyond the japanese
docks in Hongkew appears the curve
/ Of water front upon which three con-
sulates now stand.
Beyond lies the mouth of Soochow
/ creek, the crowded stream which
meanders tortuously through the
city. 1t bristles with the floating
homes of innumerable Chinese-Chi-
nese who are born, live their entire
lives, and die on the sampans which
huddle together in its murky water.
Babies, toddling too near the gun
wales, sometimes topple in, and,
/ having been fished out are set casu-
ally to dry. Water dipped up over
the side is used by the women for
cooking rice and vegetables; clothes
are washed in il; and it imparts
that certain flavor to tea.
A sampan gaily pavilioned and
festooned in red indicates that a
wedding will soon take place.
1 English Had First FOOthoId There.
Great Britain was the first of all
! the nations which now have such
valuable commercial interests in the
city "above the sea" to recognize
the vast potentialities Of the little
fishing hamlet on the muddy shores
:. of the Whangpoo.
In 1912, emerging victorious from
! the so-called Opium war, she con-
/ cluded with China the Treaty of
/ Nanking by which Shanghai and
four other coastal cities were estab-
lished as treaty ports.
Within two years the United States
and France, realizing that Shang-
hai's geographical position made it
the natural outlet for products of the
rich Yangtze river valley, followed
suit and signed trade pacts with
China. Ninety-siX years ago, when
| the foreigners first obtained areas
for settlement, land on the water
front brought only 5000 Mex an
acre. BY 1885 an acre of Bundside
property was valued at more than
four millions.
An amazing variety of traffic
throngs the Bund. that splendid wa
terfront boulevard which is the cen
ter of Shanghafs bustling activity.
Fine Buildings on the Bund.
Imposing buildings, reminiscent of
London, line the Bund; banks, busi-
ness houses, newspaper offices,
clubs. The conveyances of the East,
rickshas, handcarts. and wheelbar-
rows, bearing an unbelievable vari-
ETY. of loads, make way for lumoer-
ing double-decked buses, trans, and
sleek foreign cars.
The Chinese have proved remark
ably adaptable in adjusting them
selves to contact with English
speaking nations. They have adopt
ed automobiles, foreign clothes,
iazz, and golf. The natives of the
treaty ports have evolved bizarre
speech based on English with which
they can communicate satiSfac-
torily with the stranger.
Since the average occidental resi-
dent of Shanghai will not take the
trouble to learn the local dialect,
the natives used pidgin, or ''busi-
ness English" In fact, two Chi
nese from different provinces often
resort TO this jargon. for each is al
most sure to have difficulty in un-
derstanding the dialect of the other.
In pidgin English one word often
does duty for three or four Thus
my signifies also Il, me, mine"
and their plural forms. My no