Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, August 19, 1900, THE ILLUSTRATED BEE., Page 3, Image 3

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    August 11), 1000.
THIS 1LLUSTHATK1) 11 IS IS.
Chinese Poor Folk
Wages Seven Cents a Day
A rich Cliluniniiii wears silk, n poor ono
cotton. Since tlio proportion of rich to
poor Ih about ono In u thousand, It follows
that tliu growth ami manufacture of cotton
nro vital necessities. It Is thought that
cotton culture was begun In the thirteenth
century, the plant coming In from India,
where U has been known for L',000 years.
In spltu of Its uiiciiiulod agriculture, China
tides not raise cotton for export, nor In
fact enough for Its own needs. In tho
growth and manufacture of It, as In every
thing else, the aim Is not, as In these
United States, save hand labor, but to use
us much of It as possible. There arc no
power-gins for taking out the seed. In
stead, the Chinese use the little hand-gins
very like those still to be found In tin
homespun regions of the Appalachian
chain. The gin Is nothing more than a
couple of small wooden rollers, made fast
In uprights ulHxed to a bench. They nre
turned by a wooden crank, revolve one
against the other and free the cotton of
seed by drawing the lint through the nar
row space between. The lint Is fed to
them by hand and It takes a long and
steady day's work to gin live pounds ol
lint, which means twenty pounds of cot
ton In the seed.
The cotton Is carded simultaneously with
the ginning. A second man stands at the
end of the bench beating the clean cotton
with the tee-kung, or earth bow, Into big,
flaky "bats." These bats the women spin
In vurlous wnys. Sometimes they use the
of transportation anil travel over these
eighty tulles that Is engrossing the experts
of Kurope, America and Japan. Hannibal
and Napoleon crossed the Alps, but 1 doubt
If that was a feat which required better
engineering or more endurance than would
be required to transport an nrmy from
Tien Tsln to I'ekln during the mouths of
- --rf-. ' "'4, . ,J . , ,
,MTr m 1 1 nil an
CKM.; COTTON IN A ClllNUSH HOMU
looked, but I know I was tb must 1111
attractive bridegroom that ever looked into
a mirror. We arrhed at Tien Tsln, how
ever, after four days and were properly
married In I lie presence of the consul.
The .Itiu cue lij Dirt Itoml.
The Chinese have a saying that "men
may trawl b dirt road or by water road,
but the water road Is much the preferable "
If what we have Just described Is the best
method of travel In China any one en
Imagine (he less desirable methods. How.
ever, to Imagine them a little experience
Is necessary.
One of the Chinese ministers In Wnh
Ington a few years ago in speaking of the
various methods of travel said: "Yes. our
Heating palaces ami I'ullman cars are all
right for rapid transit, but for real solid
comfort give me a I'ekln carl."
The I'ekln cart Is like a large Sarntog.t
trunk on two wheels. The shafls extend
out behind a foot and a half and form a
platform on which to strap one's baggage
Ah I Ik mule trols the cart Is given a
rocking moliou backward and forward
similar to (he motion one gets In riding a
camel Tlx' tart Is without springs and
the wheels are made sullleieutly strong to
carry the weight If they were without tires
The tires are put on in sections elghieiu
Inches In length and are only to keep Hie
wheels from being worn out on the ground
Add to this the fact that tho Chinese ncwr
"work on the roads," but that a road is
wherewr the earls happen to drive, and
you get Home Idea of tho "solid comfort
of a Chinese cart." Tho paHsenger la
bumped up and down until he wishes his
brain were resting upon a patent air
cushion; he Is bumped backward and for
ward and from Hide to side until, If he Is
not careful, his head will be pounded iuin
:i
and one's shoes nre covered with a green
tin old owe night, when they are lompelbd
to carry with them their bedding and drag
after 1 Item all the accouirciueuiH of an
nnnj and bo prepared lo resist the at
tacks of a hostile army strongly Intrenched
and accustomed to nil the Hiiroiilldtiiit eon
dll inns. Those who criticise the nlllcd
I l oops for saying II Is Impossible to go in
I'ekln befote September do not know the
existing conditions in north China.
'lo I'll. Ill It Itlllll'Mllll.
The third method of going to PcLm
from Tien Tsln Is by railroad. Ily rati we
are able to make the trip lit from throe to
r.nir hours, wlih all the comforts attached
to ralll'iad traveling Second -class the
fare Is T." cenis. Ilrst elnss twice thai
amount, ami In the postal car. which cor
i t spends lo our parlor 01 sleeping cars
the fare Ih 2."S. And yet this Is the
method the conservative Chinese are light
lug as compared with the other Iwo I haw
Joel named. Their practice, however, t
belter than their theory, for when th
w Mi to go from one place lo the other
they go by train and not by bent or can
anil the railroad as a eons tpi -nee, In
spile of nil the client lug done, has been
paying some 20 to 110 per cent on the In
vt simetit.
Of course under the present condition--It
Is unnecessary to speak of this a one
of tho present methods, for the rallro:nl
Is more or less destroyed, and
will probably not be used until peace i
restored and Ihe railroad repaired It t .
folly lo talk about tho Chinese Innliiu
but lied the large bridge tit Vang Tsuti, lie
cause it Is made of Iron and could not be
burned. A few of Ihe erosstles might lie
burned, but otherwise n n Hreproof. The
hii aller bridges over small streams and
places whole Htreains are allowed lo p.n.
1.rSer
dim
CIIINKSK MKN WHO 13AHN SKVRN CUNTS A DAY.
old-fashioned spinning wheel. Much oftener
It Is something approximating tho
ancient dlstnff. Tho spinner twirls it
steadily, walking nround and nround as
she twirls, thus winding tho lengthening
thread Into very long hanks. If U Is spun
and run Into broaches, or quills, they aro
often reeled with a hand reel. Chinese In
dustry Indeed Is ns Inveterate as Chinese
economy. Women usually work at such
reollng while thoy stand at gossip In tho
alleyways between their houses. If thero
Is no reel handy they will bo stitching
upon a shoo sole, always a salable article
Baro feet aro unknown In China, Even a
beggar wears shoes, though ho may havo
no other clothing than tliu head bowl,
which serves both ns a hat and to hold
out when thero Is a chance of alms.
NiilliliiK Wasted In CI1I1111.
Nothing Is wasted In Chlnn. Kven grass
and wheat roots aro pulled up, washed,
dried and used for fuel. Scraps of paper
and cloth aro pasted togother to make tho
In-soles of shoes, nits of wood aro glued
to build up either a board or a post
Women spinners ami strnw-plalters tarn
2 cents a day. Tho spinning, though, Is
most commonly llko tho weaving at tho
hand looms, only a part of unpaid house
hold labor. Machlno-mado cloth and
thread havo of Into come to bear heavily
upon the cotton workers, hut that fact Is
In a degroo offset by tho growing Importa
tion of raw cotton. Still some of tho light
yellow hnnd-mado fabric known tho world
over as nankeen, from tho city of export,
Nankin, Is shipped abroad. It Is made
from a peculiar yellow staplo cotton, honco
not dyed. Tho same yellow staple cotton
Is grown and manufactured by Arcadians
In Louisiana, hut tho fabric Is so coarse
It does not compcto with tho Chtncso one.
Flvo dollnrs a yonr will clotho a Chlneso
husband nnd wlfo somothlng moro than
decently. Underwear Is unknown, so Is
fitting a garment. Tho only measures
taken nro from the hip to tho ground and
from tho mlddlo of tho breast to tho finger
tips. Fnshlnns do not change. Winter
garments and bedding nro wndded with cot
ton. Onco n yenr thoy must bo ripped
apart and washed, padding and all.
How needful Is economy may bo Judged
from a few figures, Unskilled laborers aro
paid upon an averago 7 cents a day.
Masons, carpenters and stonecutters, here
a3 olsowhero tho aristocracy of labor, get
from 2D to 30 cents a day. Work begins
at sunrlso nnd kcops up until dnrk, not
withstanding all which strikes aro vlrtn
ally unknown, nnd tho Chinese laborer is
tho happiest nnd most contented In all tho
world.
Three Routes to Pekin
(Copyright, 1000, by I. T. Headland.)
Thero aro no eighty miles In tho world
today which are attracting so much atten
tion ns the eighty miles of space between
Tien Tsln nnd I'ekln and It Is the problem
July and August and a part of .September
Winter's cold stimulates to greater exer
tion, summer's heat only enervates.
Climbing mountains in winter tills men's
blood with lire, wading through mud and
water and mlsismic swamps in the heat of
summer Mils men's blood with malaria and
saps away their lives. Food can be kept
for 11 whole nrmy in the cold of the Alps,
but It soon spoils on an August day In the
heat of a Chinese plain.
Tho trip from Tien Tsln to I'ekln under
ordinary circumstances may bo made In
three ways Ilrst, by boat; second, by dirt
road; third, by railroad and, as we have
made the trip in all three ways and at all
seasons of tho yenr, a description of how
wo made it may not prove uninteresting.
The Trip h limit.
An American In I'ekln who wishes to be
married must either Import tho United
States consul from Tien Tsln or himself
go to Tien Tsln to be married. We choso
the latter method nnd started from Tung
Chou on a bright day In tho early part of
June. It was In tho evening when wo
weighed anchor, which wo did by unhook
ing the anchor from tho shore, tho women
of the party In ono bout nnd the men In an
other. The wind was not quite fair nnd so
our boatmen concluded to row rather than
hoist the sails. Wo traveled until about
10 o'clock, when we dropped anchor by
hooking ourselves to tho bank out In tho
open country. Tho next morning tho wind
was blowing so strong as to mako It almost
impossible to travel, but wo Insisted upon
moving nnd offered extra money for extra
work. About 10 o'clock, however, tho wind
was so strong ns to make It impossible for
us to round a particularly sharp curve and
we were blown ngalust Hie bank, where
we remained three days anil nights, the
wind blowing a gale and tho ulr Illicit
with clouds of dust so that we could not
see a distance of a hundred feet. Wo shut
our boat up tight and concluded to wait for
the storm to pass over. All day It blew
and the boats being full of cracks and
hides tho dust and dirt sifted In on us from
every Hide. Wo went to bed nnd In tho
morning when we awoke wo could not open
our eyes; the eyelids were glued together
with mud. 1 cannot tell how my wife
SIIOttINC HOW A CIIINUSF YUiMW I SI'S 1 1 lMt I UST ! I'
ll Jelly or covered over with scars ir
though It had come In coiii.m t with John
I.. Somebody's strong right arm.
For three days you must bump over these
roads, bieathlug In the clouds of alkali
dust which Is kicked up by your two mules,
or perhaps by the mules of a cart or two
Just ahead of you, so that when you nunc
into ihe Inn you are covered from head to
fool with dust in a way that would make
a coal digger, as compaied with youtxcir, a
respectable looking guest.
Thero aro two other met hods of mak
ing tho trip from Tien Tsln to I'ekln by
dirt road. Tho ono Is by horse, mule 01
donkey back nnd tho other is afoot. How
ever, I have known members of our uui
vorslty in I'ekln who, when going from tin
city to tho western hills on horseback,
had to dismount, strip and lie their cloth
lug to their horse's head and swim with
their horse across the mads whii h ha I
turned Into rivers. In such a condition ol
affairs it Is easy to understand what wmi'd
bo the dilll ultles of making a Hip to I'ekln
in tho heat of August by soldiers who an
unaccustomed to the climate, whore a
drenching rain comes up in half an h 111
undi r the i.iilrnail (luring the raiu sea
sou might easily be burned If they could
got other fuel to pile up uriiund them. Uui
this Is not an easy matter In a country
where one may walk miles without llmllng
a piece of wood large enough for a wulMug
stick. However, It is certain Hint both the
railroad ami some of the bridges are de
stroyed and that when Ihe nllles wish
go to I'ekln they will have lo go by dirt
road, which Is Ihe worst of bad methods of
travel In China.
Direct from ffSSi J f
f Consumer TO I
F Pu I i'qii rt 8, j fl 1
"A i!prcn i'aiJ.'rrrYii H
Saves Middlemen's Milt iV H
Profits. I'revtMtls I AVV
Lm A il ii 1 1 it rn 1 1 ii m
II I tl.irlj- L . F"P Effl
HAYNEEB
gEVEll-YCAn OLD
0 frWT
n i'AW'ER DSTILLlNpp
i
!
ffefffl
ft. B t sir
SPINNING HY MISSION WOMEN IN CHINA.
rilileejclirHttK
I Il'-H(ilnf died
Ihe In d uIiihIik)'
mad. miiiIhoM it
illleet t il coll.
HIIIIUMH
We l .nc tliollH-iilld-
(if cliullilll
i'H in i c J ftulo
iiinl want more;
e t Ii e re f n I o
M.I,. t Ii f o I .
I..VVH u
Proposition:
Wc will .lend
you foil r lull
quart buttles of
II... u... ...
. ...j ... . " sS, ri
ear Old Double xBu
ctineer IMslllliil
Wye lnr $.t.io, Hxpreis Prepiild. We ,lilp
in pbiln pnckiigcs no niurkti In Inilli'iite I
contents. When ytui get It and test It, I
II It Isn't xatlslaticry return It at our I
cxpcuie, nnd we will return your S.t.Jo.
Such w liUkcy cannot be piuchujeiUi.se-
wlivre lor less tluin fl.iio,
Kri Kiii n('.h Htiiln Nul l Hunk, 81 Louis, (
i nun am i iiaiuc, nayioii.
or an) of tho I'.xpieHH i ouipanies.
WUITIJ K) NI1AKI1ST AI)l)UI!SS.
THE HAYNER DISTILLING GO.
305 307 $. Seventh St., ST. l.OUIS, MO.
226.232 West rifth St., DAYTON, OHIO.
P S. Oritur fur An: , Col., (!al . Mnliii, Mimt
Mv , . JIM ()i.i . IMiih, nli ,)0. mii.i I
uti ii,r 'iiiim,,ii) iitiiuui i.riM'iiei,
oginiruiuciinimvo in in w in tin its iiiiiynyren -r.