TITE OMAITA SUNDAY BEE: NOVEMBER 29, 1900.
Han Wang, the Big: New Steel Plant in Heart of the Chinese Empire
n
(Copyright, 130!. by Frank O. Carpenter.)
ANKOW. 19U9.-(Spoclal Cotra.
T I -pond-nee of Th He.) I writ
J I "f the biggest steel plant on ttva
mainland or th AalaUo conti
nent. It lien here at Hankow, la
ti'. 1,'J...
the Interior of China. 700 milt
south of Peking, and an far went ot
the Pacific an Cleveland Is west" of th
Atlantic. It In In th very heart of th
empire, accessible by water transportation
to a population of over 100.0o0.000, and at ft
point where railroad will eventually con.
verge an they do at Chicago. Tha Yangst
Klang Id said to carry one-third of alt
tho commerce of China, and by It the blgw
geat ocean steamers can come right t
theso steel works during the greater part
of the year. Boats from half a dozen dif
ferent provinces which contain coal an4
Iron mined each reach It In any month ot
the twelve and Its product can be aent by
water to the edge of Thibet or on tha
Vangtso tributaries down to Yunnan, tha
great province which borders on Burmah.
Hankow, which adjoins Han Yang, al
ready has a trunk line of railroad to
Peking, and others are projected to Nan
king and Canton.
The Chicago of China.
Hankow has been called tha Chicago of
China. It will eventually be tho Pittsburg
and Birmingham as well. The smoke
stacks of Its factories are already pol
luting the air, and It has all the natural
resources of a great manufacturing center.
It has coal arid Iron on all sides, and de
posits of limestone almost equal to Carrara
marble In purity lie In its back yard.
Take the ore which tha steel plant la
now using. It comes from a solid moun
tain of Iron about sixty miles down the
Yangste. Tha company has something;
like thirty-five square miles of iron de
posits and upon this are hills 300 feet high.
It Is estimated that more than 2o0.000.000
tons are already In sight, and that the
mountain which Is now being mined con
tains over 150,000,000 tons. The or la 04
per cent pure. I am told it Is 10 per cent
better than our best Lake Superior and
equal to tha highest grade of iron of Sw.
" dun.
The coal which this steel plant uses now
comes from about DUO miles up tha Yangtse,
and its mines are so situated that It can
easily be loaded and brought down by
water. It makes excellent coke and there
are now about) 00 ovens on flra at tha
mines. The present coal output Is about
1.500 tons dully; and, with a little extra ma
chinery, this can be Increased to 2,000 tons.
Both the coal and iron deposits belong to
the steel company, although tha Iron mines
have been mortgaged to Japan by a long
time contract which furnishes so much or
per year at a low price per ton.
thlun'a "hied City.
Hut' let me tell you about th steel plant
Itself. It lies on the north bank of th
Yangtse, In the city of Han Yang, Just
west of Hankow, being separated from it
by the Han river. Ther ar thr great
cities at this point. Hankow, where I am
writing, has a population of over 1,000,000.
It In the pi .Miit urmlnus of the Hankow.
1'ikliiK railroad; It is th chief tea shipping
city of Cliniu. and is a great Industrial
centir. it i ui opi n port, and ha several
furelMi co..Yvi-ion. Inhabited by Europe
ans. O.i the opposite bank of the Yangtsu
KUns. uh.cii l.i hrre a mile wld, 1 Mu
chuiu,', aii.tluT great Chinese city. ThU
in ttLuiit half as bl.i as Boston, and cove;
a murii i;i (-a; r space. It Is the Ice regal
capital of l'.j; h und Hunan, two thriving
Industrial Mann, both containing millions.
Han Yun.T extend fur up the "Yangts
above ll.inkow, the three sister cltie com
bined exceeding Chicago In st.e.
The steel plant lies on a. trlp of lowland
at tho Junction of th Han and the Yangtse.
Pp to a few year ago tho ground on which
it stands was a swamp, but th viceroy,
Chang Chi Tung, having decided that China
ought to build It own railroad and make
It ow n steel, chose thla as tha place,. II
was viceroy of the Hukwang provinces at
the time, and hi capital city waa Wuchang,
which lie In plain lght across the Yang-tse-Klang.
He first raised embankments
Short Yarns Told on Pertinent Topics
Clergyman's Samplei.
MINISTER who hud been do-
K I lng. missionary work In India
I recently returned to thl coun-
aa I B .lal. IX waa a cmAiat
II jr iim . - - - "
at a well known hotel, where
everything pleased him except
the absence of th very torrid sauces and
spices to which h had become accustomea
In the far east. Fortunately he had brought
with him a aupply of hi. favorite condl
Wnts. and by arranging with the head
water thes wr placed on hi table. On
day another guet aw the appetizing bot
tle on hi. neighbor" table and asked tho
waiter to give him some of "that auce."
"I'm sorry, air," aald th waiter, "but it
1 the prlvat property of thl gntleman."
The minister, however, overheard tha
other' request and told th waiter to pas
the bottle.
The tranger poured some of th mixture
on his meat and took a liberal mouthful.
After1 a moment he turned with tear In hi.
eyes'to th minister.
"You're a minister of th gospel?"
"Ye, sir."
"And you preach the doctrine of ever
lasting fire?
"Yes," admitted th minister.
"Weill you'r th first minister I ever
met who carried sample." Detroit New.
Troatiles ot llnmorisf.
Mark Twain one approached a friend, a
business man, and confided th fact that
gems of thought were forming In hla brain
with uch rapidity that they wer even be
ginning to parkl In b eye, and that h
needed th assistance of a tenogTapher.
"I can send you one, fine young fellow."
the friend said. "He cam to my offlc
yesterday in search of a position, but I
didn't have an opening. I am ur you will
find him all right."
"Has he a aens of humor?" Mark asked
cautiously.
"Oh, I am sure he has In fact, he got
off one or two pretty witty things himself
yesterday," the friend hastened to assure
him.
"Sorry, but he won't do, then," th writer
said, with a disappointed shake of hi head.
"Why, er, why not?" was th surprised
query. ,
The wouUlb employer assumed a confi
dential air.
"I'll tell you," he said. "You see, I had
one once befor with a sense of humor, and
It Interfered too much with th work. I
can't afford to pay a man f- a day for
laughing." New York Times.
Father Mlaht Have Waited.
Father wa running on th demoeratio
ticket f.r district attorney In Greene
county, New York, In the fall of 1S04. and
hi canvas for vote took him to one of
the river town among the farmer. H
found In th field, ploughing, a hard work
ing farmer, one of several brother, who
took much more Interest In the sutije. t
of agriculture than in politics. Father
broached the subject of hi candidacy to
i farmer, requesting him to coin out
lection and asked to be remembered. He
then spoke about th other boy and was
THE GREAT HAN YANG STEEL WORKS
"HB YANGTSE.
to keep out the water, and then filled up
the several hundred acres of swamp until
he had raised the whole area fourteen feet.
In this work the dirt and other materials
were carried In by coolie In little shovel
like baskets alung to the ends of poles on
their shoulder. Basket by basket they laid
th foundation, and now no one would im
agine that the ground had ever been any
thing but solid. It 1 covered with great
factories and foundries, and there ar
smokestacks 150 feet high rising upon It.
Indeed, Han Yang reminds me of Pitts
burg. It mighty chimneys, vomiting
moke, (land out against the sky, and It
hug foundries and blast furnaces can be
seen for miles up and down th Yangts
river. Altogether th work cover about 120
acre, and, Including the mines which sup
ply them, they employ a force of 30.000
hand. There are about 4.000 hand In th
steel plant Itself, and several thousand
more In an armory and gunworks making
rifles, artillery and small arm connected
with It. Then Han Yang ha a mokeles
powder factory, a large eljtrlo work and
a military academy which ha 1,000 stu
dents. It take about three hour' steady
walking to go through th varlou estab
lishment. Owned and Ram by Chinee.
All the work are owned and run by
Chines. Of th 20,000 . employe In the
teel plant and mine, there ar only
twenty Europeans, and they are merely a
foremen and advisory director. As I have
said, the works were originated by Chang
Chi Tung, and that a a government enter
prise. That famous viceroy had memor
ialized tha throne that It should not be de
pendent upon foreigner, but should build
Its own railroad and make It own rails.
Th late emperor, Kwang-Su, and th great
dowager consented to this and directed
Chang Chi Tung to go ahead and carry
out hla Ideas. He did so, but It was at a
great expense and enormous loss. He sank
millions, and was up to his eyes In debt,
when the works were turned over to Sheng
Kung Poo, China' multi-millionaire. Sheng
bought them of the government, and. al
though he haa nominally given them ovtr
to a stock company with a capital of 510.
000,000 or so, he I still practically their
owner.
flheng Kung Pao Uvea at Shanghai, but
he ha able assistants here In the persona
of V. K. Lee, V. T. Tsang and Wnng Rok
Shan, all business Chinese, who have been
brought up In th work. Mr. Lea, the
manager, I a native of Buehow. He was
aent abroad to study the Iron and steel
plants of Europe and America, and from
there brought back th plan upon which
the plant was reorganized. Mr. Tseng
come from Nanking. He began hi life
her a an ordinary clerk, and ha risen
to be the vice manager; while Mr. Wang,
the commercial director, who come from
told that if they got along well with their
fall work all of them would be at the pells
and cast their votes for father. It then
ocourred to father that he bad heard that
ihe boys' father had died a ahort time be
fore and he said to the farmer, "Let's see,
your father Is dead, Isn't he?" "Yes, sir,"
answered the farmer, assuming a veiy
solemn tone and expression, "he died here
last summer, right In haying time, when
we were Just as busy aa we could be."
National Monthly.
The Mind that Excels.
Colonel George Harvey, the brilliant
young publisher and powerful writer,
praised a recent address In New York, the
country mind.
"Even in wrong and Ingoble things," said
Colonel Harvey, smiling, "even In driving
hard bargains, the country mind excels
that of the city. I recall a dialogue that
I once heard In the general store of my
native Peacham. What Wall street sharp
could hav driven such a bargain aa the
old Vermont rurallst achieved In. this dia
logue?" And Colonel Harvey with really excellent
mimicry repeated:
" 'Y say, want a dollar for th
boot. Tak 70 cenur
" 'Ye..'
" 'Ye mout throw In one of them woolen
throat warmer, too, hey?
"'All rls-hL'
" 'Hold on thar. The boots ain't got no
strings.'
" 'I'll give y pair of airings.'
" 'Iletter make it two pair. One won't
last no time.'
" 'Very well; two pair It Is."
" 'Can't )' chuck in on of them paper
collar, for good measure?'
" 'Oh, I guess so, rather than miss a
trade.'
" 'Look-a-here .when a feller buys a bill
o' goods offn ye. don't ye set 'em up?'
"'Yes, what'll you take?"
" 'Gimme two plugs of chew In' tobacker
an' i pound o scrapple.' "New York
Tribune.
A He volat iouary Hero.
Th real origin' ot the greatest fake hero
Story ever told ha come to light in a
crap book owned by an old resident of
Washington.
A . group of revolutionary heroes wer
landing befor an old bar In Washington,
and from the lips of each there fell wond
rous stories of what h had don In th
hock of battle or th frensy of the
charge. Finally on old fellow with long
whit whisker remarked:
"1 waa personally acquainted with George
Washington.
"I was lying behind th breastwork on
day, pumping lead Into th Britishers,
when I heard th patter of a horse' hoofs
behind me. Then cam a voice:
" HI. there, you with the deadly aim!
Look here a moment."
"I looked around and saluted, recognlxlng
General Washington, and he said;
" 'What's your name?'
'Hogan,' I said.
1 1
-. - ' i f
THEY ARB SITUATED 600 MILES UP
Hongkong, ha had a similar experience.
These three Chinese will rank as busi
ness men with the managers of the steel
works of the United States. Each speaks
English as fluently as any reader of this
newspaper, and understands our books on
steel-making.
I had letters of Introduction to the
managers from Mr. William Martin, our
consul at Hankow, and In the absence of
Mr. Lee, my card was taken in to Mr.
Tsang.. Dressed In a black cap. a long
silk gown and heavy cloth boots, I found
him dictating directions to a stenographer.
He looked like a classical Chines? pro
fessor, and I was greeted In English.
After a chat of a few minutes he took
me over to the technical director, Mr.
Eugene RuppertNand asked him to show
me through the establishment. As ho did
o a Chinese brought In an Important
letter In French and Mr. Tsang and Mr.
Ruppert, discussed thla in the French lan
guage, as though they were both born
Frenchmen. I doubt not Tsang can speak
German as well, and that, although he
ha never been outside of tho empire.
Making Steel Mo7l to Sweden.
leaving the offices I went through the
various departments of tha steel plant
with th technical director. Mr. ' Ruppert
has been here for seventeen years. He
started In at the beginning with Chang Chl
Tung, and Is a t ill one of the chief ad
visers and directors of the establishment.
I shall not attempt to describe the blast
furnaces, the rolling mills and th foun
drle. They are Just Ilk those cf Pitts
burg, Cleveland, Chicago and other steel
making cities. They have th finest ma
chinery, and they throw their old ma
chines on the scrap heap when they be
come worn out or antedated. For Ins'.anoe,
at the start, a costly Bcssemr plant was
put In, and most of the smelting was dono
by that proctss. Then It was discovered
that there was too much sulphur In the
coal to get good results and Siemens-Martin
furnace have been installed.
The steel now produced Is said to be
among the beat of the world. I saw many
tests which proved Its excellence. These
tests were performed with cold steel. One
was on the llttl Iron fish-plates which
fasten the steel rails together as they lie
on th tic. These plate are a half-Inch
thick, three inehe wide and a foot or more
long. They wer put In a machine by
which they were doubled up a though they
wcru India rubber, and that without the
slsn of a crack. This was done with the
cold Iron. I saw cold railroad spikes
twisted around and around until they
looked like ropes, and sections of cold steel
rails weighing ninety pounds to the yard
twisted into gigantic corkscrews without
u crack or breuk anywh"'- showing. I
stood tip a piece of one of these rails about
five feet long beside myself and a Chines i
workman, and had Mr. Ruppert snap my
" 'Your first name?"
" Pat, sir Pat Hogan."
" 'Well, Pat," he said, 'go home. You're
killing too many men."
" 'I think I'd better get few more, Gen
eral,' 1 said, kind of apologetic.
" 'No,' he said; 'you've killed too many.
It's slaughter. And, Pat, don't call me Gen
eral; call me George." "Washington Post.
Mot Yet.
A Missouri clergyman had in his pas-
toral flock a member who was reluctant
about meeting the contribution basket. Tho
pastor had thrown out many broad hints,
but all to no avail.
On day the member fell ill and was
taken to the Ensworth hospital. When the
clergyman arrived the man was delirious,
While th pastor was sitting beside his
bed a wild yell of "Fire! Fire!" came from
across the street.
The alck man drew himself up on his
elbows. "Where where am 1?" h asked
excitedly.
"Calm yourself, brother," soothed the
pastor, with Just the faintest twinkle In
his eye. "You ar still at the Ensworth
hospital." Llpplncott'a Magazine.
A l'annlbTBIbop.
The queen of Denmark once paid a visit
to th Danish colony of Iceland, where the
good old bishop exerted himself to the
utmost to show her everything that was
wnrlh a.lnir TIia f-nlri t.aid mnnv f..ttn.
. . . . . . i i
plment. to her host and having learned
that he was a family man graciously in
quired how many children he h:td.
It happens that the Danish word for
children Is almost Identical In sound with
the Icelandic word for sheep and the wor
thy bishop promptly answered, " Two hun
dred." "Two hundred children!" critd the queen.
"How can you possibly maintain such a
number?"
"Easily enough, please your majesty,"
replied the prelate, with a cheerful smile.
"In the summer I turn them out upon the
hill to graze and when the winter comes I
kill und eat them." M. A. P.
A Kick TBtalr-l nil Years Lunar.
It was a midsummer evening in the. trou-
blous ear of 1&4, relates u writer in the
American Magazine, that Joseph Pulitzer,
a tall, lean, falr-halred boy Just from an
Immigrant ship at Boston took lodgings In
a cheap hotel In the German quarter of
New York. Th landlord assigned him to
a room and changed a 20-franc piece witn
which the boy paid him.
That ao-frano piece waa all th money the
boy possessed. It wa. gone before h
found a Job. An empty wagon, a park
bench, became his bed; th sky hi blanket.
It wa natural that th war contagion
ahculd seise upon this lad. The spirit of
adventure had turned his bark on his home
In a little village near Budapest, Hungary,
where he was born April 10, 1M7, the son
of a Jew father.
Joseph Pulitzer went to war as a pri
vate dragoon In the First New York cav-
i . -
i Av
BIO BLAST FURNACES AT HAN YANG.
camera to show how It looks. A rail which
can stand that kind of a test could not
posslb'y break with the cold. It Is as
tough as wrought Iron and can be bent up
like a rope without cracking.
Iron nail for lltuiese Trunk Lines.
As we wont through the work I saw
great piles of steel rails, weighing eighty
five pounds to the yard, which are now
making for the Canton-Hankow road. They
are being turned out at the rate of several
hundred per day. Mr. Ruppert tells me
that the most of the rails for the Chinese
roads of the future will be made at Han
yang. Th government Is granting all Its
new concessions, with the proviso that tho
rails must bo purchased of this Chinese
factory, unless the bids of foreign firms
are at least 5 per cent cheaper, the qtiaity
being the same. The Hanyang Steel
Works has furnished all the Iron for the
Hankow-Peking trunk line, which Is o'er
750 miles long. It supplied the rails for the
railway from Nanking to Shanghai, and It
Is under contract to furnish those for the
road now building from Kowloon. the port
opposite Hongkong, to Canton. There Is no
doubt but that the Chinese can make their
own railroad mnterlals. nnd Mr. R'ippert
tela me. that they are now making steel
rails end all rorls of structural bteel at a
profit.
ft,
Chinese Iron for the Vnlted States.
Puiing my walk through the rolling mill
I asked Mr. Ruppert whether he ever ex
pected to export steel to the American
market. He replied:
"MoHt certainly not. At least not dur
ing the present generation. V.'o have al
rady shipped con:iilcrnblp pig Iron to San
Francisco and to Japan, and we have sent
one shipment to New York by the Puex
eanal and sold It Just to show that we
could do o and make money. As for ths
present and for years to com, we can do
better by supplying the Chinese demand.
airy, which was known also as the Lin
coln cavalry. He served with the army of
the Shenandoah until peace was declared
in the following year, and he was honor
ably discharged In Washington.
With the war over, Joseph Pulitzer
drifted back to Now York. That winter
thing became so bad once that lie contem
plated tramping to Now Ueuford and ship
ping In the wiinjng fleet. Horace Greeley,
In whose life hi a few years this alien was
1 I'lay an Important role, was thundering
his "Go West, young man, go West:"
It la doubtful If Joseph Pulitzer would
have barkened to the western cry had it
not been for an Incident which was oes-
lined to make one of the big high lights In
the picture of his dramil- life, in thr,.
days French's hotel stood at Frankfort
street and l'ark Row on tho present site
of "the building with the glided dome." A
homely, fat-bellied stov n the hotel lubby
tempted many a starving unfortunate. Jo
eph l u ltzer knew well the cheery
v armth of that stove. He discovered thut
having his boots polished and his faded
blus uniform bruehrd by the bootblacks
at French's gave him a certain standing
In the tyrs of the servants, who would
pass him by to elect others. The day
came when a husky porter ended uil this
by Incontinently kicking the boy Into the
,,,,,,, (lf Julk ,;ow
Humiliated and stung to the soul the
. .
""y "fled himself out of the street, and
, ,hat our AecMon waa d
was done with New York, he thought.
I'hat porter in French's was a 'wonder
ful kicker. Tho kirk with which he
landed Joseph Pulitzer out of doors wu
twenty-two ears long. When its impulse,
ctuscd the ulij. cl of Its attack was able
to put his name to u cheek for fiiO.OOJ.
seize unto iilmself French' ho;el and all
tier 1. 1 tout. lined. Tlitre the World build
ing now siiimla. -
TuoU Time by the Forelock.
The family were to leave town on the
1! p. in. train, so the mother said, as she
was lain iiii; along the preparations in
the Brooklyn home.
"Now, children, ttt ready to io before
luncheon. Don't leave an) thing to be done
at the very last minute."
And the children tuid they wouldn't, ac-
coidlng to the New York Globe. Luncheon
ended, they hurried into their wraps and
started. In the halt the mother said:
"Edward, you didn't brubh your teeth."
"Yes, ma'am, I did."
"But you cuuldn't,"
she said.'
"You
dldn t have time. Why. you Just this mln-
ute got up from the table."
"I know thai," .aid Edward; "but w
were in such a hurry that I brushed 'em
before I ale,"
Mark Tnala'i Urvlvanee.
Mark Twain was talking about the fam
ous robbery in his beautiful country luiuse.
"Had I still been living In Hartford." he
said whimsically, "some of my Hartford
frlend'j would certainly have accused me of
robbing myself. They bad a poor opinion of
f.i1)i-.vr-.y' -,
it i
,
We have now In hand enough orders to
keep us busy until the ei.d of 110. and we
re receiving more every day. Indeed, It
will be a long time before China can keep
pace with her own needs In such materials.
W are building new furnaces as rapidly a
we ran, ard are already Increasing our
capacity. We hav a scheme of expansion
Which will keep im busy for five years to
come, and when that Is done we shall be
turning out 1.000 tons of teel per day.
Even then we shall have more than we can
do to supply our own wants."
"What kinds of steel are you making?"
"We make sheets, plates, angles, beam
and bar steel, as well aa all sort of struc
tural steel and steel rails. We make frogs,
spikes, nuts and bolts, and our rails run
from fifty to a hundred pounds to the
yard. All this Is by the Siemens-Martin
process, and that so well made that It will
stand the tests of the British Lloyds, the
German Lloyd and the British board ot
trade. Indeed, we are manufacturing aa
good steel as can be made anywhere."
I.lttle American Marhlnery Csed.
As we walked through the plant and I
eaw new machines being Installed I asked
as to whether much of the Import cam
from America.
"Not a great deal," said the technical
director. "We use your locomotive In our
yards, and we have aom American
machines In our steel works, but we find
that we can buy better and cheaper In
Erf land and Germany, and that the term
they offer are easier than those of th
United States. As It is now we have three
Slen-.er.F-Martln furnaces In operation', two
under construction and five under projec
tion. Our dally output of steel Is 200 tons,
and we shall soon be making 3U0 tons
more."
As we walked about I was surmised at
how the new and old methods of working
by the Best of Modern Jolliers
me in that town.
"Marshall Jewett. the ex-governor, used
to take up the collection In our Hartford
chuirh. They never asked me to tak It
up. I fretted a good deal over this matter.
" 'Sec here, Jewett.' I said one day, 'they
let you take up the collections every Sun
day, but they would never let me do It."
" 'Oh, yes, Ihey would,' said Jewett
'that Is, with a bellpunch like the horse
car conductors use.' " Boston Herald.
Scientist Loses to Landlady.
An editor was talking about the famou
EiifeilFh astronomer, Sir Robert Hall, who
has recently declared that1 radium proves
the earth to be 800,000,000 years old. "8 r
Robert Bull is as full of fun as of learn
ing," said the editor. "One I din d with
him and a half dozen other scientists at
Stiatford. At the end of the dinner Sir
Robert's eyes twinkled und he said to
Blue Laws of Old Virginia
(Continued from Page One.)
for the second offense 5u0 pounds, and If
he be unable to pay, then levy for the fine
shall be made upon the goods of any other
separatist or Uuuker then In the commu
nity. For the third offense the offender
hall be banished from the colony of Vir
ginia. This having put the lid on the disciples
of George Fox and other undesirables, the
law-makers proceeded In lOfiS to arrange
for a proper spirit of humility In the
colony.
The 27th of August Is hereby appointed
for a day of humiliation. fasting
and prayer to Implore God's mercy If any
person be found uKn that day gaming,
drinking or working, upon presentment by
the church wardens, and proof, he shall
he fined 100 pounds of tobacco, half to th
Informer und half to the poor of the parish.
Evldent'y a little thing like a couple of
yeurs In servitude did not deter tha lover
of pork chops from appropriating their
neighbor's swine, for In lti79 the assembly
delivered themselves of the following act:
The first offence nf hog stealing shall
be punished according to the former law;
ufion a second offence the offender shall
stand for two hours In the pillory, and
shall lose his curs, and foi the third
offence sua I be tried by the laws of Eng
land as In esse of felony.
As the English law of the peilod usually
prescribed hanging for a twice convicted
felon. It Is presumed that the third dosa
of Justice proved sn efficient remedy.
For the benefit of tho.e who muy think
thu Virginians were very ruleless with
their tobacco in thee early days, it might
be well to say that from KS15 until th
latter purl of the seventeenth century th
legal tender of the Virginian colony waa
tobacco, and a 'uw darted In KU making
English money the standard of exchange
proved so unpopulur and creat'd so much
Confusion between the pi. inters and tha
merchants that It was repealed In P. 11 and
tobacco again assumed its place a
standard currency.
Not only In the stringency of their law
did the gay cavalier of th Old Dominion
u
T. . t
vr xx! V
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ii ni aiintihi i.rntriii - i
MANAGERS or CHINA'S GREAT STEEL PLANT-MR. RUPPERT. THE 1'EI.
Ill AN TECHNICAL lUKECTt R. AT RIGHT; V. K. LEE. TUB 1I RECTOR-IN-CHIEF.
IN CENTER; MR. TSANG AT THE LEFT.
are carried on side by side. The ore Sundays, when they are twenty-four. We
conies down from the mines in great work day and night, and hav day and
bargis towed In b,y steam and it Is tin- night shifts. On Sunday we chang thn
loaded by coolies who carry out tho lumps shifts, and for that reason they hav doubt
of Iron stone In little rope baskets as big hours. Thin twelve hours Include one
around as a wash bssln. A half doxen or hour off for lunch, with double that time
more chunks of red ore are piled up In or more on Sunday."
each basket, and the coolla haa two of "lo you have many triker
the.o slung to the ends of a pole which "We have never had one. and hav never
rests on his shoulders.' his load weighing had to shut down on account of labor
perhaps 100 pounds. This Is dropped into troubles. We treat our men well, and they
cars and Is thus carried to the smelting ' attached to us. W hav tenement
furnaces a half mile farther on. The coolie. ')"'' h'-i w rent to them at low rates;
who land the ore each receive 1 cent per nd "t class hospital with Euro
hour. Near where such work was going Pn doctors, We expect to establish a
on I saw modern cranes operated by steam " "d reading room, and also a tech
erglnes lifting great castings und carrying n,e' "diool.
them from one end of the yards to the Th PUlll'7tn a. Nat.aell.
other; and farther on. Inside the shop Vrton waving the work 1 asked Mr.
traveling cranes handling pieces of Iron of Kupper, to Kv. mtt an outUna ory 0f the
fifty tons each. In the earn place they J)lant ,n a nutBUelu u.r, u th, Blt of hl
were casting steel Ingots and not far away reDv.
th ingots, blaxing hot. were passing ..Th"e ,,Bmj yaIlg work were founded In
through on set of rollers after another lm by Cnang chl Tun(, th inatallatlon
until they became writhing, flaming boa- plBnt henf orderea through th Chinos
constrictors, and finally steel rails of tha ministry at London of English and Belgian
cold blue color which they hav when rlrnil. Tn, consisted of thre blaat fur
first laid on our railroad tracks. nuce of txty ton1 capacity ach, a Ues-
I asked Mr. Ruppert s to the Chinese
aa steel workers. He replied:
"At the start they are not equal to Euro-
peans, but we can train them to be as
good, man lor man, as any or m worm.
I have been employing Chinese for seven-
teeu years, and have uaed thousands right
In these works. They are quick to leurn. B,,nal for tlulklnaT firearm and ammunition,
AH we need to do Is to put a trained cru,.U)a leei and also a plant for Ui man
man over each new hand for a couple of ufacture of powder and explosive. Until
weeks and after that the amateur can be 1S!)7 bot, tno arsenal and Iron work wer
relied upon to do th work for himself. unflKr one management, and then th lrun
This I o even with complicated machln- works went Into the hand of hi excel
ery. Take our new electric traveling itncy, Sheng Kung Pao.
cranes. If I have an employe who under- "it was under Sheng that th new plant
stands them I can let a Chinese cooll Wrs bullt. Everything waa then modern
work with him for six days and after that Ixed and plana were Instituted which will
the coolie will handle the machine. All of eventually result In giving us L0O0 ton ot
our operations In making every class of finished steel per day.
structural steel are perfected by Chinese. "At present the work comprise two old
They do their work honestly and well, blast furnaces producing 130 ton pr day.
All that Is necessary Is to have a good and two new ones, on being now under
foreman In charge of each shop and this is construction, each of which will produce
chiefly to keep the men from going to firty tons per day.
sleep. We prefer to use foreigners for fore- "The Bteel work now hava thre 61a-
men and now have something like eighteen mens-Martin furnaces of thirty ton each,
or twenty In our employ as such. They are and one of ten tons, with two mor under
chiefly Germans or Relgtans."
' l.ow Wagriifor Chinese.
"What kind of wages do you pay?"
"Our Chinese mechanics and mill men
get from 110 to W0 Mexican per month, or
from 14 to P3 per month, or from fl to $8
gold per week. This Is high in comparison
with the wag"8 throughout the country,
the common laborer outsido receiving only
about 10 cent a day."
"What are your hours?"
"They are twelve, on all day. except
the landludy of the quaint Stratford Inn:
" 'Madam, I am going to give you a
lesson In astronomy. Have you ever
heard of the great platonic year, when
everything must return to Its first con
dition? Listen, madam. In 26,000 years
we shall all b here again, on the same
day and at the same hour, eating a din
ner precisely like this one. Will you give
ua credit till then?'
"'Gladly,' the landlady replied. 'It is
Just 20,000 years elnco you were hue be
fore, though, and you left without pay
ing then. Settle the old bill and I'll trust
you with th new.' "London News.
Th Governor's Governor.
Governor Wilson of Kentucky Irtid the
misfortune some time ago to strain a ten
don in his leg. neoessltatinK the temporary
removal of his officj to the mansion,
run neck and neck with the grim vlsaged
gentry of Plymouth Itock, but tha doubtful
honor 'of being the last to relinquish the
gentle art of witchcraft persecution prob
ably belong, to them as well.
The witchbalteis around Salem and
throughout New England generally ceased
to a considerable extent their punishment
for alleged witchcraft before the eighteenth
century, but tho Virginian tecords show
the arrest and persecution of Grace Sher
wood of Princess Anne county for witch
craft In 1708.
For six month this younir woman was
In prisoned, being brought time and again
before the court in an effort to convict her.
Finding no evidence in her actions to Jus
tify th persecution, the attorney general
caused the shrtlff of the county to Im
panel a Jury of women to examine Graca
Sherwood physically and Instructed thein
to find something to Indicate that she -vas
a witch. This the women failed to do and
they were threatened with contempt of
court for their failure.
Everything else having failed. It was de
cided to put Miss Sherwood to the water
test, which consisted In tying her ban. Is
and feet and throwing her overboard In
the nearest lake or river. If she sank she
was Innocent, but if by her struggles ihe
managed to keep afloat for a few moments,
she wa. guilty of witchcraft.
The full account of this trial Is pre
served by the Virginia Historical society
nd th last two court orders In the case
ar of Interest as marking the cloud ot
wlthcraft persecution in the colonies.
Whereaa Grace Sherwood, being sus
pected of witchcraft, huve a long time
waited for a fit opportunity for a further
examination, & by her consent & appro
bacon of ye court, it Is oldered that ye
sheriff take all such convenient a'KWitincK
of boats and men and shall bo by lilm
thought fit to meet at Juu. Harpers piaji
tucon. In order to take ye Graco Sherwood
forthwith, and BUTT her into the water
above a man' debth & try her how she
swims therein, always having care of her
life to preserve her from drowning, A as
soon a she comes out that he request us
many unllent a-ud knowing women a pos
sible he can to acrcb her carefully for all
r V w ...
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4
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semer plant with two converter of fivo
ton each, a Siemena-Martln furnace of
ten tons' capacity, twenty puddling fur
naces with one bloom mill, a plate-aud-bar
mill and one rail mill of (.600 horae-Dower.
To tna ,nitallatlon wer added the foun-
dl.y an(J n llup for Bpnerai r,pajrs.
"The work were started In U94 and at
thH tlnie were bullt . imperial ar-
construction and five under projection.
There Is a metal mixer of 150 tons' capac
ity, a rolling mill with Ingot-heating fur-
... . ... an m r Art
naces, whicn nas a guggio inm ui i,
horse-power; a beam mill of 12,600 horse-
power, a plate mill of 7,500 and a rail mill
v 6,500 horse-power, together with several
bar-and-speed mill of 150 horse-power aoh.
in addition to this we have a chemical lab-
oratory und testing work, large office
buildings and all the other appllanc of
an up-to-date teel-maklng plant"
FRANK O. CARPENTER.
where business waa transacted and visitors
received. Here he was uttended by Jim,
a darky, who has been general factotum to
many governor, and ofton had been tho
cause of much fun.
On one occasion Mrs. Wilson had walt'd
luncheon for thirty minutes, and she told
his excellency that h must come down
und eat with her.
"My dear," said Mr. Wilson, "Just aj
soon as I see that delegation of men dowu
stulrn I'll be with you."
Mr. Wilson was determined, and said:
"Jim, go down and tell them to wait."
"Jim," frown the governor, as that
worthy started off to obey the mistress of
the mansion, "Jim, you know who 1 gov
ernor, don't you?'" '
"Yas, sir," grinned Jlrn, with eemlnK
Innocence, "yas, sir. I'll go down and tell
tho geinmen to wait, sir." Llpplncott'a.
ipottes & marks about her body not usuall
on others, & that as they find the same to
make report on oath to ye truth thereof to
ye court, and further It I. ordered that
som women bo requested to shift und
such her beforo sha goes Into y watr,
that thu carry nothing about her to cause
further suspicion.
On the afternoon 6f July 10, I'M, th
court and cojnty officer and populac
assembled on John Harper, plantation,
and the arrangement, being completed,'
Grace Shprwood was carried out to a
nearby inlet of Lynnhaven Buy. Th offic
ial court reporter tells yuaititly the rest
of the story:
"Whereas on complaint of Luke Hill In
behalf of her Maglsty, that now is against
Grace Sherwood for a person suspected
of witchcraft, : having bud suudrey evi
dences sworn UKuliiHt her, proving munny
cercumslances. Ac which she could not make
any excj.su or little or nothing to ssy
in her own behalf, only seeming to rely
on what ye court should do, and thereupon-consented
to be tried in ye water,
& likewise) to be scrolled again with ex
permlnts; being tried, and site swimming
with therein Ac bound, contluy to custom
and ye Judgements of all ye spectators,
tL afterward being serched by five autlent
women who have all declared on oulh
that she. Is not llko them; all which circum
stance ye court weighing 111 their coir
shit racoii, do therefore older that e sheriff
take ye said Grace Sherwood Into his
custody, & comlt hor body to yecommon
gaol of this couufy, there to secure her
b Irons, or otherwise there to remain till
such time as he ahull be ct her wise directed
custody, & comlt her body to ye common
gaol of ye County to bo brought to a future
tryull there.
The woman was finally turned free, and
thus ended th lust legal prosecution fur
witchcraft iu the colony.
A Bachelor's Reflections.
A man needs all the senna be Is born with
to offset all th foolishness lie picks up'
A man put. enthusiasm Into bl. politics
bi causa he can', put convictions Into It,
As fast as you can find truth anywhere
in th world It goes light oft and gel. lost
again.
Most everybody Is always wishing for
something that, It he had it, would make
bun wish tor something else.
The thing a person likes about alander
against unothor Is how he wouldn't like
It if it was against himself. New York
Pres..
