Your search within this document for 'inland' resulted in 14 matching pages.
1 Page 9

“...A Table of the Chapte r s Chapter I. China . Page 15 II. American Concession 44 III. Hu-nan, The Closed Province of China 54 The Entrance . 70 The Interior 90 The Exit 109 IV. My Chinese Impressions . 127 V. Commerce and Commercial Relations . 148 VI. Finances of China . 181 VII. Chinese Construction . 198 VIII. Inland Communication . . 221 IX. Railways . . 245 X. The Yellow Peril . 286 XI. China in the Twentieth Century . . 306...”
2 Page 145

“...for- eign devil." Undoubtedly there were thousands who saw for the first time the flag with the yel- low field and the blue dragon, which they sup- posed to be the fanciful and decorative creation of the foreigner's mind. The personal bearing of the upper-class China- man, even in the interior where he never comes in contact with the outer world, is kindly, courte- ous, and polite, and quite up to what is found in similar classes in other countries, to which we ap- ply the term civilized." On my inland journey, when approaching a town or city, I was invaria- bly met, at some distance outside the walls, by a subofficial representing the chief magistrate, who handed me the latter's card and bade me welcome. A Chinese card is a piece of thin red paper, about six inches long and three wide, with the name printed in bold, black characters. There are fashions in cards in China as in Europe. Some high officials affect large cards as indicative of rank. Other persons, when leaving cards on per- sons...”
3 Page 192

“...American Engineer in China tunities for helping friends in granting warrants or in allowing their warrants to take precedence over those of men less friendly are not neglected by the Salt Commissioner, so that this position is one much sought after, and when secured the holder is considered on the way to wealth. Under such circumstances, in China as elsewhere, it is the people who finally pay all bills. Next to the salt tax in importance is the likin tax, levied, as was explained previously, on the inland transportation of goods. None of these likin stations keeps a record, so once more the opportunity for stealing and waste is great. In addition to the above, there is the revenue received from the native custom-houses, from special taxes on opium and miscellaneous sources. The actual receipts of the Government under these various headings can be taken approximately, as follows: Tls. Land tax, in money.............25,000,000 " " grain.............. 7,000,000 Salt tax........................14...”
4 Page 221

“...Chapter VIII Inland Communication FROM one end of the Chinese Empire to the other there is not an instance of a road whose quality would be termed in any other country as even moderately good. China's riv- ers and waterways are her highways, and it is on them that she relies for means of internal com- munication. In the way of rivers and sea-coast, nature has been most liberal. Her coast line is as long as both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United Statesthat is, as long as the distance from Florida to Maine added to the distance from Southern California to Washington, and from it there are noble rivers penetrating to the very western confines of the Empire. No attempt has been made by the Chinese of their own motion to improve the rivers by remov- ing their bars or deepening their channels in order to render them more navigable. Such a course for the general good is still far beyond Chinese comprehension. Along the coast and for short distances in the estuaries, the Government...”
5 Page 223

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 223 delays and their costs are not. As one jour- neys along a Chinese river at its low stage in win- ter, there is scarcely a moment when there is not one junk hard aground with her crew pushing and struggling with their bamboo poles to get her off. It would be bad enough if these laborious and exhausting methods were resorted to only occasionally and unexpectedly, but such terrific waste of human energy is uncomplainingly ac- cepted as quite regular and inevitable. It is al- most incredible that the strongest opposition to an amelioration of their own condition through improved methods of transportation comes from these very boatmen. In the summer, when the rivers are in flood, unless there is a favorable wind to aid in stem- ming the swift currents, the same struggle is re- peated ; while at night, during both winter and summer, all traffic ceases, owing to the uncertain- ties of navigation, and yet, these are China's main arteries of trade, transportation...”
6 Page 225

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 225 the river front of the cities he visits, a veritable forest of masts and a solid raft of hulls. A great deal has been said and written about the improvement of the rivers of China and the introduction upon them of steamers of type some- what similar to that used on shallow American rivers or on the Nile. Advocates of such pro- posals have pictured the running of steamboats up the Yang-tze to Chung-king, sixteen hundred miles, and on about seven hundred miles more on such tributaries to the Yang-tze as the Siang, the Han, and the Kan. Southern and Southwest- ern China it is proposed to reach by improving the West and other streams for distances aggre- gating, possibly, one thousand miles; while the Yellow or the Pei Rivers are to provide perma- nent means of steam communication in the North. Constructively such a proposition is entirely fea- sible. The rivers of China can be improved, but their improvement will cost a great deal of money. Practically...”
7 Page 227

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 227 it will take a long time to make the Chinese un- derstand. As an engineer, who has looked into the feasibility of doing this very thing, I am con- vinced that it will be easier and better, as has been found in other countries, to build railways on the banks rather than to try to improve the streams. For coast and sea-going work the Chinaman uses a junk of large and strong proportions, and 011 the rivers one more adapted to the particular needs. Except for use on the lower reaches of the Yang-tze, where deeper water permits some latitude in construction, the up-river boats are of one general type. The hull is flat-bottomed and constructed of heavy planks, with a stout half- round timber at the deck line, to serve as a guard when the boats are banging together at landing- places. The bow and stern are square, and the latter is curved upward to form a poop. The hull is divided by transverse wooden bulkheads into water-tight compartments. It is a singular...”
8 Page 229

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 229 later. The bulkhead was introduced in European ship building in 1840 as a brilliant and new idea. Thus it is that at almost every turn in this queer land one meets with some device which we regard with pride as a modern invention, but which the Chinese have employed so long that its origin is forgotten. A deck load can be housed under curved covers of bamboo matting resting on permanent frames. Under these covers the crew of five men or more also find quarters, while the owner and his family reside in the stern. There are one or two masts, according to the size of the boat, stand- ing without stays and carrying large sails of cotton canvas or light bamboo mats. Of boats of this description there are tens of thousands, and they pass and repass in endless processions. Usually the boat itself is kept in fair condition, but the same cannot be said of the sails. A new sail is scarcely ever seen, and many of them are so dilapidated as to cause wonder at...”
9 Page 231

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 231 when making a river trip, where a fixed price had been agreed on for the journey, I found the junk to be equipped with bad sails. On complaining to the captain, he said he had better ones, but that he was keeping the new ones safe at home! Boats rigged like these, without keels, and of shallow draft, cannot make headway when both wind and current are adverse. When this occurs, or when the wind fails entirely, recourse is had to poling, rowing, or the more laborious method of tracking," which consists in dragging the junk by means of a rope of twisted bamboo fibres attached at one end to the masthead and at the other to yokes over the shoulders of the crew ashore. On rivers where rapids are moderate, but which are too great to be overcome by a single crew, it is the custom for boats to wait until a united force has been collected sufficient to pull each one up against the current. On such rivers as the upper Yang-tze, where the rapids are very strong...”
10 Page 233

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 233 at the helm, sail, oar, pole, or even track line, in addition to doing their own work of preparing the meals for the crew and looking after the fi- nances of the institution. When things go wrong, and in accordance with Chinese custom, all begin The Equality of Sex. A Man and a Woman at the Oar to shout and each one to work on his own account and so nullify the labor of someone else, then the strident notes of the voice of the Amazon skipper will rise above the other din, and, finally, but not until after the use of language, whose rhythm and force suggests that of the old style deep-sea sailor, will she succeed in drowning the orders of the...”
11 Page 237

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 237 on the axle, and on both sides of the wheel like an Irish jaunting car. In some cities, like Shanghai, these wheelbarrows are for hire like cabs by the natives, and as little or no load comes on the wheelman, it is not an infrequent sight to see him pushing four fares at a speed of four or five miles an hour. Fast Freight by Wheelbarrow In the up-country ol the Yang-tze Valley such wheelbarrows are the great means of fast freight transportation. On them the farmer will take his supply of produce to market, or if he has to take his wife along, for she with her small feet cannot walk, he will usually place her on one side and possibly a dead hog that he has slaughtered that morning on the other side in order to balance her weight....”
12 Page 239

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 239 As the Yang-tze is left and Southern China is approached, it is interesting to note the gradual discontinuance of the wheelbarrow ; its wheel gets smaller and takes a position farther forward, more like the western machine, and, at last, it disappears from use entirely. The rich or official Chinese on a journey always uses a sedan chair borne by two, three, or four men, according to his means and station, and fol- lowed by a line of coolies carrying the miscella- neous lot of goods and encumbrances supposed to be necessary for his comfort. Such a man never walks, as it would be quite beneath his dignity to do so. On my own trip it was with the greatest difficulty that the attending officials could be per- suaded, if they really ever were, that it was pos- sible for a man to prefer the freedom of being on foot to the cramping restraint of the little box of a chair. But whether in the north or in the centre or in the south, if the Chinaman is unable...”
13 Page 241

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 241 sive enough if only the coolie had a decent road on which to walk. But if no care is taken of the waterways, even still less attention is paid to the landways, there being no central authority by which highways are laid out and maintained. A Typical Road on Top of a Dike Between Rice-fields As each land-owner has to give up to the gen- eral public a portion of his too small farm, from which donation he derives, so far as he can see, but a small personal benefit, he usually does so by giving a strip along one side of his tract, or on the...”
14 Page 243

“...Chapter VIII : Inland Communication 243 where wheelbarrows are in use, they may have been laid with longitudinal stone slabs, in which the wheels of countless barrows have cut a groove several inches in depth. A few of the great roads, such as the one leading to the Ming Tombs, northwest of Peking, or across the Che-ling Pass iirthe Nan-ling Range, were, many years ago, care- fully paved with stone ; but it is now nobody's business to make repairs, and these great monu- ments of a past constructive era are dropping into decay. In the north where wheeled vehicles are used, the roads, in order to accommodate them, have to be wider than the narrower paths in the south, and as the soil is of an alluvial nature and not fitted for road-making, the general condition of affairs is even worse. No better picture of the method of construct- ing the Chinese road and its lack of maintenance can be found than that given by Dr. A. H. Smith in his Village Life in China." In referring to the fact that the...”