New-York tribune. [volume], February 04, 1912, Page 3, Image 17

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Sojourning in Tsitsihar !s a Venturesome and Thrilling Experience
Strange Adventures of Two
Americans Who Went
Thitherto Study Pneu?
monia Plague.
By j; WMRht and Hassrtt Digby.)
I probable that you have
kicked a football from ? row
one of which?so you aaere
., j was lull of dynamite. Had
,? fcurvlved Ilia! little episode you would
understand the psychology of this
?,tti?' visit to Tsltsihsr.
har. ??? small native (own in North?
Metern Manchuria, the centre of the sc?
- ,f th" Hung H<>os, th,- murderous
br]L'HTiij whose escapad? gave missia her
ex< ise for throwing an army along the rail?
road from Siler?a t<> the Pacific, had, when
ave lefl America, some two thousand cases
of plague?pneumonie plague, with a safe
hundred t?> "tie chance of death Within for?
ty hours of Infection. That much we
m um M. Nasnlhofl at the frontier
of Manchuria. M. Nasnihoff. how
, did not have the latest reports. Ho,
stink/ K :o the four points of heaven with
antiaepi c messes, we came t?> Taltslhsr to
look sround.
i. ? K iiie Russian Moscow Vladivostok
],., road after an eighteen hours' journey
jnt" Manchuria, We turned our luggage
i.. to a couple ?if Chinese porters and
Il4mped after them serosa a aaaste of
sand) plain lo th" Kitaiski (Chinese) light
i illroad that runs up t?> tuts town. And in
thai l rief half-mile walk aa <- parsed as ?lis
l,[ :: o'li of lltissia into China as if a
m?. momentary extra-rapid
transportation stunt had taken us from the
?rvsl "i s' Petersburg t?> the
. -i Peking. Russia seml-civ
.it any rat??the white man ava.
little ?'hin?-.*" station v\.?> run by
l nil ? ?-?? for .hi?ese The porters were Chl
a Chinaman served "'?t the lickets;
a-.e waited :ive Chinese hours?which is
: In a Chinese tea ?Ion near by and f?.l
i pon Chinese viands and ?Irank of Chinese
drinl ind were the best patronised little
A DETACHMENT OF CHINESE POLICE AT TSIT9HAR.
i,,<-,.! fror :.hov . oid?i:- i'om appearanc?
i tb? < h.',<?-? nf th< neSghborbo
) H-l ?,,. r their 11.f.,
\flfi rieht |;f.iir~ Ihe lOyStlOp '
lered m Oui ni a single -first ?'la-- cot
"m? nt tumbled -, ?tern ?dd trader, w
pecked mm h uv i a baby, 1
Itrttv httlr- as ?fr m a short "?shimmy" a
l"iig pink paja.- with spancle.i imak
arid flowers sewed on them; and a '??g, bi
"ti t?> a Ihrer-spiikf
i h ?. ! k t va o wheeled cart Poxten ier Ja
iump"i In, and, takinc poseasslen <>f <?
it, nodded ns to snoth?
miniature Qerman encine th
represents the entire loromotive stock
Ihe Tsitslhsr system bad arrived qui
>\r*r\ hfat. and ha?l to be si.i, t r acked ai
f"i with ara ter and lug- and email ce
petted and ,?,a\ed aaith oilcana ai
monkey avren? hes for another hour. Cae,
naiiv. hoarever, she got away
?I the train we ?allied three ami'
{. "1?. for the authorities, th"Ugh alwa
**? ng t-? overlook youth'a exuberant e
MM I Wlthl'i reaSOn, have lately becon
Dyed at the number of holdups on th;
line, and are takinc elementary steps
Mirage the nuisance. So th?' thr.
guards?big, loose limbed <ihinamen.?swur
r t legs over the ond platforms of tl
cars, sitting on the alert, with glltterini
businesslike automatic rifles across the
knee* Hiid two full bather cartridge ?as.
buckled to the front of each of their belts
A ctnioos hour's run up to Tsitsihar. To
might be down <>n the Jersey coast lire.
' ? ,aas, pretty villages, now and thel
Beetling in a grove of trees?new trees, M
th? eu-rnal pine or bare white birch left bi
hind a day ago In Siberia. Brick village!
with tiled roofs and winding mud wall!
Here and there a naked sand hill. Flower
-a wild parsley, a little purple ground iri
and clumps of yellow; little blue butter
files and gray day-flytng moths SCUtterln
about In the sunshine. Small sand lizard
basking cautiously within an easy dash fo
a hole, where they cohabit with a mous?
Many broad pools rimrned with white sal
sediment, pools a foot or two ?Jeep; duck
flurrying up from their sedge beds an(
willow scrub as the train trundled by.
A great and ominous array of freshl;
turned heaps of earth among the gras
K'own, conical mounds of the unfence?
burial ground out on the hillside just be
fere one enters the town made our mlas
matic. ultra-antiseptic exhalations almos
**'eleome tor the nrim'-nt. Then we pulle?
UP at Tsitsihar.
NOT A BAD HOTEL.
-htaffag a decrepit old Chinese hack. w<
adjured the Celestial to hurry the pace up
?o a Hun-un hotel, instead of which, ii
'he fulness of time, we drew up before the
high fence Of the Russian Legation. As
*e discoursed ways and means with th*
?entry a native boy came up with the mall,
' ? ? ' ? thrae envelopes bore the Im?
print of a Buffalo steam roller firm and a
*ood pink C. S. A. stamp. It was as well,
?f a trifle disappointing, to know that
Ameiica was still managing to exist during
one's absenc?-. Well, the ?entry said there
**as no Ruttsian hotel or lodging In the
laws so off we, drove to a Chinese hostlery.
If >ou happen to find yourself In Tsitsihar
Jou ?an do far worse than the Guestlnltza
''?'- mm Shan. I.rlvlng through an arch?
way tunnel In a thick mud wall, you enter
? big courtyard, flanked with a row of
fiagile one-story buildings, their fronts
merely a netting of wooden latticework, be?
hind which stout translucent rice paper has
eeeg pasted. Pull open the door, and you
-"?* In a small hall, with a washstand and
a chest to the left, and to the right a door
opens lnt?i a room, One 1? your room. It
hts no other d?ior. Rooms do not commu?
nicate you and your fellow guest across
?*>** passage have your own front doors.
Servante drop In now and then from the
kitchen on the other aide of tha courtyard.
1 s <? ii rom ' v i ghted hj te ?.., ?
of c?a- :< i into the paper lattir? facing
I h? courtyard II has un *h? )'.???? or rup
! board. Walls and <?.incs are papered
white, \ tarnished mirror and ? aniuar
Orman ?lock turns nn one wall On
table a pair ol i Ig ? bins vssi n and another
?vulgar Qerman clock. Bofh docks are oui
of repair. Kom Austrian bentwood chairs
[and a deal wood table covered n I h Bow
lered muslin. Turn your bach on th? s n
IN THE BAZAAR.
jdOW and your prospect runs to Orientalism.
The far one-third of the room is a platform
two feel high, coated With a thick felt rug.
In the middle of lb- rug Is a low stool.
one uses this a? a pillow, if one be a
Chinaman-or a lunatic.
Tsitsihar is a large toavn. We wandered
about it three days. Three days' solitary
roving over an inland chines.' town is about
the most Interesting experience you can
have. It Is an uncanny business at first.
You attract a lot of notice. Chil.iren run
screaming from your approach. Just as our
nervous babies clear out from the path of a
real live, pig-taile.i Chinaman. And you
don't at first, like the looks of the psopla
The first day we met 4.002 men who looked
as if they'd have cut our throatH on the
-p?t for a nickel, and then sent four .mis.
.??science money for excessive ?charge, to
our executor?.
However, one < ornes to like the ?.hi?ese.
Their homes and streets may be soualid
but the Chinese liv,-th?y are not??l?Xt*
with a mere brutal existence, like the 81
berian peasants. They are chattering,
bright vivacious people. Laughing and
smiling, breaking into SOS?, Joking and pet?
ting the children and dogs; entering mer-,
rib" into the spirit of the thing In a Ian
guage mix-up with a foreign customer In
their shop, not lapsing into the COWhke ex-1
pression of dull puzzlement, with Irritable,
flickers of harsh language-the attitude of
the Russian. They do things preti ly and
?art] Th.'v eai-fe and sculp and paint
thel, signposts and town gates and bouSO
gables. and they eat plentifully of a host
of savory Utile dishes, though often much
? a.? aiiiprlan peasant family
poorer than the Siberian i
whl.h makes Hi ? ??* ?f m***
gl,?mil.von ?'**??* Ma'k,r?rnr,v O01v
Two sounds awake,, one vei>__Jj^V?r>
morning-the cries of hawkers end lh?* ex
?Tng elJeks of pigs The streets are full
of hawkers, old nun with a couple of baa-j
A MANCHU FAMILY.
kets of grain or vegetables slung at either
end of a long pole balanced on the shoul?
der. Tsltsihar'a prevalent note Is the wall
r.f the lytOg Pig? The town ?eems to kill
pigs incessantly, day and night
Leaving th.- gat? of the hotel courtyard,
we' found a barber, twanging a big tuning
fork and crying out attractive ?notations
for shaving and hair binding The barbers
have an elaborate outfit a StOOl for the
ciistom-r. ?? stove, a bras? bowl and a
p|. thora of combs, t|?crr razors and loose,
homemade scissor?. They work in the op. n
ptreet You buttonhole a passing barber
and he planta hla at?x?l. You eeat yourself
While le stirs up the stow, mixes some,
powders, and gives the braaa bowl a cour- |
t.-<-. whisk with a cloth. Whereupon yOU j
are shampooed there an<l then in the middle
of the street.
There g?> a pair <>f lamas bell men.
travelling prlrsls?will? white girdle? ami
ahite peaked caps, soliciting alms. They
kmel before every disengaged shophOSpsT
in the aisles of the bazaar, bowing their
foreheads till they too. h the dust Some- |
ttmm the shopkeeper will run forward end
raise th.m bo.lilv. hut the eltquette In gen j
? ral hl to lake a few pi?-?"? forward and
becks? then? up with a gesture. And with j
,1111s. 'lot B ??ut was i;iven. < ?ne momentar?
ily nop-d for I pilgrim to lift his dusty
foreheid and cry In scornful i hi?ese: For
||M lov of Mike, man, eu! l ut BOSM Of
that and squander ? M whole red cent OB
the good of your mean BOOf!" Mut the pil?
grims whom we saw did nothing of the
kind-only looked hot sad tl Irsty und an?
noyed
Round th" corner into Iba >?nza<r .ame:
his exalted exrellrucy the QaSOrnOT I
eral Jon 8do Mo of the Provtece of
Tsitsihar a great power in the north of
th?* Chin"* Empire, who la entitled tal
wear the tovetcd red glass ball on the top |
This Small Town in Manchuria
Was the Base of the Mur?
dering Brigands That
Pestered Russia.
anatomical ?harts. A patient comes up,
A doctor pushes him down Into a chal??
and hears his tale of woe. or dresses hie
wound or does anything that has to be
?lone there on the spot, without the least
privacy. The patient returna a stolid
glare to the gasping crowd around, and
does not aeem to mind them there In the
slightest. The bigger the crowd the more
?lelighte?! the doctor, naturally. We did
not bave the luck to come In at a leg
amputation, but we wat.bed several ex
<ee?llngly unsanitary and painful opera?
tions lieing performed in a haze of driving
dust.
Thirty n.rn and boys around an In?
volve?! game of chess, playe.l on the ground
In the street. A faint SOOU?L At first
you'd take It for a gramophone; then
Highland bagpipes. We followed It up and
fell, round a .ner, full illt Into a strange
procession. Visualize it. coolies w?>ie car
rying, sedan ?halt-wise, three tables cov?
ered with red baize cloths. 'On the first
tabm a s?-t of pewter ornaments, fin ths
see? ri?! a bundle of Brscrnckem on the
third table a big. Cheap and nasty type
of ornamental mantelpiece ?lock, stopped
ai :.;.4".. flank .1 by a pah of tall empty
china vases?a sort of village wedding pres?
ent to the blacksmith bunch of good?. Re
!? re anil behind th.- tallies marched a band.
There were four men blowing pipes--curl
..us pipes, with stems like handbells and
great gasping mouths, fine clashed cym
, l-als. One banged a big brass gong in a
i.-rky. intermittent fashion, giving out a
; disconnected serle-, {)f boomlngs like a man
?tumbling over bathtubs while groping his
Way to the electric light switch Another
man tapped a wooden gong with a little
stick, a gong shaped like a tamborine made
of birch, bark, with a beautiful translucent
?overing of snake skin.
Along with the hand and table carriers, m
s. ore of hangers-on. Presently the proccs?
' slon Mopped before a shop. The bearerg
CHINESE SOLDIERS WITH THEIR OFFICERS.
,f his lampshade ha*, ??-h?-???* arord la lit
?,r sum mar} death ,n n million men
?>n .-,' "-<d travelled a smart little chines
soldier it ?? - Thi n cam?
two native mounted |*olIt*e, |ri dark blu?
canvas uniform? Then a four-wheeled cab
West* n ha.; bin arltK addi?
tions! trimmings For Instance, it had tare
t?:ile hhir enamel panels, a Mg Class win
? I.,u in the back and bright nickel rods
lin- footmen lo "ling to. Drawn bj
GOVERNOR GENERAL OF PROVINCE
OF TSITSHAR. AUTOCRAT OVER
ONE-THIRD OF MANCHURIA.
I two unmatched horses this hybrid stab
equipage awepl rapidly by, gtvtag on?- jus
4 glimpse "I ? s'i-rn-la??'?l. ?reit ftgttM
, within, red l?esela and a poacooh feathei
dangling from his conical ha!. A mount??
soldier brought up the rear. fft:t if Jow
passed awiftly, his pasting was far from
silent, in fut. he eras quite the big noise.
literally as well as metaphorically. There
w.i? a loud bell under the carriage worked
I y the footman in th" rear, This was con?
stantly being clanged, partly to inform the
police of Ids excelli-nc.v's whe.-.abouts in
the labyrinth ?>f narrow, mud-walled
at rests, in case <>i a hostile gang sallying
out to bqal him up. gad part?a to show
how important was his ex.-eil ncy the ??ov
ernor Ocneral of th<- Province of Tsitsihar.
.\t that bootb across ih?' afreet they eel!
?tripe of shining brows glutinous ribbon
leeweed, to be eaten. There are a oupieof
public lett.-r writers. They sit in big chair*
under a red ? Qakln sunshade, surrounded
by little tablea with sth ks of ink and
reference books, executing the commis?
sions of the Illiterate.
1 There Is a shop that sells books and
, boots; there are dozens of street stalls in
i T-itsihar that sell ducks eggs and clgar
' ettee, just ducks eggs an?! cigarettes, and
| nothing more. (At Anganki there Is a
j shop window tastefully dressed with noth
j lag but native dried fish and bottles of
Imputed champagne i
Th ? doctors aaork In teams of two. They
rig up a big tent, furnished with chairs
and a MUOtsr ?overeil with bushels of
trash?love potions, charms. Incantations,
nock ornaments to frighten away devils
and potato hug?, and so forth -and a dozen
dirty little bottles of mendicants, glycerine.
Iodine, spirits of nitre and stuff In com?
mon demand In th?? druggists' stores. On
the <?lde walls of the tent are native colored
i? ' untwist?.I a 'or.- red and gre*- scarf froni
the middle table and t"esf?>nned It over th*
? .v... The Rood a were unloaded and t.?k?-n
Into i darh room behind the shop. Th??
musicians gave a final ?acnphanous Mar??
. ami then seated themselves at a little inbie
on ?h.? threshold t..i enjoyed a pot and a
1 ?ofjslp. The thin* was over. *A"bat if was
we had no Mea At first we took It for a
funeral, but there was no corpas and no
sorrow \\'o w?nt awa> favoring the th??-'?..
of its being either an ostentatious display
of wedding presents or a successfully con?
i I'ide.i edv? rtlslng pa. ide
THE CHEERFUL UNDERTAKER.
v Tsitslhar undertaker's is quite a rheeev
affair. There are the great r^d and blue
rofftna ornam**nt?*d with bold deelgni In
g??;?l and black. There are shelves, and
?t?>? i-.s .if graveyard sear, like rircuc pr?>~
Httle i?.? carta for pulling children
along in the procesalon, randlee, shrines,
?oat tick< fir vorka, racks of gnyly paint?
? ?I words snd cudgel! for th??
. u?e ?if the dead Wooden swords rn-. so
much cheap? purr the relatfeea 'and
L'n? !?? Woo !'.'?. Chin, being ?lead, will never
notice Uie difference." Hut you needn't get
all these things utiles ? ?ou l;ke Yon ?an,
with most of the poorer Chinese, make your
coiliii al home during the l..ng winter even?
Inga, and just drop Into the unrtertakei'e
for a sporty lid with painted stork? on it.
A .i.'lly fOeed old gentleman is prospering
' in the undertaking bu_tnoso near the Jail.
!lla- ha.- a side line. He is als?< a Ishtnong "
He spe. ializ.s ;n COflblS, and re if l i.
th.it are ppllt ..pen and hung <>;i .1 h:ie front
j one sta.k of . ..(Pus to another. The disem
bowelled Bnnj denlaens have a pathetic
attitude as they swing and bob In the wind.
They seem to !>?? crying for decent burlab?
an?! with the usual odor to leeward, they
have some grounds for the demand.
Th > baaear has many eating houses, open
fronted, overgrown booths full of stoves, in
I which savory m??SSI I are frying. The
American imlanrnnl <.?>k, sweating over
his hot Stove throughout the summer
months, woold envy his brother artist In
Tettstbar. The Tattstbar restaurant stove
is a neat, portable affair. They get a atout,
shallow wicker basket, (ill It with da?.
build up ?lay walls around tha> brim, and
cem?-nt to ti.?? t"?> an iron bowl. Ma? Il of
the six or eight cooks has two or three of
them stoves to sea- to. and place, them
wherever lie likes, ?in cold days he re
tr?-ats into th.- shelter ?if the shop; when It
is warm h<- comes ?.'it to the ridewglk snd
there passes the day in the fresh open all.
Class is expensive in Tsitsihar Kmpt*P
be? r bottles are not to be tossed in th#
?lump ha-ap. You find them exposed for
sal?- alongside of rude earthenware pitchers
Bed COPper Jars. All windows an? frail fret?
work, to which Mo?t translucent paper is
pasted. It certainly was a shock when, In
a little, narrow street on the north??rn our
skirts of the town. We found a ?'hi?ese
coolie's front window glased with a double
page of betting quotations fiom l.<>ndc.n
"Sjiorting Ufe" for Saturday, August 7,
19fr7. It was yellow and mud stained, but
you could study "form" to your heart's
desire.
A WONDERFUL PARK.
The people of Tsitslhar have Just laid out
a park, and they are Immensely proud oY It.
Only two or three acres In extent, it has
a bijou lake, high-banked and with tiny
paths winding round the water s edge. Red
legged cranes strut among the rushes, and
then- is a delightful, tiny, zigxag, high
peaked bridge palnl??d in reds and greens
and blues, with dragons snorting flames
fiom their nostrils on guard at either end.
Tsitslhar has a pr?te- hahii of taking out
Its birds for an airing In this park, ?? we
would take out our doge. Every other na?
tive of the town has his sweet-throated
Continued on fourth pagOb