The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 31, 1901, Page 1

PAGE 3 SUYCT 57® UGUST CHANOT is proud of eing one of the 1f-dozen mers ever honored with mar » in China. her traditions and atisms, does n button to fact, she keeps her pocket of her own arduous maze ate before they : which is the prize boy’s indus- an American can never be- he learns the The s the procrasti- “Hasten to in time be- p before every Therefore, gr. C m ght to prids ng given its aches, Li was obliged to drew to a close. To t off, accompanied , W. M. Pettick, and f March he attended Count Ito hey were the do. The con- and all en the attack 1e near starti of two warring , shot him left cheek & wound three centimeters deep. Iiw s 1is lodgings and The Emperor the Empress sent tw> nurses, Su ns Sato and Ishimuro jal command ished guest. for the bullet intention. to Li. Li half which was the d raised a storm pit it!” he cried, re translated. began Dr. Sato. " echoed Dr. Ishimuro. t permit it!” shouted Li Chamot translated. e difficulties Chamot went through those doctors and the stub- more than anybody For a long time Li held t be persuaded to robed for. Hé was ruments, doubting deavored to explain, as d in time Li came to operation would Through all the of his recovery Li and became fast friends, endship the old man er the war was thoroughly over state became less urgent more time for sociab. Xy. It was in the year 1897 that Chamot ow the eye, and made i e Y S —_— e ————¢ \ (| AvsusT CHAMOT IN FULL REGALIA E 8-Hon. John W. Foster, . ATTEMPTED - AS3ASINATION 1 §oNG CHAMOT T LI HUNG CHANG BOWS DEFFORE THE SNAKE q OF TTANDARIN received the wiceregal, command to ceme to the viceregal residence every day and spend the hours from 5 to 7 in conversation. Mr. Chamot tells the story of these visits. By fléggs_f Chamot. T WAS like Li Hung Chang for all the world to send for me this wav. When he wants a thing he demands Il He been in the habit of having pretty much his own way for some seventy-six years, and the habit is fixed. I found that what he wanted me fur was to talk to him about foreign lands; to tell him foreign jokes: to translate to him foreign papers, and, above all, to Jet him poke fun at me. This he does at ev- ery ome, and is never so pléased with his own jokes as when a foreigner is the vic- tim of them. I poked fun back at him, and together we would have as jolly a time as two school boys. “Why did your mother endow you with ears 80 big?” he asked me one day. “Are they so big?” said L “Yes, and your mouth is big and your nose! Oh, how did she ever come to give you & nose 5 big?’ he exclaimed. “Did you ever look in the glass at your own nese?’ I retorted. “Yes,” replied he, “and I have seen tryt It s large, but I would willingly wager that it carvjot compare in size with yours,” and he chuckled gleefully over this Chinese form of banter. Together we looked in the ifass and defended our re- spective noses even then, and at last had to call in an umpire, who dared not de- cide syainst the Viceroy, so he won, and, 1 have never thought, fairly. Te delights In pitting forelgners against each other and’thus having a little war of pations for his own amusement. I bave seefi him™ in in a German and a Frenchma to the one, “Herr ‘8> and-§p has been telling me that you lle often, Monsieur This-and-That,” in his serene manmer. Then, before there is time for reply, to the other: “Monsieur This-and-That calls you an imbecile, Herr So-af(d-So.” Then, when he has them fighting like a dog and a cat, what fun for him to lean back aid watch them and listen with his narrow ‘eyes almost closed and his satir- ical little smile playing in one corner of the mouth. His eyes are never opened widely; most narrow of all they grow when he Is list- ening to important affairs of business or statecraft. At such times they often clos2 entirely; be leans. far back in his chair and nods his head. When one i$ through talking, he will rouse as if from a nap and inquire, “Let me see, were yoy talk- ing?” And if you are a stranger to his ways, you may fancy that he did not take in the full meaning of everv word that you uttered until you find him acting up- on that same information which you have furnished him. He never grows tired of reading foreisn papers and having them translated and explained to him. People say that he is not progressive: that he wants to keep China back in her present darkness. I do not believe this. He watches constantly the affairs of other nations and learns from them, but he cannot lead his people by branching too far away from them, and he knows this. It is told that when a snake was washed upon the shore cf the Yellow River and people were goirg from far and wide to bow down before it, 11 went, too. Some were surprised that he, by birth a Confucian and *herefore a1 agnostic, should do so. “Is there any reason why I should go against the feel- ings of my countrymen where their pre- judices are so strong?’ sald he. And yet so much, oh, so much, of him is Chinese. He has brought up his seven children after the manner of a Celestial Wt i i m“'un"'n:" o and his advanced ldeas never penetratt to the inmost recesses of his home. The son of whom he is so proud—a 27-year-old man, and a married man at that—is never allowed by his father to go upon the strect alonp. This is what paternal discipline means in China. He is fond both of spending and ac- quiring money He is greedy for the commission money that passes through D FOREIGN 1 JOKES AND Tz,qnaunsn PAPERS o> ATD TEANSLATED o MANDARIN WAS CONFERRED MAGAZINE SECTION his hands—so greedy that muech of It is never allowed to pass. On the other hand, he delights 1 entertaining, and that lave ishly. He gives magnificent dinners to the forelgners at Peking, entertaining them fn their native style, with the ex- ception that he gives Chinese theatricals after the dinner. This is according to the custom of all rich and fashionable people of his race. It is customary to have a private theater In the house, and Li has one of these in his home in the Temple of Peking. Traveling performers are called In and they give a play much like the ones seen in the Chinese theater here. I used to visit at both of the homes in Peking and in yamen or mandarin residence, and I saw much Oriental mag- nificence in them. They are both adorned in rich embroiderfes and carvings such as only the Chinese know how to pro- duce. At his dinners which I have attended he had always an elaborate menu In many courses. These dinners were a matter of great pride with him, for he has always been on his mettle to make a good appearance before foreigners. In the cours: of time, as our friendship advanced, it was announced to me with Aue Chinese solemnity that the rankK of mandarin was to be conferred upon me as reward for services rendered. There was much red tape about the affalr, but the nupshot was that two officlals wers sent to my home with the full insignia of rank. Then I got a mandarin costume and paraded In my splendid toggery. My button Is the translucent blue, or sapphire one. This s the ird rank of button. ‘Ruby red is for the Emperor: opaque red, the coral, comes next; then sapphire, lapls lazull, and after that white. Others whom T know of as having re- celved the mandarin rank are Sir Robert Hart, General Gordon, Bishop Favier and Detrien. I have read In the American papers lately many reports that LI Hung Chang was dying. These I do not belleve. To be sure he is 76 years old. .He ean- not walk without the assistance of two men. But he knows the value of preserv- ing his health, and with this in view he lives with the greatest regard for the laws of health. He is In bed at 8 o’clock every night. I do not belleve that he is dying. He is the most alive man that I know. Jrading Rat Showed Him a Gold Mine. THE habits of the pilfering woodrat, which steals all kinds of things and leaves In their places all other kinds of things, are often as exasperating as interesting, but a man In Arizona has all kinds of reasons for blessing this rat. N. B. Ingoldsby was spending several months near Mammoth, on the San Pedro River, in hugting and making a collection of minerals. He was much annoyed by the disappearance of small articles from his camp. He was alone and he set a watch, being rewarded by seeing the thief, a big “trading rat.” It Interested Ingolds- by to note the variety of things left by the rat in place of those stolen. The presents consjsted mainly of bits of wood and stone. One day, to comfort him for the loss of a silver spoon, a plece of quartz carrying free gold was left, and Ingoldsby opened wide his eyes. After several ineffectual mttempts he followed the rat to its. home in the ledge from which the quartz was taken. Now Ingoldsby has located a paying gold mine and he calls it tha Rat Hole mine. UPON ™ME \