THE PEKIN LEGATIONS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 11243, 8 April 1902, Page 6

THE PEKIN LEGATIONS.

HOW THE FOREIGN EMBASSIES ARE PROTECTED.

A description of the present state of Pckin, giran by one who has lately returned thence, farms a curious comment on the recant effusively complimentary mood of the Chinese Empress when she showered gif sof jewellery on the ladies of the foreign legations. The legations are rebuilt on the spot where they formerly stood, and cover a space of over half a mU« long by a quarter of a mi la wide. It forms a street, the houses of the. Ambassadors standing in gardens on either side. A very high and thick wall, which can be used for fort'fying purposes, and was so used in the summer of 1900, separates it, from the street of <b> Ta:< as. Opposite to this trail a new one 'has been erected on the farther Side of the-street, so that the quarter is enclosed between two fortifications. At the foot of. thJ* rampart is * moat filled with water. Onl-'tbe ' outeide of the. wall the houses of the town hayebeen taiWl to the group.! ic-f; a ttyetaiie* of ■, nearly. 900 yards, so that 'in ,caee pt'a riot tie' Chinese may not hp oniftiudb; ah.-. In Pekin tliis free space is calfed the military zone. At either end c4.fib« street stands an immense gate, which.con be easily defended. In the centre the quarter is reached by a drawbridge. -TJ»;^»ba4siee"are,; therefore, endosed in a s:rb of redoubt, where the barracks of the foreitrn troops reach to the dwelling-houere. The ntw wa'J presents a varied appearance according to the legation beside'which it js built. Thus the incKnatien of. the glaais is different opposite the Russian and' English Embassies. Before the German Legation tfoa wall is provided with loopholes, while before the Frercb cne it is plain. The material? of Tv'hich it is const: ucted also differ, each nation having chosen its own. So in a small space specimens* ore seen of the most rncdsm improvements in fortifications of the various counrks. In this fertries, besides the Embassies and bn racks, s and the French hospital, the post office, the office cf the Nankin Railway, several shops, everything, in short, that is foreign. A hotel is a'eo to be erected.