GOING TO THE RACES

Evening Star, Issue 19352, 11 September 1926, Page 23

GOING TO THE RACES

WIRE BDTOBIBB IK GHIKA _ A correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ gives this racy description of travelling to the races in China. The races at Tientsin began at noon, and in these days of civil war the trains are always late. The alternative route, eighty odd miles by road, was not inviting, because a division of unruly , Shantung troops was on the march and giving trouble to passengers by car. Two foreigners had been slashed across tho face by belts, a Chinese chauffeur had been beaten up, and whips had been used freely. But wo were keen to see the races, especially the second, in which the stable candidate was competing. Tho spirit of adventure gained the day, and we decided upon the road, two men and one wife, tout suit cases, one hat box, a case of thermos flasks, a tiffin basket, and all tho paraphernalia for twenty-four hours’ sustenance in case wo wore stranded. Among the necessary precautions was to find out when the city gates were opened, so that wo might flit early and have all tho day h. ore us. Six o’clock was the hour, and a quarter earlier we sailed out of the Legation Quarter, a lovely morning, the sun not yet showing above too massive crenellated walls, the streets almost empty of traffic. The first real sign of life encountered was the pig market, situated in a street whoso buildings were all of a tremble from tho unearthly lamentations emitted by hundreds of porkers anticipating death. The little car seemed glad to get away from this pandemonium, and raced for the eastern wall, where a great pagoda silhouetted against the morning light marked the dark tunnel that gave access to the country beyond. Even as wo approached the massive iron-studded gate split in two and grudgingly consented to bo opened. As we slipped through over the huge uneven flags wo met the interminable caravan of city supplies heading the other way—huge wheelbarrows loaded with vegetables, camels bearing mountains of forage, donkeys and packhorscs loaded with sacks, heavy carts pulled by ponies, mules, and bullocks, and laden coolies by the hundred.

A rough passage through tho crowd, l and we ran to a standstill at the octroi i station, where vigilant runners gave us I a careful look over and supplied the I ticket that would frank us in on the homeward journey. Without that j ticket we would be mulcted 2 } per cent. !on the price of the car. Clear of the 1 denso little suburb clustering round i the gate, we sped straight east into the I eye of the rising sun towards TungI chow, for centuries the head of river navigation and the terminus of the : Grand Canal. A little way out and we I were touched for a dollar at a toll gate, j Then there were ten miles of horrible I broken macadam road, upon which i we rocked like a ship and prayed for our springs as tho mariner prays for ! his life in a storm. All tire way we i met streams of people and carts and | beasts of burden making for the city, a picturesque throng redolent of a medieval land. In contrast, at one point there towered above the treetops this delicate steel pillars of the Mitsui wireless station, one of China’s white elephants. Then Tungchow, and its grey-clad soldiers by the thousand, where one passes gingerly, for the rascals are from Manchuria ; where respect for life and property is tempered by an undue familiarity with the usages of banditry. At Tungchow we paid another three dollars, entitling us to a free run to our destination. Henceforward the road was smooth mud, and wo ran along in great stylo, one leg between the deep ruts cut by the military traffic and the other out--side, a progress not without excitement because the nits meandered unexpectedly and often had to be tak.en at full speed. No sign of the troops so far, though their marks on the road were plain enough. After a dozen miles of plain sailing we sighted the classic Peiho, and then mounted the conservancy dyke which protects the surrounding country, and along the top of which there were twenty miles to go, with a steep hank on either side. We began to think the soldiers were elsewhere, when, alas! we shot through a tree-embowered village and ran slap into them. There the transport was, encumbering the road as far as we could sec—heavily laden carts, each with three and four draught animals, soldiers perched all over the _ loads, walking alongside, and most disagreeably pervading the whole vista. Tho train was at a standstill, and we slowed up and crawled past the hindmost carts,, well aware that our appearance caused apprehension, for the carters clung to their animals and the lounging soldiers sat up. We were soon blocked. The line of carts sprawled all over the road, and wo found ourselves hemmed in, a 2f)ft drop at 4 fid eg on one side, gesticulating carters on the other, impossible to go backward or forward.

Eventually an officer coaxed an opening, and wc got safely through. But a mile farther on we ran into another string of carts that occupied the road for a full mile ahead. AVe stopped and planned a diversion. Near by was a track loading to the lower ground, and we slithered over the bank and found ourselves on a very rough country road running nearly parallel to the main road._ After a mile of hard bumping wo slid into sand and stuck. The two passengers got out and pushed, but tho ear still stuck. Then we put the memsahib at the wheel and we two men, assisted by the roaring engine, navvied her into motion. After a lot of plunging and rushing and pushing we regained the main road, well ahead of the transport train. The lady now refused to vacate the driving seat. We travelled at Brooklands speed, the passengers clinging hard. Then more vehicles, this time several batteries of artillery, each gun and caisson with six horses apiece, and walking gunners by the hundred. A fearsome prospect. Regretfully we took the side road again, this time with a soldier passenger, who jumped on to tho running board. He was quite an agreeable young follow, but with the memsahib on her mettle bo was having a bad time banging on, so w’e invited him aboard to a scat on tho piled-up suitcases. in this lofty position he had nothing to cling to, and after a few miles ho begged to be let down. Once more wo recovered tho road and made good speed. _ Already wo were over an hour behind time, and getting anxious about the races. But our troubles were not yet over. Another interminable line of carts appeared in front, and this time, being now off the high bank, wo tried to pass through them, and in tie attempt secured three fresh passengers, hefty soldier lads who had been feasting on garlic the night before. The memsahib tried to rush the traffic, but we were soon in trouble and compelled again to take to the country track. Half a mile away from the main road we had the soldiers at our mercy, and our driver, offended to the bottom of her feminine soul by the garlic, gave them the battle of their lives. How they stuck on, and why the car did not go to pieces, are mysteries incapable of explanation.. By this time we were through with the troop train, but two solid hours behind schedule. Thereafter we made a race of it and entered the city with only hjdf an hour to spare; Six miles of crowded streets, a scramble at a friend’s house to wash our dusty faces, and we sailed into tho motor paddock as the ponies went out for the first event. AYe had won our race, and the stable candidate half an hour later won , his. It wai a joyful double.