A CHINAMAN ON LONDON

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 24 December 1913, Page 7

A CHINAMAN ON LONDON

One of the personalities which most impressed itself at the recent missionary celebrations of the Methodist Church in London was that of the Rev. She'n Wen Ching, a Chinaman. He is an orator, and here are- some of the things he said in his farewell address, as reported by the Methodist Times. . "It has been a wonderful thing for a man to come and see this great country of England. I can't tell you how astonished I have been —my eyes have seen great sights, my ears have heard strange sounds. I arrived six weeks ago at Charing Cross Station. It vas! almost midnight, but there were lights everywhere, inside and outside —one hundred people could not count the lights of London! I saw wide, clean streets', and thousands of lighted carriages moving swiftly along. That first night I travelled underground. It, is' wonderful! Nothing stops you. If there is no room on the streets, you dig a great hole and move about with a big city on the top of your head. I

like London. 'The missionaries told me it is not easy to cross the streets, but I found it quite easy—the policemen helped me always. They are very kind men, and T think they are very intelligent. One day I stood at the gate of the Mission House waiting for my friend. A policeman came up to me and said, 'Can you speak English?' 'Yes, a little,' I said, 'Are you Chinese or Japanese? 1 he asked. 'Chinese,' I replied. 'Your faces are the same,' he said. . 'Yes,' I answered, 'but my dress is different.' He asked, 'What is the first thing that struck you in England?' 'The policemen.' I answered, 'because you are so kind.' Then he asked me a great Question: 'Is your republic settled?' 1 wondered very much that a London policeman should know anything or eaife anything about the republic in: China. I think the English policemen must read their newspapers carefully! '•'Since I came to London . I have been very busy seeing good things. I have had no time to see many of your bad things. But I wish you ••ould close all your drink ships. If China stops opium and England stops .Irink, then two of the greatest curses in the world will have passed away. "Another thing; my dress i$ strange to you, but some* kinds of English dress are strange to me. I don't like vhat you call the evening dress—which I hi* re seen it in the street in the daytime. I am only a Chinaman—l do not understand it—but I never ccc th» ■missy ladies dress like that in China."

The matron of the Hospital wishes to | thank Mr G. H. Gibson, Mr Keen, Mrs L,o*ve and the Presbyterian Bible Class for Christmas gifts to the. Hospital. The United States .bids well to become the foremost country for the protection of birds.. Not only is the importation of feathers forbidden, so that aigrettes and paradise birds are taken from the hats of ladies landing in New York, but the new law renders it ill legal to cage any singing bird, and Jays down strict regulations for the protection of all kinds of birds. A new club las been started in New York by the leaders of fashionable Society against the wearing of any plumes that necessitate the destruction of a bird that is not required for food. There are, after all, plenty of feathers to be got j^^n the domestic fowl and game birds, $!wiout the destruction of beautiful and rare species. It would be more to the point, however, if such-» <blub were started in Paris, which 6ete the fashions m millinery. > A remarkable engineering feat ie on the point of accomplishment, when the water is 6ent through a 17ft tube from the Ashokan Reservoir, •in the C^tskill Mountains, New York State, to feupoly New York City, 127 miles away. The Catskill Aqueduct, as the enterprise is known, has been declared by many to be an exploit far exceeding the mucn-talked-of' Panama. Canal, because, whereas the latter meant digging dirt and dredging channels, the. building of the aqueduct necessitate*! -piercing mountains, undermining rivers, traversing deep and broad .valleys, and tunnelling through the bowels of New York City from end to end. When the water first enters the 127-mile tube it will take three days to reach the city. The aqueduct will have a flow of 500,000,000 gallons per day, and las a reserve capacity of 900,000,000 p.allons.. to be used in case of fire. The Ashokan Reservoir, where most cf the water is stored, is built in the heart of the Catskille. It has an area of 8180 acres, and a capacity of 132,000,000,000 gallons. It has cost £3,600,000, and will tap 900 square miles .of territory. To create this reservoir..seven villages were razed and 2000 people were moved, eleven miles of railroad were torn up, sixty-four miles of road were discontinued, forty miles of new highway were laid, and ten new bridges were built.. The tunnel through the rock under New York City is thirtyfour miles long, and is said to be the longest in the world. The wholp undertaking has cost £35,400,000, and 17,240 laborers have been working on the gigantic system for seven years. Sykes's Drench.—Just what * cow requires after calving.—-Advt.