Review of reviews and world's work . —the coal, the pack-age freight,—all find their way to market ona two-wheeled Manchurian cart, heavy andcumbersome, drawn by four to eight mulesand ponies. The average load of one of thesecarts is about 1600 pounds, or 800 board feetof lumber. TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES OF MAX-CHURIA. In the winter time long trains of thesecarts carrying tobacco, wheat, hemp, andother products travel anywhere from 50 to400 miles to market and present a most pic-turesque appearance. The mule teams areguided without rein or bit, the carter shout-ing his commands and enforcing
Review of reviews and world's work . —the coal, the pack-age freight,—all find their way to market ona two-wheeled Manchurian cart, heavy andcumbersome, drawn by four to eight mulesand ponies. The average load of one of thesecarts is about 1600 pounds, or 800 board feetof lumber. TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES OF MAX-CHURIA. In the winter time long trains of thesecarts carrying tobacco, wheat, hemp, andother products travel anywhere from 50 to400 miles to market and present a most pic-turesque appearance. The mule teams areguided without rein or bit, the carter shout-ing his commands and enforcing obedienceAvith a long leash attached lO the end of abamboo pole. Often in his manoeuveringand whipping he cracks his whip about thehead of a mule or pony and snaps out an eye,and hardly a mule team can be seen that hasa full set of eyes. A train of these cartswill average about thirty miles travel a day,and when night settles down a scramble be-gins to find accommodations in the waysideinns that line the highways. Soon the mules. A LARGE GRAIN-CARRYING JUNK ON THE NONNl RIVER. are unhitched and feeding in the open yard,while the carters warm themselves over thebricks of the Chinese kangs, drinking samshu(native wine) and recounting the experiencesof the day. By eight oclock everybody isasleep and snoring loudly, and then at 5 ,in the frost and chill of the morning, the car-ters arise to squabble with the innkeeper andto hitch up for the days travel. By 6 last cart with its swinging lantern has leftthe inn to renew its long, weary journey mar-ketward. If you chance to be an observer of com-merce you wonder how these carts can travelsuch tremendous distances with loads of suchlittle value, and you show by statistics thatit is uneconomic and that often the cost oftransportation is greater than the value ofthe load; but nevertheless the carts continuetheir creaking trips and compete for long dis-tances with the Russian and Japanese rail-ways. These people and their
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidreviewofrevi, bookyear1890
