Editorial Letter by William W. Prescott

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 2, 1907

Editorial Letter

By William W. Prescott

Jottings from the Editor’s Note-Book

My first view of the coast of China was obtained from the deck of the “Sagami Maru” as we approached Chefoo on the morning of January 16. I was naturally stirred by the thought that I was so soon to set foot upon the soil of the Middle Kingdom, but otherwise the view was not especially attractive. The coast line is rugged and abrupt, and it being the winter season, the eye could not rest upon a single spot of green. As we drew near the harbor, our ship was besieged by Chinese boatmen in their sampans, each one anxious to convey passengers from the anchorage to the landing stage. It was interesting to see the skill displayed in getting on board the ship. Grasping a line hanging down the side of the ship, or reaching up a long bamboo pole with a hook on the end to catch on to some projection, the boatmen would scramble up to the deck like so many monkeys, and they exhibited a worthy persistence in seeking patronage.

Chefoo is the great summer resort for North China, and its attractions are felt even in Korea. Missionaries come to this place from many parts for rest and recuperation, and as there are good English schools here for the benefit of the children of missionaries, the parents often accompany their sons and daughters thither.

On the ship with me and my guide and interpreter from Ping-yang was Mr. Baird, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church, who was taking his boy to Chefoo to leave him in one of the schools. During the summer, war-ships of the different nations stationed in the Far East make Chefoo their rendezvous, and target practise is conducted off the coast. During the Russo-Japanese War Chefoo was one of the principal points from which news was transmitted to Europe and America, and so many mere rumors were telegraphed to make “copy,” that, “It is rumored at Chefoo,” became almost a proverb.

I spent a short time on shore in company with an American who was one of the war correspondents. There was little to see, as the town is almost deserted in the winter except by the Chinese coolies and those whose business actually detains them. As many steamers take coal at this place, a large quantity of this product of the mines is handled here. It is all carried to and from the ships in baskets on the backs of coolies in the employ of a contractor, who pays them a very small wage, and keeps the major part of the income for himself.

In the business part of the town, which was all that I had time to visit, the streets were rather narrow, and not especially attractive in appearance. The buildings were of stone, or of brick covered on the outside with plaster.

At Chefoo I had my first experience with the money of China, and it may be worth the while to say a few words about the coin of the realm. The distinctive Chinese money is “cash,” a copper coin about the size of an American silver quarter or an English shilling. In the center of this piece of money is a square hole for convenience in carrying, as about one thousand cash are usually strung on a string, and any certain amount is designated as so many strings of cash. When one has spent all his “cash,” he is literally “at the end of his string.” On the average, it takes about one thousand cash, or one string, to equal in value one dollar in gold. I say “on the average,” because there is absolutely no uniformity in money values in China. A string of cash may be one thousand in one place, nine hundred in another, and only eight hundred in a third, yet it is always “a string.” Furthermore, every string of cash will, on general principles, contain a few “small cash,” a few counterfeit cash, and will lack a few of being a full string. It will be readily seen that it would require a strong man to carry any considerable sum in the form of cash, and it is usually put into bags or boxes and transported as merchandise. If a man of moderate wealth should put his fortune into “cash,” it would need several donkey carts to transport it.

The money of the ports and the railways is the Mexican silver dollar and the subordinate Chinese silver coins, which take the place of “cents,” and to which this name is usually applied. The gold value of the Mexican dollar varies from day to day, and in different places. It averaged about fifty-five cents while I was in China. The subordinate coins of one province are not generally received in another province except at a liberal discount; and the paper notes, of which some are issued, circulate only locally, like the old State bank-notes in the States.

From these facts it may readily be inferred that it demands some skill as well as some forethought to travel in China, pay in current money, keep a true cash account, and make your report in United States values. I am not at all certain that I accomplished this.

We sailed from Chefoo about 2 P. M., and arrived at Chingwangtao, the winter port for Tientsin, early the next morning. We made good connection for the daily fast mail-train for Tientsin, and I was soon on the road. The ride was through a portion of the great plain of North China, with ranges of hills to the north of the line. Here I got a larger view of Chinese towns and the Chinese people. The plain was dotted with villages (a “village” may contain many thousand inhabitants), and along the highways were the donkey carts characteristic of North China. Not much work was being done in the fields, as the weather was too cold. The railway is operated by the Chinese. It was a new experience to me to be “a foreign devil” in China, with no knowledge of the language, and to have the Chinese in positions of authority. I will testify, however,

to the credit of the Chinese, that under ordinary circumstances they treat the foreigner better than the Chinese are treated in America. Even the Chinese coolies are usually respectful to a foreigner who shows himself worthy of such consideration.

Our train arrived at Tientsin about the middle of the afternoon, and later I found Brother E. Pilquist, who, at the request of Elder J. N. Anderson, the superintendent of the China Mission field, had come from Honan to meet him and me, and to act as our interpreter. The next day Brother Anderson arrived from Canton, according to previous appointment, and we three brethren spent a quiet Sabbath together. It was necessary that we should have an interpreter, although Brother Anderson could talk Chinese as spoken in Canton, because Mandarin is the dialect of North China, and Cantonese is like a strange language. English is practically as good as Cantonese in North China.

Some further notes on our experiences in Tientsin and Peking will be reserved for the next letter. W. W. P.