LIFE IN TIENTSIN

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 28, 28 October 1919, Page 2

LIFE IN TIENTSIN

DESCRIBED 151* A NEW ZEALANDER. Mr.s D.ivi.s, a New Zeahiuder, Who has resided in Tientsin, Northern China, for the Inst seventeen years, is at present visiti.ig. Wellington. After so long a residence in the East, where life is so verv to what it is in the colonies, Mrs. Davis confesses that she missed tile Oriental way of life, but now after she had been touring for six months, she was beginning to like tho old wavs. In Tientsin, alio explained, the various European communities., have their own concessions, the head of which is the British Consul (whose chief is tho Ambassador at Peking). Everything is handled by him, and a kind of municipal council, which rates the people for uuktL'i) of roads and other services. If there is. any trouble about servants, or mlcri'eiencc in any way hy tho Chinese, t.he matter is referred to the Consul. On that scorc, however, thoie is seldom anv trouble. The servants aro to be had by tho thousand, they cost, very little, and aro very good indeed in every respect. Mrs. Davis has in her possession a unique collection of photographs taken in Tientsin at the time of tlio Boxer rebellion, showing grim and horrible evidence of the iightflig between tho loyalist Chinese and tho Boxers. Life tended to the monotonous in Tientsin. because one had to continually meet tho same people the whole year round; then when they moved down to the seaside. to Peihaito, there were tho came people with whom they had been associating nil the year in tho city. Climatically," Tientsin is a city of extremes. The tenincrature ranges from 120 degrees in tho height of the summer to 20 decrees li.elaw zero in the winter. Fortunately it is a dry heat and - , a dry cold, or it would be unendurable. As "it was, it. -was resarded as a very healthy place, much more healthy, for example than Shanghai. Of all the concessions—they are held by England, France, Germany, and Japan—she supposed the Japanese' were the most numerous, but, of course, llio white people did not mix with them. Tho British were next strongest. There were, she thought, about 40(19 British, mostly engaged in commerce—the export of wool, hides, skins, bristles, etc. Tho concession had its own English church, its own theatre (which is provided with the latest and best touring shows from London), and its racecourse. But, unliko New Zealand, the sportiiig people did jmt ko in for blood stock. Tho racing is all done by Manhcurvin ponies. Chinese venture into tlip wilds of Manchuria, and catch sonic,fifty or sixty wild shaggy mountain ' animals, taking six months to bring them into Tientsin. Then, perhaps, "out of tho herd, a. dozen aro selected as worth training, find they aro secretly trained 'by Chinese, so." that ■ when the races arrive no one knows anything about tho racing capacity of tho ponies, and s'jnply buck them on their appearance, or perhaps on the gentlemen who are riding 'tbem, for they are all ridden by gentleman riders. These pony meetings aro very enjoyable, and aro attended by all the best peop.'.e in the city. Mis. Davis sa:id • that . tho Germans were very strong and extremely wealthy in Tientsin, but she was pleased to-eay that they had all been deported.. In f'ncl, she believed that-Tientsin was the first city to tako that action after tho outbreak of war. One very significant thing which came to light when war was declared, and which shows how the war was premeditated by Germany, was tho fact that some little timo before the outbreak all Germans who had been living with liativo women (and there wero quite a number of them) were ordered to marry them. That instruction is said to have emanated trom Berlin, and was to have had an effect favourable to tho ■ Germans when the time came for China to choose her side in the.woil'd'H conflict. It is well known now that China chose well and wisely, and her part in the war was no insignificant one. Mrs. Davis exhibits a photograph of 7250 Chinese soldiers about to embark for the 'Western front (via Canada), with her son os one of the officers, and that was only one of many contingents dispatched ' from China. Chinamen, however, were, not good fighters, and, as the other soldiers know, those men were'mostly retained for work behind the lines in Franco When lC : .iiocluui wan taken from' the Oxmaiis by the. Japanese, in seme three days, the men were all deported at once to Japan, and the refugoes-Mvomen and children—went to Tientsin. Kiaochan is'raid to be a vc,ry beautiful place, quite up-to-date in every respect, and its ioss would be a very severe one for the Germans, who lived there, in great style.

Miss Campbell's Entertainment. . ..The. opening performance . of Hiss Glady.3 Campbell's, production, "Once Upon a Time," -mil take place at- tho .Urnrid Opera House' tri-iiifrht, and everything points to a very successful season. The .music is brigh.li and -catchy, and the ehovus has been specially trained, and a full orchestra will be under tho baton of Signor Trtuln, with Miss Clifford at the piano. The dancing, >vhich will he of an original and unique character, wiil be a special feature. Miss Hnzel Kai'dwiclcc, who was cast for the. part of Mary, will, . unfortunately, not b» nble to appear owing to having undergone an operation last iverk, •.mil her place will be taken by Miss Irene Marsh. Miss Ngaire Phipson will take (he part of Bob, and the Policeman; Miss Elsie Dick as Boy Blue. Miss Joyce Julian as 80-peep. Lola Harding as Tommy Green, Zelnia Carrol as Fairy Dancer, and P. Hill on as Mother Hubbard. His Exc<'!lenev the- Governor-General and Countess of Liverpool will b» present on one night. The English Girl's Literature. The girl in one corner of the carriage was reading Charlotte Bronte's "Vi'--lette." Her companion was buried in tho first volume of Sinister Street." Desultory fragments of conversation, only possible when there was a .simultaneous turning of leaves, indicated that they were both cmoloyed iu a nartnient. The girl in the. opposite corner, who was obviously a clerk or typiste. never lifted her bend-from the pages o! Mr. Conrad's "Victory." Tt made onu doubt whether one c'oiiild find a penny novelette in the whole length of that suburban train. These girls were not exceptional; thoy were typical. From careful observations in train and tube, tram and bus, one comes to the conclusion that there is little doii'bt but that the modern business girl is cultivating '» taste for the finer things in literature. A suburban bookseller, questioned on this point, remarked that the sale and circulation of the more ephemera! type of novel i.s as extensive a? over, 'but. its chief patron is tho middle-aged woman. Ho would not. however, go so far as to ascent to a generalisation that the mothers are Tending the light and popular fiction, whilst their daughters are devoting themselves to a study of the younger and more serious school of novelists—"althounh it sometime.'! seems like it," he cautiously added.— "Daily News."