China's Great Wall.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 4 September 1914, Page 2

China's Great Wall.

CRUMBLING AWAY

China seems to bg Wasting away in many directions, particularly financially. Let us hope it is a case of darkness before dawn. " Even her Great "Wall, one of the wonders of the ancient world, is gradually wasting away. The process of decay, reports Mr. Monroe Woolley, who has observed it, is nevertheless very sloa', j.i testimonial to the thorough methods of ,the builders and the lasting qualities of the material. The wall was built 249 8.C., during the reign of the Tsin dynasty. "-Probably 'there isn't a similar work of this magnitude, as old as the wall, in existence today. China is notorious for her lack of roadways. Even to this day the remote regions can be reached only on camels or by boats towed up stream, for hundreds or thousands of miles, by men. running along the banks. It is claimed by some that the top of the wall was used as a thoroughfare, especially during the construction. At places, on the southern side of the wall graded inclines are built to the summit. These might have been used for driving beasts of burden to the top of the wall for trips up and down the length of the structure, while the work was under way. The wall .is not high. In places an athlete might cleai\ it with a vaulting pole were it not for-its unusual thickness. At regular intervals are formidable stone towers. Here no doubt the commanders of the defending legions took their stations when invaders came from the north. Undoing a task sometimes takes as long as it does to do it. It took many years to build the Great Wall. If China ever undertakes to tear it down in order to meet the ideals of a progressive Republican Government, the job will be no child's play. But with a railway on either side of the "fence," and batteries of stone-devouring steam shovels going night and day, the engineers might succeed in destroying in a da y portions that it took years to build when the world was younger.