The Great Wall of China.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume X, Issue 3311, 17 September 1889, Page 2

The Great Wall of China.

(Pall Mall Gazette.) The' Great Wall of China is, after all, only a wall. And it was built with the same object as every other wall-to keep people from coming where they were not wanted. Mr' Toole's famous account of it is as historically accurate as any. " The most important building in China," he is, accustomed to .say, is the Chinese Wall, built to keep the Tartars out, It was built at such an enormous expense that tho Chinese never' got over it, But' the Tartars did. And the way they accomplished this feat was as follows : Oho went first t'other went after. It differs from other walls in only two respects —its ago and its size. The The former is 2102 years, the latter is such that it is tho only work of human hands on the globe visible from the moon, I take no responsibility for either of these statments. Tho Chinese name for it is" Wan-li- V oh'aug-ch'eng" (tho wall 10,000 li long.) And the gate on this high way is called "Pa-ta-Ling," and is about fifty miles north-west of Min and 2000 ft above tho sea. Beyond it lies Mongolia. Tho gateway by which I ascended tho wall is a largo double one, with a square tower upon it, pierced with oblong openings. for cannons,, of which.a dozen, old : ones lie in a heap, showing that at one time the road was seriously defended at this point. A rough. stairway leads to the top, which is about twenty feet wido, with a crenelated parapet on each side, and you can walk along it as far as you -4L can see, with here and there a scramblo where it has fallen in a little, On the whole it is in excellent ; repair, having, of course, ! been ' mended and rebuilt many times. Every half-mile or so is a litttle square tower of two storeys. The wall itself varies a. good deal in height, aocording to the nature: of. the ground, averaging probably about forty feet. On one side Mongolia, as you see it, is a vast i undulating brown plain; on tho other side China is a perfect sea of brown hills in all.directions, and across these stretch tho Great Wall.. On ; tho hill-top, through the valleys,' up and down tho eidee, it twists m an unbroken line, exactly like a huge earth-worm, suddenly turned to stone, For many miles it is visible in both directions, and;when.you can no longer trace its entire'leiigth you' can still discover it topping the hills one after another into tho remote distance,' And when you reflect that it is built of bricks, in almost inaccessible places, through uninhabited ,Jf countries, that each brick must have. •; ; been transported on a man's shoulders enormous distances, and that it oxtends for 2,000 miles, or one-twelfth the circumference of the globe, you begin to realize that you aro looking upon the most colosral achievement of human hands. The bricks are so big and heavy that I had to hire a little donkey to carry two of them. This is tho only pieco of vandalism to which I pead guilty on this trip, but the temptation was irresistible. ' ( and" they nover will he missed." Nowadays, of course, the wall servos no defensive purpose whatever, and is not guarded in any way. Not a soul lives within miles of it at most points, j and it is but a land-mark for tho [ Mongols' camel-trains, a stupendous , monument U the great past of ! China, and an evidence of Celestial ! greatness and enterprise gone never to return.

A Modern Samson.. ' >y A freshly imported " strong man" ~ exhibited his powers in a private room nt the Westminster Aquarium recently before a company of .gentlo-. men who had been specially invited, preparatory to an engagement ho has contracted to fulfil at the well known Westminster house of entertainment. He performs under tbo nanio of Samson, and is of German-Amorican extraction, is thirty years of age, and weighs 17011)8. Unlike other performers of feats of strength on the stage, he does not go in for lifting or carrying enormous weights, but A depends mainly on his extraordinary < power of developing his muck wherever thoy may be required. His achievements on July 24 were to the last degreo remarkable. Passing from tho bending of a copper gas pipe, which ho afterwards straightened out by hammering it on his left fore arm, he proceeded to " show the muscular power of his chest. Taking eighteen lengths of picture wire, each containing eight .4 strands ho tied them,'round his X. chest, and, by a violent effort of expansion broke the wholo bundlo. Samson also showed his visitors other feats-such as snapping heavy steel curb-chain rings by swelling Ins biceps, which measure 19£ in, over which they were placed, and breaking up tho remaining portions between bis fingers. This exhibition is, in fact, one that must be seen to be believed in. Tho new addition to ' strength- wonders, who has for some time been performing in America, is sft Bin in height, moasmes <loin round tho chost, and is symmetri- » cally built. He shows when dresßed « no sign of his exceptional powers. ; Tattersall's Consultations. Now that Tnttoisall lias again opened his £2,000, £IO,OOO, and £50,000 monster consultations on this years' Melbourne Cup, numerous inquiries liaye been made as to tho way in which these sweeps ire con* ducted. Asa general rule few aref"" convorsant with tbo system, and the method used by the abovo might be interesting to the many thousands who participate in thern in the hope of gaining a fortune. Everything is dono in tho fairest and most honest nia.iner by Tattersal's, the drawing never beim; allowed to take place, without many gentlemen being present whoso honesty and integrity cannot bo doubted,' On Wednesday morning the first sweep for tho Birthday Cup took place, when ten persons, including a couple of M.P/s, two lawyers, three leading citizens, and three pressmen, were present. Twenty trays, containing 100 balls each, were ' I pnsscd round the table numbered from 1,2, and 3, and so on, up to 2,000. Each person checked the balls and passed the. tray on, until everyone was satisfied that, not one marble was missing. This being done, a tray containing sixty-seven balls, each with tho name of a horse neatly printed on it, was'submitted, ;iM those present being confident thjit overything was correct they were placed in a small barrel, which was turned round in order to thoroughly mix them up. The 2,000 balls with the numbers were pitched into a larger barrel, hut not, consecutively, the tray containing, say, from, 1,100 10 1,200, being first thrown in, then the tray from 1,600 to 1,700, and so on, alternately, unlil the twenty trays were exhausted. The marbles

then subjected to ut Biimiai' process to Miu barrel which contained the . horses, Two gentlemen were requested to draw tho marbles—ono taking possession of the barrel with the horses' names, ami tho other the one with the numbered marbles. As soon as tho horses aro exhausted the drawing is complete, and tho way ir which it is effected is as follows : Both gentlemen dip at tho same time, and when two marbles aro pulled out tho person drawing the number calls it out, ami his friend calls tho name of the horse on tho ball. Some aro t.j recording, while other'* are mtontbo results, Both barrels are locked and revolved several times after every ten horses and marbles arc drawn. The first ball out on this occasion was 1,719, and The Jewel was first horse out. Three gcntlmen take down tho results, anil ufter the drawing has terminated they exchange copies, and the results aro checked by different people, so that there can be dl no mistake.—'Sunday Times,' Sydney *May 15. Tho annual Royal Caledonian ball. Riven for the bunoht of iho Royal Stottish Hospital, was held in the Whitehall Itnoms, Hotel Jletropole, on July 8. Nearly 700 numbers of tho leading Scottish families and their friends attondeil, dancingtakingljilaco in both ballrooms. Ueauty shows aro alter all not. quite a novelty. The Intermedial dos Cherclieurs describes one hold at Pans as far back as ]GSo. In remembranco of tho oldpst competition of tho kind, the prizes were golden apples. The lira! prize was, of courso, awarded to the Queen of Franco, and the second was SWined with 1723 points by Mdlle ■ bemuro. Tho London Times is jubilant over the fact that Irish emigration to Americj fell off greatly in the mouth of May and is much below what it was at this tiino last year. It is exported that the extta steamers which have been far Bomo timo past calling at Queenstown will havo to be discontinued.