"China may be behind in many ways but she stands boldly to the front in the magnitude of her public works, as may be seen by the familiar examples of the canal from Hangchow to Peking and of the wall from the of Kansu to Shanhaikuan. The immense brute mass of manual Labour, what the Chinese call "stupid strength," which has been bestowed is amazing. ~Another case to the ino is the effort to control the waters of the great plains, The eat works on the low River levees Closed'forty years ago when it took its new course to the North. It left us the monuments of the constant work of preceding generations in its levees. They extend for in top for a Food road and varying in 100 miles across the plain, wide enough height from 20 to 30 feet and in some places even more. In high water the river swirled its turbid current along 25 fect above all the surround it The country is a dead level with houses of earth built on only low embankments of earth, The fearful danger of starvation and drowning extorted the extraordinary efforts of the government and people. They tried to appease the by hugo temples or by an iron "cow lying so as to be first covered by the rising; tide, or by Buddhist pillars and Imperial tablets. But their efforts had a more Practical turn also. These huge dikes were built, stone and earth placed in piles on the levees, On the outer curves, where the current would cut the bank, jetties of earth and stone running in for 100 fect, their bases almost touching, were built, One has a feeling of awe as one thinks of the fatigue and groans with which these miles and miles of sand and stone were piled up, in this great battle between nature and man. These old levees, the Lones of the giant, remain now the only elevated object in many a landscape here. The effort to control the waters here has not been limited to these dikes. A.stone wall is being dug up south of here which was said to have been built during the Ming dynasty to control some waters on the east, A wall near this one is now being torn down which was put up since 1600 to control the water of Lake Putze on the west side, This is now a prosperous farming country with its old temples and lablota ered up several teet. "Two years 1goan occasional correspondent called attention in this paper to the splendid wall on the east side of the Hongtze lake, more than 100 li long, built of hewn' stone. It has now and then an inlet for shelter and every tenth stone in the top is carved. Its solid front presented to the restless waves and standing ten or more feet above the water is described as admirable and inspiring.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.