The wall about the old city of Canton, which was being built during the time that William of Normandy was conquering England, has at last been torn down to make roads over which twentieth century motor-cars are running. This reform comes about through the initiative of the Chief of Police, Ngai Pong-ping and the Provincial Treasurer, Yang Wing-tai, combined with the brains of a return-od student from England, Mr. W. C, Lun. The success of these three men is proof, says a correspondent of the "Hongkong Daily Press," that even the inertia of a Chinese city may be overcome when brains and initiative are found in right proportions.
The story of the events leading to the destruction of the walls is interesting. About two years ago there was threatened fighting between the civil and military governors of Canton. This was before the Military Governor gained the absolute upper hand which he now! has. Ngai Pong-ping was the newly appointed chief of police. Ho saw the difficulty of moving troops into the city so long as city gates barred the way.
Mr. W. C. Lun, who had just returned from study in British technical schools, was at the time an employee of the Police Department. In addition to technical training he took time in Great Britain to study police methods and was for a time in Scotland Yard. His enthusiasm attracted the Chief of Police who was looking for a man to take down the walls. Ngai Pong-ping asked his young assistant how long. he would need to level the walls of the city. When Lun _promised to have the work completed in a month, the Chief of Police laughed at his enthusiastic promise. He thought the enthusiasm came from an ignorance of the difficulty of the task but he told Lun to proceed with the work and to complete it as quickly as sible. Protection by the poli and scient money were promised.
Those familiar with the customs "of China will be surprised to know that the 14 gates of the old an? new city walls were all taken down in 98 days, two days less than the time limit set.
Tap Fryancray Dirricurry.
The first problem in taking down the walls was financial. In the heart of the old city was a large tract of land belonging to the desfendants of the Bannerman. The bannermen were Chinese wh> fought for the Manchus, When the Manchus captured Canton, many hundreds of years ago, they confiscated property and gave it to their supporters. It was decided that this land should now be taken
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