One great boon Which has beer bestowed on the people of Kansu by the school which teach handicraft is the art of knitting which has become a regular craze. In the homeland it la a very rare thing to see a man with knitting needles in hig hand, but here wherever we go we meet the knitters. Assistants in the shops knitting behind the counter, clerks knitting at the door of their offices: soldiers knitting near the camps: boys and men knitting as they walk along the streets. Scores upon scores of knitted hats may be seen worn every day, one style for men and another for girls. Stockings, gloves, mittens are very common. Woo! fortunately is very cheap, and a pair of woollen socks are much cheaper than the calico wadded ones which the people here used wear in winter, and much cleaner because they can be washed. Ere another winter comes round many will have found out the way to knit yeats and jerseys for already a few children have been seen wearing them.
A school of industry was opened last Autumn where knitting was the only thing taught and the scholars graduated in three months. Like other matters in China, the purchasing of knitting machines was placed in the hands of a merchant who knew nothing about machines, but as he was going to Peking he was entrusted with their purchase and they have arrived incomplete and useless for the present.
To-pay anp Yesterpay.
This brings to my memory an instance that occurred in the last years of the Manchu regime. Machinery was wanted for amolting copper in this far off province of Kansu and the order was placed in the hands of a foreigner who was going home after 40 odd years' residence in China without out once being out of the country, and therefore as ignorant of machinery as the Chinese themselves. The machinery was purchased abroad, sent out at great expense, carted over land 36 days' journey from the railway station and when it finally reached its destination found to be of no use and other machinery had to be purchased. Such was China under the monarchy and such is China to-day in the 11th year of the Republic.
Avromatic steps will shortly be placed on tram cars in Tokio as an experiment. The steps will be raised and lowered by means of a handle, preventing passengers from getting off or on cars while in motion. The outcome of the experiment will undoubtedly be awaited with interest by people in Shang-Thai.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.