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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 2, 1908)
V; . . THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNALS PORTLAND, . SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 2, 1908. WILL in ' ttc Ft Half mKE AMERIGffl IDEAS TO CHINA t Y . ByC.fi Hogue. STUDYING day and night, learning the Innermost Mortta of Amer ican manufactories, ctvlo Improve ment, and tha law of tba nation, . ' Wont Back How, Bub-prefect to hla) majesty the emperor of China, hope that It will not bo long before an oftl. clal call cornea from hla government summonlng'him to the Flowery King, dom to take aome blgh official Beat from which he will be enabled to aid In the modernising of hla mighty, home land. Wong back How la probably the beat-known and moat popular Chinaman In Portland. Hla clear-cut. Intelligent feature attract attention aKflrst glance and tiia maatery of the Engllah Ian guare, combined with hla aage oriental wisdom, are delightfully Impressive. Vvhen Wong Back How la called homo By hla government he will go prepared to do real good for hie country. He haa mastered the secreta of many American Induetiiea which will prove profitable to China, and believes that aome day hla knowledge will be of lnflnlte value to , hla -country. For yeara he studied the making f gas and a plant for Its man ufacture wfll be one of the first things he will urge. He Is conservative In hla views 'and refuses to discuss his ambi tions at length, but It may easily ba aeen that he dreams of great tblnga for China, Born at Canton. "No, I waa not born in America," How replied to a questioner who could not understand how a celestial, unlees a na tive it the United States, could be ao thoroughly familiar with American ous toms and language. "I was born at Canton, but want to Melbourne, Aus tralia, when 1 was II years old. My uncle took a cargo and I accompanied mm so i migm enter an English school. "I studied there until I was II yeara old. then came to America. I came di rectly to Portland and have lived here alnce. This Is a beautiful city, a beau tiful state, a beautiful country. I would like to have you make it clear that I love them. But I also love China, Each la beautiful." Wong's father was the cause of his pilgrimage to the United States. It was his parent's dearest wish that hla aon learn the English language and accumu late aufih knowledge of modernism here aa would enable him to mount high in the government rank a Hla fathers father Is a high Judge, an official of considerable degree, his father la a law yer and Wong Back How la already sub-prefect. of : Hw ; Life in Portland , to : Learn tne ; Ways and :., Manners of tne PeopleHopes td Start . a Gas aeJlfoW : Wonp; Back How, Sub-Prefect t His Majesty tLe Emperor, Is SpcnJ- Plant WLen He Returns to '' His Native Lan I Holds Honorary Position. Sub-prefect to hla majesty the em peror is apparently more of an honorary position than aught else. It seems that the government has a sort of official waiting list, upon which all men of rank are placed until such time as their country needs them in active service. This list is ram posed of men of differ ent rank, and sub-prefect. It appears, is the last step before the call for actual officialism Is sounded. Wong Back How Is not penurious. He Is liberal to a fault, but this very char acteristic won for him his favor with his government. His generous gifts to fellow countrymen In distress were brought to the attention of high offi cials at home and after that life was a path of roses. Appointment followed appointment until he reached the rank of sub-prefect, which Is on a par with a circuit Judgeship In this country. Gorgeously embroidered robes fall to the lot nf men of Wong Back How's rank. Other Chinamen or lower degree are not accorded the privilege of Wear-Ins- the lnslgna which appears upon the official's dress In the accompanying pic ture. The small ball, or tassel, on top ' of his cap la also significant, showing . him to be above the common class. Father Selected Wife. After he srrlved in Portland Wong Back How's father notified him that he had selected a wife for him, under the Chinese custom. How left school tem porarily and returned to his native land. There, for the first time, he met the beautiful young woman, who was to be come his life companion. He married very young and although he la little more than 84 years old now, he has a son who la already well along with hla education. How returned to this country with his bride and she remained here for five years. At the end of that time How, at H I l ill J p2; ;iiM n ff If If Conditions. J7 . - i Vr' r ' I IVBNIT i ' . . fi arm 'V 'v'A'-oww,wvvaiavv Back mm her requeat, sent her to his home near Canton to care for his sged mother and await his return. Three times since her return to China How nas crossed the sea to spend six or eight months at a time with her. Three children are the pride of the celestial's life, two sons snd a daughter. The later Is nn American, having been born In Portland. Knows Chinese Wong Back How knows China as well as he does America He Improved his time during his visits at home Just as he Is improving It during his residence here. He has thorounnly familiarized himself with conditions there and It will be no strange land he returns to when his government calls him. Although he was born at Canton, How's home now Is shout 40 miles In land from that city. There he has vast acres of fine farm land, which his cou sin. Is tilling during his absence. Wong refuses to attempt to estimate the num ber of acres he owns there, Indicating with a broad sweep of his arm that there are large rice fields In one direc tion, tea g-ardens In another, silk worms In another snd Indigo In still another. When How was a boy this farm was far from the city. Today it Is almost on the outskirts. The railroad has worked the miracle. The line of the San Nang Sung railway runs within a quarter of a mile from How's place and fluffing steam engines eat the distance Ike hungry monsters which formerly was wearily tramped by footsore coolies bearing sedan chairs for the travelers. Financier and Diplomat. Wong Is something of a financier as well as being a born diplomat. He owns stock in the railroad which runs past his home, nets a good income from his farm, and also has an extensive mer ness of H. C. Leonard, who took a deep interest In the celestial and alrffd him in his studies of the Industry, he secured a vast amount of information on the subject. When asked if he expected to Americans ehnuld be glad that there is a prospect or the establishment of gas cantlle business in the .local Chinatown, see gas plants In China soon, Wpna re- plants in China, according to Won. II Doubtless when the first gas plant !s plied: " explains that If thev are erected there It erected at Pekin he will be one of the "I hope to. I have studied gas. Mr. will be necessary to come' to America pioneer stockholders In that. Leonard taught me many thlnss. He is for supplies. American manufacturers The gas business has a strange fas- my best friend. I will remember him will be called upon to furnish gas pipe, clnation for Wong. Througn the kind- all my life." tanks, meters land machinery for the rtiss back now. generating stations, until tne t!mecom?s when those things are madq in the orient. Revision of Laws. Improvement In the laws of his na tive land Is another dream which Wong cherishes. He carefully explains that he does not believe the laws of his country to be bad far from that. But he roullzes that no country's laws can be perfect, and that there is always room for Improvement over anything. In recent years China has been select ing the best Engllsn and American laws and adopting them for Its own use. Wong hopes to be able to recommend further adoptions. With this purpose In view Wong has entered the UnlverBfty of Oregon law department At all hours of the day and night he may be found pouring over volumes bound in sheepskin, studying out tangled problems presented in the course of criminal law. He Is a good scholar, as the records of the school will show, and by the time his course Is completed In 1910 will probably put some of his white classmates to shame. Although his present course of study will not be concluded until 1910, Wong In holding himself in readiness for the expected call from the government Should It come tomorrow he would drop his seholai .ship In the local school and prepare to sail. But In such an event he. would not abandon his studies. Ills plun. In the fare of such an emer gency. U to purchase all the lnw books Included In the course and pursue his studies along this line after his arrival In China. Wong Is a bright man; his discussion of current events Is a sur prlse to even his most Intimate white friends, and should he be forced to In struct himself in American law he would be certain to thoroughly master it before abandoning his studies. Wong Hack How has his own opin ions on the exclusion question. He hopes that In the future the American gate will he swung a little wider open to his countrymen, and that a lasting bond of brotherhood will he established between China and the United States. All Nations of One Blood. "God made all nations of one blood," he exclalrrled, "and all should be broth ers. We should treat face to face like brothers. "America has no better friend than China. We are the Americans' friends 'Inside,' and that is better than a false show of affection. "Whatever agreement our govern ments make will be Just. I am sure of that, but personally i would like to see the gate a little wider opea. Wli. i Chinamen come to America tbey i good people to have. "Chines, merchanta treat with white merchants. Do they break their agri menta like aome people? "No, they are honest v "Coolies are hired to work on the railroad, Chlnameo work as servants, othera pick hops. Do they strike at a time when they are needed moatt "No, they never break a contract "Did you ever see a Chinaman drunk upon the atreeta? Did you aver se onn of my countrymen rolling In the gutter? "No. we do not come to that - -"Chinamen abide by the lawa f the country when, they live here. Home times they are arrested. It la true, but don't you find that In a majority of rases ft la becatise they have not com to understand American law and un wittingly committed aome minor of fense? "You speak of the fighting recently at San Francisco. It la true that there have been tong disturbances. Why should you blame a nation for the ac tions of a few of Its eubjecte? America is not blamed for strikes and . labor union disturbances, and the tong wara of the Chinese are very almilar to these. They are among Chinamen alone, and never Involve the affaire of the white men, except that they are in violation of the law as to keeping the peace, and. are to be deplored. "Do I talk aenaer " ; . ? Name Is Backward. ' . v ' Wong Back How's name should ba How Back Wong, according to the American arrangement of names. Wong Is his family name, How la the nam bestowed upon him by his grandmother and Back la the cognomen presented him by hla government "Do all Chinamen receive a nam from the government?" he was asked. "Oh. no; only men of certain degree have that honor bestowed upon them." With the American Idea In mind Wong Back How has adopted his fam ily name for his commercial uaes, hla nrm being Known ae tne wong com pany. Even in the University of Ore gon law department register hla name appears, "B. H. Wong," followed by the Chinese characters which algnlfy, the same. Home llmi aro. h'fnra ha entered upon his legal studies, Wong consented to teach a small class of Europeans the Chinese language. He met with won derful success but waa forced to dis miss his pupils when he entered school, so he could devote all hla time to hla booka. The nub-prefect la particularly proud of one atudent In hla class, a young German. This man took 10 worda of the Chinese language every day. Ha mastered these 10 words and at tba and of three months was able to converse In the language well enough to enter Into business negotiations in Chinatown., Wants to See Emperor. The system of teaching employed by Wong differs materially from that of most instructors and haa proven far better, in the opinion of experts. . The statement of the pupil mentioned bears out this, for when Wong dismissed hla class the German entered that of an other teachev. A ehort time later ha eppiieu m nun( 10 ue laaen um a pupil once more, stating ne couia not learn anything under a different course of study. The official was obdurate, how ever, and his former pupil learned that ' Wong was no lonjrer an Instructor but had turned pupil himself. "What in Jur hlirheat ambition?" ' Ti was asked. ' , ,t "If I can go high enough In the gov ernment ssrvlce to see my emperor t will be content," was the sub-prefect's reply. "Of cjurse you know that a man must be high In rank o see the ruler of my country. I hopefsome day to ba that high." "What kind of a man is your K'1" aw it v Aiitu twiu JUSt iv ills ltDa Jects?" "No better ruler could bo found In any land. He Is worshiped by hla sub jects and 's always fair to alL I hope to see him some day." ELLEN TERRY TO PRO DUCE A NEW PLAY SUPERSTITIONS OF SAILORS HAVE NOT YET DEPARTED : pome Weird Cases of Prophesy Tkat Tars on ' Ocean Going Craft Indulge In By Hayden Church. Y ONDON. Jan. 15. If it be true that keeping everlastingly at t brings success," then the day urely Is coming when fame as play, "quite positive of lta auccess, andl looking forward with the greatest pleasure to acting in it" If the ac tress' expectations are realised it will be the biggest kind of a score for tho American girl dramatist and one that dramatist will be possessed D'e?8ilran?ely deserve" ?or her sT" and ny miss uiaaya unger, wno was Dorn In San Francisco, but has spent mo3t By O. E. Goodwin. IT seems difficult to believe that the average hard-headed sailing-ship officer and seaman can often be as full of odd and weird superstition as Huckleberry Finn. But this la certainly the case. Not long ago it was my privilege on a long voyage to be gradually initiated Into aome of these most of them so palpably ridiculous in the telling as to jnake It difficult Indeed to be as sym I pathetic as necessary. First let me give a solemn warning. It may aome day be your fortunate ex perience to go a long voyage on a sail ing ship or steamer. as your boat gradually makes her way south of the "line," the desire to shoot some of the man? varieties of birds, which from time to time follow the progress of the ship, must be put down with a firm band. If it isn't you may know from actual experience Jitet now Jonah felt. After tiresome (and fruitless) practice on porpoise and dolphin, I one day fired at an enormous black cape hen a bird but little smaller than an albatross; my aim alas, was only too ratal, men be gan a period of black looks by day and dark sullen murmurs by night, whenever and wherever I approached. Only too soon I learnt that to kill a seablrd was the Quickest and surest way to wreck a Ishio. There was one way to avoid this. hla., to throw overboard the hoodoo leiayer. J. certamiy must consiaer my keif fortunate to be alive, ror that iden tical shin within a month lost her Imasts, sails and rigging, only with ex treme difficulty making an emergency jnort Of course this was only a co ndolence. but . One other weird case of prophecy Is kvorthv of recall. Carelessly leaning hver the aide of the ship, the captaln'a Wife dropped ner. weaiang ring, ana hatched it for seemingly nundreds ot feet, slowly fade out of sight Not nore tnnn a we"K laier, a BHiiur oui- mniv declared, after working over the llde, that he ha seen the ring floating y the ahlp. "and I tell you, air," he aaed to tne capiain, airs. wm ha riAH.il nerore we get duck nome. Strange to say, though in perfect health it the time tniB preuicnon was niuuu, . he lady died a month before the end of he voyage. ' Almost everyone Is aware that any uneral at sea Is practically invariably arried out the same day as the death. arHeiilartv la this the case on a sail ing ship, where the sailors would go i ran tic and almost mutiny if the body o-kvnt nn hoard overnight L&n nA hnrit mn hncan V-tOoklnar Scotch late, who had faced death without a remor In many a hundred ways, unbur ened himself one glorious night in the ropics. V'Well mister," (the invariable ray of addressing a ship's officer), he egan, I was mate in tne oara oun lower from Newcastle to Seattle In oal. Too must know that in, the Sun- lower. the boys' house is aftright big black bird floating right over head, era- you see under the poop. One of Never once did It move its wings, but ur apprentices had fallen from the Just hung over ua looking like the angel I aSfr- '-ssj of her not very lengthy existence on this side of the Atlantic. Up to now, however, despite many efforts, this American girl has failed to score a really big bull's eye such, for example as those that have been "plumped" by another young Anglo-American play wright who is Identified with her na tive city. Hubert Henry Davies, who gave us "Cousin Kate." If, however,. Miss Unger has not yet succeeded in writing a money-making; Flay, she cannot complain of any dlf iculty in getting her stage pieces pro duced, and Dy prominent actors, too. For example, her first really serious effort "Edmund Kean," was put on by Sey mour Hicks, her "Mr. Sheridan," was produced by Arthur Bourchler last sea son, and if one mistakes not. a comedy of hers called "The Gambler," was tried at home by Frank Worthing. All these Just failed to "hit It off." however, and up to date the nearest that the young authoress has come to scoring wis with a little two-act piece called "The Lemonade Boy," which seems to have had quite a friendly reception when given in Boston, Massachusetts, about a year ago, and which won decidedly encouraging commends rrom tne London The Merry Widow. ' 5 Since "The Merry Widow" captured : both Europe and America, light operaa by Viennese composers have been - In " great demand, and if preaent plans ara carried out, two of the best recent onea will be on view shortly at London the-', atres controlled by George Ed ward ea. whose chief production, the "Widow"' Itself, Is confidently expected to run here for another year, anyhow. -Tha; first of those two pieces, "Tha Dream: Waltz,' already has been described in this correspondence, the second, th rights In which have Just been secured, by Edwardes, is "The Dollar Princess." ' Composed by Herr Fals, It has had an enormous success at the An der Wlen' theatre, Vienna, none the less perhapa because the "dollar princess" of tha -title is an American girl. She Is a dashing mllllonalreawh has engaged an inpecunioua young, nobleman to be her secretary. She " finds, however, that he Is by no mean prepared to fall In with her whims and vagaries; that, in short she has found a master where she expected to discover a servant. Of course, she becomes pas slonately attached to him, while he, tl- iuuubu BBcreny returning ner a free. encouraging coinmenoa iruiu mo ujnaon tinn romain- .t,.ku. ri. - . , critic, vhen produced by the late Grant feL Alien s son, jerrani urani Alien, at .ha - ,I,r h,, ,Li r. :v "i' ,7 the London "Criterion." I -sense of fn2 " S2J.tht "H0' The same manager recently has been rtlrll t vl S'TR ,to touring a melodrama by Miss Unger u0Pnrlsa? f rhehT!LdfiuiVt-d.e'S,'.,, called "The Knave of Hearts" In the .Ifi1' PeHr,V,lo hl ?l,llk. Ka.ther,5? English provinces, but the piece does Seeth U ! In JiSiiIeE ?' brought "f Jla? ".""'""I eoKtoSlatlwV? Thrilf: Buuu tu wwiwn ua .i"""""'"". " Princess" will h nnf h- Yy" Gaiety in March, following "The Qlrla? of Gottenberg." . Science and. Religion. 'i ' London Correspondence N. T. Tribuna. The death of Lord Kelvin has brought into prominence the fact that religion has recovered its prestige and influence among highly-educated classes in Eng land. Ihirty years ago the moat emi nent scientific thinkers were agnostics at war with all creeds as relics of su perstition. Darwin. Tyndall., Huxley and Spencer, with the subtlest Intellect of their time, did not conceal their pitv and contempt for tha childish-belief metropolis, as was Intended. Far from being discouraged, however, the young authoress has spent the past few months in writing a new play, and this has Just been accepted and will be pro duced In Dublin next month by no less a person than Ellen Terry, who will be supported In It by her American leading man (and husband), James Carew. Two Players. These two players, who scored so em phatically on both sides of the water in "Captain Brassbound's Conversion," are to reappear In the Shaw piece at the king's theatre, Hammersmith, on of credulous humanity, and were hailed February 10, and then will start on a ,in!fva.nS!i. ' 8clen,tln0 gnotl- tour. Miss Unger s new play, a "ro- fcC k"SiX$F&i Tf mantle drama," which as yet is not sclentlnc progress tha prayer rauge tha ... .. . ... . .... tilt nn.. Ik. u... ors were about to go aloft to clew P them for what it might portend, whilst sails, there suddenly appeared on sev- the appearance of a "sundog" (appar eral of the yards and on the tips of ently two entirely different suns in the ire' lower tops'l yard and was dying. he old man' was with mm trying to ad a few verses of scripture, but all is . boy would do was to curse and laSpheme. Even up on the poop I utd hear him. shuddering to hear tha km, of tha Almighty so profaned. Just ieo i squintea aioit ana saw a great of death. I tell you he waa far bigger than the biggest albatross I've ever seen, and every now and again he'd give a great loud caw as the young ster stopped cursing a moment Al though feeling almost scared to death I kept my eyes on the evil looking thing, when auddanly ,he Just malted. out of sight. In half a minute the skipper was on deck to say the boy was dead, now mister I Know that was the devil waiting for that bov's the masts those oecullar fireballs known tkv) was a most direful culnmltv. aoul I hope to God he won't wait for In sailorese as corpse candles." With Ridiculous you say! Yes, but in the mo like that." startling unanimity half the crew dark, silent wastes of ocean, where .i All the reasoning In the world would dropped and croucherf" on the deck till man only works and sleeps, where he not convince my Scotch friend that he a normal state of things returned. Ex- only Bees a passing ship once a month, could be mistaken, although a moment actly their reasons of fright were dif- is It to be wondered at that the sailor later I heard him berate the steersman Jlcult to make out possibly they did not gets these weird,- fantastic, phantasies for an error of Judgment to the full know themselves; but they were might- to replace his one-time common sense? extent of that marvelous vocabulary a lly scared of something, which to ma Men of all racea, religions and tongues, seaman possesses. was a rather ' fine pyrotechnic display, tbey alike all worship this unknown , Later that same nlghUwbilst tha sail- Even tha sight of a mirage terrified god of superstition. named finally. Is to see the light in the Irish, capital on rwruary &i. The part of Its heroine, the famous Elizabeth of York, will, of course, be played by Miss Terry, and incidentally It is the longest she ever has under taken. Miss Unger's story, however, though concerned with the adventures of historical personages, has only tha slightest foundation In Tact The action takes place during the turbulent period of the wars of the roses, or at the time when the heroine of the play was Just entering on womanhood. The hero is Henry of Lancaster, who will be played by James Carew, and something Is seen also of the earl of Warwick and of Richard HI. The first act is laid in a blacksmith's forge In Yorkshire and the remaining three in a castle In tha same country, where Elisabeth and War- wick are neia prisoners. in a note which I received from MUn xerry yesieroayv after failing to catch her at the flat in rhelnoa wht-h h an.l hr huutuanrt in ahi.hmi, ,k. in th universe, and is r" that she Is delighted with ilia Unger's cept It aa an artKle ct ItL panzees for Adam and Eve? and EpenV cer'a despairing recoil "from tha Vn knowable" have - passed out of mind, and tha most eminent thinkers have be come reyertent investigators of the orl Fln r01-4 Kelvin's preeminence in British, science ; has been unchal lenged, and he was a strenuous oppo nent of agnostlcisfh, whloh seemed t .lum-aa indefensible aa modern atucks upon tha atomic theory. When the c ur rent generalisation of an earlier genera tion that modern ecience neither arru m 'hot denies creative power tn the origin of Ufa M repeated during his Himu,? yfcars, he dissented from It with m much emphasis aa he Muld mm '. ' Hla protest egalnat- Profenr nri.-'-- account of "Present Day -iui joh had behind it his own authoriiy -greatest selentlflo mind. It w i compromising ds:Irsrlon ti i i frirma a creative snd riirp. nv j ' i V I f - v. ' V , '
