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 , '