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ing our country politically, commer
cially, socially. They aim, and are in
too many instances succeeding in their
aim, to deceive the very elect. ? James
S. Martin, General Superintendent Na
tional Reform Association.
THE CHINESE AS A BUSINESS
MAN.
"The odiously practical Chinese"
is the way one of my friends spoke
of them.
There was a tinker with his whole
outfit slung on the two ends of a
pole, who joined our church in Pe
king. He was a skilful tinker, and
when we needed a man to take charge
of one of the industrial departments
of the Peking University we employad
him. He soon had lathes and all kinds
of machinery installed. He became
skilful as a repairer of bicycles, and
it was necessary for him to have an
assistant.
A hare-lipped boy, whose lip our
physicians had repaired, applied for
the position of assistant, and in a
short time the head man was so
widely known as a mechanic that he
was in demand by the manager of the
Imperial Hallways of North China.
After remaining there for a short
time, he came to me to ask if I would
not loan him money to open a bicycle
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OecuritY
\ervice
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= "it proves itself" I
; An\ericar\Nafior\al Bar\k
A CAPITAL ONE HILIO* RICHMOND VA
F or Fine
Furniture
Go where your pride and
pocketbook will not conflict.
Sydnor & Hundley
7th and Grace
Heart of City
Via Bristol
AND THE
Norfolk & Western
Railway
The Short Line Between
NEW ORLEANS, BIRMINGHAM.
MEMPHIS, CHATTANOOGA,
KNOXVILLE
AND
WASHINGTON, PHILADELPHIA.
NEW YORK.
8olld Train Service Dining Car.
All Information cheerfully furnished.
W. B. BEVILL,
Passenger Traffic Manager.
W. C. SAUNDERS,
General Passenger Agents.
Southern Railway
Premier Carrier of the South
*
Tnlii Leave Richmond, Main St. Station.
N. B. ? Following schedule figures pub
lished as Information. Not guaranteed.
1:10 A. M. Dally. Local for Danville,
'Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh.
19:10 A M. Dally limited for all points
South.
8:10 P. M. Ex. Sunday ? Local for Dur
ham, Raleigh and Intermediate
stations.
? :00 P. M. Dally for Danville, Atlanta
and Birmingham, with through
electrio lighted observation sleep
ing car.
11:16 P. M. Dally limited for all points
South.- Pullman ready 9:00 P. M.
YORK RIVKR SERVICES.
4:16 P. M. Daily. Local for West Point,
S:10 P. M. Dally except Sunday. Steamer
train to West Point, connecting
for Baltimore. (Parlor Car.)
7:16 A. M. Dally. Local to West Point.
Train* Arrive In Richmond.
From the South: 7:00 A. M., 8:10 A M.,
12:26 P. M., 7:66 P. M? dally, and 8:40
A. M., except Sunday.
From West Point: 8:46 A. M.. exoept
Monday and 8:40 A U.. and 8:18 P. it,
?aily.
1CAORUDKR DWfT, D. P. A.
88T Bust Mala BtrMt V%?u MlllSis 8TI
store in Peking. I did bo, and it was
not long berore he was independent
and was putting another poor boy
through college.
What about the hare-lipped boy?
He had also made such progress that
when the Boxer trouble was over he
was employed as the manager of
another bicycle firm. After a time
they wanted to dissolve the firm, and
in order to do so they asked him to
take it over. "I have no money,"
said he. "Borrow it," they advised.
He came to me one day to borrow
$1,000 to buy the shop. I loaned it
to him confidently. In four years he
had paid it back, with interest, and
had taken the support of another poor
boy in college.
Two brothers and a cousin, who had
served as interpreters, at the close of
the Boxer rebellion had each saved
150 taels (150 ounces of silver).
With this they opened a carpenter
shop, calling it the "Heavenly Right
eousness Carpenter Shop" (T'ien I
Mu Ch'ang) , with the brother-in-law
of one of the young men, a graduate
of our Peking University Industrial
School, to manage it. They soon had
contracts for building the new sky
scrapers of Peking ? the three-story
school buildings of the new China.
They were forced to buy their bricks,
lime and lumber on credit at an enor
mous profit to the dealers in those
commodities, arranging that as the
government paid them they would
share with their creditors.
Thi3 plan worked very well until
the government failed to dbme up to
its promise, and one day one of the
young men came to me and said, after
detailing their condition: "We must
have 13,000 ounces of silver." "That
is a large amount of money," 1 said.
"Yes, but we must have it," he an
swered. "What security have you to
give?" I inquired. "We'll give the
shop and some deeds to other prop
erty."
Without going further into the de
tails of the matter, I went with him
to the Hong Kong and Sliankhai
Bank and secured for him 13,000
ounces of the best silver, which he
carted away, and in four or five years
he had paid it back, with interest,
and was on an independent basis,
where he could buy brick, lime and
lumber for cash on the smallest mar
gin, and was giving all his time to
Christian work among his people.
These are three of the most strik
ing of a great many instances of pro
gress and success that have come un
der my personal observation.
There is a general impression
among tourists that the Chinese are
Jews in all their dealings and that
the only way to deal with them is to
offer them one-third to one-half what
they ask for their wares. This is true
of many of the small dealers, just as
It is true of many of the small dealers
among the Jews. But among the
better class of Chinese merchants they
have one price ? and only j>ne.
I once went with Mr. Burt, at one
time president of the Union Pacific
Railway, to help him get some of the
best specimens of Chinese porcelain
and other curios. At one of the3e
one-price houses we saw a beautiful,
large Yung Cheng vase. As Mr. Burt
was very much pleased with it, he re
quetsed me to ask the price.
"Three hundred ounces of silra,"
replied the dealer.
"I think I will get it," said Mr.
Burt, "though it is larger than I want;
but I will not get it now."
The following day during the fore
noon, while I was teaching and could
not gawith him, he went with a young
man, whom the dealer did not know,
and they asked the price.
"Three hundred and fifty ounces of
silver, " replied the dealer, with an
absolutely unconcerned look as though
A Corporate Trustee
for Trust Funds
A Capital and Surplus of SI, 150, 000 insure responsibility
and a board of well known and tried business men direct
the affairs of this company.
We act as trustee for endowment funds and invite cor
respondence concerning any other fiduciary matters.
RICHMOND TRUST
Capital AND SAVINGS co. Main St., <7.1
$1,000,000 Corner /til
he had never seen them before.
"But you told Mr. Headland yester
day you would sell it for three hun
dred ounces of silver," they urged.
"Three hundred and fifty ounces of
silver," he insisted, as though he did
not understand what they were say
ing.
That afternoon Mr. Burt said to me:
"Mr. Headland, what did that mer
chant want for that large vase?"
"Three hundred ounces of silver,"
I replied.
"Well, this morning we were down
that way, and asked the price of it.
and he said: 'Three hundred and fifty
ounces of silver.' "
"We will ask him this afternoon," I
replied.
When we arrived at the dealer's, I
said: "What i3 the price of this big
vase?"
"Three hundred ounces of silver,"
he replied, as quietly as though we
had never inquired before.
I turned to Mr. Burt and said: "He
says three hundred ounces of silver."
"Well, he wanted three hundred
and fifty this morning." *
I then said to the dealer: "This
gentleman tells me you ask him three
hundred and fifty ounces this morn
ing."
"I did," he replied.
"And why was that?" I inquired.
"To give you face," he answered.
He thought that they supposed they
could buy it cheaper if I were not
along than if I were; that perhaps I
received some profit on it, and he pro
posed to show them that I was hon
est and he was honest, and he ran
the risk of losing the sale in order to
show his friendship for me.
The individual instances that I have
given will prepare us to understand
how it Is that the Chinese have been
able to make the sweeping changes
they have made during the past quar
ter of a century.
When I went to China, twenty-five
years ago, she was in all the physi
cal, intellectual and spiritual darkness
of the Middle Ages. I managed for
two years the carrying of our mis
sion mail from Tientsin to Peking,
a distance of eighty miles, by private
courier, from each vessel bringing
mail from America. Afterward I saw
China develop a postal system
throughout the whole empire, quite
equal to any of the postal systems of
Europe or America^
My first trip from Tientsin to Pek
ing was made in a house-boat ? a six
days' trip of one hundred miles. Ten
years thereafter I made the same trip
in a parlor car in three hours at one
third the expense of the house-boat.
When I went to Peking I found the
streets three inches deep with dust
in dry weather, or anywhere Trom six
inches to a foot deep with mud during
the rainy season. When I left all the
great streets were macadamized and
as clean as similar streets in an Ameri
can city to-day.
Whep I went to Peking the street
lamps consisted of a little paper house
on top of four posts, in which there
was a small oil lamp about as lax'ge
as that used by coal diggers, and these
were only lighted on moonlight nights.
The reason for this seemingly strange
custom was that the Chinese knew
that they were not large enough to
be of any use on dark nights, and
therefore they decided not to waste
the city oil. as every one had to carry
his own lantern. Bat on moonlight
nights they served to direct the cart
ers and prevent their driving off the
street, which was built up two feet
above the sidewalk, and thus tum
bling into the ditch. This has all been
changed and now the streets are illu
minated by electric lights.
The same changes have taken place
in their water system. When I went
to Peking the water works consisted
of a well, a wheelbarrow and a man.
Now they have a hydrant on every
street corner. What is trua of Peking
is true of other great Chinese cities,
so that the Chinese man who believes
that "honesty is the best policy" in
his private business affairs has awak
ened to the realization that "progress
is the only policy" in his conduct of
the government. ? Men and Missions.
The Spirit of
Our Service
Is CO-OPERATION ? the desire to be
of utmost assistance to our customers.
Small as well as large accounts in
vited.
3 per cent, on Savings Accounts.
National State aid City Bank
Richmond, Va. .
Win. H. Palmer, Pres.
Wm. M. Hill, Vice-Prea.
J. W. Sinton, Vice-Prea.
Julien H. Hill, Cashier
R. E. Cunningham, Asst. Cashier
Wm. 8. Ryland, Asst. Cashier
INCORPORATED 1832
EIGHTY-FOUR YEARS
Eighty-four years in the confidence of this community. ThoM
who favor HOME INSTITUTIONS can be accommodated with
absolute security and prompt attention bv
OUR HOME COMPANY
The Virginia Fire St Marine Insurance Co,