perfluity.
It is claimed for Chiang, the second Chinese clerk in Yunnan, that he
knows all the 10,000 numbers and their corresponding characters.

Telegrams from Yunnan to Shanghai cost twenty-two tael cents (at the
present value of the tael this is equal to sixpence) for each Chinese
character; but each word in any other language is charged double, that
is, forty-four cents.

[Illustration: SOLDIERS ON THE WALL OF YUNNAN CITY.]

From Yunnan to Talifu is a distance of 307 miles. The native banker in
the capital will remit for you by wire to his agent in Tali the sum of
1000 taels, for a charge of eight taels, exclusive of the cost of the
telegram, and, as the value of silver in Tali is one per cent. higher
than it is in Yunnan, the traveller can send his money by wire with
perfect safety, and lose nothing in the remittance, not even the cost of
the telegram.

The telegraph offices are separated from the city wall by a small
common, which is quite level, and which the Chinaman of the future will
convert into a bowling green and lawn-tennis ground. There is a handsome
entrance. The large portal is painted with horrific gods armed with
monstrous weapons. The Chinese still seem to adhere to the belief that
the deadliness of a weapon must be in proportion to the savageness of
its aspect. Inside, there are spacious courts and well-furnished guest
rooms, roomy apartments, and offices for the mandarin, as well as
comfortable quarters for Mr. Jensen and his body of Chinese clerks and
operators. There is a pretty garden all bright and sunny, with a pond of
gold fish and ornamental parapet. Wandering freely in the enclosure are
peacocks and native companions, while a constant playmate of the
children is a little laughing monkey of a kind that is found in the
woods beyond Tali. At night a watchman passes round the courts every two
hours, striking a dismal gong under the windows, and waking the
foreigner from his slumbers; but the noise he makes does not disturb the
sleep of the Chinese--indeed, it is open to question if there is any
discord known which, as mere noise, _could_ disturb a Chinaman.

The walls that flank the entrance are covered with official posters
giving the names of the men of Yunnan City who contributed to the relief
of the sufferers by a recent famine in Shansi, together with the amounts
of their contributions and the rewards to which their gifts entitled
them. The Chinese are firm believers in the doctrine