inconvenience.' On the other hand, a good skater told me that the worst fall he ever had was from trying the inside 'twice back' on a Dowler. But le mieux est l'ennemi du bien, and so many beginners have been persuaded into trying every different kind of skate, only to find that the fault of their want of progress lay in themselves and not in their skates, that I am determined I will not waste time and money on experiments till I have at least perfected the four simple turns on each foot. Each new pair of skates and each newly sharpened skate means a day wasted. For a sharp blade, even if it has been blunted in the shop, will catch sideways in artificial ice the first day it is used, and cause the most terrible and unexpected falls. The theory is that sharp blades are not necessary for artificial ice, and the professors rarely have their skates sharpened, using them for perhaps two years without having them ground. But my experience is that you travel further over the ice with less effort if the skates are not too blunt; and I fancy many people are taken with the different skates they have been persuaded into buying simply because, after the first day or two, when the danger caused by the sharp edge has worn off, they find that the skates run smoother and faster, and this enables them to accomplish, without effort, figures which they had been practising unsuccessfully for months previously. I well recollect in the old days of Princes Club, when roller-skating was all the rage, and the Prince and Princess and their children used to have tea out of doors under the umbrella-tents, how we used to coax the skate-men to give us new wheels to our skates, so that we could show off on Saturday afternoons. For hard, black ice and for newly frozen artificial ice the skates must be sharp. I found it impossible to skate at Princes Skating Club, before the ice had been cut up, with the skates I was using at Niagara, as they were not sufficiently sharp; the ice was so much harder at Princes that the skate would not bite, but slipped away sideways, and one of the professors made the same remark to me not long ago. All the skating professors use high skates, with the blades very much curved. These facilitate valsing on the ice and make every kind of small turn easier, as they can be executed on the centre of the blade, which obviates the necessity of raising the toe and heel for the backward and forward turns. But I do not think that a five-foot radius is good for a beginner, as he cannot hold the edge after making the turn; and unless he learns his turns on a seven-foot radius, he will find great difficulty in executing a large figure correctly, especially if he learns valsing before he can skate a large 3 and 8 alone. There is one golden rule: the blades, skates, and boots should be as firm as though they were made in one piece; the blades of skates also should be fastened exactly in the centre of the heel of the boot, but much on the inside of the toe. In conclusion, let me express my gratitude to those who have introduced artificial ice into the metropolis; for on wet days during the past three winters, when any form of outdoor exercise was impossible, many a happy hour has been passed in valsing to an excellent band, conquering some difficult turn, or trying a hand-in-hand scud with a partner as enthusiastic as oneself; and though there may be falls, and very bad ones sometimes, we must remember that No game was ever yet worth a rap Could possibly find its way.' 'Lindsay Gordon. CAROLINE CREYKE. FRANCE AND RUSSIA IN CHINA NOTWITHSTANDING the assurances given by the Chinese Embassy at St. Petersburg that no such treaty has been executed, it is generally believed in this country and on the Continent that the so-called Cassini Convention exists, and that the terms closely resemble the reputed Russo-Chinese Secret Treaty, published by the North China Daily News on the 30th of October. In fact, the agreement of the 8th of September between the Chinese Government and the RussoChinese Bank appears to indicate in its terms that the reputed treaty was a draft treaty forming the base of negotiations; and it is natural to infer that some such treaty, in an amended form, was executed before Count Cassini left Peking at the close of that month. The history of the Eastern Chinese Railway Agreement may be briefly stated as follows: In 1886 the late Czar issued his famous edict: 'Let a railway be built across Siberia in the shortest way possible.' The shortest way to the port of Vladivostock, after leaving Stretinsk, passed through Chinese Manchuria, thus avoiding the great northern bend made by the Valley of the Amur. Russia marked the line in that direction on her maps, and determined in her usual dogged, plodding manner to have her way in the matter. In 1893, the year before the outbreak of the Chino-Japanese war, it was current in Shanghai that Russia had obtained the consent of China to construct the Siberian-Pacific Railway by the short cut across Chinese Manchuria. Any way the Chinese were in a flutter in the fear of Russian aggression, and determined to do what they could to strengthen themselves in that direction by ordering a survey to be made for the extension of the North China Railway from Shanhaikwan, passing westwards of Moukden and onwards, via Kirin and Tsitsihar, towards the Russian frontier on the Amur. The publication of the agreement of the 8th of September sanctioning the construction of the Eastern Chinese Railway-i.e. of the section of the Siberian-Pacific Railway, 1,280 miles in length, passing through Chinese Manchuria-shows that Russia has at length gained her way in this important matter. That the sanction of this project is considered in Russia as the prelude of the annexation of Chinese Manchuria is indicated by the paragraph which appeared in the Russian press on the return to Odessa, in November, of the Russian Special Mission which had been sent to inspect Manchuria. In referring to this paragraph, the correspondent of the Times stated that it may be taken as a wish which the Government will no doubt some day make un fait accompli. The paragraph ran as follows: The only subject of conversation in Manchuria at the present time is the railway which will be constructed through part of that country. The Chinese are not only delighted with the idea, from which they expect great benefits both in commerce and agriculture, but openly state that they would be more than delighted if all Manchuria became Russian territory, and that the greater part of the inhabitants would in such a case cut off their pigtails, or, in other words, become Russian subjects. It is most unlikely that such a paragraph would have been allowed to circulate in the Russian press until the net had been drawn round China by a treaty leaving her practically at the mercy of Russia. In his statement, referred to last August by a correspondent of the Times, Li Hung declared that he did not believe in the designs with which Russia is credited, and he had no fears whatever from her alleged ambition to swallow up China.' If such a treaty has been signed, he will find that, however much disappointed the Chinese Government was at the attitude of England in 1894, far greater cause for disappointment lies in store for that Government as the outcome of its imbecile dealings with Russia. It is useless to patch up the pen when the sheep have gone. In order to understand the course of events in the Far East, and to forecast the future of that region, we must take into account the physical condition of the Russian dominions lying to the north of the Chinese Empire; and we must remember that for more than three centuries Russia has been encroaching upon the territories of her neighbours in Asia, and that China offers the least line of resistance to the further expansion of Russia. Even the astute Li Hung Chang cannot pretend to forget Russia's action in Northern Manchuria during the ten years previous to the cession by China of the Amur and Primovsk provinces to Russia in 1860, nor the occupation by Russia of the Chinese province of Kulja in 1870. Owing to the great height of the Thibetan plateau, the region to the north is cut off from the moisture brought by the south-west monsoon, and has to depend for its rain and snow fall upon the north-east winds which blow from the Arctic Ocean. The latter winds expend their moisture on the mountains which separate or neighbour the Russo-Chinese frontier, and form the sources of the Siberian rivers. The great plain of Siberia extends northwards to the Polar Sea. Swept by biting Polar winds, and subject to great variation between its seasonal and day and night temperature, its climate is trying, and cultivation, where possible, is precarious. Siberia is a land of bogs, and deserts, and frozen marsh lands. It is divided naturally into zones: the frozen marsh zone, where the dog and reindeer are the only domesticated animals (this zone extends southwards to about latitude 65°); the boggy, high-stemmed forest zone, the fringes of which are visited by hunters and for forest purposes; the culturable zone, which is partially forest-clad, and much intruded upon by steppes, deserts, bogs, and marshes; and the steppe and desert zone, the home of nomad tribes occupied as herdsmen and shepherds. Including the Kirghiz steppe region and the region bordering the Pacific, Siberia, according to the last census, contains an area of 5,589,289 square miles, less than one-twelfth being culturable, and a population of 6,539,531 souls, of whom 60 per cent. are Russians or of Russian descent. In the basin of the Amur, which divides Chinese Manchuria on the north from the Russian possessions, about 11 inches of rain fall during the three summer months. This excess of moisture is unfavourable to agriculture. Cereals sown upon clearings run to straw, yielding a poor grain which sometimes does not ripen completely. Along the Sea of Japan the Russian coast province which borders Manchuria on the east is wrapped for the greater part of the year in impenetrable fogs, and the soil is so damp in the vegetation period that the immigrants have been obliged to abandon their fields. If it were not for its furs, mines, fisheries, and forest produce, and its importance as a penal settlement, Siberia would hardly be worth having. Chinese Manchuria, which lies to the south of the Amur, is sheltered from the icy Polar blasts by the mountains forming the watersheds of that river and of its affluent, the Ussuri. It extends southwards to the Gulf of Pecheli and includes the Liaotung peninsula, the field of the chief battles during the Chino-Japanese war. Ten years ago its population was estimated at between twenty-two and twenty-three millions, its northern province, Tsitsihar, containing about two millions; its central province, Kirin, probably eight millions; and its southern province, Liaotung, between twelve and thirteen millions. Not only do all cereals thrive in the country, but cotton, indigo, tobacco are grown by the peasantry, whilst its orchards are said to produce the finest pears in the Chinese Empire. According to a correspondent of the Morning Post, 'the whole of the cattle and grain required for the consumption of the residents and workmen of the Russian mines, works, and industrial establishments in the region traversed by the Amur River for over 750 miles are all derived from the Manchu province, and are collected and despatched from the Manchu city Aigun.' Well might the celebrated Liu Ming Chuan, when Chinese Governor of Formosa, declare in a Memorial to the Emperor that the sanctioning of the Siberian-Pacific Railway 'showed that the mouths of the Russians were watering for the Manchurian provinces.' |