298 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



A siioii SHOP IN ]mukdi;n (siiE page; 302) 



The Chinese show where the Russians 

 <iehberately breached and entrenched on 

 the city walls, using the parapets for gun 

 platforms and rifle trenches, inviting and 

 •drawing the enemy's fire into the peaceful 

 city, packed with helpless non-combatant 

 •country folk, in addition to the terrified 

 city folk — almost the most cruel, most 

 wantonly cruel, act of the whole war. 



DUST-STORMS WHICH UIBt THE; SUN AND 



choke; MAN AND be;ast 



The railway to Mukden does not get 

 there — that is, to Mukden — not by three 

 miles. In the original concession to the 

 Russians it was not to come within 20 

 versts of the old home of the ]\Ianchu 

 chiefs, but the exigencies of war brought 

 the rails closer than that. It is a long, 

 uninteresting three-mile ride through a 

 one-story suburb from the gray isrick 

 station marked "Mukden" to the gates 

 of the real Mukden, the permanent camp 

 of the all-conquering Manchus. 



Russian droschkies and Japanese jin- 

 rikisha and ancient horse cars from all 

 parts of Japan, soon to be succeeded by 

 the most modern of electric trams, carry 

 one about Mukden, and the two-wheeled 

 cart of the country is only for country 

 folk and freight nowadays. The Japa- 

 nese macadamized the roads up to the 

 city gates and a shame-faced governor 

 did the rest for the main streets of the 

 inner city. 



The long ride to and from the station 

 is a penance, whether in the scorch of 

 midsummer or the below-zero of winter, 

 or in the dust-storms and rain-storms 

 which rather evenly divide the days of 

 the milder seasons. And it can rain at 

 Mukden, especially in September. Tor- 

 rents every day ; deluges every night ! 



When it does not do that, the wind 

 blows, rudely, fiercely, and, beginning far 

 away in the desert of Gobi, sweeps up 

 the solid earth and carries it along in 

 clouds that fill the air, hide the sun, 



