'•THE MAX IN THE STREET" IN CHIXA 



413 



in his well-worn attire, is remotely sug- 

 gestive of a pre-war [Macedonian brigand. 

 His companion has struck an attitude, 

 particularly with the limbs, which would 

 not be without grace were the lines more 

 evident. However, being of a practical 

 rather than of an esthetic turn of mind, 

 he prefers his nether parts to be draped — 

 in winter. 



The occupations of the two men are 

 indicated by the woven straps terminat- 

 ing in loops passing around the neck ; 

 they are wheelbarrow coolies, and daily 

 perform feats of strength, endurance, 

 and clever balancing to imitate which it 

 would take a Westerner months, even 

 years, to learn. 



Pushing a wheelbarrow in China is a 

 dangerous occupation, many a broken rib 

 and back resulting therefrom. This is so 

 contrary to our own experience that to 

 understand it we must have a conception 

 of how a native wheelbarrow is con- 

 structed and handled, a high degree of 

 specialization being involved in each. 



The construction is somewhat as fol- 

 lows : the wheel, nearly a yard in diam- 

 eter, is shod with a heavy, grooved tire 

 to prevent skidding, an ever-present dan- 

 ger, and is placed centrally between two 

 slatted platforms, each about three feet 

 long and a foot wide, carried on a frame- 

 work some inches above the axle. Part 

 of the frame extends beyond the plat- 

 form, ending in two strong handles ; be- 

 low is the usual pair of legs. 



Operation of the barrow is somewhat 

 complicated. Assume a load of cotton. 

 one most difficult to manage. Two bales, 

 half a ton, are securely roped onto the 

 parallel platform. The coolie then enters 

 the shafts, or handles, first slipping over 

 them the loops of his strap, which is of 

 such length that, with his shoulders 

 straightened, the legs of the barrow clear 

 the ground. 



The handles are grasped with palms 

 dozen, for, remember, the shoulders carry 

 the unbalanced load; the arms, assisted 

 bv the weight of the bodv, are exerted 

 only in controlling the balance. The bal- 

 ance also may be accomplished by raising 

 and lowering the shoulders and planting 

 the feet firmly — a sort of emergency 

 measure requiring a halt, and therefore 

 seldom used, for every coolie knows that 

 time out is money out. 



The danger lies in having an upset, 

 which frequently occurs through skid- 

 ding; hence the heavy, grooved tire. 

 Collisions, too, are common, as generally 

 the coolie cannot see over his load. 



When a load of baled cotton upsets it 

 rolls over, so that the wheelbarrow takes 

 a position upside down, and unless the 

 coolie quickly slips out of his strap and 

 backs clear of the handles, the latter, in 

 revolving, will pin him to the ground, one 

 above, one below his body, suggestive of 

 being broken on the wheel and probably 

 no more agreeable. 



THE COOLIE WEARS OUT QUICKLY 



The continual physical strain while at 

 work ages these coolies very rapidly 

 The two shown on page 412, being com- 

 paratively young, do not reveal the ef- 

 fects so plainly as would their fellows, 

 several years older. After twenty-five 

 the wear and tear are evident. 



Frequently, owing to unbalanced load- 

 ing, as when only one bale is carried, the 

 barrow must be tilted to maintain equi- 

 librium. Five hundred pounds, balanced 

 on one side of a wheel, shoved along 

 amid the distractions of a narrow, 

 crowded street — no wonder that the 

 strain reacts on the expression ! 



Owing to the demands of the work, 

 wheelbarrow coolies are generally re- 

 cruited from a locality near Chin Kiang. 

 on the Yangtze River, where the people, 

 largely of Manchu stock, suffered little 

 dispersion in the Taiping Rebellion. 

 They are larger and stronger, though less 

 intelligent than their neighbors. 



The wheelbarrow coolie's song has yet 

 to be sung, though many an undeserved 

 word of opprobrium has been hurled at 

 him. Native and foreigner alike abuse 

 him for blocking the traffic with his snail- 

 like pace and enormous load, yet he 

 looms large as an economic factor. 

 Under certain conditions he has reduced 

 the cost of moving package freight to an 

 unheard-of minimum, and thereby his 

 lowly efforts have contributed largely to 

 the wonderful prosperity of the treaty 

 ports and especially to that of Shanghai. 



Possibly in the distant future he. with 

 his faithful vehicle, will be remembered 

 in bronze and stone as a pillar supporting 

 Commerce. 



