¦ '¦" " ' ¦¦¦ Ground ti ie ^orld via § iberia Dr. Nicholas Senn Around the World via Siberia BY NICHOLAS SENN, M. D.,Pb- D., LL. D.. C. M. Professor of Surgery, Rush Medical College Chief of Operating Staff wltb tbe Army lo the Field during the Spanlsb-Amerlcan War, and Surgeon-General of Illinois From Articles that Originally Appeared in the Chicago Tribune and Reprinted by Permission of the Author CHICAGO W. B. CONKEY COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright. 1902, FY W. B. CONKEY COMPANY. CONTENTS CHAPTER PACE I. The Nature and Need of Rest — Travel as a Means of Rest— Traveling Companions — The Proposed Journey— The Climate of Chicago — New York City— The Waldorf-Astoria— Tho "Barbarossa" 13 II. Germans and the Fatherland— German Officials— The Army — The Kaiser— Education in Germany — The Nobility — The Mustache -Bremen to Ber lin—The Capital and Its University 24 III. Virballen— The Russian Language — Passports — Agriculture— F o r e s t r y— St. Petersburg— The Czar and His Government— The Army and Navy — Moscow^Napoleon 1 36 IV. Trees, Their Virtues and Vices— Uniforms- Churches -Religious Services — The Sign Lan guage — The Peasant — Topography — Ssamara and Its Hospital 19 V. Siberia— General Description — Flora and Fauna — Natu ral Resources — Inhabitants — Commercial Awakening 61 VI. Immigration — The Jews in Russia — Peasant Wis dom — The Mujik and His Horse — Our Starting Place, Ssamara — Russian Cookery and Drinks — The Ural Mountains— The Starveling Birch — TscheljabinsU— Petropaulovsk to Omsk — Irkutsk 71 VII. The Seasous in Siberia — The Siberian — Irkutsk and Its Institutions, Hospitals, Charities, and Their Administration 96 VIII. A Prophecy of Prosperity— The Russian Priests and Religion — From Irkutsk to Baikal Lake — The Transbaikal Train— Beauties of the Trans- baikal— The Buriats— Brilliant Flora— A Breach of Manners — Arrival at Bajan 109 5 6 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE IX. The Steamer "Ural"— Russian Prisons and Prison ers—The Schilka River— Serjetensk Costume- Cossacks— The VaUey of the Schilka— Fostal Arrangements — Official Dignity — The Military Road— A Crowded Steamer— Vegetables — The Ubiquitous Sparrow — Education — Albazin — A Burning Mountain — Blagovestchensk— Ssachalin —The Amur— Radde— The "Ural"— The Fly. . . 129 X. Disappointed Settlers — Khabarowsk — P 1 e a s a n t Traveling Companions — On the Road to Vladi vostok — The Gibraltar of Siberia — The Golden Horn — Hospitals and Patients — Chinese Labor ers — Mr. Greener— The Market Place— Farming 15$ XI. The Subjugation of Siberia — The Great Railway —Its Mileage — Roadbed and Bridges — Locomo tives and Cars — Officials and Uniforms — Stations — Expense of Travel — Topography of the Coun try from Ssamara to Vladivostok 178 XII. The Japanese Sea — Typhoons and Pirates— Mai de Mer — The Best Time to Travel — Necessary Supplies — The "Amur" — Nagasaki — Our Flag — Jinrikishas — The Trip to Moji — Street Mer chants — The Hospital at Nagasaki — Hotels and Laundries 199 XIII. Change of Route— Nagasaki to Shanghai— The "Yarra" and Its Passengers— The Great Yellow River— A Lunar Rainbow— Shanghai— The City and Its Inhabitants— The Native Physicians — Dr. Macleod on Medicine in Shanghai — The Gen eral Hospital— The Sisters of Charity and Their Work— A Pagoda— Beggars and Priests— Prisons and Punishment— Chinese Laborers— The Re turn to Japan 215 XIV. China Past and Present— Its People— The Present Situation and Its Causes— Aggression, Opium, and Religion— Recent Disturbances— The Mar tyrdom of the Sisters of Charity— The Needs of China— Its Military Strength 245 CONTENTS CHAPTER XV. XVI. PAGE The Awakening of Japan — Commodore Perry's Mission and Its Success — New Japan — Educa tion — The Japanese Army — The Navy — Students — The Japanese — Origin of the People — Their Qualities — Habits — The Japanese and the New W o m a n — Footwear — Jewelry — Religion — M i s - sionary Work — St. Xavier — Culture and Taste- Landscape Gardens — Dwarf Trees — Farming — The Next Great Struggle 268 Twenty Days in Japan — Railways — Restaurants and Eating — The Jinrikisha — The Mountain Chair — Moji and Its Harbor — Blind Healers — A Graveyard — Shimonoseki — Awkward Americans — Coaling — The Inland Sea — Kobe — Nunobiki Falls — The Great Buddha — Amida — A Shinto Temple — Osaka — Amusements — An Old Temple — Mode of Worship — The Castle of Hideyoshi — Military School — K i o t o — M anufacture s — Temples — The Great Bell — The Palace — A Boat ing Trip — Lake Biwa — An Aged Tree — The Geisha Dance — Wrestlers — Garden and Tea house — From Kioto to Yokohama 294 XVII. Excursions from Yokohama — Miyanoshita — Fuji yama — Hot Springs — The Maiden Pass — Moun tain Climbing and Scenery — Kamakura — Eno- shima — Its Natural Curiosities — The Kamakura Daibutsu — Yokohama to Nikko — Cryptomeria Avenue — Nikko, a City of Temples — Tomb of the First Shogun — Lake Chuzenji — Kegon-no-taki Falls— Nikko to Tokyo 327 XVIII. The Capital— The Growth of the City— Parks and Exhibitions — A Divine Healer— Education — The Imperial University and Its Colleges — Regula tions and Requirements— The School of Medi cine — Hospitals — Methods of Teaching — Train ing School for Nurses — Missionary Work — The Army Hospital— Training of Military Surgeons —The Tokyo Imperial Hygienic Institute and Its Work — Leprosy — Memorial Services for Our President— The Minister of Education— A Fare well Banquet— Back to Yokohama 347 8 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XIX. The Red Cross Society of Japan— Its Growth and Extent — Stores and Hospital Ships — The Red Cross Hospital — The Training School — Japanese Women as Nurses — Regulation of the School — Insignia — Its Officers 368 XX. Reflections on Ocean Travel — Leaving Yokohama for Home — Our Fellow Passengers — Seasickness and Some of Its Victims — We Gain a Day — Bird Island — Honolulu — The Stars and Stripes — Cli mate and Bathing — The Leper Colony — The Sugar Industry — Laborers Lacking — Coffee- Growing — The Home Voyage — Snoring — The Golden Gate — The Harbor and City of San Francisco — Our Railway Ride to Chicago — Home Again 379 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE River View of Bremen 24 Interior of Rathskeller, Bremen 25 Bismarck Monument in the Thier Garden 2S The Emperor of Germany 29 Tbe Empress of Germany 30 Emperor's Palace 34 Ruhmes HaQ with Schlossbrucke 35 The Gear and Czarina 36 Statue of Peter the Great, St Petersburg 40 Tbe (Liar's Children Taking an Oaring 42 Types of Russian Officers 43 Count Tolstoi : 47 Ssamara 49 Winter Palace, St. Petersburg 54 A Volga Steamer -. 55 Fishing on the Volga— After the Catch 56 Rafting on the Volga 58 A Greek Cathedral S» Archbishop Safroni, of Irkutsk 96 NoriSobor Cathedral, Irkutsk 98 Principal Business Street 99 Irkutsk Museum 100 City Hall, Irkutsk 101 Basanoff Foundlings' Home, Irkutsk 104 Industrial School at Irkutsk 105 The Medredknikoff Orphan Asylum, Irkutsk... 107 Chief Metropolitan 109 Laying a Cornerstone, The Chief Metropolitan 114 Baikal 116 An Ice-Breaker, Baikal 117 9 10 LIST OF ILL US TRA TIONS PAGE A Group of Transbaikal Peasants H8 Buriat and Wife I19 Types of Buriat Women 120 Buriat Warrior of the Seventeenth Century 121 Transbaikal Musicians 122 Sacrifice of the Buriats— Blessing the Fields in the Spring. . 123 Schamane Priests of the Buriats 126 Prison Yard in Irkutsk Prison — A Large Group of Prisoners Ready for Deportation— Services by Priest 129 Troops of Mounted Cossacks 136 A Russian Battery 138 Russian Military Band 144 Russian Artillery 151 Chinese Guns Captured by the Russians at Aigun 151 Chinese Battery at Aigun, Manchuria 153 Warslawski Magazin — A Department Store 166 Vegetable Hawker 172 Nagasaki Harbor 208 Jinrikisha Ride 209 Railway Station, Nagasaki 213 Mounted East Indian Policeman, Shanghai 215 General Von Waldersee, Commander of the Allied Forces, on His Way to the Parade at Shanghai 216 Native Chinese Priests (Cheh-Kiang) 217 The Chinese Wheelbarrow 223 Tea-House 500 Years Old in Intra-Mural Shanghai 229 Hospice of Aged Women, Vincentian Convent 236 Buddhist Temple 239 Chinese Court, Shanghai 241 Chinese Temple 243 Modern Chinese Officers and Soldiers 245 European Officer and Chinese Soldiers 247 Chinese Temple at Aigun 254 The Mikado 268 The Empress of Japan 270 LIS T OF ILL US TRA TIONS 11 PAGE Ya Shima 272 Buddhist Priests 281 Maple Tree in the Center over 100 Years Old 288 The Beast of Burden in Japan 290 Plowing in Japan 291 San-Yen— Hear Not, Speak Not, See Not— (Nikko) 294 Blind Shampooer 299 Harbor and City of Kobe 306 Japanese Lantern Makers 307 Daibutsu at Kobe 308 Amida Statue at Osaka 309 Amida Bronze Statue, Kioto 315 Cbionin Temple, Kioto 316 Pagoda of Yasaka, Kioto 317 Big Bell at Chionin, Kioto 318 Spring Pine Tree Four Miles from Kavasaki on Shore of Lake Biwa, Stated to be 1,300 Years Old 321 Japanese Wrestlers 323 The Sweet Flags, Horikiri, Tokyo 327 A Waterfall near Fuji Mountain 329 Entrance to Gongen Temple, Hakone 331 Two Hungry Wolves 347 A Street in Tokyo 348 Count Sano, President of the Red Cross Society of Japan . . . 368 Prince Komatsu, Honorary President of the Red Cross Society 370 Princess Komatsu, President of the Ladies' Committee 372 Graduating Class, Red Cross Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, 1900. . 374 Twin Sisters in Graduating Dress 376 AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA CHAPTER I. THK NATURE AND NEED OP REST— TRAVEL AS A MEANS OF REST —TRAVELING COMPANIONS— THE PROPOSED JOURNEY— THE CLIMATE OF CHICAGO— NEW YORK CITY— THE WALDORF- ASTORIA— THK "BARBAROSSA." Ok, what is more sweet than whm tht mind, set fret from cart, lays its burden down, and, when spent with distant travel, we come back to our home and rest our limbs on tht wished-for bed? This, this alone, repays such toils as these/ — Catullus. Labor's greatest reward is rest. Toil is one of the fruits of man's first disregard of the will of his Creator. "And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labor and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life." This curse has become a common inheritance. None is exempt from it. Wealth may lighten the burden, but cannot escape it. Some toil with their hands, others with their brain, and of the two classes the endurance of the latter is taxed most severely. This curse does not affect all alike. Ambition aggra vates it, contentment lightens it. Physical toil brings rest and sleep, severe mental labor only too often becomes the mother of unrest and loss of sleep. The happiest man is he who by the sweat of his face earns 13 14 AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA his daily bread, who enjoys his frugal meals, and who spends one-third of his lifetime unconscious of the world he lives in. The plain, hard couch of the laboring classes bears more refreshing sleep than the luxurious beds of the wealthy. The tiredness following bodily labor is quickly repaired by a night's sleep; the exhaustion incident to mental strain chases away nature's restorer and often requires a long rest to restore the mind to its normal balance and power. What is rest? What is rest for one is toil for another. The laborer requires physical rest. A healthy man can labor eight or ten hours out of the twenty-four, and if supplied with the necessary quan tity and quality of food, he can continue his occupa tion indefinitely without detriment to his health. A vacation for a laboring man brings often more harm than good. Only too often the time of such vacations is spent in excesses which are a greater tax on health and strength than the occupation from which he seeks relief. A short vacation spent in travel and reading is desirable and useful for the laboring man and woman, but not a necessity. An overtaxed brain needs rest. What kind of rest? Go to some fashionable seaside or mountain resort? Go where the rising sun disturbs the sleep of the sleepers and night is turned into day? Bad places for a tired brain. Brains are fatigued by monotony of work. A weary brain must have change of occupation. The subject of nerve strain must direct the activity of his mind into other channels. Travel, particularly an ocean voyage, is the best remedy for brain fatigue. Phys ical exercise, walking, and driving are excellent adjuncts. The solitude of the wilderness, combined Around the world via Siberia is with fishing and hunting, sports that fatigue the body and rest the brain, are admirably adapted to abstract the mind from the previous monotony of its work. Rest for the brain means work of a different kind. The professional man, above all others, is entitled to his regular annual vacation. A vacation to him is time well spent. The additional knowledge obtained by travel and observation broadens his mind and prepares him to do more and better work on his return. Of all professional men, I know of no one who is more in need of rest and recreation than the physician. In the practice of his profession time is never his own. When others rest he works. The responsibility which attends every one of his acts constitutes a strain unknown in the other professions. He is daily brought in contact with pain, suffering, and distress. Every death that occurs in his practice brings up serious thoughts and exercises a depressing influence. His best services are often rewarded by the grossest ingratitude. The keen competition which exists every where forces him to keep pace with the rapidly advan cing discoveries, improvements, and innovations of his profession. If the onerous duties to his clients leave any spare hours they are utilized in familiarizing him self with the progress in the art and science of medi cine. The physician who has the interests and welfare of his profession at heart chooses a vacation which will secure rest for his weary, troubled brain and at the same time give him an opportunity to increase his knowledge of the various diseases and their treatment. A leisurely journey from one medical center to another will accomplish this, especially if combined with an ocean voyage. Such an itinerary gives him an opportunity to visit different countries, observe the habits and customs of the people, familiarize himself, 16 AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA with the advantages and methods of education of different institutions, cultivate the acquaintance of men eminent in his profession as authors, teachers, and practitioners, and observe their methods of treat ment. All this requires no special mental effort, and yet fills the storehouse of practical knowledge to a wonderful extent. Physicians who take frequent vacations with such objects in view will always be found in the front rank of their profession. Little side trips to some of the beauties and wonders of nature will add to the enchant ment of such trips. My coming vacation will be spent on such a mission on a large scale. It is my intention to encircle the world from east to west by the way of the Trans- siberian railroad, leaving New York on July 21st on the steamship ' ' Barbarossa, ' ' and return to Chicago about Oct. ist via San Francisco or Vancouver. It will not be a race for time. Much time will be spent in the Orient in the study of diseases indigenous to Siberia, Korea, China, and Japan, as well as the hospitals and other medical institutions of those countries. Military matters will also receive special attention. What a great blessing is a friend, with a breast so trusty that thou mayest safely bury all thy secrets in it, whose conscience thou mayest fear less than thine own, who can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsels, thy sadness by his good humor, aud whose very look gives comfort to thee! — Seneca. A journey of nearly 22,000 miles through different countries and in varying climes is not one of unalloyed Pleasure; it has its dangers as well as its enjoyments It is a source of great comfort and additional PIeao„r ' to travel in company with genial friends, more * AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA 17 cially if all have the same object in view. Such is the case with my companions. I consider myself exceed ingly fortunate in having with me on this trying jour ney three friends that I can rely upon under any and all circumstances. Professor D. R. Brower is one of my colleagues at Rush Medical College, where he occupies the chair of mental and nervous diseases. He is a brilliant lec turer and a most successful teacher. His private prac tice is large and includes some of the best families in the city. He has now in preparation a text-book on the specialty he so well represents. He is an enthusi astic traveler and has seen much of the world. We made the journey to Moscow to the International Medical Congress in 1897 together and extended our trip to Turkey and Greece. Two years ago he accom panied me to the Sandwich Islands. Dr. Jacob Frank, of Chicago, is one of our promi nent and most successful surgeons, and an original investigator of more than national reputation. He has contributed his good share to the recent innovations in surgery. He is one of the surgeons of the German Hospital and enjoys a large and lucrative practice. Dr. William M. Mastin, of Mobile, Ala., is the son of the late Claudius H. Mastin, of the same city. His father was one of the ablest and most prominent sur geons in the South. He was one of the charter mem bers of the American Surgical Association and the founder of the Congress of American Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Mastin seldom takes a vacation. On two occa sions I succeeded in tearing him away from his prac tice to share with me the pleasures of a few days' hunting in the primitive forests of the South. He needs a prolonged mental rest, and, as he has never 18 AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA crossed the Atlantic before, much awaits him that will be but a repetition to the remaining members of the party until we reach Moscow. In 1887 the late Carter H. Harrison, father of the present popular mayor of Chicago, felt the need of rest and recreation after fifteen years of arduous public service. He decided to encircle the world, and he did so from west to east. His inquisitive, restless spirit, however, would not let him rest. His fertile brain and facile pen could neither rest nor rust. He wrote a series of articles to the public press of Chicago which attracted a great deal of attention. His keen powers of observation and knowledge of men and politics enabled him to interest and instruct. On his return the material was utilized in writing that charming book, "A Race with the Sun." The writer cannot expect to accomplish what the favorite citizen of Chicago did, but he confesses that An incurable itch of scribbling clings to many, and grows inveterate in their distempered breast. — Juve- nalis. He can only promise to observe, judge, criticize, or praise what he will meet and see in his "Race Against the Sun," and communicate from time to time the results of his experiences. From Moscow to Yokohama the journey will lead by land and water through countries that so far have seldom been visited by Americans. The people and natural resources of Siberia will be carefully studied. The Orient is now in a state of rapid transition. The recent war between the allied forces and China will furnish interesting material for thought and descrip tion. The doors of Korea are now open to strangers, and it is my intention to see all I can of its people, so long secluded from the outside world. AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA 19 In Japan I will have an opportunity to see with my own eyes the wonderful changes wrought by civiliza tion during the last three decades — the new, wide awake, powerful Japan. If time permits, a visit will be made to the Philippine Islands on our homeward journey. I do not seek foreign countries for the purpose of obtaining the advantages of a more congenial climate. In the same latitude and the same elevation Chicago is the most healthful of all great cities in the world. The immense expanse of prairie on three sides and the great Lake Michigan on the fourth are conditions which are calculated to render its climate pleasant and salubrious. Occasionally hot weather will set in dur ing the summer months, but it seldom lasts longer than three days without a respite. Lake Michigan is a great refrigerator, and the cool breezes which pass over its deep bosom fan the sweat ing brow of the Chicagoan after sundown when he has been exposed to the heat of the day. With the ozone- charged atmosphere that sweeps the prairies and the cool breezes from Lake Michigan and the magnificent hotels along and near the lake, there is nothing lacking to make Chicago, what it really is, an ideal summer resort. I never could understand how people from the South and East could pass through Chicago and seek relief from heat in the small inland towns in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Waukesha, Oconomowoc, and other small inland towns in southern Wisconsin cannot compare with Chicago as a summer resort. I regard with a sense of sympathy people who pass by the thousands through our beautiful, healthful, thriving city and who annually make a pilgrimage to those localities with an idea of escaping the trying heat 20 AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA of the summer months. If these people would select the Auditorium Hotel, its Annex, the Chicago Beach Hotel, the Palmer House, the Great Northern, the Grand Central, and other hotels of smaller size but equally favorably located, they would find that they had made a change for the better. It is to be hoped that our men of means will erect in Chicago and its immediate vicinity on the shore of invigorating Lake Michigan summer hotels for the benefit of the people from the South. It will be one of the most important means of bringing about closer relationships commercially and socially between the stirring business men of the greatest business city in the world and the charming people of the South. If it were with me simply a matter of climate I would spend my vacation right here, but I make the long journey around the world for an entirely different purpose — to see and learn. There is no other country in the world in which traveling is done with more comfort and ease than in the United States. Much has been said against our powerful railway organizations, but there is one thing that must be said to their credit, and that is that they provide more comfort for their passengers than any other railway system in the world. The through trains on any of our great railways are models of comfort, even luxury. The system of checking baggage is an ideal one, and one that every stranger from foreign countries soon learns to appreciate. The dining cars are great, modern restaurants on wheels. The sleep ing cars are the best in the world. On some of the great lines will be found a smoking car, library, barber shop, bathroom, in fact, everything that you would look for in a first-class hotel. In comparing the comforts of travel in the United AROUND THE WORLD VIA SIBERIA 21 States and what awaits us in eastern Siberia and all through the Orient I am filled with the gravest appre hensions. I have seen much of military life during an active campaign and have made many a hunting trip in the primitive forests of our own and foreign coun tries, but I expect that our little party will have to undergo privations and discomforts during a long part of our journey that will be attended by conditions of which we are at present fortunately ignorant. I am sure that when we reach San Francisco we will be in a fit condition to realize keenly what our great railways and steamship companies are doing for the traveling public of our great country. A few days before our departure from Chicago the weather was sultry, the thermometer ranging from 90" to 100°. Deaths from heat-strokes and prostra tions were numerous. Perhaps the highest tempera ture was reached during the forenoon of July ist. A violent thunder-storm and a pouring rain made their appearance shortly after midday. We left on the 5 130 p. m. train on the Michigan Southern railroad. Soon after our departure the temperature increased steadily and was but little modified by a thunder-storm and shower at midnight. From Buffalo to Albany the heat was suffocating. The passengers on the crowded train were almost motionless and listless. An air of supreme silence reigned throughout. The dining car was more for appearance than actual use. Apollinaris and other cooling drinks were in great demand. Soon after leaving Albany we met a violent thunder-storm and a drenching rain, accompanied by high winds from the northeast. This afforded only temporary relief, as the clouds could not keep pace with our fast train. At Albany we received the con soling information that the heat in New York the day 22 AROUND THE WORLD VTA SIBERIA before was unprecedented in the history of the country. There were victims of sunstroke by the hundreds and nearly eighty deaths in one day. On arrival at New York we were met by Dr. Carl Beck, a prominent surgeon of that city. He brought us the comforting news that the heated term was sub siding, but the subjective feelings did not corroborate this statement. We hastened to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel with the expectation of finding relief from the excessive heat. We engaged rooms on the tenth floor of this mammoth hotel, but the heat followed us. We were told on our arrival here that the thermom eter had been dancing in the neighborhood of ioo° for a number of days and that the number of deaths from heat-stroke on that particular day numbered more than one hundred. We spent a pleasant half hour that evening at the residence of Dr. Carl Beck, where we met a host of his hospital assistants and professional friends. The Waldorf-Astoria, in my estimation, is the most wonderful hotel in the world. Its relation to the average hotel is about the same as that of a large city to a country village. It is a truly cosmopolitan affair. You will find there all classes of people— the multi millionaire side by side with the would-be millionaire. In looking over the crowded cafe, I, however, received the impression that probably three-fourths of its fre quenters had never done a day's work in their life, but were spending freely the money of their well-to-do or rich fathers. It is a magnificent place to rest and sleep, an expensive place to satisfy other personal wants. It is the kind of hotel Chicago must have in the near future to supply the demands of a critical travel ing publib. Within two or three blocks from this X