[Illustration]
Our illustration shows the plan of a Chinese city protected by pentagonal
fortifications. Five European Powers were scheming and clamouring for a
concession to run a railway to the place; and at last one of the
Emperor's more brilliant advisers said, "Let every one of them have a
concession!" So the Celestial Government officials were kept busy
arranging the details. The letters in the diagram show the different
nationalities, and indicate not only just where each line must enter the
city, but also where the station belonging to that line must be located.
As it was agreed that the line of one company must never cross the line
of another, the representatives of the various countries concerned were
engaged so many weeks in trying to find a solution to the problem, that
in the meantime a change in the Chinese Government was brought about, and
the whole scheme fell through. Take your pencil and trace out the route
for the line A to A, B to B, C to C, and so on, without ever allowing one
line to cross another or pass through another company's station.