The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-04-16
From tho Ncw York Journal Of Commerce.
IMPORTANT FROM CHINA-70. 900 MEN RE-
PORTED KILLED-MORE POISONING At
TEMPTED.
MACAO, January 90, IS,


All foreign business is not only suspencd.
Int entirely at an end, both here, ut Hong
Konr and ut Canton. Since my last letter,
the Greater part of the Western suburbs of
the latter city, in whicl, were situated nearly |
all the warehouses, shops, &c., concerned
in foreign trade, have been consumed. or |
the total destruction of the foreign factories,
YOU will have heard by my letter. The |
Chinese compute their losses in houses, 60
downs, shops. DC, ut over 4,oOo buildings
up to the present time; and i'll mercl'an-
disc, and the value of the above property,
they state their losses ut 100000 of
dollars, which is propablv not far from the
truth.
We cannot of course know very accu-
rately the damage sustained 10y the city OF
Canton, since hombardment began, 2Sth Oc-
tobcr last; but rs the latter had been kept
np with more or less pcrtinacity, to within
u few days ago, when the English admiral
retired with his forces from before the city,
it is fair to suppose that the Chinese do
not over estimate the loss in life when
they state it at 10000, of all ages and
sexes. Everything f,vors this calculation,
us it is well known that the streets are eX-
ccedingly narrow, the population of great
density, tho means or the power to move,
within the rccll Of comparatively few
while the custom Of closing the gates OF
every street, during period Of public dan
ger. creates immense loss of life, hy any
sudden change of the porulace.
TO say nothing Of the other dstrcsscs
which have been riveted upon them and
Which are insepasnl,lc from suel q coHiition
Of t6isrs: tho total destruction Of the trade
of the place, the interruption to all the
daily avocations Of the people, DC, are
very oppressive in their effects. Still: up
to the present moment, the Chinese do not
make the slightest concession. The Vice
Rov, Yeh, in all his official documents, is
IA firm at this moment, rs he was when
the Arrow" lorcha seized by his officers
OH the Stl October last. TIE people, too,
arc even more bitter and cxaspcrated against
the English, and perhaps all toreigncrs-
and notwithstanding their distresses and
their suferings, their opposition to every
thing which bears the appearance of recon
clia,ion or terms Of any kind, is greater
than ever.
\. Hong Kong, a most comprehensive
scheme to poison the foreign community
was planned by China baker named Es-
ing, who mixed large quantity of arsenic
in the bread baked for the consumption Of
the 18th inst. Upwards Of 400 persons
were poisoned many had most narrow
escapes from death, the suffcrngs of all
were drcadful-Lut provilentally; it is not
asccrtaincd that a single person died. The
quantity of arsenic was too iaryc. so that
Immediately after eating the bread, sickness
and na,lscau followed, and the poison was
thus elected from the stomach. The effects,
however, are many, and up to the present
time may still he seen.
Since then another attempt has been
made, but on much more moderate scale
through poisoned oranges, a quantity OF
which (about 5000 in numbcr) was intro
duceL into the colony. 1t failed, however
in this instance, rs too little Of the poison
had been absorbed by the fruit, although
two deaths took place, and they Chinese
The Chinese have a method of poisoning
oranges, by piercing them in the first in
stance with minute holes, and then placing
them over the vapor Of the poisonous sub
stance, which they then cause them to in
hale.
Attempts have also been made to fire tll
settlement That the Chinese arc subtl
enough to create some great catastrophe, j
well known, but how or when no one ca
divine. The consequence is, that the Who'll
community is living in state Of complct
and most painful anxiety and alarm. Ther
is large force there, ailoat and ashore
Still, the moLe Of circumventing their enc
my, by the Chinese, is always hidden all
secret; and while every street and ever
pass is guarded, either poison, sudden kit
mapping, or assassination, strikes terrt
throughout. In the latter sin the Chine:
are great adopts, us you will see, if you tai
the trouble to read the newspapers 1 la,
ordered to be sent to you.
At this place, Macao, on the other ham
we enjoy the most perfect peace and sec
rlty- The Portuguese, who have held Il,
place now more than 800 years, know Il
Chinese well. They live on terms of nut
nj good will-so far as any Chinese c,
possibly be with anything foreign-a,
there is a registered population of the att
people Of nearly 10000, who have inlal
ted the peninsula for many successive ger
rations. The consequence is that III,
families. their dwellings,, their tom5s n
temples and property being all here, til
are fully rs much identified with The pla
as their rulers, the Portuguese, and, the
fore, as much interested to preserve it in
its present integrity.
There is, moreover, no question belwe
the Chinese and the Portuguese gove
mcnts. They are on excellent terms, VIII
it is the object and the wish Of both to p
serve. Of foreigners, there are about
Americans here, including women a
children ), Of English, not probably m
than IL or Is in all; Of Spanish, Frel
and German, and European Portuguese,
including tile garrison and naval force, ii,
may be about hundred. The defences
the place are several judiciously placed fo
all built over 225 years ago, about 800
tillerymen, a brig Of war Of 16 guns, and
armed lorclia of six.
In the meantime, Sir Michael Seym
Las l,cen ahlioed To Sxithdraw oil Lie 60