New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-08-28
THE T1ENrsIN slAssACRE.
A Report from the American Newspaper
in shanghai.

particulars of the frightful butchery of
French residents III Tientsin, on the twenty
first of June. The origin of the outbreak
was a rumor that had been widely spread
| among the lower order of Chinese by the
iterati or native priests, that the Catholic
missionaries, who are all French, had been
kidnapping children and scOoping out their
ewes, for medicinal purposes Absurd as
this story was, the natives gave full Gre
dence to it, the more SO as kidnapping, has
been and is still extensively practiced all
through China by persons who are recruit
ing for the brothels, theatres and other
places where slaves are in demand. Inc
outbreak had long been threatening, ana at
length, says the Shanghai Ne,cs Letter, on
the nineteenth of June, crowd assembled
in the native city, a mile and halt above
the foreign bnnd. After time, the French
Consul, vino lived in that quarter, sue
ceeded in inducing the people to disperse.
They moved away, but still exhibited signs
of hostility to foreigners. DIR. Frazier,
a physician at Tientsin, met the crowd and
narrowly escaped beating by
THE swIFTNEss OF HIS HORSE.
On the twentieth some French priests
were beaten, and the French Consul Mr..
Fontanier, notified II. f. Chung how, at the
Yamen. of the fact. and requested him to
put stop at once to the tumult. About
June the French Consul and guests, Mr..
Thomassin. Secretary OF Legation at Pekin,
and his wife tbOth of whom had just arrived
out from Francel, together with Mr.. COutrls,
were at titfin, when a multitude OF excited
Chinese came toward the house, cursing
and yelling, and demanding that all the
children should be given back to them.
Stones and other missiles were thrown at
the Consulate, breaking the windows and
IL f.l DIV
and gentlemen were seated. The Consul
and his friend, Mr.. Thomassin, put on their
uniforms, and went out to endeavor to dis
perse the mob. They found the Chinese
would not obey; therefore, leaving the lady
for n time in the house, they all went to-
ward the Yamen, some eighth of a mile dis
tant. On the way there Mr.. ThOmassin,
finding the matter wearing a more serious
look than he had at first expected. returned
to protect his wife. Mr.. Coutris here be-
came separated from his friends, and the
French Cohsul and his secretary walked
into the Yamen and demanded an inter
view with Chung, the military Governor of
the province. The crowd pressed all about
the Consul. using threatening language.
Chung could not or would not help him. 1t
is known that
THE CONSUL FIRED OFF HIS REVOLVER,
but it was thought to have been accidental
ly discharged while he was being pushed
and crowded in the audience chamber. At
all events there was no one hurt by the PTS
toll. The Colonel, finding himself hard
pressed. and without the chance of any help
being afforded by Chung, turned and left
the Yamen for his house. He had not gone
many steps before he was seized by the
Chinese, his uniform torn Off, his body
beaten, and eventually cut and stabbed
with knives and spears. His death must
have occurred at about the same time as
Mr.. Thomassin's-the one near the Yamen,
the other near the Consulate. Poor Mr..
Thomassin was fated never to see his wife
alive again. He fell beneath the spears of
the blood-thirsty Chinese. The sight of
blood now warmed the rutfians to their APP
pointed work, and they rushed to the
French Consulate. Madame ThOmassin
met them bravely at the doorway with
pistol in hand. One, two and some say three
Cinnamon fell before her pistol shots, when
numbers overpowered her, and
SHE WAS KILLED BY THE BLOW
of a sharp instrument on the back OF the
head.
The Consulate buildings were then burnt
and destroyed. Meanwhile the convent
hsuse of the Sisters of Charity and the
French Cathedral were being assaulted by
the mob. A priest at the doorway was
killed. and ten women quickly shared the
same fate but IN a more horrible manner.
Most of them were beaten, their clothes torn
off, and then they were seized, and placed
on their heads against the convent wall, and
hacked to pieces in the most savage man
ner-their eyes dug out. their breasts cut
off. and every cruelty that savage brutes
can 'etfect, too sickening TO narrate here,
was perpetrated. One of the sisters, named
Louise, and well known as q faithful and
constant attendant at the hospital IN Shang-
hal. was reported 10 have escaped in a Chi
nese dress. and thus concealed by some Chi
nese female friends until night, when at
tempting to 20 back to the convent, her
European shoes discovered her TO be a white
woman, and she was quickly taken and
killed.
HER BODY WAS THROWN INTO THE RIVER
The Chinese burnt the Cathedral and
convent buildings, and it is supposed that
at least sixty Chinese children persisted in
the cellars Of the building, where they had
fed for safety. The bodies of the sisters
were thrown back into the building after
being killed. and burned. Their charred re-
mains were atterward collected by the or
ders Of Chung and sent down to the foreign
quarter of Tientsin.
The butchery did not end here. 4 Rus
sian officer, Mr.. Protopopoff, and his wife,
married but the day before, were riding
with q Russian gentleman named Basscotf,
near the French Consulate. when they were
set upon by the mob and killed. Their
bodies were thrown into the river. Mr..
Chalmason and Madame Chalmaison, Mr.
Simon. secretary at the French Consulate.
were the further victims of the Chinese
Mr.. A. Coutris was the only Frenchman IN
Tentsin WHO escaped with his life. He was
concealed after he managed to elude his
pursuers, and made his appearance in the
foreign settlement the next following night
after the massacre. Mr.. Staman, German,
with his family, escaped after being
HIDDEN IN STABLE THIRTYsIX HOURS.
The Chinese next turned toward the Prot
estant Mission. Here they found their
would-be victims had fled. The houses and
chapels were destroyed, after which, hav-
inr completed their work of destruction,
the mob disappeared as quickly as it was
formed.
Mr.. Stanley. an American missionary, was
in the interior Of the province at the time,
and his wife. in his absence being without
protection, fed to the foreign quarter OF
Ticntsin., along with Miss Thompson of
Ohio. Had Mr.. Stanley been at home, the
family would doubtless have shared the
same fate as the other residents OF that
district.
Chung how's braves were posted between
the Foreign Settlement and the scene OF the
massacre. They were thus acting either as
guard to protect the other foreigners from
a lawless mob, or as a guard TO prevent
any assistance from reaching the French
Consul and his countrymen and country.
women. They did not stop the work Of
massacre; they rather aided and abetted it,
and thus theirs is
TIE MOST HEiNOUS CRIME OF ALL.
The next day after the butchery Chung
how had the remains of the foreign
ers collected and sent into the settlement.
The Russian bodies were taken from the