Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1873-10-02

WARD NONE; WITH CnARlT'
UNITY, MINNESOTA.
TlDIN&S FROM FAR;CAriAY:
The Tall.fu NInssacrc-Fal nathan
City-Ferty Thoasand Uh,nese Mo.
hamnscdana Put to the Sword.
From the N. Y. Tribune.
When the dreadful story Of the mas
sacre of twenty thousand people in the
Chinese city of Tall (Talifu) reached
the outer world, some months AGO
there was general expression of in
credulity. It seemed hardly possible
that such vast destruction of life had
been accomplished, even among the
tiger-like and vengeful tribes which in.
habit the southwestern frontier of the
Chinese empire. But later details of
the bloody collapse of the Mohammo-
dan rebellion in Yunnan confirm the
dreadful tidings. Is Tali.fu 80 far
away from the focal points of western
civilization that the butchery of it's
entire population rouses not even a
languid interest Z Modern history
gives no record of any such monstrous
sacrifice of human life; fof the number
of slain, according to the most trust
worthy accounts, Is more than
forty thousand people. The pit
eous tale may never be told to
us in full but we are slowly and oh.
scurely learning enough to assure us
that the Mohammedan rebellion in Yum.
nan has, after eighteen years of luctu-
ating vigor, gone out in blood. The
Mohammedans of the province of Yum
nan have retained their religious faith
for many centuries. In 1855, they were
strong enough to defy the Imperial
government, drive out the representa-
tlves OF the Emperor, and establish a
quasi authority Of their own. In 1856
the central authority Of the new empire
was vested in Sultan Suleiman, as he
was called, and the capitol was fixed at
Iali-fu, now made mournfully famo1s.
Tho Chinese government, then dis
tracted and harrassed by other rebel
lions which Threatened the inteQritv of
the empire, as we'll as by alarming
foreign complications, as forced to
leave the Mohamelans of Yunnan 10
their own devices. Finally, relieved from
more imminent perils, the imperial
government sent strong force against
the Pauthays. as the Yunnan rebels are
sometimes inaccurstely' called; and,
last February, an army of 200, 900, al
ter siege of several months, captured
the city of Tali-fu. The Sultan is said
to have surrendered himself on condi.
tion that the people should be spared.
Poisoning his wives and children (of
which We make no doubt he had an
abundance, he ordered his ,palanquin
and was born to the camp Of the VIC
torious besiegers. When the curtains
of his equipage were drawn he was
found dead. He had swallowed fatal
draught before leaving his capital. The
Populace of Tali-fu were given over to
the sword. Momein, the next import
ant city of the rebellious province,
subsequently shared the same fate
which befel the seat OF the hapless
Suleiman.
OF all the habitablc regions of the
globe, we probably know least of the
area, which is described by q writer,
as inclosed in the segment of a circle,
with radil formed by the mighty
streams chat issue from one com
mon center at the eastern extremity of
the Himalayas. On the outer rim of
this vast sweep lies Yunnan, one of tho
eighteen provinces of China, with a
territory of 1000 square miles and
population of 6, 200, 600 souls; boastine
rich cities old as the reign of Kublai
Khan; drained by the great streams of
of the MekoDg, the Salwen, and the
afhuents of the noble Irrawaddy, and
stored with gems, gold, copper and
textile fabrics. Its chief cities, Tall. flu
and Yuman.fu, were the seats of king
doms when the great khan, in 1858,
conquered Yunnan (the Carajan of
Marco Polo), and annexed that wealthy
region to the Mongol empire. Shut
out from the rest of China by the
Cloudy Mountains, aud trading
westward and southwark by streams
flowing into AMMAN, Siam, Laos and
Burmah, this vast province has never
seemed an integral part of the middle
kingdom; it belongs to that early home
of the human race into hlch histori-
ans, ethnologists and geographers
eagerly desire to penetrate. Like a
dismal echo out of some terrible prison
house, comes only the sound of vio-
lence and agony. It is woful sight
which dimly greets us as we raise for a
moment the cloudy veil which covers
this unknown land.
It is very likely, however that the
nn6 If tho Mohomroo1op roh>1l;o,, =,
Yunnan may open the way for the ad.
venturous advance couriers of com.
merce, now waiting for an opportunity
to strike at the rich trade of Western
China. Barring the gossipy stories of
Marco Polo and the itineraries of the
Jesuit missionaries who mapped the
province in Ills, we had no knowledge
of Yucnan worth the having until the
French and English sent spying expe-
ditions into the country.