The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-09-24

| Fears are expressed in the north of
China that the supply of rice will be insult
| ficient, not only for the people at large,
| but even for the demands of the army and
navy. The grand canal route from the
south rice growing districts is blocked
above Chin kiang, and doubts Lave arisen
as to the practicability of importing grain
by sea. By a singular error Of judgment
! the Pekin government has included rice
in lists of coutraband articles, circum-
stances which would be turned heavily to
the disadvantage Of European ships had
! they not since received an order that the
grain shipped in neutral vessels must not
be considered contraband.
Then under this ruling the difficulty of
| securing ships for the service is great and
the conveyance offered to the Chinese
troops in Corea across the Gulf of Pechii
is completely cut off by the japanese
cruisers. Thus far, however, the Chinese
forces have subsisted mainly upon the
products of the regions they occupy. In
the middle of August it was admitted by
officials in Pekin that northern granaries
contained only food enough to meet the
ordinary requirements of six weeks.
The case of two alleged japanese spies
who have been given up by the United
States consul general at Shanghai TO al
most certain death at the hands of the
Chinese attracts much attention and
causes no little i'll feeling among Ameri-
| cans and Europeans in China. These two
young men had for some time been pur-
suing their studies in Shanghai, and like
the majority of the japanese residents.
were in the habit of wearing Chinese
dress With the idea of serving their
country in some indefinite way they un-
dertook at the outbreak of war, to col
lect information which they thought
would be valuable to their government.
What they gave to the government has
not as yet transpired, but it is charged
they made drawings of defenses, in CON
sequence of which they were arrested by
native officers in the French quarter of
| the settlement. Upon the Japanese con-
| sulate closing it was rumored all Jap
anese remaining in the country should
| look to the local representatives Of the
! United States for such aid and advice as
could be unollieially vouchsafed. Explain
ations were given that absolute protection
! could not be extended, but that some
| thing might be done to rescue the young
! men from their perilous position.
They were handed over from the French
( consul to the American consul general, in
| spite of the protests and demands of the
| Chinese government, which insisted upon
| their surrender. Mr.. birmingham, consul
/ general soon discovered that the sus-
pected men had no connection with the
! japanese authorities, and that they acted
wholly upon their responsibilities 1t is
understood that after due investigation
| he was disposed to ship them to Japan,
but on reporting the incident to Wash
J ha
tions to deliver them to Chinese custody.
The ordinary procedure with accused
foreigners who have no consular repre-
sentative is to bring them before mixed
court under the court of a chief magis-
trate and foreign safety, but no one be
lieves the prescribed course will be fol-
| lowed in the present case, unless strong
demonstration is made by several consuls
and supported by ministers at Pekiu
against the removal of the prisoners from
the settlement
The Chinese imperial family has been
persuaded that the route Of the army was
one brilliant victory, and Nichi, who fig
ured in the preliminary fight at Song
Nwan, has received present of 20, 900
taels direct from the sovereign, and Gen
eral Yeh, who was in command and who
has been placed in full control of the
troops in Corea, with promotion TO the
rank of field marshal, has been honored
by special decree, in which the emperor
eulogzes in these words:
''When General Eeh vanquished the foe
at Asan the empress manifested her favor
by bestowing upon him 10000 tales. Now
he memorializes that he left Asan with
10000 men, fighting his way through the
| japanese army, OF which he slaughtered
l,G0O, losing only 500 of mis- own followers
We hereby proclaim Neh's bravery and
the valOr of those who served under him
Let him send us a list of all his officers,
that we may forthwith promote them,
and also a.list of the killed. that we may
confer bounties on their families"
Supplemental to the above an edict has
been published, dated Aug 20, consequent
upon the latest dispatches received by the
emperor from General Yeh. That officer
has at last found it eXpedient to inspect
his army and inform his sovereign that
after the battle at Asan, which he still
claims as victory, he was surrounded by
such overwhelming numbers of japanese,
after fighting desperately for six hours
and intlicting frightful slaughter upon the
enemy, that he was compelled TO retreat
and carry the remains of his army to a
new rendezvous at Ping Yanghuea.
He humbly begs that he be severely cen
sured for his failure to destroy the Jap
anese forces, but the emperor proclaims
that since he was able to escape, though
hemmed in on all sides by an enemy sew
eral times larger than his own, and to in
flict heavier loss Than he himself suf-
fered, therefore his merit is sufficient 60
compensate for amy Inability on his part,
and "hs request Tor cynsure Is gracefully
refused
But the announcement also comes from
Pekin that General Y oh had been relieved
from the command in Corea recently con
ferred, and is replaced by an officer OF
superior rank.