Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-11-13
The Present Dynasty Likely to Be
Completely Overthrow.
THB EMPRESS DOWAGER CONTROLS
Cinnamon Mad With Shame Over
Their Reverses.
AN AMERICAN OPPORTUNITY

under date Of October as follows:
Everything quiet here. The Japanese
spies are here in the city. and have been
subjected to no olture. They Will prob
ably be confined till the end of the war"
Mr.. Ferguson's statement is worthy Of
all belief. He is well known to the Off
Gals in the viceregal city, and consequent
ly in a position to know the truth about
the matter. by this it will be seen that
from the time these two unfortunate Mon
were delivered up to the Chinese authori-
ties by order of our government they have
been subjected to no i'll treatment
In a private letter from Picking l learn
that the foreigners In that city are truly
alarmed, not SO much from the idea OF the
capture of the place by Japs, as the dis
turbed political situation. The empress
dOwager, whose rule in connection with II
Hung Chang has been working the ruin
of this country foc the last two decades,
has once more put the emperor aside ana
taken the reins of government in hand.
Prince kung, who was conveniently sheiv-
ed many years ago, because he stood in
the way Of this ambitious woman, has been
recalled, in this extreme hour Of need po-
iitical differences must be laid aside. But
the princes. temperance was the signal
had been long kept in the background. Ii
Hung Chang was stripped of his yellow
jacket and peacock feather, and was be-
ginning to be dictated to in a way that
showed plainly that new element had
made its appearance at court. Lii Hung
Changes removal was spoken of, and even
The young emperor himself was to give
place to Prince kung'S son. This was too
much for the empress dOwager. who soon
rectiried matters by assuming supreme
command herself. 1t is doubtful whether
she will be strong enough to hol1 it,. per
haps when the JapS approach the capital
if they are able to dc so within 100
niles, and it's very doubtful about their
being able to get much nearer than
that - the whole dynasty will col
lapse. This is what the foreigners in
Peking fear and is what is causing them
to send their women and children away to
Tien-Tsin and Shanghai. Upon the receipt
of a telegram on the Both september stat
ing that 1900 Japanese were approaching
the coast of China and would probably land
somewhere in the Gulf of Pechili, Charles
DENLY, American charge d'anair,e at
Peking, called meeting of Americans
residing in the capital At this meeting he
strongly advised all women and children
| to leave at once for Tien-Tsin. Sir Robert
Hart, inspector general of imperial Gus
TOMS who certainly knows more about
Chinese government affairs than any other
man living, has ordered all married people
employed in the service at the capital to
leave at once. There is a general exodus
taking place, but many laugh at the whole
idea and say the place is the safest in
China. The trouble is that there are no
carts or boats to be had the soldiers hay-
ing impressed them all, that those leav-
ing have to pay exorbitant prices IL they
are lucky enough to get any at all. The
absence OF the navy is marked by nII So
far the Monocacy has been the sole repre-
sentative of our navy in this country since
the war broke out. She is now at Tien-
Tsin, where she will remain for the winter
| With this one exception there has not been
an American man-of-war in Chinese waters
since the war broke out. Never has their
| presence been required so much: never has
| their absence been so marked japan, that
| sailors heaven" has always had nine
tenths Of our fiagships' .tme. 1t has been
known for the whole fleet to be away from
China for over year, enjoying itself in
Japan, and yet there has been no political
reason offered by that country demanding
| the presence of foreign man-of-war for
the last twenty-five years.
Only the Old Monocncy.
Yet now, with thousands of rabble half
drilled soldiers passing through the treaty
ports with the river ports guarded by one
little British gun5oat, the Esk with threat
ened outbreaks at every port, from Ich-
ang to Shanghai - while the county
is being invaded by an ever victorious
army, and the dynasty totterng ready to
fall, while confusion has seized the minds
of the rulers of this empire and anarchy
preparing to begin its sway-our navy is
represented by the Monocacy, an old pad
dle-wheel, fiat-bottomed vessel, condemned
by naval court a few years ago to be
sold at auction worthless! She was
saved from the auctioneer's hammer 10y
Admiral Chandler and placed on duty at
Shanghai and the Yangtse river ports.
When the war broke cut this vessel and
| the Baltimore were the sole representa-
tives of our much-talked-of navy. The UNI
seaworthy old Monocacy was once more
ordered to get on her sea legs. She was
ordered to Chemulpo to allow the Balti-
more to go back to Japan-to change ad-
miras! Since then the old paddle W heeler
has carried the only American naval flag
to be seen in these waters. The Concord
and Petrol have returned from seal watch
ing and are now in Japan. They may,
perhaps, get over here next year. At the
commencement of this war there Were over
1000 Japanese scattered throughout the
seacoast provinces and twenty-four ports
open to trade. With no other backing than
this old war vessel our government called
upon our minister and consuls to protect
| the interests Of these people. The amount
Of dependence they put into this offer Of
protection was shown by the rapidity with
which they got back to their own country.
| If the United States wants to be hereafter
| known as first-class power in this part
| Of the world let our government wake up,
| send some ships and take an interest in the
| settlement of the political problem now
| about to be solved in the far east You
may depend that those who are absent at
| the solution will be left out in the cold.
Nothing to Prevent "a Riot.
The excitement at Hankow Is Increasing.
1t arose out of Chinese policeman In the
| Hankow municipal police striking a stu
dent a stranger who had been attending
| the examinations at Wuchang, and had
| crossed the river to have a look at the
| foreign houses in Hankow. The student
died from the effects Of the blow. The