The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-09-13

FROM THE SCENE or HosTILITIEs-
fnterssftnx Fsrtie lars OF the WAr From
an Enxlash Naval oHeer.
George B. Nicoil. manager Of the Ter
rnsnai Railway a Warehouse Company.
has received . letter dated Chemulpo.
Korea, August 10. from his brother4n-Eaw.
]. ID. Henwood, who Is staff surgeon on the
British man-of-war Severn. one Of the Brit
ish aset N the Korean waters. in which he
gives some interesting details sbont the
beginning Of hostiIitiss between China and
Japan He says:
''0n july % the admiral received tsle-
gram saying the japanese bad sunk an
English steamer, 50 ~ the next morning
we. the Severn. lest for Nagasaki st shir-
teen knots, arrived on the morning OF the
slsf. coaled, sailed again the same evening
and arrived here on August ? don
know what CARRIED accounts you might
receive over there. but here on the spot 10
Is very difficult 20 get hold Of The exact
truth, 80 viii tell yon what have picked
az:
surrection In Korea. and the Koreans ask
Ing the Chinese 20 send troops 10 quel it.
which they did, having perfect right TO
do 90. Is Korea has paid tribute 10 China
for years The Japanese. who are
only jealous of the Chinese in
Korea and who wish TO become
the predominant power il the E sst,
also sent troops. which landed st Fusan,
the eastern coast, the Chinese landing at
Asan, the western side The laps
marche1 70 Seoul, the capital. and more
or less took charge Of ths place. the Chi
ness simply forming an entrenched camp
30 Assn, twenty-five miles inland 1
think the first step in the proceedings was
some Korean troops firing on some Jap
anese - they were eseorEing the minister
70 the King. The Jsps. Of course, defeated
them in about twenty minutes. took the
king prisoner, and made him sign deciar-
alton Of war against China They say
they even put price on the Chinese min
listers head, an extraordinary thing to do;
anyhow, he went back 10 China In hurry.
an the meantime some Chinese and
japanese men-of-war were at Asan, and
were exchanging official visits. when more
japanese ships appeared and, without
word, fred into the Chinese-mind, war
had not been declared. There were only
two Chinese: one, q small one, was run
ashore, set fire TO and destroyed bv the
Chinese; the bow guns OF the other were
disabled by the FIRST shot, but she turned
around and fred her stern gun into the
engine room Of the Yoshimo. one of the
her, and then steamed of, chased by the
Saniwa and another Jap. She got away
and reached China all right While she
was being chased the Japs sighted the
kow shing, one of the Jardtne-Matthie-
sons steamers, flying English colors. and
thinking her an easier prey, they ordered
her TO anchor. She had ], 500 Chinese troops
on board. She anchored. was boarded by an
armed japanese boat, papers examined
nd f1r.r nd Ua nrHA rGd
by the Jap ships to follow them into har-
Dor. The Chinese soldiers hearing this.
said they preferred dying at sea 10 going
in, so refused to let the captain go. The
captain signaied this to the Naniwa, who
Immediately ordered the English TO leave
the ship. The Chinese refusing to allow
the captain TO lower a boat, he jumped
overheard with his two mates. They were
fred on in the water by the Chinese and
the captain was shot through the neck.
but not killed. He and the two mates
were eventually picked up BY the Japs and
treated very we'll. The Naniwa then
steamed up within 200 yards OF the Kow
shing. fired G torpedo. which missed. and
then two nroadsides into her and abe sank
within twenty minutes, very brutal
thing TO do considering their quick-fring
guns would have played considerable
havoc on her crowded decks, without pro-
ceeding to such extremities. The Japs
then steamed away. leaving the Chinese
struggling in the water. They say the
Chinese fired on their own comrades in
the water Just for the sake Of easing of
their rifles The next morning the Lion.
o French gunboat, found about forty Chi
namen clinging TO the rigging and took
them of and over TO Cheefoo. The Wolf.
German gunboat. took away about $50
from the island close BIZ and also conveyed
them to the same place. so altogether
about 800. including five Europeans, were
killed and drowned.
THE next phase IN the show was . fight
on shore The Chinese sent out reconnoi-
tering party of about 1000 men from their
entrenched camp at Asan, hearing the
Japanese were about TO attack them. The
Japs surrounded this party, killing nearly
ali and losing about eighty themselves.
mind. this IL all before declaring war.
bat now both countries have declared war.
The Chinese have been outnumbered up 10
date, and they are such funny people that
unless il 10 a lucky day or good joss they
can't make their minds up to fight. They
have more ships than the Japs and some
of them better, and they certainly can put
more men in the field. Our sympathies
are entirely with the Chinese, the Japs are
so cocky. We hear the Chinese have l.. 600
men marching from Tientsin. to Seoul.
which will take weeks 10 do. and the Japs
have landed another 1000 at Fusan. Our
Chinese stewart says:
"'Big Joss up top aide say no good Joss fight
now, makee too hot; one, two, three thousand
Cinnamon Kill no matter: pleatee more. One
war last eighteen year, losse every battle I'LL
lsst one, then nakee win snd makee all lag htse-
And that is Just what the Chinese are.
On our way from Nsgasaki here, just by
the scene of the sinking, and about q week
after the affair, we passed about 100
Chinese corpses floating in the water. be-
sides wreckage, etc. At Chemulpo was
your ship the Baltimore. q French. 9 Ger
man and a Russian gunboat. At Scout, to
protect the different consuls, are thirty
men and an officer from Us. forty from the
Baltimore, forty Russians and twenty
Germans. roughly. All the foreigners
think the Jsps behaved inhumanly with
the kow shing"