The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-24
RIcH PIcKINes FOR The JAPs.
WEALTH OF THE SUMNER PALACE
or THE EMPEROR or CHINA.
= British Omcer Who Helped to Loot

II seems to be a pretty well settled fact
that when the spring is sufficiently ad-
vauced TO permit of forward movement
the japanese army VIII proceed TO Picking.
and once there it is easy TO realize. in view
Of their successes hitherto. that they win
capture the Chinese capital without suffer
ing very serious Losses
In view Of this ii is more than ordinarily
interesting to find in the Pail Mall Maya
zine for February an account of how the
allied French and English forces looted or
pilaged the summer palace Of the Chinese
emperor in 1860, when those nations admin
istered 50 severe a lesson TO the Celestial
potentate. The story has been written by
an English officer who took part in the
affair. In part it runs as follows:
"One evening a general order was issued
by the commander-in-chief to the effect
that as the French troops were looting the
summer palace he gave his sanction to half
the officers in every regiment in his COM
mand starting at daybreak for like pur-
pose, and that they were to be back in the
British camp by the hour of noon, in order
to allow the remaining half of the officers
to take their turn. Commanding officers
were forbidden to go. which in many quar-
tiers caused the strongest possible desire
for a temporary reduction of rank. I was
at that period in charge of wing of the
Fifteenth Punjaub native infantry; my
substantive rank therefore vas equal to
that of a field officer, and so l was nomi-
mated to go with the first batch of looters.
Having got the bearings of my goal
overnight and being gifted with a tolera-
ably good idea of locality, put my horses
head fair for the far-off pagoda, and set
out at a gallop across the country, CIV
ing a wide berth to several villages l was
obliged to pass on the way, the inhabi-
tants whereof l might guess were scarcely
likely to be amiaeably disposed; and after
a smart canter of about an hour I drew
rein, just the sun was rising, abreast
of the French sentries on duty outside the
gates of the summer palace. The scene
of that enchating spot will haunt me to
my dying day. The summer palace has
! been already so often described that for
me to attempt anything like a fun ac-
count of it would be supereroga tory. Suf-
flee il if I say that it consisted not of one
but of a continuous succession Of palaces,
covering in all eleven square miles of
ground; with pagodas, joss houses and
rustic arbors studded about in the gar
dens, which were interspersed in all direc-
tons by shining canals, spanned by an
gular bridges of the willow plate pattern;
silver shimmering lagoons, dotted with
emerald-like islets, and artificial hills
breaking the dead level of the plain,
one of them rising to hight of nearly
200 feet. Some strange and wonderful
| scenes have l witnessed in my Oriental
travels, but never anything that approach
ed the marvel of this celestial palace, for
many centuries held sacred by the Chi
nese themselves, and now about to be sac
rificed in retaliation for their cowardice
and treachery.
Turning sharp off to my right I passed
through a doorway and found myself in
a small room furnished with a great num-
| Der of shelves, which were laden with
what 1 took to be innumerable pamphlets.
| bound in yellow paper covers. 1t has &C.
! CURED to me since that these were cata-
| logues of the contents of the various pal
aces, warehouses, etc, in the place. Had
| this been so, and could l have read Chi
nese, what prodigious wealth of treasure
should I have been able to come at by
Interpreting these inventories!
.
II then proceeded on my way through
! the palace. The French, who had got in
some twenty-four hours ahead of us,
| had routed about in every nook and corner
of the buildings near to the entrance; but
| it is conjectured that neither they nor our
own troops ever penetrated much farther
! than about one mile from the south gate
| toward the interior The ignorance which
! prevailed among all ranks as to the value
| of the various objects they passed was
| truly remarkable There have, indeed,
been many exaggerated anecdotes told of
| the treasure our soldiers passed without
| recognition-such, for instance, as the
| story of the two huge lions guarding
| the entrance to the palace, which are
| stated to have been of solid gold. state
| ment which ] can deny from experience,
! having scraped the metal of both of them
! with a sharp knife, and found it to be
| bronze. Yet, as an illustration of the eX-
| tent of the ignorance that existed among
| our troops, ] may relate that on several
| occasions l purchased little josses or sa-
| cred images of virgin gold from soldiers
! at their own valuation, which was general
! ly the equivalent of their weight in silver
! dollars or about one-twenteth of their
| intrinsic worth
Continuing my exploration, 1 passed
| through courtyard after courtyard piled
| up with rolls of the richest and most ex-
! quisite subsidiaries which would have
| fetched the most extravagant prices could
they but have been got to England One
great curiosity 1 picked up during the
| early part of my ramble, which was the
great seal of the emperor of China, for
| impressing the commissions appointing
mandarins-a piece of beautifully carved
| pale-green jade stone about six inches
| square. My next prize was a large gold
hower-pot, worked in filagree in the most
| remarkable manner, with a plant wrought
| in gold rising out of it to a hight of about
! eighteen inches, the leaves whereof were
made of soft gold. enameled green, and
| the fruit of turquoises, with ruby centers
l also secured a couple of beautiful old
| clocks. That Summer Palace was full of
! clocks; there seemed to be no limit TO
| the supply, and it must have given en-
| ployment to a small army of servants to
keep them all wound. l next came to a
| little apartment in which were a good
many French soldiers. busiy employed
| in breaking up a great model of the birth
place of the emperor of China, made
of pure gold, and far too ponderous to be
moved intact; a party of sappers were
letting fly at the lovely toy with their
axes, splintering the yellow metal into
fragments, and scrambling for them like
| beggars for halfpence.
(I1e secured a vast amount of valuab bile
booty, and later on all the British force
was let loose in the palace. The last in
cident told of as fol oWs is the most fas-