The Weiser signal. [volume] (Weiser, Idaho) 1890-1904, 1895-08-22
RIOTS AT CHENG TU
Dr. Stevenson Tells Of the At
tack Of the Mob.
RABBLE ENTIRELY TO BLAME
Women and Babies Escaped From House
to House. Finally Reaching
the Coast.

Vancouver b. c., Aug. 17.-Among
the passengers by the Empress Of Jap
an were Doctor Stevenson and family,
missionaries at Szechuan, China, who
narrowly escaped murder at the hands
of natives in the first of the recent
riots. Dr. Stevenson belongs to
Canadian Methodist mission, and Is
now en- route to his home in Milton,
Ont. having had to leave China owing
to the i'll health of his wife, who Is
still suffering from the effects Of recent
horrors. DR.. Stevenson said that the
vicious official system of the empire
is responsible for the persecution of
missionaries. Left to themselves the
people of Szechuan were peaceable and
well disposed toward them. The mis-
sionaries had built hospital in Cheng
Tu, now destroyed, at considerable
cost, and DR.. Stevenson was one Of the
doctors employed. On the 2Sth day OF
May placard was posted up, declaring
that the foreigners fried children for
the oil in them. A request was made
that these placards should be torn
down, and few were torn down,
though several persons objected.
DIR. Kilborn,' continued the doctor,
was just filing MIR. Jackson's teeth
and l was doing slight work about the
dispensary, when we heard some chill
dren yelling and throwing small stones.
This was abodt 4:30. We sent out cards
at once to nearly all the Yamens. They
were received except one sent to
Tsong Pao Kiachii, a Human man, who
| followed up his refusal with a vici-
| Gus proclamation.
gun and had Martini rifle We held
| the crowd at bay until chairmen ar
| rived who promised to keep the street
| clear, adding that the officials would
| soon appear Good liars, but bad po-
lice, they soon allowed the people to
| come right into the gate.
Again we cleared the street Our
wives had picked up the babies in their
night clothes and ran to the hospital
through the dividing wall and we soon
heard the crowd beating at the hos
| pital gates on the back street. DIR. Kill
born blew big hole through the top
panel of the gate and frightened the
| crowd back. We now went into our
| dispensary buildings and tried to lock
ourselves In, but we soon heard the
roar and crash of glass and panels
on the dwelling side. We made several
vain attempts to escape into an ada
cent lot. We finally found hole in the
wall made by a stone thrown by a
rioter.
There was just room for one to get
through the hole. l was the last to get
out, and pointed my rife at a man who
was yelling strike dead While we
were running out into the parade
grounds a brutal soldier kicked Mrs.
Stevenson. / levelled a gun on this
wretch, and had he tried to follow It
| up there might have been another story
to tell.
: BARELY ESCAPED.
Next day the party made their way
to the China inland mission house;
from there they watched the destruc-
ton of the two old houses Of the Cana
dian Methodist mission. The mob
broke in and DR.. and Mrs. Kilborn, Mr.
and Mrs. Hartwell, the children and
Misses Breckbill and Ford escaped by
| ladders over the back wall They en-
tered small house and bribed the
! owners to conceal them inside the bee
curtains. For three hours they waited
( in terror, while the work of destruction
/ was going on about them. At nigh
= they succeeded in getting away. The
$ the Episcopal and Roman Catholic mis-
4 | sions. In all II places were looted and
: the inhabitants barely escaped with
4 | their lives.
e "The next day was exceedingly try
e ing. The excited people assembled ant
|. threatened to kill the foreigners. B,
s the fourth day the Tsung Lii Yamen a
d Pel<ing had made the viceroy act and
e stiff proclamation was issued. Elever
: days after the riot all the British ant
# American missionaries except Mr.
Jackson left by boat for Chung King
the magistrate sending two or thre
g officials and six small boat loads o
soldiers as escorts.
n There is much the sameness in tn
reports from the different towns an
If there is no doubt that there was a gen
IS eral agreement among the rabble t.
| drive out the missionaries"
IN TILE NNMMICCiOM tC At Etf NLcA,