The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-07-21
A FORMER ATTACK ON TAKU FORTS
WHEN AMERICANS SAVED THE BRITISH

ing noise of chain cables running through 1
the hawse holes IN the stiffness OF the
hour, aroused the Chinese from their [
sleep. But they did not seem to be in
the least disturbed by the arrival of such I
a large naval force of "red-headed bar
barians." When morning broke they
gazed upon the vessels with stolid indif-
ference, and then went about their usual
work Nothing about the place Indicated
that unusual prepare TO- s for oppos ng the
entrance of "a naval force in the river had
been made. Distractions were across the
river ii is true, but these, the officials de-
clared, were only to keep out rebels and
pirates, who recently had been giving the
Government much trouble. All was quiet
and sleepy as the most enthusiastic adj
mirer of Chinese river scenery could de-
sire.
From the decks of the ships The course
of the PeihO r-ver could be traced over
the fat country far into the interior by
the masts and sails of junks that moved
sluggishly up and down the stream. The
struggling village of Taku, glimpses of
which could be had behind the forts,
seemed TO be pursuing its usual lazy,
monotonouS existence as fishing hamlet.
The tower of Little Temple from which
the Governor General of Pechili had fed
the year before, with its success on of
quaint, peaked roofs, was seen just be-
you'd the fort on the left. For the first
time in the experience Of foreigners,
, Chinese military post was without the
usual lavish display OF flags and tents de-
nnting the presence of troops. A yellow,
triangular flag floated from each of the
two mounds, and a few officials of low
rank were observed moving around the
; batteries as unconcernediy as if the for
eign dew Isl were thousands of miles
away, and small bodies of poorly armed
and shabbily dressed mintfa paraded
thruuPh the works Few Of mo Gums in
|, the embrasures, owing to the deceitful
: appearance of the mantlets, could be
seen.
!. The first step taken by the British Ad-
miral, on arriving off the bar, TO send
4, a boat ashore to communicate with the
: commander Of the forts, and to request
!. that the barriers be removed, so that the
/. gunboats might proceed up the river. The
: officer landed with tn message, but was
: not allowed to go farther than the beach,
:. where he was met by official of low
= rank who refused to remove the obstruc-
: tons, and said that the British should
:, meet the proper representatives of the
: Emperor at another mouth of the Peiho
:. river, ten miles to the north. The official
: concluded by saying that he acted en-
> tirely upon his own responsibility anc
;, that there were no higher officers al
. hand. So far there was nothing to excite
= Admiral Hopes suspicion of treachery
? for everything had been conducted in ar
entirely good-natured way on the part o.
:, the Chinese, and the best of feeling wa.
= shown. Exasperated at being baked II
>, his friendly VISIT to the capital, <,dmira
T" Hope wrote the authorities, saying that 4
: the Instructions were not removed by tn
evening of June "a he would proceed t
:, remove them himself.
- While matters were in this condition Mr.
, Ward, after consultation with Flag Office
!. Tattnaii. decided to remove up the rive
- in the Toey Wan, as If ignorant of tn
- refusal on the part of the Chinese to al
y, ~ low the English and French to pass. Tn
- Toey Wan was small merchant steam
:, err which had been chartered for the occa
- sion by the Americans, the Powhata
= was too large a vessel to navigate tn
- shallow waters in those parts. AIR. War
=. determined that if the forts fired acros
- the bow of his vessel he would ancho
- and communicate, but If they fired int
- his vessel. which was unarmed, he woul
- retire. At IL a. M, June "a, the Toey Wa
~, steamed through the Br- fish and Frenc
squadrons without communicating wit
~ them, and pushed up towards the barrier.
At that time the forts seemed to be Ell
-, tirely deserted, not a man being seen nc
~ gun in an embrasure, and, althoug
- there were many fiagstaffs, not a flag wa
~ visible. When the 1oey Wan had al
~ preached within three hundred yards
80 the first barrier she suddenly received
- severe blow which made her tremble fro
* stem to stern. 1t was soon after asce
-, tanned that she had run on the treache
-, Gus steep bank of the river that was Wis
- bic at low tide, but was entirely concea
- ed by the mutky waters of the strea
"a at high water. Every effort to back h
IL off was unavailing, while the fast-falliT
~ tide made her position extremely critics
70. for not only was she entirely at the mer,
"a of the batteries. but the falling wat
fr-,x
"a the bank, and when the tide had entire
- receded the probability was that 81
,ot wou.d tumble off the bank and fall in
80 the water upside down.
80 Observing the difficulty the America
'ot steamer was in, Admiral Hope sent Il
be Plover to her aid, with message that
- Mr.. Ward desired he could hoist 4
American flag over her. The Plover a
ole tempted to tow the Toey Wan off, b
en- the cable parted. Upon this the Admir-
- dispatched his flag lieutenant with anot
W. er gunboat, but even their combined
~ forts were unavaihng. While the To
zoe Wan was In this critical pos! ton CAPITA
nt TattnaN sent Lieut. Trenchard and t
~ interpreters to the nearest fort to infor
ay, the officer in command that the Americ
en- Minister was on board the strand
Cor steamer. In his journal Lieut.. Trencha
no says: Il was dispatched in the barge
o,, Flag Officer Tattnall as his represent
- tive. accompanied by DR.. w .diams and
"a Rev. Messrs. Martin and Atkinson, O
- interpreters, the former as the represeI
80 alive of Mr.. Ward, to communicate w
49, the officer in command of the fort
49, passed inside of the lines of the stall
o. and landed at the extremity of a m
"a Jetty, running out of the center basti
"a on the left, and below the lower barr.
An We were received by a guard OF twer
40 men armed with spears, double swol
M and long knives. They were rather RI
80 ged in appearance. Mr.. Martin and II
self held an interview with the officer.
,osa was in substance that we had come h
LIN with the purpose of going up the Pc
- river to Picking with our Minister W
!, 90 had been directed to see the Emperor. 9
inc to deliver to him in person a letter FIR
och the President of the United States, and
90 ratify the treaty. The Commissioners
ON Shanghai said there would be difficulty
the passing up the river TO Peking and L
hat instead of finding 1t clear we would n,
tor distractions placed in the channel.
tho requested that these distractions be
,out moved. so that we could pass up the
,ont er. The mandarin, or head man of
hot ho hor i.