The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-06-28
Fight WITH BOXERS
Details of the Escape of the
Belgian Engineers.
AWFUL MARCH TO PEKIN
Women and Children in the
Midst of the Band.

| Chicago, June IA special to the Tric-
\ une from Victoria, B. c., says: Advlces
received ythe Empress Of India give
graphic details Of the escape from Pekin
and Tien Tsin Of foreigners. OF all the
fugitiyes to reach the coast none had
| harder fight for their lives than the
American, French and Belgian engineers,
| who were surrounded by the Boxers al
Peng-Tai, the terminus Of the railway
| that was to run 10 Hankow. When the
Boxers attacked the station and the ma
chine shops the engineers barricaded
| themselves in the machine shops and held
the Chinese off for some time. They had
several women with them. wives of some
of them. These women loaded the mems
rifle belts and other wise assisted to re-
pei the Boxers. Soon, though, the for
eigners found their position in the shops
untenable as sorae Of the Chinese had
rushed them and set fire to a part Of the
building. Then they ran for il, fighting
their way through the Boxers. When
they had got through the Boxers lines
the Chinese gave no more attention TO
them, but instead began to pillage and
destroy the station and machine shops.
Two of the Belgians then hurried 10
Pekin, where they reported the danger of
the party and called for volunteers to
help them. A number of Cossacks were
dispatched to the rescue. They set out
on June 2, and encountered a large crowd
OF Boxers forty miles from Tien Tsin ana
oy,Isr l~os,a = 10 RI
fight their way through the Boxers. The
Cossacks, who numbered thirty-three, had
two officers wounded.
In the meantime the engineers were be-
tween two forces of Boxers. There were
thirty of them. They had taken up a po
sition on a small hill and there they made
trenches in which they fought for an
hour holding off the Boxers to their front.
They were all unconscious of the party
to their rear, and after their hard fight
ing arranged that eight should be left in
the trenches to hold back the Boxers,
while the other twenty-five, including the
women and children, went on towards
Pelxin. They had no carts and the men
carried the weaker ones when they be-
came exhausted. The march of the fugi-
tives to Pekin was an awful one. When
some few miles from where they had been
intrenched they found another party OF
Boxers, not so strong as the party before
encountered however, to -therir front, and
the men formed a hollow square with the
women and children in the center. and
dragging along, fighting and repelling the
onslaughts of the Boxers, they made
their way to Pekin after two days replete
with terror. The Boxers of this party
were without firearms, being armed only
with poles shod with iron. and knives and
the rifles and revolvers OF the railway
men, who killed number of them.
The eight heroes who were left behind
to guard their retreat were slain by the
Boxers. There were three Frenchmen
and one italian among them, the others
being Belgians and Swiss. The fugitives
on thei rarrival at Pekin were in terri
bly, destitute condition.
American marines led the way Of the
relief party to Pekin. Despite the vice
roy's edict that no foreigners should be
allowed to pass Taku forts. forty United
States marines landed and made their
way up the river by lighter.
Reading the Chinese papers, one would
come to the conclusion that China her
self was making an effort to suppress
the Boxers rising. Referring to the bat
tie of June Z. between troops under Gen.
eral Mich and the Boxers, one paper says
that several hundred Boxers were killed
and five buildings were burned down dur
ing the conflict and the local railway sta
ton was destroyed. This was at Lola,
the third station from Tien Tsin. Another
paper says the Boxers lost $50 men in
these engagements.
General Mich. who commanded the I'm
perial troops, too prominent part in the
Chinese-Jaoanese war.