The Saint Paul globe., 1900-09-30

KINDS are purchasable, including timed
Irulis, mineral waters. canned meats ana
vegetables and tobacco. The store is lib-
era4ly patronized by the officers and men
inere Is absolutely no suffering among
the troops except from the heat, and this
is now somewhat relieved by the cool
nights. The forces are enjoying excep-
uonably good health, the hospitals are
not over-crowded, and with systematic
communication with Taku and Ting Ku
and constantly arriving supplies the
physical situation at T1en Tsin Is ex-
cellent.
THANKFUL FOR FROST.
Strenuous efforts have been made to
put the city in a sanitary condition. and
they have partially succeeded. However.
1t is more than the work of q month to
undo the work of days. Lime by the ton
Is being used in courts, alleys and gut
ters, and the surface drains which line
the curbs are kept cleaned out and free.
Nevertheless. European residents agree
that the nearness OF frost is a thing to
be thankful for. Huge stacks of rotting
rice and tons Of burned and decomposing
sugar fill the region of the river front
with an unhealthy and terrible stencil,
while the ruins of the Chinese city are
almost impossible because of vie odors
In the heat Of the day. A Chinese pro-
vtsional government has been established
over the native city. administered by
Americans and Europeans. A police
force, native and foreign, Is In working
order. and system is being gradually
evolved out of chaos. The foreign city
is efficiently poIced by troops, and per-
feet order is maintained. At every corn
er Is sentry. while guards and patrols
are constantly afoot night and day. The
foreign residents are gradually returning
to find their homes either destroyed or
occupied by the allied forces, and 1t is
expected that an attempt soon will be
made to fix compensation for occupation
and use of such propazty. The residents
accept the situation philoscpbically and
there Is apparently no conflict with the
military authorities.
That it will be many months before the
rehabilitation Of Tien Tsin is begun is
certainty. That it will ever be restored
to it's once beautiful proportions is doubt.
full. The slow work of years was
destroyed in week. Beautiful villas,
superb residences, once handsome
grounds are but wreck and ruin and the
hot breath of war has blasted the Pei
no valley from Pekin to the Gulf Of
Taku
FAMINE EXPECTED.
famine when the cold weather sets in.
Foreign residents of Tien Tsin do not
hesitate to predict terrible suffering
among the natives, and military men
who have looked into the conditions of
the Pet-Ho valley are inclined to believe
that the fear Of a famine Is we'll found
ed. Already there is considerable suffer-
ing. although fresh produce is coming IN
slowly, and what the result will be when
Q,~A, ,Hr. It.
difficult to foresee. Rice, the great stable
of China, is no longer on the market this
far north. Every sack of the white
grain has been commandered or pur-
chased by the allies, and the natives,
thus unable to buy it, must depend on the
charity Of the forces. The supply on
hand is none too plentiful. 1t Is practi-
caly impossible to even roughly estf-
mate the quantity, but it is stated to be
considerably less than normal. Uusua1Iy
at this season the river is crowded with
vessels bringing the winters supply Of
rice from the South, but now every avail
able craft is in the service Of the forces,
transporting supplies and ma terials, con-
Sequently there Is little chance that any
considerable quantity Of rice can arrive
between now and the freezing Of the river.
The situation is conceded to be very criti-
cal, and the outlook is for great loss of
even with a systematic distribution of
food and acting in concert, could relieve
only 1.-THE of the people, and no such
arrangement or agreement IS probable
AT best transportation in the winter is a
difficult matter, and every resource will
be taxed to provide for the big army
which will be scattered from the coast at
Taku up to Pekin. The army must be
fed, and fed it will be, while the natives
yUf tfOT 10 chi f11or ",
supplies; there is not an available boat
but is pressed into service, and even now
the lack of bottoms is a serious one BY
Dec. 1 the Pei-ho river will be frozen as
we'll as the Gulf of Taku, on which ice
forms for ten or twelve miles out and
superhuman efforts are being made to
take advantage of the remaining weeks of
autumn. There has already been some
Informal discussion as to the means of
keeping communication by water open
I after ice forms, with the result that there
is a tentative understanding that the
Russian force will bring in an ice boat.
The heavy tides prevent any great thick
ness of ice in the gulf. and it is believed
that with a suitable vessel a channel can
be easily kept clear to Tong-Ku, the rail-
way terminal. The river is a more seri-
GUS matter, and it is not likely that any
attempt will be made to keep it free
In this way the railway will be taxed
to its utmost capacity
All the governments ARE employing ma
tive labor freely, but the supply is SO
far In excess of the demands that the
percentage of those who will thus be
enabled to live through the winter is ex-
trenely small The belief is general that
starvation cannot be avoided at this late
day, and even the most conservative for
eign restdents at all conversant with con-
dftions admit that the coming winter
will be a terrible one In the Tien ,A.,.n
country.