Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-14

! would not make me any more certain tDan
! | am at this moment that China Is pre-
! pairing for the one tremendous fight of her
| national existence. My sources of informa-
| ton are too many and too emphatic for me
/ to doubt.
! There is edict in circulation to the
effect that, as the modern arms have proved
a failure in fighting off the foreign devils"
no more of these up-to-date rifles Will be
issued to Chinese soldiers. This of course,
is intended to make the allied commanders
grin and feel doubly secure. There are In
China today several arsenals in locations
not at all known to the powers where Maui
ser rifles and cartridges to fit are being
turned out as fast as thousands of Chinese
can manipulate the machinery and tools.
Unless the Chinese are forced rematurely
to show their hand, the next conflict, when
it starts, will find hundreds of thousands
of the yellow rascals ready for US, pre-
pared to overwhelm US by sheer numbers.
These eXpedi ions, punitive and o, nerwise,
are creating the worst kind of impression
among the Chinese. They are wa itching US
jealousy, and are convinced that these
movements of ours are, bluffs intended
to conceal a general movement Of the al
Les toward Singan-fu in the Shan-si prov
lrce, where the imperial court is The only
passage out OF Pe-chi-li to Singan-fu is
through the narrow mountain passes of
Shan-s1. These mountain passes are guard
ed by thousands of imperial troops and
Boxers, while the ground of the passes is
honeycombed with mines of gunpowder
And these passes are such strong natural
for resses that it is doubtful if three times
the number Of allies now here could ever
get past the present guards of the passes
The attempt would certainly prove disas-
trOuS. -
Let the peace negotiations go on. Peace
negotiations IN themselves can do no harm
unless they are allowed to blind our repre-
s"ntatives to the fact that China is at this
moment making gigantic preparations for
renewing the struggle against the world
u tl1n fDx-. No,
t;ry commanders go on pooh-poohing at
the patiently collected Information of the
missionaries ard the startling news of the
native spies Then let the deluge come
at the moment that best suits the Chinese.
For that deluge is coming If the Chi
ne sc are convinced that the dead of winter
when the empire is all but shut out from
the rest of the world. Is the most favorable
moment. then that is the time to look out
for the deluge.
Will the white races always persist in de-
str5 wing themselves through over-contidence
when dealing with the seemingly stupid
orentals? China is seething with war spirit
and with determination to renew the fight
and carry it on to the last ditch.
b. r. SELWYN.
At Pao-Ting-Fu.
PEKlN. October 27.-The information
column reached Pao-ting-fu without oppo
stion. and has succeeded thoroughly in
arousng the hatred of the natives. This
is a city that must be reckoned with in
all Chinese problems In the time of the
kins in the ninth and tenth centuries it
the seat of the imperial government.
There is an ancient palace here with truly
imperial gardens, and here the ViceroYS
have lived In great state. Massive walls
surround the city. which has population
of between BOO 900 and 400,0o0
Al the time of the Boxer uprising Pao-
ting-fu was the terminus of the new rail-
W.; mo- from
where the missionaries were invited to the
yamcn for protection and then treacherous-
" murdered. Miss Gould and Miss Morrill,,
two American girls, We're killed here with
revolving atrocity. This was the first In
stance in the history of China that Ameri-
can missionaries have been killed by the
people. Contrary to popular belief the Chi
nese people have always been able to dis
eliminate between missionaries, and have
steadfas,ly looked upon ours as their
friends. Many an American missionary has
saved himself from an ugly Chinese mob by
proclaiming his nationality
The Pao-ting-fu massacre of missionaries
took place because the Boxers, beaten off
from the fortified Catholic mission at
Cheng-ting-fu, about thirty-tive miles
southwest of Pao-ting-fu, became frantic
for some kind of prey. At this latter city
they found the terminus which represented
to them the greatest visible sign of the in
vasiOn of the distrusted and hated for
eIguer They drove the Belgian engineers
back Blind with hatred and the lust Of
blood these Boxers failed to discriminate,
aud the American missionaries, to the num-
Der Of about thirty, persisted as miserably
the rest
When the punitive expedition reached
here the French and Germans agreed to
designate the guilty officials and other Box
ers and to leave their punishment to the
native authorities. A military court was
promptly established. Native spies were
employed and a drag-net search of the city
was promptly started. Every one accused
of having had a hand in the murder of the
American and English missionaries was
dragged before this court and given more
or less-generally less-thorough trial Then
the convicted ones were taken out and hur-
riedly executed.
This was a Christian violation of prom
Use made to the heather. The people OF
Pao-ting-fu are cowed by the soldiers, but
press their bitterness. The Germans, of
course. are smarting with the desire to
aVemge Won Ketteler, and they are seldom
blamed by the allies for any severity they
use against the Chinese.
But there was one incident connected with
the Pao- ting-fu executions that has aroused
the greatest regret. The provincial treas
urer was one of the best friends the for
eiGners had. He strove In every way to
protect them. Yet he was tried by the mil
itary court and killed The Chinese are
asking:
If you kill even your friends, what is the
use of befriending you?'
And so Pao-ting-fu, which is one of the
centers of thought and patriotism in the
empire. will have to be reckOned with If
this winter. it IS certain to do. Such
things as have happened at this old-time
capital will mean many regiments more of
troops for the imperial dragon standard.
r. w. AYMAR.
NEpE rnIEJES