The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1900-07-05
BATTLED AGAINST BOXERS.
A Handful of Foreigners Hemmed In
BY Chinese Horde at Peng-Tai.

Victoria, b. c. June 21.-Advices i
received by the Empress OF India
give graphic details of the escape
from Pekin and Tien Tsin OF foreign
ers. OF all the fugitives TO reach the
coast none had a harder fight for
their lives than the American, French
and Belgian engineers, who We're sur
rounded by the Boxers at Pen-Tai.
the terminus OF the railway that was
to run TO Hankow.
When the Boxers attacked the sta
ton and the machine shops the engi-
neers FABRICATED themselves III 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 rife belts and otherwise as
sisted to repel the Boxers. Soon the
foreigners found their position in the
shops untenable, as some OF the Chi
nese had rushed them and set fire to
a part of the building. Then they
ran from it, fighting their way
through the Boxers. When they had
gone through the Boxers lines the
Chinese gave no more heed 10 them,
but began to pillage and destroy II e
station and machine shops. Two OF
i the Belgians then hurried to Pekin.
whore they reported the danger OF
the party and called for volunteers to
help them.
| 4 number of Cossacks were dis
patched to the rescue.
They set out on June and n
countered a large crowd OF Chinese
40 miles from Tien Tsin and were
obliged to return, being unable tc
fight their way through. The Cos
sacks. who numbered 33, had two
officers wounded.
In the meantime the engineers were
between two forces of Boxers. There
were 30 of them They had taken W
"a position 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 al
unconscious OF the party to theil
rear, and after their hard fighting ar
ranged that eight should be left il
the trenches to hold back the Boxers
while the other -, including tn,
women and children, went on toward
Pekin.
: They had no carts and the mel
carried the weaker ones when they
became exhausted. The march o
: the fugitives to Pekin was an awfu
one. When some few miles from
where they had been intrenched the,
found another body of Boxers, no
so strong as the party before encOun
tered, however, to their front, an'
the men formed a hollow square witt
the women and children in the cente
l and dragging along, fighting and re
pelling the onslaughts of the Boxers
they made their way to Pekin /
about two days replete with tel
rOr.
The Boxers of this party were Will
out firearms, being armed with pole
: shod with iron and knives and spear,
= They were kept at distance by til
a rifles and revolvers of the railwa
: men. who killed a number of th
i Boxers.
The eight heroes who We're left b.
* hind to guard their retreat were slai
: by the Chinese. There were thrt
n Frenchmen and one Italian anon
them. the others being Bel@ians an
Swiss. The fugitives on their arriv;
: at Pekin were in terribly destitut
Ii condition.
I American marines lead the way
he relief party to Pekin. Despi
e the viceroy's edict that no foreigner
lie should be allowed to pass Taku fort
II forty United States marines lande
and made their way up the river [
lighter.