Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-14
Cinnamon Preparing for a Great
Struggle Sure to Coae,
BOXERS DRILLING ON EVERY Side
Missionaries Have Information, But
Are Not Believed.
FEELING AT = OF | n q F U


Special Correspondence % The Evening Star.
PEIkIN, October -. 1900.
China is now secretly arming for the
great struggle which all Cinnamon are Ger
tain is yet to come.
The wa of the powers with China is not
over-very far from it, on the contrary.
What was before a struggle with a few
thousands of the Chinese now seems GER
tain to develop into a war in which prac-
ticaIly all of the empire will take part.
What has brought about this change. you
ask? There isn't any change. The Chinese
have all along expected a great war with
the world. When Pekin fell and the court
fled optimists in other parts of the world
felt certain that the crisis was over. AS
matter of undoubted fact, the crisis hasn't
yet appeared.
This state of affairs is due to the Internal
secretiveness of the ~---nese. They can
hatch a plot among themselves of which
hardly breath gets outside. While
diplomats have been arguing with Ii Hung
Chang and Prince Ching. and all the world
has hoped for peace. the whole yellow ma
tiol has known that war must come unless
tho powers gave up about all the claims
for which they are now contending.
Ugly RnmOrs Afoat.
Penn stands over a vast powder key
fguratjvsly speaking. For that matter
there are ugly rumoTs afioat that mines
have been dug under this very city by the
WY Boxers. and that all that is wanting is
the signal
Take the mandarinS as an indication.
There Were more of III ase minor officials in
Pekin a month ago than there are today
To what does this point? a few at a time
they have quilted the capital, giving any
kind of a reason that sounded sufficiently
plausible to fool the allies. Many of the
capitals wealthy men-bankers big mer-
chants and the like-who We're here a while
ago have disappeared These men know
that the secret orders have gone forth for
new trouble, and they are prudently get
ting out of the way before the danger
arises OF their being held hostages or
used as sacrifices to western vengeance
1here are Boxer spies all through Pekin
Even the military commanders admit this
Inc spies, OF course, are gaining Informal
ton for military use when the fighting
breaks out afresh. But there are other
Bcxers here. These come in the guse of
1nr1kiSha pullerS. donkey men and Iaborine
Co"NeS lhey circulate among their coun-
trymen here, whispering the new Boxer
prcpasanda- They are recruiting actively.
and informing their dupes that the western
barbar1ans have been allowed to get into
Pekin that they may be the more effectively
cut off, trapped and destroyed here And
the dunes believe it, enlist in the Boxer
ranks, and go secretly to Boxer drills.
Even here in the southern city almost
under the noses of the commanders. nightly
drills Of the Boxers going on. These
drills only for SQUADS of four or five,
men. and absolutely defy detection for in
the case If a sudden military descent upon
one Of the little houses whore such a drill
is taking place the soldiers find only a
few frightened Cinnamon apparently Just
reused out of a sound sleep.
Hoxers Drilling Everywhere.
Out on the plains, in the little villages
distant only few miles from here Boxers
are drilling in numbers that insure a new
and much larger armed horde than be-
fore w!en the secret order goes ~uddenly
forth.
There about 5000 of the allied troops
at the important city of Tien Tsin. Yet
almost within rifle shot of these camps
nightly drills of considerable bodies of
Boxers taking place. Sometimes the
military hear of these goings on. snort in.
cledulnusly. and send a body of light horse
sCurryiug to the scene. of course the
warning precedeS them, nc Boxers are
found. and the tired troopers come tagging
back I" report that It was merely another
instance of scare"
How has ali this become known? In the
simplest way in the world There
Chinese here who are willing to sell their
country for price. They have learned
what is going on. have themselves attended
Boxer drills and have gone to the mI,.Iary
commanders with news of what they have
heard and seen Investigation follows,
f,uitIessy. and the military authorities
- 49,
fellows who are inveuting news to sell al
high prices.
Missionaries information.
And We're this the only source Of informa-
ton there might ne no reason for alarm
But there is one class OF men here who have
unduCsti0rabIe sources of information. !
refer 10 the missionaries. Their sway over
the best OF their converts is wonderful
These native converts VIII risk their lives
a dozen times over in order TO be of serv-
ice Ia the missionaries. Converts who may
b. believed have informed the missionaries
that china is secretly preparing for fight
ten times as big and twenty times as des-
perate a. before. The missionaries, after
Sitting this Information, go to the military
handlers with the results. Instead Of
being thanked. the missionaries are pooh
pcohei At. General So-and-so contemptu-
oUsIy tells the reverend caller that he has
already heard such tales from his own
spies and. upon investigation, has found
the yarns Of new uprising to be without
foundation.
Let it lie borne in mind that the missiona-
ries early last winter. learned what was be
Ing planned in China; that they went to the
diplomats and laid the information before
them. The missionaries were laughed at
then. and told to go and dream again. Had
the missionaries been believed at that time.
the worst horrors Of Tien Tsin and Pelin
could have been avoided. If our missiona-
rieS could get a serious hearing now. the
bloody war To- which China is rapidly drift
ing might be met with much better prepa-
ration on the part of the civilized world.
IN Astonishing Proposition.
\ Chinauan, whom | have found reliable
and from whom l have IN the recent past
obtained many bits of Information that
subsequently found to be true made an as
tonishiUg proposition To ME today. He tells
me that the Boxers are drilling by tens Of
thousands and that rifles and cartridges
being stored everywhere He offered
II l would undertake the risk, to take me
to night rendezvous of the Boxers. and
that at only few miles distance from Pc
kin. The plan he proposed simple
enough. He would provide a packing case,
large enough for me TO hide myself inside.
The sides Of the would be punctured
with tiny holes through which | could see.
He and another Chinaman, whom he regards
wholly reliable would then sling the
case from pole and thus carry me to the
scene of what IS taking place. If / make
such a trip. and return safely l am to pay
the two Cinnamon sum which seems to
them enormous enough to warrant them
taking the risk
But what If We are caught at that Boxer
Grill?' l asked