The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-08-08
BABES BAY0NETED
BY The RUSSIANS,
Wife Of British Consul at Tien-
Tsin Tells of Barbarous
Practices.
NOTHING STAYED MAD FRENZY.
Villages DESTROYED and Helpless
NOncOmbatants Slaughtered -
l'nbridled Torture. Pillage and
Mistreatment of Women.

San Francisco. Aug. "A story of RUS
sian brutality in China Is told by Mrs. e
B. Drew. wife of the British Commissioner
of Customs at Tien-Tsin. who arrived from
the Orient on the transport Logan. She
says:
During the bombardment We lived most
of the time in the cellar of our house Our
house partly wrecked by big shells
Sleep was out of the question most of the
time. and 50 unstrung were we that nut
little food satisfied us. There was ever
present the haunting fear of the Chinese
triumphng and slaughtering every foreigner
and convert.
Some probably all. of the women were
prepared to act in case the Chinese affected
an entrance. But. aside from that unpleas-
ant recollection. 1t appears the allied officers
were prepared to act. | did not know II at
the time. but understood later that ten
or twenty men had been detailed to kill
all the foreign women in case the Chinese
We're the victors.'
Tortured and Slain.
Mrs. Drew. with much indigna ton. then
spoke Of atrocities committed by the Rus
sian troops. saying:
"-Thev pillaged looted tortured and mur-
dered right and left. There were many in
fants and children killed by bayonet thrusts.
and many were tossed from bayonet points
only to be caught and tossed time and
again. There is ample evidence OF these
unspeakable occurrences.
And about Chinese women: they were
mistreated and murdered In house after
house. 1t seemed as if nothing could stay
the mad frenzy of these Russians.
"Out from TIen-rsin. along the Pei-Ho
and Yellow rivers. are numerous little vii
lagos. The Russians swept through the
villages. destroying life and property. In
these places they also tossed infants and
,s, h,y- y-Ote,
And every time this child-tossing tragedy
was INDUCED In the dead body of n mother.
father or both would he hard by. The
Russians also drove women and children
into the Pei-Ho and Yellow rivers, where
they were drowned.
After shooting and numbering to their
hearts content the Russians would pillage
loot and burn every house that caught their
eyes. There was no attempt at concealinS
all of this remarkably barbarous conduct.
I do not pretend to say how many women
and children We're butchered by the Rus
slams. l never heard the number estimated,
save that a great many had been bayoneted
and some shot.
"In view of what they had been guilty of
in and around Tien-Tsin. none of us was
surprised to hear of barbarous act by the
Russians at Taku. 1t IS generally accepted
as true at Tien-TsIn that the Chinese COM
mander OF the TalSu forts was murdered by
the Russians when he was in the act of
surrendering his sword"
Tales Told by Refugees.
Among the refugees from China who re-
turned on the Logan were Professor O. d.
Clifford and his wife. They bring with them
a baby girl, who was born in Tien-Tsin on
May 13. Mrs. Clifford is the daughter OF Doc
tor Robert Coltman, who came home on the
COptic last week. Professor Clifford was
connected with the Imperial University.
Miss Lille NJ. Tahr of Lincoln City. Ind.
who spent two years in Tien-Tsin. had three
narrow escapes from the savage Boxers.
She found safety, with many others, in
Gordon Hail during the siege. and. ventur-
ing out one day. was struck by fragment
of three-inch shell. On two other occa-
sions she was shot at by rifiemen. but was
not hit.
The two children OF United States Consul
Ragsdae, who have returned to their home
III this State. tell of exciting experiences
similar to those Of others Who lived through
the perilous times in Tien-Tsin.
The tales Of Russian brutality are con-
flrmed by the Reverend Frank Haynes, Il
Methodist missionary. He thinks the pres
ent troubles will be ended within year
Many of the refugees from Tien-Tsin es-
capped with only the clothing on their backs
Among those who lost everything are Henry
Sniti, and his wife. an English couple
Smith was a broker at Ten-Tsn and had
q fine home in the British concession.
Professor o. D. Clifford OF the Imperial
University of Tien-Tsin. who was one CT
the last to leave the besieged city, says:
"Looting by the allied forces began as
soon as they got the upper hand. The Rus
slams led in this ard went to extremes.
They are naturally cruel. ard. expe citing no
mercy they showed none. / was an eye
witness to eight cold-blooded murders by
them. The victims were old and infirm
Chinese. The Russians stole everything In
sight looting the houses in the settlement
as the Chinese would have DONE
The Reverend Horace w. Houldins, a mis-
sionary. whose labors were in South Chilli
Province, between Ho-Nan and Shan-Tung,
escaped with seventy-five others. from Pei
Tai-Ho the seaside resort north of Taku.
on the British warslip Humber.
Mrs H. H. Montelle. whose husband Is a
turfman at Tien-Tsin. with Mrs. Frank F..
Davis of Philadelphia, passed through a
trying experience during the bombardment
and fighting at Tien-Tsip and took ad-
vantage Of the first opportunity to leave
the place.