The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-09-11
ALLIES ACT LIKE SAVAGES
Carnival of Horrors Follow Their Path
in China.

Taku, China, August 80, via Shang-
hal, September 1.-THE Chinese in the
Pei Ho valley are paying dearly for
the folly of their government The
retribution they are suffering far ex-
ceeds the penalties Of war.
Along the river and the roads travel
ed by the foreign troops between Tien
Tsin and Pekin an orgie of looting and
destruction continues. with useless
slaughter Of unoffending inhabitants.
While the International forces were ad-
vancing the commanders, notably the
American, Japanese and British, en-
| forced a certain degree OF protection
for roperty not needed for military
At hat time most OF the
population, except the fighting men,
had fed. But now the people are re-
turning to their homes, only TO ind no
shelter, or food, or In the
oyercrowded, famine-threatened dis
tricts way from the river their lives
n small possessions are at the mercy
of bands of soldiers travelling about
without officers.
The conditions leave little ground for
q favorable of civilized war
fare with Chinese methods. ROBBERY,
ravishinS and muECer aIe so common
/ llIdl c Il ISpOAASAbAS PNASNA N&NS
| contributes stories OF these from per-
sonal observation
The walled city Of Tung Chow vas
the only one in the pathway of the
| international forces whose people re-
manned and attempted to continue bust
ness. During its occupation the Japa-
nese patroled the place efficiently,
protected the people and prevented
looting beyond the amount inevitable
with any army. General Chaffee sta
toned a guard around the historic tenn
| pie outside the wall, forbiddfng his
troops to enter. The commanders en-
couraged the residents to resume bust
ness, promising protection to all peace
full persons
When the armies advanced, however,
the guards were removed, only a small
American and British garrison being
left outside the wall. A newspaper cor
respondent returning from Pekin found
Tung how stripped like a cornfield af-
ter a plague Of grasshoppers. Every
thing portable, even of the smallest
value, had been t~aken-goods from
shops, clothing, food and furniture.
Parties of soldiers Of every nationality
were roaming about unrestricted, n
were doing much wanton destruction,
presumably in a spirit of deviltry,
smashing furniture and glassware and
tramping books and pictures under
foot. Most of the Chinese were sub
ILllI4LlS " Iii N1lAo - eNDJ~SS t~NA' 1870
few who dared to protest were kicked
about.
Several bodies lay in the streets, ap-
parently those of non-combatants. The
inhabitants, without foo or clothing,
were budding in back yards in a pitia-
BILE condition.
The villages to the southwark are
ven worse despoiled. One week after
Pekin was taken the traveller on the
Tien Tsin road was seldom out of sight
of burning houses. Fires are started
daily, although the shelter will be need
ed if the troops are to hold the country
during the winter.
The soldiers are having fine sport"
in using as targets natives who creep
back to their houses or attempt to work
in the fields. The sight of a farmer ~
ing where he was shot, with a basket
of grain OF an armful of other produce
nearby, Is
The Russians are the chief actors in
his style Of conquest, but the French
are remarkably conspicuous, consider
ing their small numbers. The Indian
troops and the Japanese are partici-
pants only when beyond the ken of
their officers.
From the beginning the d of
the Russians has been a blot on the
campaign. The recital of notorious
facts speaks more forcibly tina any
adjectives. When entering Pekin Cos
SdC6S WE'RE SceU SIIldSllIuS ooWh III
nese women with the butts of their
guns and pounding their cad until
they were dead. These Cossacks would
pick UP children barely old enough to
walk, hold them by the ankles and
beat out their brains on the pavement.
Russians officers looked on without
protest.
While General Chaffee was watering
his horse at a stream under the wall
of Tung Chow the Russians found a
feeble old man hidden in the mud, e
cept his nose, and dragged him out by
.ae queue, shouting gleefulIy. They
impaled him on their bayonets. Gen
eral Chaffee remarked:
That is not war; 1t is brutal MUIR
der"
American officers at Taku days after
the fighting was finished saw Russians
bayonet children and throw old men in
to the river, clubbing them to death
when they tried to swim. The Rus
SLAMS even killed women who knelt be-
fore them and begged for mercy.
Everybody was disposed to be friend
ly toward the Russians in the early
days of the fighting at Tien Tsin be-
cause Of their bravery, but such Incl
dents as these just narrated have been
% prominent a feature of the campaign
that no n who is supposed to repor
important facts can ignore them. They
are so numerous as to compel the con-
cluSlOn CndC Nney are not isolated cpl.
sodes, but the ordinary practice of Rus.
sian warfare.
The Russians on the walls Of Pekir
would apparently shoot every China
man within range outside. Coolies
were killed while trotting along tn,
roads with their loads, and farmers
when trying to gather in their grain.
---
Is Another Force Bill Probable!
-Four wears ago" saws The New
York Journal, Mr.. Mckinley received
o. oloctaral ZOOS In tho callth-o L.