The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1900-09-28
An Interesting STORY.
Thrilling Experiences of partvu
American Missionaries Es-
Gaping From China.
CHASED ACROSS The eosl DESERT,
4 Toi1some and Dangerou. J.ur
BEGINNING June 10. at kaigan.
Province Of Chih IL. Across a.
IBERIA to IrkutsIs. Thence 10 81,
Petersburw and London.

London. Sept. 25.--The American
missionaries, j. II. Roberts, Mari. VII.
liams. Vim. Sprague, Mrs. spraeue
and Miss Virginia Murdoch. Who %.
capped from kalgan, Province 81 Chin
Ii, China, in June, were chased across
the Cobb desert. Thence they ,rav.
eled by way of Siberia and have inst
reached London in good health. They
will proceed Immediately TO the Uui,-
ed States.
An Interesting story.
Mr.. Williams, who has worked in
China for 81 years, gave a press rep
resentative an interesting story Of his
experiences. 1t appears that the first
assault on the mission compound AZ
kalgan was made during the night OF
June 10, when a yelling mob al.
tempted to batter down the gate
with stones. Seeing the uselessne,s
of remaining, the missionaries in the
course of the night. evacuated the
compound and proceeded to the
magistrates yamen.
Ordered to Leave.
The following afternoon they were
ordered TO leave, the magistrate de.
claring that he feared not only for
the missionaries safety. but also for
his own yamen il he continued TO pro.
tect them. After allowing the Ameri-
cans TO draw their money from the
native bank, the magistrate furnished
them with so soldiers as an escort
through the great gate in the wall
into Mongolia.
A Terrible Journey Ahead.
"We had no idea then OF the terri
bic journey which awaited u.s. con
tiDued Mr.. Williams. I'VE had no no
tion of having to escape across 81
IBERIA, and only purposed TO remain
* ONE place of safety and return
after the crisis. Whenever we al.
tempted to stop, however the officials
ordered us to leave forthwith. de.
.la-ing the Boxers were On our heels
Across the Cobb Desert.
ment at Harausa, we saw that fight
across the great Cobb desert was in
evitable. Having secured caravan
we started June 20. just before start
ing seven Swedish missionaries, with
their families. who had just escaped
with their lives, joined us One lady
had horrible experiences. She had
been almost dubbed to death, while
some of the males werefrightfus spec.
saclcs. being covered with blood.
The Caravan Organized.
"Our caravan consisted Of ~ cam
els. 10 horses and six camel carts fo-
the ladies and children. For eight
DAYS we travelled over nothing but
sand. The air was like that Of an
oven and the suffering was intense.
The animals had no grass and 10 wa
ter, and marching in the daytime was
impossible. At the few isolated wells
Mongols were encamped in the VI
entity, and they refused 10 allow "
TO draw water. fearing we would
poison the wells.
Days Of Terrible Anxiety
"After 80 days of terrible anxiety
VIC VI vi INV oih'i T'NN
the desert. We presented a sorry
spectacle. The Russian consul general
was most kind. He gave up 70 rs u
rooms in the consulate. But, to our
dismay the consul told us we must
leave forthwith, as there Were 1000
Mongol soldiers in the neighborhoou,
who might be hostile. Tie also
warned us that tens of thousands OF
Mongols were gathering for rciig-
ious festival, and that if we valued
our safety we would better clear OUT
without delay.
safety nj Last.
"A fortnight later. August ~ We
reached Kiakhta. and remained there
till August "a.
I'm the meanwhile Mr.. Tower MT
Charlemagne Tower. United states
ambassador to Russia) obtained per-
mission from the authorities az ~.
Petersburg for our journey over me
Siberian railway. Arriving at lrkutsk,
September 2. we took train ana
reached St. Petersburg September t.
Fifty French Vessels MISSING.
St. Johns. n. f., Sept. 25.-More
than fifty French vessels from ~