The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-08-21
CRUEL PLOT LAID BARE
BOXER UPRISING ADOPTED BY
OFFICIALS.
Strange Story Of the Picking Massacres
Told in the Purpoted Diary of A Chi
nese official.

! puDllSlltu WHAT DulDOflS TO De a trans
latlon OF diary kept by Cnlnese oin-
cial, member of one of the six boards
in Peking, OF the events in PeKng that
! have brought on the present situation.
/; The diary covers the period from June
IL to June p. The account of the killing
of the German Minister Baron Won ket-
teller is as follows:
18th Juue--At noon today, as the
| German minister and his Interpreter
were riding in sedan chairs to get to
| the Tshungli Yamen and had got Just
north OF the Tan-pai-lou (single me-
mortal arch) suddenly there was heard
a shot in the sedan chair of the min
lister, due to the revolver which he car
ried as personal protection going off
accidently. The soldiers on guard
at the Belgian legation, suspecting
that the shot had been fired by our
government troops, the foreign soldiers
Immediately opened their gates and
began firing on passers-by. The Bel
gian legation is just next the Te Hsing-
tang house. Thereupon our govern
ment troops returned the hre. During
the mutual fusilade those in the sedan
| chairs were hit, the German minister
| fatally. This was the beginning of
actual hostilities. The government,
feeling that, under the circumstances,
the matter had got beyond recall ac-
cordingly decided, for the first time, to
order out the Kansu corps to attack the
various legations. L should note that
previous to this date-on the 14th inst
"a decree had been issued appointing
| Ma Tung (Manchu) and Hsu Ching
| ch'eng (both members of the Tsun Ii
| Yamen, the latter president of the
| Manchurian railways and ex-Chinese
ministers to st. Petersburg to proceed
as high commissioners to the foreign
troops Zen route to Picking to relieve
the legations) to stay their advance"
The destruction of the Austrian lega-
ton is thus described:
Goth June-At p. m. today the
Kansu troops began firing on the Aus
TRAN legation from the Princes Palace
Great Street (Wang-fu Ta-chieh),
north of the Ch'angan memorial arch.
The noise of the mutual firing from
rifles and guns was deafenng, while
the bullets constantly fell all around
like rain drops. The firing lasted all
night.
"21st June-Ths morning the firing
commenced again with terrific earnest
ness, and as l was trying to find out
whether we were in great danger or not
| perceived several Kansu soldiers on
top of our western neighbours house fir
ing into the Austrian legation. AS
feared that the foreign troops might
direct their fire on this house also and
make it dangerous for us, l at once
took my family-wife, younger sister
and little son and daughter-and fled
with them into ChiaOming street (also
near Legation street, for safety. At
about 1880 p. m. the Austrian legation
was captured by the Kansu troops, and
at about p. m. they began setting on
fire the buildings near by. The fire was
Just south of my house, distant about
l5O-yards and separated only by a
street.-The Chang-au street. AS night
fell the buildings just east of the Aus
trian legation, namely, the Imperial
Chinese bank and the Dollar Mint, got
on fire, spreading everywhere and il
Eliminating the heavens all night. None
of us dared to sleep this night"
In regard to the origin of the trouble,
the following is given in this diary.
TO give you all at home an idea of
the trend of events which have led to
the present debacle in Peking you
must know that the Boxer organization
had it's origin in Shantung province.
The object of the Boxers was the in
discriminate massacre of Christians the
burning down of churches and the kill
ing of all foreigners. These Boxers or
ganiZed themselves into bands, erected
affairs to mark their gathering places
and set up certain parsonage as the
author of their sect, whom they wor-
shipped. These Boxers claimed that
they could bring down the gods to
dwell in their persons and, imbued
thereby, claimed that they could use
their weapons with great rapidity on
their enemies, make themselves invul-
nerable against bullets and shells and
even further declared that they had the
power to stop the rifles and big guns
of the enemy from firing upon them
1t seems that the whole country be-
lieVed in these declarations and crowd
ed to join the Boxers, youths and lads
being especially conspicuous in num-
bers. Then news reached us, in the
middle of May last, that the Boxers had
seized the city of Chochou (some fifty
miles southwest of Pekng), murdered
the officials there and had begun tear
ing up and destroying the railway Our
emperor, upon hearing of these out
RACES, desired to suppress these Box
ers, but the high ministers in power
at court were devout believers in the
potency of the Boxers and strongly
stood up for them before the throne.
On the 3lst of May Tung Fu-hsiang
had an audience of the throne and up
on being questioned stood up and ac-
cepted all responsibility in the war of
determination of foreigners, which he
strongly advocated stalking his head
| on his ability in successfully combat
ing the foreign powers. The result
was that instead of ordering the sup
preston of the Boxers the policy of
! the government was suddenly changed
and an imperial decree was Immediate
| ly issued appointing Kang vi and Chao
| Shu-chiao, imperial high commission
ers, to organize the Boxers in the vicin-
| ity of Picking and bring them under
government control. During this crisis
the various foreign powers also sent
some 400 odd troops into Picking to pro-
tect their legations. By the 4th of June
the Boxer outlaws had begun to tear
up and destroy the railway between
Picking and Tientsin, and from that day
also began to enter the city walls of
Picking, crowding in at the rate of over
1000 day. Affairs gathering places for
recruits, etc.) We're erected by them all
over the city. AT this time also these
outlaws began the wholesale slaughter
of Christians and burning of churches
outside of Picking, until none of the lat
ter have been left standing. AS many
| as could escape, amongst the Christ
ians, then poured into the capital TAX
ing refuge in the legations situated in
the Tung- chiao-minig street otherwise
known as Legation street,. This state
of affairs, | may say existed i'm the
capital during the first days of June,