The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-30
FIGHTING MISSIONARIES.
WITH TEN BORROWED RIFLES
THEN ORGANIZED 4 sQUAD N
pEkIN.


The American Marines DriIled Them
and TheS Played Their Part in
sentinel Duty aud Fertilization
work aud other Requirements OF
Nar-Four Missionaries Held IN
m Eutire Busy strset-WholcSon-
Fear Of Them InstiIIrd Into the
Hearts Of the noNers-The pertlou.
March 90 the british LcRatIon-Dr.
Amcut's Return 60 the Compound
With Only one Companlon-A stu
ssIc American sentinel Hout- ThIr-
~ Boxcrs-So Accustomed Dtd the
Missionaries B~come 20 Rtae Fire
That the Very children wouIa
Gather spent Bullets 90 PLAY with.
Copyrlghted 1871. by C. II Fem
BY the Rev Couricnay Hughes Fem OF
the Presbyterian Board OF Foreign Mis-
sious
Tho events Of the summer Of 1900 In
North China AFFORD an excellent oppor-
tuniiy Cor q study of the Church Mill
taut" The ambassadors 81 peace" were
compelled ty force Of circumstances 20
LAY aside the work Of preaching the gos-
pei ana take up the temporarily more
necessary work Of defending their own sud
others lives against fhe fierce attacks
81 an enemy who would show 10 quar-
ter For some time before The Siege actu-
ally began. we had al carried rcvolvers
as we went about the streets hardly *
pecilns 20 use them. hut not knowing
what a day might bring forth. Then on
June s. when We gathered together in
the Methodist Episcopal Mission. there was
m instant ctn 20 arms. A list was made
OF all the firearms lea our possession. The
British minister who hal promised ten
mannes 20 help IN our defense IN consid-
Grafton Of our protecting also the London
mission converts. sent as. Instead ten
rines, ana there was no difficulty IN ind
ing ten men Co carry them. Raw recruits
indeed We were. most OF NJ totally With
out military training. but the American
marines took hold Of us aud each day az
evcuing put us through the drill. while
the unBrmed and the ladies sitting by
laughed az and choercd 'the awkward
squad We forward marched we right
ahout-faced We charged the barhed wire
fence with such vigor that we nearly got
tangled up iu g. Ne Hfed countless
rounds Of imaginary cartridges at an en-
envy 80 accommodating as TO let us have
fhlngs car own way We took our turns
on guard with tho marines playing SEN
tinc for six or ten hours Of the twenty
four. on walls and roofs.
ON Guard Duty an the Streets
NY own guard duty the greater rart %
those strange days at the NJ r. Mission
was from u TO r.. IN. and - 60 3 y m
81 the lane lsadlng from the main com
pound To- the University about one-cIghth
81 mile in length. ana in che large
open space between the University ana
tnc City Wall There were several chances
OF being cut on here by an enemy rush-
.rg down side street. SO across these
streets We strung harbed wire. and post
81 native sentlncls al every corner TO give
the alarm. a Few OF these men had re-
Volvers or biunderbusses. but most Of
them were armed with either spear o.
Fword. Occasionally 10 was necessary Tor
orc Of us 70 take q position removed from
tho rest 60 oversee the clearing away %
rlf1h.sh piled against our walls ana rem
ugrlng them too eusy 90 scale. At such
efncs "a WIS curious 20 see the awe
which one irzpired. some OF the natives
going around several blocks 10 avoid the
awful foreigner with a rifle while thar
poor foreigner was longing Tor the end
- his watch and hoping that he might
not fan a victim 90 a sudden attack on
mis- exposed position Aud then az night
the mopui 1ht and the darkness each had
ifs own shadowy possibilities and We
were glad enough 20 have the moral sup
pori" Of eitches harhcd wire AMI harri-
chdes with which We hoped 10 prove more
familiar than the mob whose onslaught
We awaited 10 seems now q great pty
that We had to leave all that wire when
Ne went 10 the Legations. for not only
would IL have proved very useful there,
but we missed the FUN OF seeing the BOX
cr make his urst acquaintance with that
rf... nsa fHN
cur chief occupations during the night
watches was that Of keepinh oar Chinese
eanfineis from going 10 sleep. Their hour
were long and their hvfh was weak. To
work ali day ami thrn watch part 81
the night was more than many Of them
were equal TO- yet they were in the main
most faithful 10 was a great rclies 10
some OF us 70 know that tae Chinese dld
rot know how little we knew Of the use
Of a rifle.
Anothe,. position which occupied for n
time wos on the galvanized iron roof OF
the great Church From this point OF
vantage We could occasionally see armies
with banners entering or leaving the city
and had me view OF the great fires In
which the Chinese consumed everything
foreign which they could ind undefended
~ the cgty. Here ] watched. through
much OF that awful night Of June i5, al
our Mission houses with their contents
ana every mhlffAl tttuAfNt ~ f'A WIZ
20 up in flames and smoke, ana thought
OF the probable accompanying massaJres'
SO constantly was one or another OF as
seated on the ball Of the cupola Of the
church. that. a. we learned from out
side Chinese the Boxers had announced
chat they would DO nothing until a Ger
tain day when the BLACK spirit should
10 longer SIT astrlde the dome, Those %
as who were not carrying rife on sem
try duty we're busiiy engaged day after
day IN The digging OF bitches. the build
ing OF barbados. the stretching 81 wire
ana the blocking OF windows.
A sally 10 the Markets.
one Of the most venturesome. yet most
.ialculous performances OF this preiimi'
nary seiee was the exploit OF four or ou
number who escArted our servants 20 thf
great street 10 buy provisions. one morn
lne after a night OF fires and massacres
Tho presence OF four foreigners with rife'
was quite SUFFICIENT 60 awe the hitherto
unwilling shopkeepers into disposing o.
their goods az market prices. and We sooi
had ali we needed for the time. Then on
OF our number proposed that we Shout,
produce moral impression. whici
we proceeded to do by holding up tA'
etrees." l. g.. hating each cart and horse
man. examining the former for forcigf
goods and questioning the latter as q
Of H4a