The sun., 1900-08-12
WAR TIMES IN CHEF00.
RUNORS FROM THE FRONT KEEP
THE TOWN EXCITED
New Crop Springs Up Every Time . ship Is
sighted Hotels snd Private Houses FILLED
with Refugees Strong Positions Of the
Chefo0 Forts-Our Remarkable Consul.


CHEFoo. June g. Naturally this town Is full
Of excitement Rumors are born. run their
full course and die faster than large STAFF can
run them down 1t is curious how IL all hap
pens A ship sighted from the North is almost
certain to be the bearer OF news. Before she
can reach her anchorage the first accounts OF
what she has to tell are lodging about the
streets and over the stone walls from COM
pound TO compound. fyou question the man
who says Have you heard the latest newsf" be
replies with ready tongue that It was signalled
from the ship to the station on the blum before
the ship anchored. After while part Of the
news the ship actually brings comes ashore
by way of the boarding officer OF the
customs and port offices. That starts
new crop Of rumors based on the rumors
about Taku when she sailed. BY and by the
agent gets another batch. which Immediately
multiplies into a myriad. Finally the Official
dispatches come along to one consulate or the
other-there are nine here-and in the course OF
a few minutes. or hours. as the case may be.
bulletin Is posted with what the Consul thinks
advisable to make public. That starts on what
very quickly becomes a devious course. Most
OF the consuates all those which get informa-
ton from the front-are on the bufY. BY the
time the official report gets down into form Its
author in Taku would have difficulty In recog-
nzing IT, This Ii natural enough. especially
when one considers the mistakes that the official
bulletin makers in Taku make themselves. This
mornings occurrence Is a sample, Japanese
torpedo boat got In from Taku about o'clock.
She brought dispatches. OF course. from all the
Admirals in the big fleet at Taku. They went
TO the Japanese Consul for distribution. With
them the Consul sent a letter TO each Of the
other Consuls The letter to MIR. Fowler. the
American Consul. contained the information
that Admiral Seymour's party was surrounded
about ten miles from Pekin. This ACCOMPANIED
a despatch from Admiral Kempff TO Mr. Fowler
saying that Admiral Seymour was surrounded
about ten miles from Tien tsin, and that force
of British and Americans had marched to his
relief
Chefoo is full of newspaper men. professional
and otherwise. Five Of US came up from
Shanghai on a steamer which got in yesterday
morning. The three Americans are pro-
fessionals. the Englishman is a clerk in the
Hong Kong and Shanghai bank al Hong Kong
who gets a furough because of the slack times
due TO the disturbances and comes up to repre-
sent that great British public institution. the
London Times The Australian IL a rowing
racing man who does bit OF correspondence"
fora London agency now and then between
racemeets along the coast or when anything
big enough happens to offer better certainty
than the fickle fortune Of the track. The Times
man was educated in London for his billet In
Hong Kong and talked wisely on the trip up
from Shanghai about the situation and its ante
cedents. Chinese names dropped as nimbly
from his tongue az acrobats from a circus
spring board. He knew the great coup d'etat
by heart and why it was made. And that is all
right, for to any one who understands the
mazes and intricacies of the great labyrinth OF
exchange, whose centre is the Hong Kong and
Shanghai Bank. there should be no puzzle in
the names Of Governors Viceroys and
Taotas and their interdependen relations. The
Engishman was a bit apprehensve as to his
success. deprecatingly referring 10 his status as
an amateur; but he had a cheerful reliance on
the fact that he was for the Times. which
speedily showed itself to be well founded The
Australian knew everybody worth knowing
along the whole coast. and all about everybody
and everything else. He had kit bag such a
the bushmen In his native heath use. and he
understood all kinds OF hiking. The Austrian
Count. who was educated at oxford and hap
pened TO be out this way on a globe-trottinR
expedition. came along TO ioin the chaps from
the Austrian cruiser Zenta and see what fun he
could
We got into Chefoo In the morning, and found
the Japanese steamer Saaami Maru W tn the
Peter at the fore. She Is on the Tientsin line
and we made lively scramble TO find II she
were bound there. The Runboat Yorktown was
the sole defender Of Chefoo. Commander
Tsussg had been having a lively time Of it.
The Zenta had come IN from Taku the afternoon
before and the British despatch boat Humber
had brought refugees down from Pe-tai-ho
There Is no room for any one In Chefoo, hotels.
boardinR-h houses and private places are full and
a lot Of missionaries are sleeping In one OF the
big Rodowns. So the Humber went on to Wei
Hai-Wei.
The Zenta started back for Taku. and then
came tbs German and British Consuls to Com
mander Tsussig and told him Chefoo was to be
attacked by the Chinese Imperial troops and
Boxers that night. The information came
through missionaries whose sources were infal-
lble. Commander Taussig made preparations
to do what he could Seventy men were got
ready to land under command Of Lieut.. Com
mander Bowyer. executive officer OF the York
town. Boats were armed, haversacks and
canteens filled. everything got ready for bus-
ness at the shortest notice. Ammunition was
served to the Yorktown's guns and the men
slept at their stations.
But there was no attack. Commander
Tausslg had seen the Taotai and had told him
very plainly that II there was an attack on
the foreign settlement Chinese Chefoo would be
destroyed utterly and some foreign Power
would annex the country about 1t certainly.
The Taotai said he was for peace and hoped
there would be no trouble. There had been
golnss-on at the forts for several days and
nights which greatly excited the foreigners,
especially the missionaries. Reports were
coming In constantly that more and more
troops were assembling at the forts Search
light drill and signals from fort to fort at night
added TO the excitement. and the talk Of an out
break was perhaps natural.
There are two forts at Chefoo, both admir-
ably situated for the destruction Of the foreign
settlement. Each Ia on a hill, so high that Il
would be extremely difficult to damage them
from the sea- because naval guns could not be
elevated sufficiently Each fort mounts several
large Krupp guns. One Is on one side OF the
town and the other Is on the other side. so that
II 1t came to an attack the foreign settlement
would be helpless.
Chefoo Is bully place. Perhaps It's charms
were exaggerated by long residence In Manila,
but the fine bracing air. clear and cool.
made 1t seem almost like getting back to
Gods own country. The women one saw
about the place had color in their cheeks
and the children we're sturdy and rosy. The
town Is all hills and there are no rIckshas and