The age-herald., 1900-06-27
Minister Wu Made Another Ap-
 peal But in Vain.
NO NEWS HAS COME FROM PEKIN
Dispatch Was Received Confirming the Relief of Tien Tsin, But Said Ad- miral Seymour's Force Has
 Been Surrounded

Washington June 26.-The purpose of l the government to place an adequate mili | tary force in China was made perfectly | clear today when orders were issued to | Brigadier General A. R. Chafee to take | command of the forces in China and Co | proceed at once to assume his new duties
 More significant probably than the as- 1 signment itself was the wording of the | formal orders to General Chaffee issued late in the day by acting Secretary Of War | Meiklejohn. directing him ''to take com- | mand of troops ordered to China" and 10
 proceed to Pekin by way of San Francisco | and Taku, accompanied by his aides. It | has been expected that military forces | would be concentrated at Che Foo or one | other convenient military base but the | direction to proceed to PelSin, the capital of the Chinese empire, indicated a firm determination on the part of the govern
 ment authorities to have strong military | force at the seat of the Chinese govern l ment.
 The announcement of General Cha fee assignment and the orders to proceed to Pekin came after the state depar,El nt
 
 stion from six great viceroys of Ch.na
 that, foreign troops be kept out of China
 until Li Hung Chang reaches Pekin. h
 that informal manner with the signatures | of the six Viceroys representing the | greater part of the empire, Minister Wu
 repeated today his plea of yesterday that | the foreign troops be kept out O. tie | country
 he | the Viceroys before the cabinet me ting. | but there was no disposition to vary from ! the Presidents policy already made known | to the Chinese Minister to send troops to such points were menaced and where our officials and citizens were in danger. Could Not speak for e.,in l While the Viceroys spoke for their prov | inces, they could not speak for Pekin and 1t is to Pekin that the officials most anx- | iously look. Minister Conger Is still silent and the last advices have shown that little | reliance be placed in dispatches from | Shanghai, saying that the Ministers and le- l gations at Pekin were safe. For this req | son the orders to General Chaffee to pro-
 ceed to Pekin took on an added meaning. | General Chaffee in conference with l the War Department authorities much of | the day, and in the afternoon spent nearly | an hour with Secretary Hay, going over ! those phases of the Chinese situation in | which diplomacy will have to be mingled with military action.
 Secretary Long received nothing during | the day beyond the early dispatch from l Admiral kempff, stating that the com
 bined forces had entered Tien Tsn, and l that the Seymour expedition was reported i ten miles from Tien Tsin surrounded This
 cleared up situation only to present ] another condition which may prove even more grave. The casualty list on the first | engagement was anxiously awaited, and 1 arrangements were made by the officials fr hnxrA nloxr I,
 that this list might be handled with the l greatest dispatch and be given to the pub | lie at the first opportunity.
 The navy department today received a 1 telegram from number of the officers as- signed to the Wisconsin, now under con- | struction at San Francisco, asking to be | assigned to active service in Chinese wa | ters. The officers signing the dispatches | were Captain Reiter Lieutenant Com manders Milton and Mayo, Lieutenants | McElroy, Alderman and Bogel Gesang and | Ensign Cronan.
 The department today accepted the serv- 1 ices of an officer of the retired list under l authority conferred by a recent act of Congress. The officer is Lieutenant J. G. l Townley, retired who Is ordered to sail
 on the steamer leaving San Francisco July
 10. It is expected that many other retired : officers will be called back to active sery- 1 ice if the emergency becomes pressing. | Gen. Chaffee serenaded General Chanee, who Is staying at the l Arlington hotel, was given a serenade O. | night by the Third Cavalry Band, of which
 regiment he lieutenant colonel before ! the with Spain. General Chaffee said 1 he would leave tomorrow for San Fran | cisco, whence he is to sail on the trans port Grant for Japan and China. The
 only person accompanying him will be | Lieutenant Harper, one of his aides. His vessel also Is to take two squadrons of the Sixth Cavalry who are intended for service in the Philippines, but will be di- | verted to China if necessary
 The Grant reports at Nagasaki, Japan. 1 At that place General Chaffee will receive whatever further orders the war depart ment sends. He fully expects to go to Che l Foo, but as to whether he will go farther | into China not he was not willing to | say tonight Much stress is laid by the of | fcials on the fact that the present alarm | ing conditions in China may change ma- | terially before General Chaffee reached Nagaski or Che Foo and even before he arrives in San Francisco. For this reason | the administration is not willing to discuss | the probabilities of increase from mil- | itary forces of the United States in that | country beyond that already contemplated | by orders given
 | The vessel conveying the Sixth Cavalry | which is soon to leave San Francisco Is to | stop at Nagasaki for orders, and If the |