, 1900-07-23
COLTMAN'S PERIL
4 THRILLING TALE OF THE ES-
CAPE OF THE MINISTER
FROM CHINA.
The Doctor and His Wife Return to
Their Old Home at La Junta,
Colorado, and Are Welcomed With
Warm Greetings-Tells Of His Es-
cape from Tien-Tsin.


Sundays Denver Times publishes
the following dispatch from La Junta,
Colo. 1t will be of interest to Laramie
people who knew Mr.. Coltman and his
daughter, now Mrs. Clifford:
Rev. DR.. Coltman, pastor Of the First
Presbyterian church of this city, with
his wife, arrived from San Francisco
at 1920 last night. Five months ago
they left here on a six months vacation
to visit a son and daughter in China.
The son, Robert Coltman, jr., NJ. D.,
has been for some time professor OF
medicine and surgery in the Imperial
university, Tang Wang, Picking, China,
and also had a large practice among
the nobility. He has a wife and six
children. Their daughter is the wife
of Prof. Oliver c. Clifford of the I'm
perial university of Tien Tsin.
REV. Coltman and wife sailed from
San Francisco February 81 and arrived
at Shanghai IN March "a. Their son,
Robert Coltman, jr.. met them at this
point and accompanied them to Tien
Tsin, where they spent a few days with
their daughter. going to Picking on
April 9. They spent five weeks in Pek-
ing and enjoyed themselves visiting
with their son and his many friends.
| 1,t-e.e 49,, AVA ono fpraipnnrg who
make their home in Picking. The even
ing before they left, Minister Conger,
the United States consul, dined with
them and their son. While some talk
was of the Boxers drilling in the vi
cinity of Picking, all the foreign minis
ters seemed to think there was no dan
ger. On May s Rev. Coltman and wife
returned to Tien Tsin to visit with their
daughter. On the evening of May . q
little daughter was born to Mrs. Cliff
ford. They regained there till the 10th
of June. They had arranged to go to
the seashore at Petal Ho, where the
son and son-in-law both had summer
homes. and where the families had
planned to spend the last month Of
their vacation together.
"The excitement regarding Boxers
was intense, and the missionaries from
| outside stations came into the COM
pounds, which were situated adjacent
to one another, each fenced off with a
| It'll. l.,s,lr -pnn ENp0pl Innn I Fnn-
munications with Picking had been very
uncertain. The last letter they had
from their son was on June ID. On
the night of June Is the Boxers set ire
to the native churches at Tien Tsin.
The Russians in the city fired on the
| Boxers with their Maxim guns and
scattered them, many dead Chinese
laying in the streets the next day, dogs
eating them. On the morning or the
10th Rev. Coltman and wife and Prof.
Clifford, wife and baby concluded to try
| to escape from the city. They went to
| the railway station to take the 1890
train for Taku, which was twenty
| eight miles distant. They found the
train crews had all deserted and no
trains could be moved. They then en-
| teavored to hire a tug and try to es-
| cape by the river, but found that the
authorities would not allow any OF
| those to be used, as they expected to
have to transport all the women and
.t.Il,o, fr1v, tho pitv in p1Sn nf an At
tack. They then returned to Mr.. Cliff
ford's house. He obtained information
that an armored train of soldiers was
to be run to Taku, and received per-
mission for the party to accompany 1t.
They then hired a small boat and were
rowed out to the Fiei Ching, a steamer
of the Chimes merchant line, and secur-
ed passage for Shanghai. At l o'clock
that night the bombardment Of the
lTaku forts by the allied %gunboats COM
lmenced and continued till $50 the next
morning. The steamer in which they
were quartered was directly behind the
gunboats, and many of the Chinese
shells fired at the %gunboats burst in the
water around and near them. II one
had struck them, it would certainly
have ent them to the bottom, but for
~tunately they escaped.
THE mex morning they started for
Shanghai, but ran on a sane bar at the
mouth of the harbor and stuck there
twenty-four hours. When the tide
rose, they backed off and arrived safe
ly at Shanghai.
1.-THE morning after the lombard
ment Prof. Clifford left them and went