The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-19
VAR AGAINST THE WORLD.
what China's Attack on the Allied Fleet
Means.

London, June 1880 a. m.-China
declared war against the world when
the Taku forts opened fire upon the in
ternational fleet. The accounts of what
took place are still unsatisfactory, the
best semi-official informant tion being the
dispatch received at Berlin from Che
Foo. The unofficial narratives coming
by way of Shanghai vary widely and
bear internal evidence of supplementing
the main facts with guesswork. One
dispatch says that the Yorktown par
ticipated in the bombardment An
other asserts that American marines
formed part of the storming party Of
two thousand.
An Associated Press dispatch from
Chee-Foo, dated yesterday afternoon.
says: THE forts on both sides of the
Taku are now occupied The Chinese
opened fire unexpectedly The casual
ties to the mixed forces We're as fol-
lows: Killed, British 1, German 8, Rus
sian 16 and French 1 wounded, British
4, German 7, Russian As and French 1.
The Chinese torpedo boats were seized"
The Shanghai correspondent of the
Daily Mail. telegraphing yesterday,
says: "The forts began firing in obedi-
ence to orders from Pekin conveyed in
a personal edict of the empress dowager-
by advice of KangYi president Of the
ministry Of war Several warships were
struck by the shells from the twelve
inch guns OF the forts. The heavy Rus
sian losses We're due to the blowing up
of the magazine at Mandshur Four
hundred Chinese are reported to have
been killed. The Chinese when retreat
ing fell into the hands of the Russian
land force"
The Daily News has the following
from Che Foo: 1.-TWO of the forts were
blown up. The thirty-two warships at
Taku aggregated 100000 tons and car
ried more than three hundred guns"
The failure of Admiral Seymour's col
umn and its retreat to Tien-Tsin in
crease, it is presumed, the peril of the
legations in Pekin, which is still isolat-
ed, although Shanghai forwards Chinese
rumors that the legations were attack
ed by mobs, who were moved down by
MACHINE guns, and also that the mem
bers of the legations were massacred.
The situation at Niu-Chang is re-
ported critical The British consul at
Kieu- Kiang has ordered all foreigners
to leave KuLing and Marking
Chang.
The powers are taking prompt action.
Four thousand German troops have
been ordered to China; 10000 French
troops are waiting to embark at Saigon.
capital of French Cochin China, and
from 5000 to 5000 more Russians have
been ordered from Port Arthur to Taku. |
This reinforcement. says the st. Peters
burg correspondent of the Daily Tele- |
graph, is announced in the st. Peters,
burg Gazette, the government pointing
out that Russia is sending so many |
troops solely for the sake of peace and |
The Brussels correspondent of the
Standard, in a dispatch dated yester-
lay, says: Russia has massed 10000 |
men with seven batteries at Kiachta. |
With orders to proceed to Miamachin, a
Chinese town contiguous to Kiachta, |
md thence to advance along the tele-
graph route to the Mongol town of Ur-
ga 200 miles south of Kiachta and 750
niles northwest of Pekin."
The Shanghai correspondent of the
Times, under yesterdays date, gives the
description, said to be taken
rom official sources of the action at
raku:
"On the afternoon of June 16, in view
If the large bodies of Chinese troops as
at the forts. and of the fact
hat torpedoes had been laid in the riv-
r and that all communications We're
Interrupted. the warships moved UP the
larbor.
after midnight the forts opened fire.
The British French, German, Russian
ind Japanese warships replied. Two of
he forts were blown up and the rest
we're carried by assault.
1.-TWO British, one American and five
chinese warships are at Che Foo"
The morning papers consider that a
tate of war practically exists and that
he issue is between the western and
astern civilization. The Times says
hat the latest news infinitely increases
situation already sufficiently serious.
THE T4KU FORTS, ,