The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-11-26
THE CHINESE BRAVE"
I'VE WEARS the SYMBOL or MS
CHARACTER on HIS BACK.

tween Armies of braves ~ renee
and safety-The Chinese Now an
the Field Are Not the "Braves."
But These Are Likely 60 He Called
out II the Rebellion spreads-Two
and a Half Cents n Day l. Their
Pay, and They Never Get a..
Head-HuntinE for Rewards-some-
times the Brave" Il FooIhardy,
but Never Courageous.
New YORK. Nov 23.-shoud tho threat
ened rebellion IN China assume eucn pro-
portions a. 20 call to the field the mase OF
so-ealled fighting men OF China, the for
elgn troops on the ground will see a spe-
cies Of warfare such az thcy never before
beheid. unless on the comic opera etage.
There is no doubt that the Chinamsn.
when properly trained ana led by Euro
pean officers. who will Get him right
example ~ bravery and dash. makes an
excellent colder This wac amply demon
stratsd during the Tapping Rebellion.
when Chinese" Gordon drilled and led
the "Ever-victorious Army" against the
rebels. ana Il has again been made mani
fest durins che present unpleasanJness.
the "Fiut Chinese Regiment Of British
auxiliary troops. trained by English ON
GERS for garrison duty a. Wel-hai-wei.
having done gallant service at the siege
and capture Of Tien Ten.
Some OF the Boxer and the Imperial
troops. too. have fought we'll But they
are led BY men who have had some mod
ern military training. The great mass
Of war material IN China 10 made up Of
men who march under the flag OF some
local prlnceiing or viceroy The brave
is the unit OF this aggregation. and a
worse misnamed Individual does not exist
on the face Of the earth Nevertheless
fhis title is not given him by way Of a
Joke. but IN sober earnest the character
for brave" being displayed on the back
OF the blouse which he wears in place Of
uniform. 80 that everybody may know
what ferocious animal he g. and hunt
cover accordingly
II IL scarcely 70 be wondered a. that
he is not the highss; type ~ military
ehArAeter. His pay IL ~ cents = Gay
But he never BY any chance gets g. The
v1ceroy OF the province attends 20 that
A. for food. he Il supposed % receive
sun1cient allowance 81 rice OF ufiliet wi h
the usual conoomitants Of a coolies meal
bit Of dried nah or pork. but he gets
that only "in his mind The viceroy
attends 10 that also. The result Is that
the poor wretch is obliged 20 beg his
food. and IL refused. he takes H. willy-
nilly. !, IL a common sight in China to
see man In the garb OF the brave
asking for food az the door u some store
or residence. II pays 10 he civil 10 him
and he usually gets what he asks for; Tor
he carries his sword with him when he
is out forging As for his officers. they
are Of the class Of some OF the ancestors
OF Mark Twain. whom that humorist de-
scrlbes as rushing whoOplng into bat
tie right IN the rear Of the army; aud
rushing out. right In front" A recent
writer on China gives what he calls "A
very pretty summary Of the who,e
duty OF soldier" as laid down
by an officer OF tho bowmen Should
the enemy continue TO advance after the
frst night OF arrows the howmen should
endeavor 90 frighten them by loud cries.
feigninE the voices OF savage beasts aud
deadly snakes. II these be Intellectual. the
archers viii naturally take flight. or else
run to meet tho enemy protesting that
they are convinced Of the justice OF their
cause, and are determined TO nght on
their side IN future.
This sounds like a libel on the Chinese
military man. but there Is no lack OF
evidence that such tactics are actually
ing the Tae-plng Rebellion. there was
considerable hghtlng around Shanghai
and the foreigners resident there hsi
many opportunities Of witnessing u. Rev
Or. Yates. an American. who witnessed
IN all more than sixty engagements, DE-
ecribea the oDerabouffe style OF lghting
~ he saw g. without himself mourning
any more danger than the fighters-which
was practically none. The nghting was
IN the hie huryinR ground on the out
skirts OF the city. From time 10 time
attacks would he made. firEt by the rebels.
then by the imperialsts. Almost inva-
Tiahly the woundlng OF a single colder
was the signal for the whole army to re-
tire. Every warrior was too careful of
HE own skin. according to Dr. Yates.
to take any chances IN his attempts 10
perforate the skin Of the enemy. The
soldiers would never stand up and hght
faceso-face like men, the practice OF bot
partiee being 10 skuik behind graves. or
they would carry bundles OF straw. be-
hind which they would fight They wou.d
run from grave to grave. so as to flank
the enemy and try TO get Ehot-all the
time, however. being under cover on
one occasion he saw two hannermen stand
behind grave mounds, some twenty PAGES
apart. After some conservation. they
rcshed toward each other but when near
enough TO use their spears these weapons
were seen vertically "a the air and the
men rushed into each others armF. eN-
changed banners and ran az the top OF
their speed IN opposite directions. each
doubtless securing the reward for captur-
ing the banner OF foe which was taels
9ol
"on another occasion" writes DR. Yates
II saw a rebel with a spear. chasing
around grave mound. an imperialist
with matchbox in his hand II tho
imperiahst had stopped 20 prime his gun
and 70 adjust his hrerope the rebel won a
have speared him. Finally. however. sue
ceefing IN getting oil In readiness. he
ran to the top OF the mound ana fred .
but the shot dh not take effect. becau-e
as he pointed downward the bullet roll 4
out Of the gun; for the imperfection II
the barrel necessitated the use q a ball
OF lesser diameter than the bore Of the
gun. and the general plan Of loading was
20 dron the shot into the loose charge OF
powder.
Both rebclc and imperialists were most
cruel In their treatment OF the wounded
saw a wounded rebel pursued by three
impeTai'sts who wanted TO get his heal
as trophy. Two Of them speared he
man 70 the ground. 20 hold him stil
while the other cut on his head but be-
fore this was accomplished one 81 them
was shot BY another rebel. who rushed TO
The spot In the hope OF getting the head
OF the tmpenallst. but Ia turn he was
shot BY the two other impe ria ltsts-qo