The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-06-23
CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES.
nIIiisss 81 Msa haAdsd rosstheF les
Purpesss Of Mardsr %
Politics.

Events have recently been happen
ing in China Of which much would
have been heard In this country but
for the concentration Of the national
mind upon the var in South Africa,
says the London Leader. There "a
another big L~nsurrection on root n
a cable message told us . day or wv
ago that IL IL assuming alarming pro
portions The secret soeieties' a
usual. are behind the movement, and
this time It IA the Boxers Who have
been most active. They came into
collision with the imperial troops 81
Yen-Chiu and gave . good account Of
themselves The aetion u said TO
have ben indecisive-which probably
means that the imperial troops were
defeated Prior to this they had been
making themselves . terror through
out the province Of Chill, and, to
say nothing OF %murderous outrages
on . lot Of native Christians, had A.
EAsslnAted an EnglAh missionary
named BROOKE.
The ~BoxerS,- known Also a. the
big Sword Society" form only n
Of many institutions with which the
Chinese empire Is honeyeombed- Thsy
are all actuated by the motives IN
DERIVING their motto Of China for
the Chinese" The Boxers made .
great parade Of their loyalty to the
throne, and pretended that II wAs
only the Fan Kwei-the foreign devlA
whom they wished TO drive out.
But the empress dOwager knows bet
ter, and when abe found that the gov
eruor Of shantung where they first
broke out) was encouraging them
that m~asterful woman promptly su-
perseded him Last years. experiences
with the BLACK Flag ~ doubtless
hot forgotten This society II made
up principally Of the pirates and 9TH
er wilder spirits who infest the coast
from Annoy 70 Hsinan. They are the
men who organised the three great
rebellions which broke out Emultan-
eously at Macao, Annoy and Shanghai,
Just before the Tapping affair, and
they, aided by the -Koloa Hui" and
the fanAticism Of the religious i'm
poster who called himself the "heav-
emily king were mainly responsible
for that outbreak. They have 70
mented trouble on several occasions
since then, and they are by . long
way the most invetersts enemies
whom the reigning Nanchu family
has to fear. The Black Flags. It may
b remarked. arc the hardest a.
well a the bravest, Of all the peopls
who make up the nation
Another great Chinese society
more important from its widespread
distribution than the Black Flags
and ActuAted by the same motive-ii
that known as the KoloA Hui. The
authorities made an attempt last year
TO squelch this organization. but, oi
course. they did not succeed, though
they contrived TO capture n Of III,
leaders. wnom they executed with
much circumstance o. brutality. IN,
membership roll run well up into the
millions, and It has Its secret meet
ings In every city OF China. Its mem
bers must commit murder ct the com
mand OF the order. They are Initial
ed BY the drinking Of hot wine mixed
with the smoking blood OF 9 cock
killed at the time. The society count
among Its members 3 large number
of army officials, and the great ~viceroJ
of Marking. who died not long ago
was for . time an active member
The recent troubles in the ShAntunI
province were backed up by the Kolo,
Hui
The oldest society In China IL tn
Triad society. known also as the san
Hop Hui" Il has its lodges. and ther
are flags, banners and umbrellas con
nected with It. 1t holds regular meet
inga, and It forces influential lndi
ViduAls to Join It's organization 4
they are not amenable to ~perSnAsior
1t has the power of life and dealt
over Its members. who have their owl
Egns and passwords. You a tel
1t IL said, whether . man belongs +
the order by the way he enters
house. Their motto IL Drive GU
the TArtars," and one branch Of tn
society dates back to 1854 A. D., o
% years after the conquest. The
have been working to overthrow tn
government ever since, and one dA
they may succeed.