The Portland daily press., 1900-08-27

Washington, August 26.-Russia, Ger
many and Japan have not declared war
upon China, either separately or in con-
cert. This statement is made upon au-
thority of the highest character. What
those nations may do within the next
48 hours, or within the next fortnight,
is a question which no one in Washing
ton is prepared to answer.
A brief despatch from Che Foo convey
ing a rumor current there that Russia,
Germany and Japan had joined in a de-
claration of war upon China, aroused
some interested comment among Wash
ington officials and among diplomatic
representatives OF foreign governments
resident here, In neither official nor
diplomatic circles. however, was the ru-
NOR taken seriously. No information Of
such action has reached either the de-
partment OF state or the legations of the
governments primarily interested. That
fact alone is accepted in official circles
as a sufficient refutation of the rumor.
Officials of the state, war and navy de-
paltments were at their desks early to-
day; but, up to the hour OF closing for
the.day, not a word had been heard
from Minister Cohger, Gen. Chafree or
Admiral Remey. Since the despatch
from Consul Fowler was received late
Thursday night, the department. of state
has received no adv1ces from any sources
in China, except a brief cabIegram from
Minister. .Conger Inquiring how he should
route his messages. The text Of the
despatch, which it was explained, was
very brief and purely administrative, in
character, was not made public.
The war department. has received no
dispatch from Gen. Chaffee. known to
have come directly from him for about
a week CabIegrams signed ''Chaffee,
have been received, but as they contained
only lists of casualties, it is assumed they
were sent by some subordinate officer
in Gen. Chatfee' name. From no official
source has the department. learned OF
the departure of 40 Americans from Pc
kin for lien Tsin, as reported in a spsc-
ial despatch to London newspaper un-
der date OF August 19. Advices from
Gen. Chaffee are expected hourly, as the
military telegraph line between Tien
Tsin and Pekin. which has been inter-
rupted, presumably is being or has been
repaired. Imperative instructions were
sent yesterday to the commander OF the
United States forces at Tien Tsin to
have the line restored at once under the
protection Of cavalry detachment. A
suspicion exists here that the delay in
messages both from and to Washington,
is rather between Che Foo and Shanghai
than between Tien Tsin and Pekin.
From Che Foo to Shanghai, the telegraph
line is in control of. the Chinese autho-
rites ana it is suspected they are not so
prompt in the transmission OF messages |
as they might be. Late in the day
despatch was received at the Japanese
legation from the foreign Office of Japan,
conveying the latest and most authentic
information of the situation in and
around Pekin. In a measure, the ad-
vices were of disquieting nature as they
Indicated that the Chinese had rallied
their forces ana were preparing for an
attack upon the allies in Pekin. AS
made public by Minister Takahira, the
despatch from the japanese foreign
office at Toxic is as follows:
"An official telegram dated Pekin,
August 1S, was received at Toxic from
Gen. Yamaguchi, commander of the
Japanese forces to the following effect:
"The capital is now entirely cleared
OF the enemy. A cavalry regiment which
had been sent to Wan Shau Shan, (where
the Empress Dowager' s palace is 1ocated),
reports that the imperial family who
had left Pekln, August IA, started after
a long rest at Wan Shau Shan for the
west, and were under the escort OF Gen.
Ma, and his troops consisting Of only
about 500 horsemen and 20 carts. The
japanese forces occupied the treasury
department In which over two million