St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-10-31
The Story of Pekin.
The Narrowing Experiences of the Be-
ninmnd M o,.n ..ins md NLinsatnn

u nc narrowing AXpeEAeACes Oh INC be-
sieged Missionaries and Ministers.
Writing under date of Sept. the cor
respondent of the New York Commercial
Advertiser sends from Pekin a most in
teresting and detailed account of those
trying times. The correspondent writes
under the signature of 81. M. NJ" and
says:
First and foremost among the facts
which have come to light since the minis
tiers in Pekin were relieved seems to be
the fact that Baron Won Ketteer's death
was the salvation of his fellows. The
departure Of the foreigners had been
urged officially by the Chinese officials
or government-and a safe escort had
been promised them. On June 20, how
ever, the German minister went out to
confer with the tsungli yamen, was
murderously assaulted and killed. This
lamentable occurrence threw lurid light
on the value of Chinese promises of es-
cort and protection, and was the reason
for the subsequent refusal by the foreign
ers of all similar offers. There is also the
fact that subsequently the raising of the
flag of truce was invariably followed by
heavier firing than usual. Won Ket.
teler's body must have been carelessly
left by his murderers on the ground and
only given the covering of coffin after
some days. When the relieving force
arrived this coffin was found, and it was
only by the clothes that Identification
was possible.
At first the defenders were busy reply
ing to their assaiants' fire-at consdera-
BILE cost of ammunition and life. They
lost ten fighting men in one day, and
this rude lesson showed them that such
tactics would not pay. The total num-
Der of fighting men of the allied marines
was 450-at that rate sufficient to last
forty-fve days-and orders were issued
that the defenders were not to fire unless
there was reasonable chance OF hitting a
man. How we'll these orders were
carried out may be judged from the COM
putation that during the siege they
killed 5000 Chinese.
1t has been matter for surprise that
with the heavy artillery at their COM
mand the Chinese were not able to blow
the legations down. Their guns, it
seems, were mounted on the city walls,
and either were so badly mounted or so
ineficiently worked that their shots
went over the legations and destroyed
Chinese houses beyond them. The great
est danger was from stray bullets or an
occasional "snlper" who knew how to
use his weapon with precision.
At one point the barricades of the at
lacking Chinese-from which they
| 81 L. L.
few yards away. Through loopholes
the foreigners ported the enemy. Once it
was found that a Chinese officer was
shooting very we'll, and Mr. Bismark, a
good shot, was pitted against him. He
ran walking stick through the loop
hole opposite that of a Chinese, and
shifted his position to another hole at a
short distance. From this point he sue
ceeded in disposing OF the officer
Barricading and entrenching did not
extend quite far enough to avert an
imminent danger. A certain space was
left and at this spot the Chinese COM
menced mining. They had succeeded so
we'll with their work that had the re-
lieving force been day later the legation
and its defenders would in all probability
have been blown to atoms.
The relief was not day too soon, as
far as the mine under the British legation
was concerned. Some traitor within the
legation must have given the enemy the
necessary information, for it was driven
through the only place where the trenches
running north and south and east and
west did not meet. 1t came from the
ruined Hanlin College, and was about ITO
feet long, the chamber being underneath
the students quarters. There was one
barrel of powder in the chamber, and
twelve other barrels waiting to be
stacked there. The fuse was laid. Had
the mine been exploded the Japanese
minister and his family and staff would
have been victims, for they were quar-
tered in the students premises, with
several of the students themselves, and
the mess of the Royal Marines, and the
loss OF life would probably have been
very large.
The missionaries generally were not
armed and did not take their places in
the fighting line, but they were most use
full in many other equally valuable ways,
and in their undated cheerfulness under
all circumstances. One of the mission
aries started a bakery, there being
good stock OF -four, from which he turned
out excellent bread, and all made them
selves useful in one way or another. The
missionaries were quartered in the Lega-
ton Chapel and over eighty of them slept
/ there. 1t may be mentioned that Sir
Robert Hart, though invited to stay
with Sir Claude Macdonald elected to
remain with his staff
| AS to the nature of the attackers there
can be no doubt. Such dead Chinese as
were within reach were denuded of their
clothes, and the defenders have now in
their possession hundreds of Chinese uni
forms, which prove that their assailants
were regular soldiers, chiefly those OF
Tung Fu.hsiang. The defenders could
hear the Chinese officers urging on their
men to massacre the foreigners.
As to rations, they were all too short.
The ordinary food soon gave out, and
there remained the looted rice and the
horses. So these were eaten, and rice
and horsehesh was the diet of the garri-
son during the greater part of the siege.
| Wine there was in reasonable quantity,
and champagne was staple drink.
Whisky was plentiful, too, though
brandy ran very short. The latter was
needed badly for sickness.
The commissariat might have been
worse and it might have been better.
There was plenty of rice and two Chinese