Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-23
THE WAR IN CHINA
Portrayal of Scenes in Which Allied
Forces Participated.
NO TROOPS LIKE THOSE OF AMERICA
Capture of the Walled Cities After
Hours Of Fighting.
DEATH OF CAPTAIN REILLEY

| Thomas Corridor. member of the Amer
| lean marine corps, under Lieutenant Frank
| Wynne, on duty in China, has written has
| friends here a graphic account of the cam
paign there of the allied forces, dwelling
| particularly upon the part the American
troops had in the great expedition. He &C
companied his portrayal of the scenes there
! with a sketch of the walls at one entrance
to the city of Ten Tsin. His letters-there
were three of them-were written at Pekin,
| the first bearing date of August p, 1900.
We have taken Pekin, and lost many
man; and we lost one of the greatest men
| of the age, Captain Kelley of the Pnuip-
pines, who was in action at the head of his
battery. 1t was his battery and the ma
rines, his support that carried the front
! of battle from Tien Tsin to Pekin, he
| (Reiley) blowing in the gates with his bat
! terry and taking the first wall. He met his
| death on charging the second wall, but
| since then We have taken that wall, and
are at the third, the great wall. and within
| that third wall is the palace. We are driv-
ing the Chinese before US. 1t is dreadful
| to see what is done We the first of
! the marines heavy artillery to reach
China soil, and the first to blow the great
gates of the first waved city, Tien Tsin,
and the first to relieve Pekin.
| when we landed at Taku coast of Chi
ma, we fought all the way. forty-seven
miles, to New 1ian Tsin, which is three
| miles from old Tien Tsin the walled city
A tilthier place than that city never
| seen on earth. The streets of the walled
city of Tien TSin. all of them. are more
| than six feet wide. Pekin is but little bet
ter.
There are skeletons of Chinese eyery-
| where and hundreds are coming down the
river most of them headless That is the
! work of the Russians. They are a cruel
| lot.
None Like Americans.
| 'Thpre no ipbt man tho
Americans. and cavalry has the eye of
all nations. They have proved in china
| what the American soldier is. They ride
| so fearlessly, with the artillery swinging
and swaying and getting into action-never
standing longer than to fire two shots from
! the same position. That is the way Reil-
| ley's battery and our cavalry carried the
fight into Pekin. 1t is a .shake-up with
the Americans and Japs who are the most
| fearless
The Japs laugh at their dead and
| wounded when clearing up the field. They
| PICK up all our wounded and dead for us
but cont do 1t for any one else. They are
a great race and a great help to the Ameri-
can soldier, and very hospitable also, run
nlng to you in the midst of battle with
| their canteens and lifting our wounded and
! giving them drink. They use no water.
! They have a drink called sake and a
| taste of 1t kills the thirst longer than wa
| ter does, and don't make you sick They
| are the only fully equipped soldiers in the
| "orid: Ihey even carry field glasses, every
| one OF them. The largest Jap soldier stands
no more than five feet in height. but they
! are the greatest soldiers here
Millions of dollars worth of property
| and vast areas of all kinds of orchards
| cornnelds, melon patches, docks, wharves
! banks mints, churches and everything the
same as in the city of Washington are
being destroyed. So you can imagine for
yourself the situation in China.
! Il noticed in the papers that we were
only to be sent here for protection of our
people Well, 1t is fight from start to fin
| ish, and isn't half done yet The Japs are
! after the empress dowager 1t is claimed
she has left the palace with $50, 900 imperial
troops. We got lot of our people out
but some were killed. We lost fourteen of
| our boys The Japs were the heaviest los
ers in all fights. They go straight at if
| mat old nag of ours is floating over the
walls of Tien Tsin, and was the first
| planted. After we took the city we march
ed in, all the forces We're drawn back at
night, after fighting and shelling the CITY
for seventeen hours. We were the first
| ones in, and Major Waller of the marines
painted the nag in front of the big arsenal,
containing millions of dollars worth of
artillery and modern rifles and ammuni-
ton, and the largest of krupp guns that
We're never fired. We took any number of
rifles to our quarters the banks of the
Pei-Ho river. Rifles that would bring $50
to 500 We're thrown away Every one Of
US had our fortunes within one hour after
the fight but could not carry it. 1t was
y
and food. not having had any for twenty
| two hours We grabbed at raw rice bv
hsndsful and ate it with relish, throwing
our silver away.
| Water All Bad.
There is not a drop of good water in
China. 1t is all alkali, and they have in
those missions and legations and European
settlements distilling plants, which supply
the places. You can get water only at GER
IA in bn,,r tn, ba
the new city of Tien Tsin
| Il don't know much about the legations
In Pekin, as we were getting out the peo-
pie, and had not much time to think of
anything else.
| Il am lucky SO far. Don't see how l got
out OF SO many battles. Dysentery has
killed about as many as bullets, all on &C
| count of the water"
In subsequent letter dated at Tien Tsin.
| China, August %, 1900, the writer says:
! I was detailed to back to Tien
| TSin with four others on a fiat boat for
supplies for the men, and while sitting on
| the boat took a good sketch of the walled
| city of Tien Tsin This sketch is correct in
every detail. l took every precaution to
| have 1t right, so 1t would never be criti-
cised, only l don't show in it the big arse
nal at the gate which we went through
The largest bell in the world swings at
| the gate only about six feet from the
ground and has been in use until our in
vasion. and is full Of Chinese writing, and
| carries a history for thousands of years
| 1t is a great sight.
Probably there is not another sketch
| like this one in the United States l stood
on those walls and measured them all
over from bottom to top. The big guns of
the Chinese lay dismounted, with the breech
blocks gone-put out of commission by ,ne
terrible bombardment of the English lyd-
dte guns that opened up the fight at $50
| in the morning. while the allied powers
moved to the gate as picture it to you
| in the sketch.
Terrible Effects of Lyddite.
1T was terrible sight to what lyddite
Smelling will do-people blown to pieces, arms
here. legs. heads and bodies everywhere
you stepped. and the city burning The
mint destroyed. The Sikhs-Indian
| troops belonging to the Engish-began on
the mint. and then the marines took a
| hand. Silver bricks weighing five pounds
each, and bags of silver coin. 1O-cent pieces,
! 2o-cent pieces, 50-cent pieces and the Chi
nese silver dollar, large ours-it takes
two of them to make one Of ours-were
gathered up. We had sacks of it, but it
was too heavy for us to carry. We filled
our haversacks full. But We were without
food. had been fighting seventeen long hours
in the hot sun, with no water, only sip