The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-06-28
They Are Fighting Eight Miles
From Tien Tsin.
CHAFFEE LEAVES FOR SAN FRANCISCO
He Sails Sunday With the Sixth Cav
airy For Nagasaki. The Chinese
Minister to Washington Re-
ports the Departure of the
Foreign Ministers and
Guards From Pekin.
(By the Associated Press.) }


London, June 2S.-(Thursday, 800 a. NO.
The composite brigade of 1900 men who
raised the investment of Tien Tsin and
pushed on to help Admiral Seymour has
probably saved him, but the news has not
yet reached Che Foo, the nearest wire
point. The last steamer arriving at Che
Foo from Taku brought this message,
dated Tien Tsin, Monday, June 25th:
"The Russian General in command of
the relief force had decided. in view of
Saturdays heavy fighting and marching,
that one days rest for the troops was
essential and that the advance should
not be resumed until today.
Meanwhile came Admiral Seymour's s
heliograph that his position was desperate
and that he could only hold out two days.
The relief started at dawn today (Mon-
Gay1."
Saturdays fighting began at daybreak
The allied forces opened with several
of the Terrible's AT naval guns. six field
guns and numerous machine guns. the
firing being at long range. They con-
tinued to advance steadily. the Chinese
artillery replying. The guns of the allies
We're more skillfully handled and put
the guns of the Chinese out of action one
by one, the Chinese retreating about noon.
There was keen rivalry among the rep
resentatives of the various nations as to
which would enter Tien Tsin first, and
the Americans and British went in neck
and neck. The Russians stormed the ar
senal thereby sustaining the largest
losses.
Several thousand Japanese have left
Taku for Tien Tsin, and altogether 49,
000 Japanese have landed. The interna-
tional troops now aggregate nearly 2O,OOO
and Japan is preparing to send 10000
more. With British, American and other
troops ordered to go, probably 10000
men will be available in a month
The Tong Shan refugees and the for
eign engineers at Che Foo estimate the
Chinese troops now in the field as $4,000
drilled troops at Lu Tai, $4,000, at Shan
Hal Wan $1,000 driven off from Tien
Tsin and 10000 at Pekin.
The dispatch received by the Foreign
Office stating that the foreign legations
were requested to leave Pekin within a
specified time is interpreted in some uD-
official quarters as tantamount to giving
the Ministers their passports and to a
declaration of war; but as China does
nothing like other countries, the official
opinion is that there Is nothing to do
but to await the course of events and to
see what the Ministers themselves say
when they are rescued.
All the students at the Foreign hos
pitals in Canton are leaving. Women
missionaries are returning from the West
River ports. There was a slight distur-
bance at Wo Chou Tuesday while the
women were embarking. The crowd
shouted, "Kill the foreign devils.''
According to advices received from
Shanghai, the Chinese officials by direc-
tion of the Southern Viceroys, are asking
the eonsuls to agree to conditions 'en-
suring," as the Chinese say, 1.-The neu-
trality of Shanghai and other coast
cities" They are also asking that for
eign warships shall not sail or anchor
near the forts, nor go to ports where
there are no warships now, that their
crews shall not go ashore and that the
protection of foreigners be left to the
Chinese authorities. These conditions are
considered at Shanghai to be virtually an
ultimatum from Viceroys Liu Kun Yin
and Shang Chih Tung. The consuls desire
a sufficient naval and military force to
back up their refusal to comply with these
demands. The total naval force there
now consists of 96e men, with 80 guns.
The Chinese have six thousand men with
six guns in the forts and 10000 men out
side Shanghai with modern rifles and
machine guns.
The magnitude of the arrangements
Japan is making suggests provision
against contingencies other than the sup
preston of the present disturbances in
China She has chartered 10 additional
transports and now has 80 in all.