The Atlanta constitution., 1900-08-27
By r. w. Aymar.

here The spasrnod,c bombardment OF
the foreign section. which had lasted TOT
wseks Is AT an end. and the American ana
E,,ropean civilians who have endured all
IN. 1vaboIicaI torments and inieiinabie
.,sD.rSe that goes with barbarian war
faro now feel that they can breathe
safely. Already their flight to Taku has
h.v,n The military officers are begging
every uon-cOulbatant who is not needed
bv the army 20 leave the city at once. Ter
Ticu Tsin sits uncasily on powder kes
with honfIres raging all about
The Chinese enemy have seemingly van
fsHeJ though bodies Of scouts are nosihs
ont small uargIes Of them just beyond tue
civ. Th, main body NJ the yellow enemy
defeated here bat by TO means discour-
AGED IS believed TO be not MANY miles
awav on he Pckin road Chinese rch-
,srs hearing alarming reports are coming
IN nj every hour. They secure quick al
,,5sSf,r, 10 the various military mead
ouarfs-S. There i'm consideration OF the
.sservet service money handed 10 tneI".
they rssbIv tell the most wcndefiui
stortr< Regiments Of imperial troops anu
roriss ~ new yellow recruits. 50 t.Ss
ssv- are xwaTming the roads 10 Pekih-
BUT can CFinaman he oetieNed. -
CiaIlv one who claims that ne = ssiii"s
am, his own c0untrymen for p7yc
Yet I'm an the chaos. through the storm
of conflicting REPORTS that come in mere
u.nu.ntarsIy. one fact IS assured We
are uat fighting boxers. but ifnper.ai
troops Boxers there are in swarms. an"
thssy are very incarnate devtis-out 'hey
ar. only camp-follnwcrs. They do the
guerrilla work. they come in through our
fiu.s AZ times in the guise of Christian
,,euvertS. they spy. they loot and they cut
of srrag.Eers. attack the outposts OF the
allies. but Il was the imperial troops. WIN
nm. rifles. using accurate aim. and serv-
frs- modern artillery with a fair degree OF
pr..risfou. who attacked the foreign con-
-ssssom here. and who were two days ago
f.t-h, completely out OF Tien Tsin- Inn
usrfaI troops and their officers were found
living in sWaths in the positions that the
allies took. Whatever the government Is
a. peksn that government is directing It's
rsr.a aua fairly good army In revolt
AGAINST the rest OF the world Let dip."-
mats saw what the exigencies may re-
auire but every military officer here
knows that ne has been fighting agaiEs,
th.. imperial power Of China. As 70. the
l,oxerS-unltsS every Chinaman be a
boxpr-few 81 them have been FOUND
among the dead II Is vet too early n
write the fun thrilling story of the cap
tu~e ~ TTen Tssn. For days the Chinese
rs0sresf on the walls 0f the native walled
.s5tv had amused themselves with pottinS
es every soldier OF the allied camps who
rot near enough "a Re within possible
range ID Was more than annoying. ana
Is.sssleS. II the reported heavy Chinese re-
rr.rarrer.srfS ON the way reached here,
II was likely 10 result in making tie ma
tiv.. CITY irnvreruabie 20 an army much
Ia~.er than ours. un Thursday the com
raauEer~ met The Russians advocated
svvfg- reckless attack. The japanese wer.
al hIt silent merely replyin6 that they
were ready - attempt whatever tire coua-
Gil decided ISrlgadier General Dnrward.
- tine British AMY. favored vigorous at
tack. Colonel r. II. Eiscum. OF the Ninth
United States infantry. agreed with him.
There was some opposition on the ground
that the arrival Of more troops from Taku
should qrs.cefe general attack The voice
Of the majority was for determined attack
on Friday morning. she 18th.
The council broke up as soon as ar
rlu-eulcuts had been made The decision
was kept a secret Not even the cores
F9udeuts IN camp knew what was TO be
cone. though a suspicion of the plan was
scrutei- Through the nigh; a desIltory
shell fire was kept up between the artil-
Icry ~ the allies and the Chinese on the
walls Hc. throughout the allied camps
most Ct the men slept sOundly-
Preparing for the Attack
T.1n=- before daylight on Friday morn
iu- reveilIe sounded FAR and wide. In the
camp = the Ninth the quick. sharp or
dsrs ~ she officers told the men that
sgmethirs, decisive was up NJ last. Cook
your breakfasts as fast as you can. men.
bat no exposed firess' Nevertheless. some
al the fires over which bacon was sizzling
must have been seen from the walls. for
the enemy tried To reach the blaze with
shells. No casualties resulted from this.
cur bows ~ the Ninth laughed quietly.
uud Isultes down bacon. hardtack and
sCtlLiuc coffee. There was hauling on
81 hsxcrsacks singing OF canteens. the
adjustment Of blanket rolls and ammuni-
tiDn belts-aud none too soon. for the as
s.mbly b'ew Lriskly out Men fell in Al
most immesiiatcly the column swung OF
down the road. just after Colonel liscum
csme riding Up with his final orders from
General D0rwl ID. There was softly
murmt red cheer from the British as we
passed them II i the soldiers wish TO
ie.ld- With tine courtesy General Dorward
had given us the advance OF his brigade
Somewhere near us in the dark At the
start wer. the splendid American marines
We did nor see them afterwards as the
Freucn ami the japanese. in the center
Of the line were between the two Amer
icsn bodies OF troops II was a little al
ter o'clock that the artillery of the allies
ou.ued with a sound like that of thunder
The walled city was getting its deserts at
last in the shape Of n fearful Bernhard
meut In front OF the walled city the
mud villages We're receiving portion CT
ths. shells. From the walls came Occas-
EouaI Chinese shells For a while we
thought thu main body Of the enemy nad
rctrcated. The west arsenal fell without
much resistance. which. for time,
Strengthened The bclisf In the foes re-
treat.
II was daylight. now. and the Ninth,
psaEslfue along wretchCd roads and acFOss
muddy ricehsIds was making slow Work
or a .e- managed to keep Its place sn
liue The Chinese rifle fire In front De-
earne 81 terrific flat .su- men wetS
obliged a. IL. down at intervals along the
wlv sighting and firing last NJ the
suermy-S lines From the walls ana the
mud villages came a CALLING nre tha'
halted Us frequently. our men were on
open ground unable to find cover. ai"'
the casualties were frequent and unneFt
ing. Who was Il said the Chinese couid
not sh0ot2 We entertained the same de-
iusi0n about the Spanish before the patlle
of Sam5sago. The Chinese in the mud VII
Iages and on the walls on the 18th shot rs
weII as the Spauiar.ls These ,hlnese
could nor have been other than the best
product Of training by European officers
While fhs walls were too solid Tor
preaching by artillery. II proved also I'M
possible To reach the walls. for deeI
canal lay between the attackers and ine