Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-24


Ing the arsenal grounds was now occupied.
but no further attack was made by the
Chinese, although they continued a heavy
artillery and rifle fire from three sides of
our position.
THE Newarks men extended the parapet
across the roadway, thus making 1t contin-
uous, and began to cut the roadway imme
diateiy in front of the rampant. This road
way consisted of about four feet of stone,
gravel and earth, of the nature of a mac
ADAM road, resting on heavy trestie
work, leading from the village over a dry
run. and entered the rampant, as shown in
the sketch, leaving it again at the point
indicated on the same plan. Capt. Won Use
dom having some high explosive car
tr1dges, kindly sent officer and three
men, who materially assisted the efforts of
the Newarks officers and men by breaking
down the trestle work. At the same time
Ensign Wurtzbaugh, with five men, exam
| ined and set fire to the village to the north
ward, to prevent, so far as possible. the en-
envy from taking advantage of that cover
10 approach our position.
Communicated with Tfen Tsin.
Two or three couriers had previously
been sent to Tien Tsn with messages, Civ
ing the condition and position of Admiral
Seymour's force, one of whom, a Chinese
servant of MIR. Campbell, was afterward
found dead near the concessions, having
evidently been accidentally shot by one Of
the foreign pickets in front of the foreign
city A final. and as 1t proved, successful
effort to communicate with Tien Ts,n was
now made. The man who volunteered was
the ChlneSe servant of Lieut.. Brigham OF
the Grenadier Guards, and he went out
with Ensign Wurtzbaugh and his party
taking his departure from the northern end
OF the village above mentioned. This mes
senger carried a short cipher message from
Lieut.. Bigham, which he swallowed when
his capture by Boxers appeared imminent
he was twice captured. first by Boxers
and afterward by Chinese soldiers, who
threatened hlf hjc md
courage served him well on both occasions
and he eventually reached the foreign con-
cessions, although he had narrow escape
from being shot by friends. Though his
message was doubted. and himself an OBJ
Jeci of suspicion, he finally convinced Capt.
Bayly OF the Aurora. the senior British Of
ficer in Tien Tsin, of the truth OF his mis-
sion. and preparations were at once made
to send out n relieving column.
"A heavy dust storm began early on the
morning or the I'D and continued through
out the day and the day following AL
though this made 1t extremely uncomfort-
able for the men who were behind the para
pet or in the trenches about the Enclosure
II seemed certain that it would give us i'm
munlty from attack while it lasted. II
was now apparent that the whole of the
Enclosure must be held and this was de-
termined upon. while a careful examination
was made of the buildings and grounds II
was found that in addition to the supply
OF water which could be obtained from the
river, there were three wells within the
arsenal grounds. 4 fourth well was dug
and a search brought to light more than
twenty tons of rice, which. with the pro-
visions brought into the Enclosure by the
combined forces. assured us that we could
hold out for twenty-five days or longer
The arsenal supplied rifles and ammunition
TO that part of the force which had but
little ammunition of their own remaining:
and. what was equally needed surgical i'm
piements and appliances urgently required
Tor the large number of wounded num-
Der of 3.I-inch krupp guns were mounted
by the officers and men under Captain Won
Uscdom and the whole force gained we'll
deserved rest. 7 he total losses of the allied
forces now amounted to two officers and
fifty-five men killed. and twenty-three Of
lcers and 2lo wounded. out of a total force
of 20ls men of the 18th of June. One
man of the Newark's force was wounded on
the ODD.
Valuable Service Performed.
although the primary object of the ex-
petition had failed, yet in the light of
subsequent events, the forces under Ad-
miral Seymour had done valuable service
in capturing an important arsenal with
storehouses filled with munitions of war
A prisoner said that the force operating
against us was part of the command of
Gen. Mich, who had previously commanded
that part of the Chinese army stationed
In the military camp at Lutai. which, 1t
was variously estimated, amounted to
that 5000 men, with this officer in COM
mand. left Lutai on the 9th of June and
were stationed at points along the Tfen
Tsin-Pekin railway so far north as Yang
tsun.
ION the oath the sand storm continued
with less violence, and the continued rest
had marked effect on the condition of
the officers and men, among whom there
had been little or no sickness. The wound
ed improved rapidly, In spite of the impro-
vlsed field hospitals and Notwithstanding
the fact that they had to be frequently
moved: This was due, perhaps, to the ex-
traordinary dryness of the climate, the
absence of rain and. In part, to the small
caliber of the rifles which had inflicted
the wounds, the smallest proportion of
which proved fatal. AS is usual, believe
cant part of the injuries could be charged
to the fire of artillery. although many
shrapnel and shell had been thrown into
our lines since the 2ist of June.
This day the guns which had been
mounted on the ed shelled several posi-
tlons of the enemy, and in the afternoon
body of French seamen made recon-
noissance In the direction of the railway
beyond the left bank Of the river Efforts
had been made to signal Tien Tsin with the
heliograph, but they were not successful
During this evening an attempt was made
with Very signals. A rocket followed by
five red stars indicated that help was
needed, and after a short interval two Very
stars were seen in the direction of Tien
into the air and they were at once an
swered by red, green and red stars in sue
cession from the direction of the foreign
concessions. This exchange of signals in
definite 1t really was in meaning, was
an almost sure Indication however that
Tien Tsin was still held by our friends,
In reference to which there had been some
doubt.
Relieving Force Arrives.
early in the morning of the 25th the
activity of two pieces of artillery near the
north end of the native city of Tien Tsin
throwing shells In the direction of the
railway appeared to show that a relieving
force might be advancing in our direction.
At the request of Captain Won Usedom two
37-inch Krupp guns were by us moved to
positions from which they could reach the
Chinese guns, the fire of which was i'm
mediately drawn to ourselves until one of
the guns of the enemy was reported to
have been dismounted.
"A short time afterWard an unusual
movement of Chinese cavalry to the north
ward near the railway indicated that 1t
was being pushed by an enemy in its rear
This. indeed, proved to be true, for in
short time bodies of European troops were
made out, and the relief column, under the
command of Lieut.. Col. Schrinsky of the
10Th East Siberian Regiment, with detach-
ments Of soldiers, seamen or marines Of
the other nationalities, was soon on the
opposite bank Of the Peiho, being greeted