The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-08-04
Campaigning
Tn China.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
,c,,,,,,.i.bt 19oo. by G. NJ. walkerD

lc,,,,,,.iebt 1900 by G. NJ. Walkero
Competent judges believe that cam
paigning in north China by European
and American troops will involve
greater hardships than Occidental
troops have ever been called upon to
endure.
The early part of the summer about
Pekin is usually dry and hot, and
the last eight or ten weeks have proved
no exception to the general rule. But
beginning about the middle of July,
torrential rains. which flood the entire
plain about China's capital and all but
stop traffic across it, generally prevail
for short season. This period of
heavy rains is accompanied by high
winds, which sometimes are very de-
structiVe. while along the coast dense
logs are the rule, the atmosphere being
heavily charged with humidity.
The entrance to the Gulf of Pei
chilli lies through the narrow straits be
tween Che Foo and Port Arthur, which
are thickly studded with rocky islands,
a veritable graveyard of shipping. In
proportion to the tonnage passing
through, there are more vessels lost in
these straits than in any other SINH
lar waters in the world, and if the
trouble in China is not quickly quelled
many other warships and transports
besides the Oregon will come to grief
in these treacherous waters.
Even those that pass the dangerous
straits and anchor at Taku will not be
much safer. for there is no harbor
there-nothing but the open sea. The
coast is low. and the mud flats which
extend for miles, make landing almost
u 81,
should the autumn winds be as severe
as they are nearly every year. more
than one of the foreign vessels viii find
its last resting place on the mud flats
of Tallu.
A Vast Marsh.
From Taku to Tien Tsin the country
is a vast marsh. which the natives
have attemnted to render fit for culti-
walton by draining it with numerous
bitches. but as the river is easily nav
igable to Tien Tsin by the gunboat5
of lighter draught, the troops will like
~ be taken to that point for disem-
barking. 1t would be folly for them
to land at Taku and attempt to go by
railroad to Tien Tsin, owing to the
danger of the rails being torn UP. And
though the distance is only twenty
seven miles. it would be madness to try
to march over the territory, for it is
well nigh impossible, because of its
marshv nature and its labyrinth of
bitches.
1t is unfortunate in the extreme
that the relief force under Admiral
Seymour was forced to turn back
from its ATTEMPT to reach Pekin. In
their early stages Chinese uprisingS
rarely include any very large proper
ton of the population. there being al
ways many who wait to see whether a
4
successful before taking sides; the
turning back of the relief force has
undoubtedly resulted in a great addi-
ton to the Boxer forces, and this Will
render the ultimate relief of PeSin |
much more difficult Then, too, the
Chinaman is a fataliSt. and predest- |
natarian of the most pronounced type !
Being led in such movements by IA /
naticS who claim to have rendered |
themselves immortal and to be able to /
extend the same immunity from death /
and wounds to their followers they 1
fight with the greatest bravery and |
desperation as long as they appear to !
be winning. and there could, of course, |
be no greater proof of the efficacy of /
their charms and lamentations than
their success in turning back the re- /
lief force Many who have been doubt |
full about the outcome of this uprising |
will now feel satisfied therefore that
ii is really the great movement which /
has long been expected to sweep the
foreign devils into the sea.
For this reason the troops which lead
in the new movement toward Pekin
NAV expect to encounter some of the
fercest and most desperate opposition
European forces have ever encoun-
tered.
But the Chinaman is quick to see
when the tide is going against him;
he is always looking for some sign or
omen indicative of the favor or disfa-
vor of the genii. When he sees few
Of his immortal leaders laid out cold
he quickly loses faith in the charms
on which his own safety depends and
acts on that ancient Chinese proverb,
which duplicates the occidental saying:
He who fights and runs away may live
to fight another day When this
spirit once possesses a Chinese army
you could not get 10000 of them TO
stand against q hundred white men.
Must be Got ''on the Run"
Here is where great loss is likely to
result from the exercise of too great
caution. A Chinese army once in re-
treat can be pursued with perfect
safety, if only it is closely followed.
In fact, as leaders in retreat, the Mon
yOlians are in a class by themselves, /
and it is only when the pursuit is so
ong delayed that they discover some