Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-05
KEHM IS AT PEKINC.
Stationed at the Seat Of Trouble in
the Orient.
A MEMBER OF AMERICAN GUARD.
An interesting Communication From
Former Ottumwa Young
MAN, Now In
China.

Mrs. S. p. Adler is in receipt of a
communication from her brother, Her
man Kehm, who is at present stationed
at Peking, China, as member of the
guard of the American minister. The
letter is dated June /, and in view of
the present trouble with China, what
Mra Kehm has to say will be of special
interest to not only his many friends
in Ottumwa, but to Courier readers in
general. The letter follows:
american Legation, Picking, China,
June /, 1900.
"Mrs. S. +. Adler, Ottumwa.l Iowa:
Dear Sister:-Little did 1 think
when I wrote your last letter from
Kobe, Japan, that / would be called
upon to make the trip just completed.
MAY IL we left Kobe for Nagasaki
where we We're joined by the Newark,
flagship of the North Atlantic squad
ron. May "a a portion of the Oregon's
guard, twenty-five in number, myself
included, were ordered to the Newark.
| That night we sailed for Taku, China,
at the mouth of the Peiho river to pro-
tect the American minister at Picking.
/ y
of Talu, and the ship could not get
nearer than thirteen miles from the
coast. 1t was like anchoring on the
high seas, for the low lying land of
that portion of China is not visible to
the naked eye at that distance.
May 20 we embarked in tug char
tered at Talku. With us were twenty
five more marines and fifty blue jack
cts manning three-inch field piece
and Colts automatic gun, the re-
mainder going as infantry. The land
ing was made under the personal direc-
ton of Admiral Kempff, U. S. n. Capt
McCalla commanding the Newark, took
charge later. The marines were under
the command of Capt. j. T. Myers, U.
S. M. c., and Capt. Hall U. S. NJ. C. The
expedition got away from the ship
about 6 o'clock a. m. May 20 when
within about five miles of the shore,
the tug grounded in shallow water and
we We're obliged to take to our own
steam LAUGH which was too small to
carry all hands. AS many as could got
aboard of her and started for the shore
Then the launch broke down and as
last resort, we hailed some Chinese
iunks and again resumed our journey.
We made poor time as we We're buck
ing strong tide. When we neared the
beach a couple of the coolies waded
ashore and with lines made fast about
their waists startednto pull the junk
along. Thus we were using three kinds
of locomotive power; sail, man pulling
on rope and men showing bamboo poles
Finto the mud and running UP and
down the junk's side.
| "Finally, at noon, we reached Taku.
1t might be well to state here, that
Taku was the only point on the Chi
nese coast that the Japanese feared to
engage during their late war. And
| from the looks of the well-constructed
and armed forts we saw there, / give
the Japs credit for their good judg-
ment.
cat Taku, we chartered tug and
went to Tonku where we intended to
take the railway to Iien Tsin. Much to
our surprise the authorities of the
Chinese Imperial Railway Co., refused
to take us to Tien Tsin as we were
an armed party of foreigners. Thous-
ands of coolies surrounded us at the
station but when we started back to
our tug they scattered like flock of
geese and that time we were only fif-
ty-three strong.
Not to be outdone by Chinaman,
we returned to Taku, chartered larg-
er tug and a barge, put on our ammu-
milton, guns and provisions aud start
ed for TienTsin by water. While pass
| ing the fort we all went below in the
barge and got by without the China
men knowing it.
''The Peiho river is narrow, shallow
and muddy, yet it wends its way thru
a beautiful cultivated plain where rice
fields and mud houses are dominant.
1t was nearly midnight when we
reached Tien Tsin, but the patriotic
American residents and other foreign
ers We're at the docks with band and
gave us a hearty welcome. When we
disembarked from the barge and lined
| upon the dock the band struck up Hail
] Columbia and some enthusiastic En-
glishman offered three cheers and a
| tiger for Uncle Sam, which was hearth.
| ly responded to. We then marched
thru the European quarters and camp
ed in Temperance hall. We were the
first of the foreigners to arrive, and we
WAITED until noon, May 81. when we
marched to the depot and secured a
special train for Picking. We were pre-
pared to run the train ourselves should
it become necessary. Soon the English,
Russian, French, Italian and Japanese
troops arrived, and altogether we made
lup quite a cosmopolitan train. We
passed thru an arid plain almost devoid
of life. The only thing that seemed to
thrive was graves, and they We're there
in profusion.
"As we neared Picking we passed
thru Feang Tai, a city where the Box
ers had destroyed most of the houses
Including the railway station. "A large
number of Imperial Chinese troops
were stationed here. They are suppos-
ed to suppress the Boxers, but it is
| a known fact here that they even as
sist them in their raids. From the rail
way station at Picking we had FIVE
mile march to the legation. 1t was al
lmost shutdown and as the gates of the
great wall close at that time we had
to do some tall marching to get inside
| ~ N I 49, r.