Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-07-24

Six weeks ago the vast city of Pekin
was already overrun by hordes of fam
attic and incomprehensible rustics. In all
times each legation had a. small guard
of a dozen or score of soldiers; these were
REINFORCED by 400 sailors marines,
proportionately contributed by the sea
powers concerned.
At the most there were at the begin
ming OF the great mystery some 500 arm
ed foreigners landed on July / from the
Warshlps. OF whom perhaps 200 spoke or
understood the English language.
These were distributed among the re-
spective legations, which are scattered at
wide intervals. in extensive private
grounds, along the street known as Lee
cation street, but which in Pekin is call
ed, from its sanitary neglect, the
street of stinks."
The outer circumference of the whole
double city is perhaps over thirty miles;
the Chinese and Tartar cities are again
divided, n in the midst of the Tartar
City stands the orbidden Imperial City,
whose huge yellow tile wallis are twelve
miles in circumference and whose gates
only one European has passed. In the
Tartar City, where the legations stand,
the are Open, wide, and straight,
but no friendly house-fronts with lights
and curtains and hospitable doors abut
thereon. but only walls. walls, walls.
The origin of this. THE deepest mystery
OF modern times-a mystery literally I'M
parallelled in he history of all times
must really be sought in the "Boxer"
movement, which began so far bac as
October of last year with the murder of
two missionaries in the western prov
ince of Shan Tung.
The rioting, which has since ensued,
was originally due to the insistence of
the Germans lin proceeding with the con-
struction of a railway, a proposal deeply
/ resented by the inhabitants of the Prov
ince of Sham Tung.
The Boxers" %resenting this, slowly
but surely, and with great secrecy, gath
cred together their scattered forces and
| finally succeeded in the two-fold object
for which their society-one of the great
est and most secret societies in China
was originally constituted-namely:
The determination of all native Chris
'tians, who are 'Worse than foreigners"
Although repeatedly warned during
the whole of the winter of 1899 and the
spring of this year by their respective
representative at Peki of the undoubt-
ed danger which threatened European
| interests in China, and also Europeans
themselves, if this movement We're all
lowed to go % unchecked, the govern
ments of the great powers do not appear
u Aoto SoiIASu NAS olA uNhiNS III GAAS
situation with THE exception of the gov
| eminent of the United States.
It was only in May tina the awakening
, of this government came. On the 25th of
that month instructions We're sent by the
state department to Minister Conger at
Pekin bidding him to inform the Chinese
government that the government of the
United States expected it promptly and
thoroughly to stamp out the Boxers; to
provide proper guarantees of THE main-
tenance of peace and order, and for the
| protection of the lives and property of
Americans in China. Unfortunately the
power of THE Boxer movement had by
, this time become irresistible.
On May % a telegram from Tien
Tsin stated that the Boxer army was
marching on Pekin; that 500 refugees
had sought protection in the French
cathedral. Minister Conger telegraphed
from Pekin regarding the extreme
gravity of the situation and on the
same day 100 American marines who
had been landed at Taku from the
United States cruiser Newark arrived
at Tien Tsin.
All the great powers were now fully
alive to the gravity of the situation, so
orders were sent that 100 each of Amer