The sun., 1900-10-07
the start FROM TIENTSIN.
Lack OF men and Transport Delayed the Ad- !
vance Pckin.

vance on Pckin.
Prom stat Correspondent NJ THE SUN
TlENTsIN. Aug. with skies forbiddinCly
black and sullcu and a steady rain falling
the advance that We all hopo viii continue
until IL reaches Pekin began this afternoon.
Tomorrow there will be fight and perhaps
the next day another. Alter that we shall
see what next.
II Is now six weeks and three days since the
attack on the legations hogan. II is less than
six weeks since the expedition under command
Of Admiral Seymour struggled back into Ticn-
tsin after It's heroic but fruitless effort TO reach
the capital In time TO be OF assistance 10 the
people now ponned up there In that time
We have had several messages from tho lega-
tions. In their estimates OF the timo they could
hold out against the savaRes who are seeking
their lives the authors Of these messages have
been considerably at variance one with an
other. but all have agreed that their situation
was desperate. No one IN all the world has
realized that better than those who have
been here in Tentsin all the time watching
the slow growth of the relieving force until
at last IL has attained proportions that war
rant tho making OF start. We, too. have
seen some fighting with tho Chinese.
In the last few days the demand from tho
home Governments and the outside world.
as well as from Pekin, hrs been constant and
| imperative for a start, but IL has been evident
| that neither Governments nor others have real
| ized the task that Is before tho men who make
! up the relief force. Eight nations are repre-
sented IN Tientsln British. Russians. Germans.
| French. Austrans. Italians, Japanese and
| Americans. or these tho Austrians and Ital-
! ians have made no preparation to join the re-
| llcving column. The Germans have only
BOO mon here and can do nothing now. although
they have SO many thousands on the way.
! The French are going. but with force so small
| that it cannot be counted upon In case Of any
| serious work.
That leaves the real business 20 be under
taken by the Japanese first for they are most
numerous, and then by the Russians British
| and Americans. They have responded TO tho
demand and hayo made start, but not one OF
them was ready. prepared as he should have
| been or woul have liked TO be. No one had all
his troops No one had all his transportation.
| No one had all his commlssariat and quarter
masters supplies. All wanted to go and all
| wanted 10 wait.
| Gaselee, the British Iieutenant-Gene who
came out from India for the campaign. was
for pushing ahead. He said the situation
| was Ike uavelocks before Cawnpore. and
| It demanded and Justified the taking Of risks
| Chafee was itching TO go and willing to start
| with what he had although the Ninth sin
bad shape physically the Fourteenth has
| no transportation and the horses OF the Sixth
| Cavalry are not yet landed from their trans
port The japanese are anxious to get ahead
and have been strainlnE every nerve TO get
their preparations completed, but at the last
they asked for little more delay. The Rus
SLAMS too. were for waiting yet a little for more
men now nearly here
It ended, as you know. by everybody start
ing out with the best he had. Tentsin has
been filing UP with fighting men so steadily
for the last lew weeks that we here had hardly
realized the strength OF our own forces- We
have become accustomed TO seeing soldiers
about the streets and to meeting all kinds
| Of wagon and pack trains at every corner at
any time Of the day or night, so that this after
noon. when they oil marched out IN long COLI
umn, they made an Unexpectedly impressive
| spectacle
Almost immediately after the taking Of the
native city the outposts were pushed well for
ward to the north. The Russians have been
occupying the Hsi-ku arsenal for about three
weeks, with fairly strong camps nearly as
far up as that on both sides Of the river. The
japanese have had their outposts well out
and have camped q considerable force beyond
the walled city. Every day there have been
reconnoissances by both Russians and japanese
and the British have taken hand at II also,
but not on a very large scale. Gen. Chahee
rode up 70 tho Hsi-ku arsenal one day and looked
over the Chinese line, His opinion Of II az
pressed TO one Of tho officers who accompanied
him was epigrammsucally vigorous and clear.
IL not exactly quotable. The reports Of these
scouting parties differed in some respects.
but they were ali agreed as TO the strength Of
the Chinese position.
To the north Of Tientsin the country is fat a.
q foor and covered with fields Of tall ksolian.
n grain much resembling our broomcorn. ex-
cept that 1t sttains height Of between twelve
and fifteen feet. The villages that are really
a part Of the native city extend for q mile and
half north OF the wall just where they end
and the kaollan fields begin the Pao-tng-fu
road bears away to the westward from the main
road which leads on north TO Pekin. Both
resemble high mud walls more than roads
Theroad to Pao-tl -fu rises like canal leveo
10 an average height OF at least ten feet above
the country through which IL runs. From
point al out three miles out on the Pao-tng-fu
road line OF trenches runs across the fields 70
the village on the right bank Of the river Just
across from Peltsang. In this village. hidden
by a clump Of trees. the Chinese have one Of
their many arsenals. On the left bank Of the
river the line runs from the southern edge
Of Peiteang mile eastward TO the railroad.
thence north along the embsnkment for few
hundred yards and then across 1t. ending IN a
series Of detached works. One road leads up
10 the Chinese position on the east and two on
the west. All are considerably higher than
the surrounding country and all are covered
by the artillery Of the Chinese.
Somewhere al bove Poitsang the Chinese seem to
have cut the river bank In an attempt TO food the
country on their left flank. The Russian, recon-
nolssances report that they have succeeded
fairly well and that II will be imposs IDLE TO turn
that position by swinging flank movement.
On their right theChinese have made good use
Of water also for where their line rests on the
Pao-ting-fu road there seems to be only the
road between them and q stretch Of water so
broad and deep that Junks are sailing on 1t,
This meals that We must go at the Pcitsang
position squarely In front.
The Chinese are well intrenched and armed
and a frontal attack under such circumstances
is likely to be very costly. They have posted