The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-07-04


listers were invited TO a conference with the
Tsung Ii Yamen. and that Baron Won Ket-
teller started out first and was murdered.
The other ministers then refused to venture
upon the street. a British officer and some
sailors were wounded while trying TO de-
fend Baron Won Ketteler. German sailors.
this account says. set fire to the Tsung Ii
Yamen building.
Emissaries of Prince Tuan are circulating
through the southern provinces and. as the
southern provinces assert through public
proclamation that they will not obey Prince
Tuan's decree. a civil war is considered
probable. The Boxer movement appears TO
be spreading rapidly southwark. Not too
much confidence is placed by the consuls
at Shanghai in the Viceroys' assurances.
None of the consuls has yet pledged his
country to a definite course.
The action of the Russians and Japanese
at Taku is strongly a~ntagonistic. 1t seems
that the Russians arbitrarily claim one of
the captured Chinese torpedo boats which
the captain OF the British torpedo boat
destroyer Whiting left for the japanese.
1t is said serious trouble would nave re-
suited except for the perfect discipline of
the Japanese.
Ii INCREASING HIS TROOPS.
The Canton correspondent of the Daily
Telegraph. wiring under date of July J.,
says the large Chinese steamship COM
panies are applying for leave to transfer
their ships to the American flag. Business
is almost at a standstill and another re-
verse to the allied troops would p~recipitate
a massacre of foreigners in the south,
which Ii Hung Chang would be utterly un-
able TO avert. He recently outwitted the
Sun-Yatsen party by buying thousands of
Mauser rifles at Macao. He is increasing
his troops, the correspondent says. adding
another 1000 guards to those at Canton and
recruiting two divisions TO 1900 each.
A dispatch to the Daily Telegraph from
its Shanghai correspondent, dated July 2.
says the chief pastor at the Moukden mis-
sion has been killed, together with a num-
Der of native Christians.
A special dispatch from Shanghai. dated
July 2, says that the Taotai of Shanghai
notified the Chinese newspapers that. be-
ginning June q, no notice will be taken of
DEGREES of the so-called imperial govern
ment as Prince Tuan has seized the power
on hat day.
The fact that a relief column has been
unable to leave Tien-Tsin in response to
the pathetic prayer of the beleaguered
legations at Peking is generally regarded
in London as destroying almost the last
vestige of hope for the unfortunate foreign
ers pent up in the Chinese capital. The
worst is feared, and the massacre of Gavin
pore is in every mans mind. 1t is beginning
to be felt here that the plausible fiction
that no state of war exists is no longer
tenable. and a fully equipped, modern army,
belonging to a single nationality, is neces-
sary to deal with the situation, instead of
assorted expeditions of half a dozen diff
ferent nationalities. Hence arises the de-
mand that japan shall be given a mandate
to complete the work left undone in 1894,
with proper security that she shall not
be again squeezed out when the costly task
is over.
KEMPFF'S FORESIGHT.
While the general British comment
severely criticises American nonparticipa-
ton in the bombardment of the Taku forts,
several of the London papers are beginning
to find out that Rear Admiral Kempff had
better foresight than was possessed by the
allied chanceIlories of Europe, when he
protested against an attack on the Taku
forts on the GROUND that 1T would throw the
Chinese government into the arms of the
Boxers, and make all other nations tech
nically at war with China, and the inadvis-
ability of attacking Taku when the inter-
national forces were manifestly insufficient
even to guard the legations and the Euro
peans in the interior from retaliation, is
now generally acknowledged.
Rumors are current in Paris that the
British embassy has received notification
of the massacre of the French and British
ministers at Picking, but there is no con-
frmation of the report.
Shanghai reports that the international
forces at Tien-Tsin are suffering from lack
of good drinking water. owing to the Pei
Ho river being choked with the corpses
of Chinese and other victims of the bonn
bardment. According to the same dispatch
the international troops, so far from being
strong enough to advance toward Picking,
are not sufficiently numerous to attack the
Chinese still surrounding Tien-Tsin. and
keeping up a desultory fire on the place.
Thousands Of Chinese are said to be arriv-
ing from Lu-Tai and to be desperately at
tempting to reoccupy the bridge leading TO
Taku. Reports are current that Vice Ad-
miral Seymour has been wounded.
h Times's st. Petersburg correspondent
says that on June so the grand staff of the
Russian army estimated the Chinese army
to number 1,720. 600 men. He also said that
about 100000 Mausers have been imported
within the last three years.
1t is reported at Che-Foo that all for
eigners had been ordered out of Tien-Tsin.
The situation is considered desperate. The
Chinese are pushing their intrenchments
under the walls. The railway between Tfen-
Tsin and Lutai is in the hands of the Chi
neSe.
The Daily Mail this morning publishes an
interview had with ar Englishman who has
just returned from China, who says that
United States Minister Conger had with
him at Peking his wife. her sister, two
nieces. two other American ladies and a
number of visitors. with Secretary of Le-
cation Squires. his wife and several chill
dren. Many women and children, he also
says, were with the besieged members of
the legations.
CoUrCT CASSUyV SITRpRISEn-