Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-07-12
ALLIES ARE AT ODDS
Lack of Harmony Among European
Troops in China.
WANT OF 4 DEFINITE HEAD
Americans Particularly Dissatisfied
With Present Arrangements.
GERMANS OFFEND RAGSDALE



TEN TSIN, July 4. via Chefoo July g,
and Shanghai, July ia homogeneous
army of half the strength of the allied
forces could do better work than is being
done by them. The operations are danger
ouSly handicapped and the safety OF the
city Is imperiled by lack of organization
and the want of one commander to control
all the forces. The representatives of the
several nations manage their civil and mill
tary affairs largely without cooperation.
The ranking officer of each nationality has
absolute Jurisdiction over the operations of
his governments troops. Questions of pol
icy are discussed daily at international con-
ferences which have not the power to
force the wishes Of the majority.
Admiral Seymour's method of command
ing is to make requests. which the other
commanders generally follow; but there
have been instances of the ranking officers
holding aloof from operations of which
they disapproved.
More Troops Needed.
There is great need of more troops The
present force of 10000 men is attempting
to hold a line fifteen miles long around the
city. There is also great need of rebuilding
the railroad to Taku and getting artillery
equal TO the guns with which the Chinese
are bombarding the allies position.
The week $ work resulted in substantial
gain for the Chinese. as the allies lost fifty
or sixty men and succeeded in ACCOMPLISH
ing nothing. Yesterday furnished new
illustration of the weakness of the present
methods. a ma jority of the commanders
nave agreed that it was imperative to at
tack the native city beyond the foreign set
Elements and to destroy the artillery there
which menaced the settlements. The at
tack was fixed for four days ago. but was
postponed because the Russian commander
considered his unfit for ba frItN aft
their recent work. 1t was again fixed for
yesterday morning, but was postponed be-
cause credible reports were in circulation
that 10000 regulars from the northwest had
reinforced the Chinese. In the meantime
the Chinese had removed two big guns on
the Tort at the native city and had planted
Tour In the open near the east arsenal, two
miles away. These shelled the city for
Tour hours. sending in more than one hun
dred shells They got the range of the pub
nc buildings and of the club houses used as
hospitals and dropped shells all about them
fortunately, most of the shells were de-
fective and failed to burst and the others
had small radius of effectiveness.
Russia and Japan Act Together
IN the absence Of a concerted plan the
Russians sent a few companies of Cossacks,
with two field guns and the japanese a
battery of six 3-pounders and two compa-
MES Of infantry, supporting the English
12-pounders from H. N. S. Terrible, to ST.
lence them. The Terrible's guns failed get
an effective position and the Russians had
one gun dismounted and four men killed
early in the engagement. The japanese
We're confident that they silenced the guns
IN the open, but it appeared to the on
lockers that these guns fired the last shots
as the Japanese were retiring.
The Russians lost heavily and the Janan-
csc had one killed and twelve wounded The
Chinese threw a few shells into the CITY
this morning 10 show that they stiu were
alive.
A British officer described the situation
as chaos. He said:
We have wasted many DAYS IN noIIte
ness and 1t IS time We did something
Ihere is no disagreement among the COM
manders, but in the absence Of definite
mead several Of them disposed to fol-
low their own methods. and they s;mplv
abstain from operations contrary to these
methods. The foreign population is greatly
aroused concerning this apparent apathy
w lille the city is being bonbarded they
are likely to suffer heavily. and they cam
the governments to furnish relief and why
Teinforcements are not coming on faster.
Americans Are Dissatisfed
The Americans are particularly dissatis-
fled, because though they have one of the
smallest representations. their interests are
second TO none. One experienced officer
said:
1T is impossible TO realize at home that
there has been more real war here than in
Cuba or the Philippines"
The Germans have occupied and raised
their flag over the imperial University of
Tien Tsin. The officers Of the university
are Americans The viCeroy decided the
property 10 them. Consul Ragsdale has
mans