The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-07-25

The Navy Department this morning re-
ceived through Captain Thomas, of the
Brooklyn, who is in command Of the Amer
lean fleet at Taku in the absence OF Ad-
miral Remey. a long-delayed message from
Pekin signed by Minister Conger
The message. Captain Thomas says, is in
writing, and bears the date of July l. 1t
states that the American Minister had been
besieged in the British Legation for two
weeks. and that there was grave danger
of a general massacre by Chinese soldiers,
who had been shelling the Legation daily.
Relie.. it said. must come soon, If at all:
that he city was without government. ex-
cept by the Chinese army, and that the
Mongols had determined upon the mas
sacre OF all the foreigners in Pekin. The
entry of a relief force. it said. would prob
ably be hotly contested.
The utmost importance is attached to
the message as there is no doubt in the
minds OF the officials that it was one Of
many sem out by the unfortunate Ameri-
can diplomatic representative during the
long siege The fact that the despatch is
dated July /. and that it took the runner
sixteen days to get through to Tientsin, is
regarded as adding to the genuineDess of
the urgent appeal for ala.
Not one official today believes other
wise than that the message was written by
Mr.. Conger himself and was one OF the
last appeals sent out by him.
All Hope Destroyed.
The receipt Of the despatch today has
destroyed all hope of Mr.. Conger being
alive, and the department officials today
acknowledge that they retained no idea
that he could have held out from July 1
until July 21- Tne fact that he had then
been beseiged for over two weeks adds to
the hOpelessness Of believing that he
might today be alive.
The most serious effect Of the message
has been to rout all belief that the for
mer Conger message. alleged to have been
written on July Is. was other than a fraud.
VI oA NAA AAlNSSa6t A4tSlllg QdltQ Dy the
Chinese authorities.
As has been feareG by several Officials the
proof is now at hand which shows that the
message dated July is was really written
ard sent out at about the end of June or
the LIST of July The message received to-
day and the news hitherto received from
all sources, are regarded as proofs that the
British Legation was destroyed before JCly
IS and the inmates mastered.
With death facing the little party on July
4, after two weeks of fighting and starving,
the irony Of the Tsung-li-Yamen in for
warding a message dated the 18th has
greatly incensed the officials here. and no
attempt is made to screen their disgust
and rage over the trickery attempted by
the Empire which is at present urging this
Government to act as mediator in its be-
half.
Gives the Lie to the Chinese.
Officially the message received today is
regarded as giving the lie 10 all of the
Chinese assurances. given so freely in the
past month. II is shown that the Chinese
troops, not the Boxers. began shening the
British Legation on June p and sheIled
the structure daily until it was battered
down. The predicted general massacre of
foreigners then came to Tass, it is be-
lieved, as the much-needed aid was not
forthcoming. That the Chinese Govern
ment has misrepresented affairs is shown
by the statement in Mr. Conger's letter
that the city was governed only by the
Chinese troops and that in so far as the
foreigners were concerned, anarchy reign
ed.
The confident attitude Of the officials
who had held to the genuineness of the
former alleged Conger message has dis
appeared today, and all acknowledge that
only the worst can now be expected. All
faith in messages from Chinese sources
has vanished, and it is safe TO saw that
none Of these viii be given heed in future