Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1900-11-22
ARMY LIFE IN CHINA
TEN TsIN, CHINA, July 16. 1900

| w D. Brandon of Butler, wrote his
mother an interesting letter from Tien
Tsin, China, shortly after the capture OF
| that city. from which we take the fol
lowing
| DEAR MOTHER:-On the morning OF
the 9th we finished loading the lighters
| The first battalion boarded the first
| lighter, and we the second.
| Before we got started our lighter was
| leaking so badly that E company was
! taken off and put in the first hghter'
and they had to bail water all the way
up here Seven boats of marines came
and made fast to the rear llghter.
General Liscomb boarded the launch
| that pulled US, and the procession starteh
with our band playing.
We steamed three hours when we
could see land and another big launch
and two small ones from the Newark
and Brooklyn, came and divided up the
| load. Each big launch taking lighter
| and the small ones the boats of marines.
| The shore was low, marshy flats, as tar
as we could see. There is no bay at all,
and we started up the big river.
Both banks We're lined with clay forts
| that must have taken an immense
amount of labor for construction.
Soldiers of all nations were stationed at
| the places they had taken. Nearly every
| thing was in ruins as far az we could
see, and many large fires were sui
! burning;
About p. m. our boats made fast to
a wharf that our marines had taken ana
we disembarked, made shelter tent
camp along the railroad near the quarters
| of some Russian and japanese soldiers.
and got supper, for we had had nothing
but raw bacon and hard-tack to eat since
morning
Early the next morning we were astlr
and soon aboard the big boats, gong up
the big river, which is very muddy ana
unfit to drink We were soon out OF
Taku, but it is one big town after an
other all the way up here, and the coun-
try mnst have been densely populated,
but now nearly everything was IN ruins
and Chinese very scarce.
There was some land covered with
the same big grass or rushes that grew
on the flats, but farther up the river
every foot of land seemed to be cultivat-
ed or occupied. We passed several big
forts at towns that had been taken. and
gigantic mounds of earth as large as
Blue Mound but about half as nigh;
but we did not know what they had
been thrown for. In other helds were
round mounds with a. knob on the top,
of all sizes Some one said they were
burying grounds size OF the mound
depending ON the persons wealth and
position in the world Some of these
mounds were as large as a brick block
of Independence, and considerably high
er. We passed one large town that ex-
tended for miles along the river
There were hundreds of the big sail
boats like our lighters, with the Dad
shaped flags of their Chinese owners
flying, anchored along the shores.
There was lot of docks, and vast
quantity of logsandhewn timberlpiled up,
but it must have come from some otEer
country. or from up the river, for there
is no sign of such timber here. There
were lots of trees growing, but all were
shade trees or orch ards; some looked !"
be loaded with peaches or apricots
We passed many nice gardens Wnere
we saw onions and corn growing, with
lots of other truck The other helds
were mostly corn, but have seen moth |
ing like the rice they raise in the Philip !
pines. though lots of it is stored here. !
The whole country is low and level like |
garden They must irri gate from the |
looks of the little fields, dikes and bitches |
but they have different system from |
that in western Kansas.
We passed small temple that had |
not been destroyed and looking III
through the big openings we could see
the big, ugly, grotesque images and
idols.
The river was getting smaller and We
had been aground several times, and
one fellow had tumbled overheard but
got to the shore. ran along the bank. got
a row-boat and got aboard again
Towards evening in going around
bend our bow stuck fast in the right
bank, and as the wind was blowing from
the sidee the stern swung around and
struck the other bank and we were hard
and fast.
The launch cut loose and went up
stream to move a lot of boats out or
the way, and a gang Of Chinese came
out of cluster OF mud huts. with lot
of chickens, gave them to the soldiers
and Chinese that came with rs from
the PHILIPPINES said they wanted an
American flag to put up on their houses,
so the soldiers of the other nations
would not destroy them, and that they
knew we would not harm them. They
were given paper of some kind and
1
from the stern to shore, and our
Chinaman got them to pull on it and
swing us into the stream. They began
pulling, keeping wierd singsong chant
which our Chinaman said was all samee
mclean, one, two, three, but each in
dividual seemed to pull when ne said
three, regardless of what the others
were doing.
About sundown we heard heavy can
and everything became hushed
and quiet-that odd gripping sensation
coming in our throats as we began 10 |
realize what our excursion to China,
as the newspapers had it, was going to
be
About midnight we landed at a wharf
and marched to the marines quarters ,
where they gave us supper of coffee
hard-tack and canned beef and we
found room in the big buildings to lie
down. Before morning the Chinese
were shelling the town from the walled
city, and there was considerable rifle fire
Several spent balls were picked up as
they dropped in the yard where we
were lined up for breakfast.
Abont the middle of the forenoon we ;
back to q group OF big 1lce
store houses, under the German flag {
where our lighter was fastened. We
were assigned quarters, took off our stuff
and began unloading the boat, working
day and night-working in reliefs,2 hrs. /
on and hours off-until the night Of !
the 18th, when | was detailed with Il {
corporal and 10 others to go with ID
That afternoon the English {
had bombarded the walled city with
lyddite, and the allied forces were to at I
tack the next day.
Tien Tsln is of two parts, the modern I,
Or foreign part built of brick, and the )
ancient Chinese part built of mud and
straw, like the dobie huts of Mexico, (
and surrounded by massive dirt walls
There are no stone or wooden buildings I
that | have seen. )
The whole country seems to be a big :
alkali flat. The soil is a kind Of brown
ish gray clay, and everything is built of
brick and mud. The water we use here
is run through big filters in the water S
works. Still it chaps the hands and lips J
and makes the mouth and throat sore
The river water is very bad, and filthy
besides. Dead Chinaman are floating L
down it clear to the ocean. and we saw
dogs eating them along the banks The a
slaughter is awful, and if ever a land
was "bathed in blood. it is China to-
day
We formed back Of our quarters about
4 o'clock in the morning, and waited v
while English French, Blue Jackets,
Japanese, etc, passed, we being put in
the rear to act as support for the Japan,