The sun., 1900-07-04
LEGATION UNDER FIRE
Ministers In Peking Are Now In Des-
perate Straits. .-..z
LONDON ABANDONS HOPE.
Il Now Beginning to See That KempiY
Had Better Foresight Than
"a Had the Allied ChanceI-
leries of Europe. ~

London, July "a dispatch from Tien-
tsin. June %, via Chefu, July l, and
Shanghai, July 3, says:
"A courier from Sir Robert Hart, in
spector general of customs at Peking has
just arrived. He left Peking on Monday,
June %, and reports the situation des-
perate. He reports Baron Won Kettcler,
the German minister, and his secretary
attempted to visit the tsung-li-yamen.
The minister was shot four times and
died at the rooms of the tsung-li-yamen.
His secretary succeeded in making his
escape. All of the legations except the
British, German and Italian have been
destroyed. The diplomats and mission
aries are in the British legation under
fire. CannoR command the legations, but
they are not being used.
1T is impossible to start relief to Pc
king ut present. Captain McCalla, COM
mander of the United States cruiser
Newark, estimates that 10000 soldiers
will be required for the rescue of the
ministers"
A Washington dispatch says that Sec
retary Hay has received Il cablegram
from Consul General Goodnow, at Shang
hal, dated July ., which is practically
VI lllt INDbIl W
Shanghai by courier from Sir Robert
Hart, inspector general of customs. The
dispatch says: "The diplomats and mis-
sionaries are in the British legation un-
der rifle fire. Cannon command the lega-
tion, but they are not being used. The
British, German and italian legations
are still standing"
A special dispatch from Hongkong
says Ii Hung Chang has requested
United States gunboat to take him to
Ticn-ts
London Fears the Worst.
The fact that a relief column has been
unable to leave Tien-tsn in response to
the pathetic prayer of the beleaguered
legations at Peking is regarded generally
in London as destroying almost the last
vestigc of hope for the unfortunate for
eigners pent up in the Chinese capital
The worst is feared, and the massacre OF
Cawnpur is in every mans mind.
1t is beginning to be felt here that the
plausible fiction that no state of war ex-
lists is no longer tenable and a fully
equipped, modern army. belonging to
single nationality, is necessary to deal
with the situation instead of the assorted
expedition of half dozen nationalities.
Hence arises the demand 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
While the general British comment Sc
yerely critcses Americas 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 chancellcrics of
Europe, when he protested against an
attack on the Taku forts, on the ground
that ii would throw the Chinese govern
ment into the arms of the Boxers and
make all the other nations technically n
war with China and the inadvisahiity Of
attacking Taku when the International
forces were manifcsly insufficient even
to guard the legations and the Europeans
in the interior from retaliation is now
generally acknowledged.
From the far east there is practically
no additional news. Rumors are current
in Paris that the British embassy has
received notification of the massacre of
the French and British ministers at Pc
king. but there is no confirmation of the
report.
Shanghai reports that the international
forces at Tien-tsn 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 bombardment.
A special dispatch from Shanghai says
Chinese reports are current that two 9th
er foreign ministers were murdered the
same day as Baron Won Ketteler. From
the same sources it is declared that the
mission hospital at Moukden has been
destroyed by fire and that the native
Christians have been massacrcd. 1t is
further asserted that the foreigners fed
to Newchwang.