The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-07-26
CONGER HEARD FROM
WAS ALIVE ABOUT JULY ~, nUT IN
GREAT PERIL.
QUICK RELIEF is NEEDED.
Through the Chinese Foreign once
and tho Chinese Minister at Washing
ton Secretary Hay Receives a Message
From the United States Minister in
Pekln.

From the United States Minister in
PekIn.
Washington Especially Like a flash
of sunlight out of the dark sky came
the intelligence that United States
Minister Conger had sent cipher ca
BILE dispatch from Pekin to the State
Department, indicating that two days
ago he was alive and that the foreign
ers were fighting for their lives.
Mr.. Conger's telegram is as follows:
I'm British legation. Under contin-
ued shot aud shell from Chinese troops.
Quick relief only can prevent general
massacre.
The message is not dated, but Chi
nese authorities say it was sent from
Pekin July 18.
The message was received by the
Chinese minister, Mr.. WI Ting Fang,
ut $50 a. III. Within an hour the well
come intelligence that Conger had been
heard from, after weeks of silence and
evil report was flashed through the
country, and, indeed, throughout the
world, dispelling the gloom which had
prevailed everywhere and bringing to
officials and TO the public generally
sense Of profound relief.
The dispatch, it is said, was in re-
ply to Secretary Hays cable inquiry to
Minister Conger on July II, and as
both messages were in the American
cipher code they were regarded by the
officials as above the suspicion Of hav-
ing been tampered with in the course
of transmission through Chinese chan
nels.
Minister WI promptly communicated
the dispatch to the State Department,
where the translation was made from
the cipher figures, and soon all Wash
ington was astir with the intelligence.
1t was telegraphed by Secretary Hay
to the President, who responded with
an expression of qualification, and word
of 1t was sent to the various Cabinet
officers. They gathered in Secretary
Hays office and an impromptu Cabinet
conference was held in the diplomatic
chamber, mainly for the purpose of ex
changing congratulations and of TAX
ing survey of the situation to see if it
had been materially changed by this
important development
The Government accepted the mes
sage as authentic, and Secretary Hay
transmitted it to all our Ambassadors
and Ministers abroad with instructions
to lay it before the respective gov
ernments to which they are accredited
and to urge upon them the necessity
of cooperation for the immediate re-
lief of the foreigners at Pekin. A mes
sage also was sent by Secretary Long
to Admiral Remey conveying the in
telligence of the desperate situation in
Pekin and instructing him to use and
urge every possible endeavor for re-
lief" This message, Secretary Long
explained, meant for Admiral Remey
to himself use" and to urge" upon
the commanding officers of the other
powers the use of every endeavor for
the relief of Pekin.
Secretary Root sent similar noti-
fcation to Colonel Coolidge, the senior
American officer ashore at Tientsin
but without injunction. This action
was the result of the conference of Sec
retaries Hay, Long and Root.
Secretary Hay explained his reasons
| for placing reliance in the authenticity
| of Minister Conger's dispatch by saying
| that II was a complete reply in code to
the code message sent to him and that
| it's authenticity was vouched for by
| the Chinese Foreign Office. "Of course"
said Secretary Hay, smilingly Il am
not omniscient, and may be fooled, but
| / hnn LA l,,, t.ast. .
| Minister Conger's cable can be ques-
toned" Secretary Hay said he at
tached no significance to the use of the
words Chinese troops" in the mes
sage They did not, in his opinion,
mean that the Chinese Government
troops were besieging the foreigners.
| He seemed to entertain little doubt
that the Chinese Government itself
was doing all in its power to suppress
the Boxer insurrection.
Later in the day several messages
were Received from United States Con-
sui Fowler, at Chefu, all strongly con-
! firmatory of the news that the foreign
ers were alive.
| The fact that the cablegram from
| Minister Conger was given scant Gre
dence in London official circles had no
dampenng effect on the optimism OF
the Administration officials. 1t was
pointed out by one of the officials most
interested that the weight of internal
evidence in the dispatch was in favor
of its genuineness. Besides, there
were the several strongly corrobora-
tive dispatches from Consul-General
Goodnow and Consul Fowler. The fact
that Minister Conger mentioned the
bombardment OF the British legation
was considered good evidence that the
dispatch was written subsequent tC
the 9th, as the best information here is
| that tho hnm hn I'd mint nf tho lnnn Ainnl