Evening star., 1900-10-02
WHEN RELIEF CAME
Refugees From Pekin Tell of Dark
Days Of Siege.
TIE WELCOME SOUND OF GUNS
Affecting Scenes When the Ameri-
can Troops Arrived.
ARRIVALS ON THE COPT1C

SAN FRANCISCO. October 2.-Rev. c. H.
Fem. a returned missionary from Pekin.
tells of the first receipt during the siege of
direct news by Minister Conger from Sec
retary Of State Hay. He says:
''On July II we received message from
the outside world that said: Communicate
tidings bearer There was date and no
signature. Mr.. Conger sent it TO the tsung
II yamen with the request that it be made
plain. He received in reply copy of Min
lister Wus dispatch. which stated that the
United States government demanded word
of Minister Conger in cipher. That mes
sage made our hearts jump with joy. Con-
ger sent his reply at once.
The night before relief arrived we heard
the rattle of the machine guns at dis
tance. and ii was sweet music. Everybody
got up-it was about l o'clock; the women
made coffee, and there was no more sleep
ing that night. The next day the Ameri-
cans came in / went down and shook hands
with each man he came through the
water gate.
Stories of Other Refugees.
All the refugees who arrived from China
on the steamer Coptic tell interesting
stories of the incidents of the siege of
Pekin Miss NJ E. Andrews of Cleveland,
Ohio. who Is one Of the best-known woman
missionaries in China. having spent thirty
told an interesting story of her experience
during the Boxer uprising. She said;
AT Tung Chou, where | was stationed,
have for years heard warnings and
threats of anti-foreign and anti-Christian
uprisings. We grew accustomed TO such
threats and thought nothing would ever
come of this bluster of the anti-foreigners
that when the Boxer cartoons and liter
ature reached Tung Chou we were not
greatly disturbed thinking the agitation
WOtilI N he
Then came news of conflict and murder.
and at night could the sky red with
the light of incendiary fires. Alarmed at
this we decided to hurry 10 Pekin.
'Tung Chou is Christian educational
center. The north China mission of the
American board had its seminary there.
Besides this. there was the chapel and the
dwellings of the missiona ries.
During the siege did not suffer very
great hardship. There was rough food.
such as II was. and while we were some
away from the fury Of the mob that we
could not complain.
Helped by the Converts.
'Our converts, who We're given shelter at
the legation, proved to be very helpful dur
ing the siege. They helped to build and
strengthen the fortificatons and took a
great deal of work off the shoulders of our
men. But for them ] do not think the
siege would have ended so happily. for
without their aid we did not have the
strength 10 do all the work needed They
deserve praise for their loyalty
"A very sad accident occurred when We
left Pekin on our way out of China We
passed Tung Chou, the scene Of so much
of work. The mission and seminary
had been burned TO the ground. We were
told that they We're set afre the morning
after we fed to Pekn. The trip through
the devastated country was very painful to
me. ] had been in China sc- long and had
grown 10 know the people 50 We'll that
could never have believed such things could
happen. There was terrible loss of life
and property.
Il am going back TO China within year
j hope. That land has been the scene of
my lifes work. and ] believe II is my duty
TO continue my labor there"
Mrs. Chapin's story.
Mrs F. NJ. Chaplin, who with her hus-
band fled from Tung Chou TO Pekin. said:
After leaving the Methodist mission,
where stopped for few days upon
reaching Pekin, we entered the British le-
cation without difficulty.
Very soon after the siege began we
commenced TO eat mule and horse meat.
OF course we did not eat the meat with
zest, but very little went a long way.
But as had plenty of rice and bread
there was never any actual privation.'
Miss Rutherford. in telling of her expert
ences in Pekin, said:
I'VE women did not have the excitement
which fell 10 the share of the men to keep
our courage up. We were eager for work
10 do, and anything that had 10 be done
was well and promptly done, you may be
sure
Rev. F. NJ. Chaplin. Methodist mission
airy. speaking of the siege said:
They were dark days, and we had all
but given up hope when the glad news Of
the entry of the relief column reached us.
Our privaions, while severe, were not so
bad they might have been
Miss Duow, missionary, whose home is
In Albany, n. y, said:
There ts no use talking settlement until
have the heads of Prince Tuan and OF
the empress dowager II is foolish 10 think
OF honest peace while they are living. In
my judgment, they should be beheaded be-
into"