The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-11-27

II D. a
tna Brsfish minis.-s at Pekin, advising
hlra thnt 1.unIess those Of PeKin We're
relieved soon, It would be 10 ia.e. AZ
$3.50 the next morning q reliel ooluHn'
under command Of Admiral Seymour,
started for the Chinese capital By train,
tins expedition consisting OF ylo British
officers, seamen and marines, 80 German
sls Russian, l6s French, ll2 American,
"a Japanese, 40 Italian. and IS AUSTRIAN
q total or 2,060. Finding at Langfang
that the railway had been so much dam.
aged as to render It useless as means Oh
advance, this column, after ten days
lighting In difficult country, without
the transportation. ammunition, or sup
plies necessary 10 an extended cam paign,
encumberod by wounded to the n1mper
OF s3U, and entirely cut OH from CONT
muniuation front and rear, was obliged,
June 20, TO fall back, and having on their
return march captured the imperial
armory near Hsiku, a few miles above
Tientsin, there awaited reenforcements
OF the part borne In this hazardous ex-
petition by the American sailors, honora-
bic mention Is made In all reports. The
British admiral himself, In a letter to
the senior United States naval officer at
Taku, says:
81 can not conclude my letter without
expressing to you, sir, the high admira-
tion have for Capt. ID. IL MoCalla,
who accompanied us In command OF your
officers and men. Their post was usually
In the advanced guard, where their zeal
and go was praised By all. / regret to
state that Captain McCalla WAS wounded
In three places, but considering the gal
liant way In which he exposed himself
am only. equally surprised and thankful
that he lie alive.
In the meantime the foreign settlement
In Tientsin itself was subjected to st
tack, and communication between that
city and Taku was Interrupted On the
18th OF June a detachment OF eight officers
and 313 enlisted men, chiefly from the
first regiment OF marines dispatched
from Cayite by the Newark and Nashv lille
arrived at Taku. Instructions were I'm.
medlately given that his force should
take part In the forward movement for
the relief OF the besieged at Yientsin.
This force, aggregating little mare than
500 men, was, however, too small TO ac-
compIish Its object, and was speedily
driven back by overwhelming numbers.
The following day, June 22, British.
Russian. German, Italian and JapaneEe
reenforcements arrived, making COM
bineu force of about ., GOO men. The for
eign city OF Tientsin was entered and he
siege raised. On Sunday morning, June
%, an advance was made to the relief OF
Admiral Seymour,'s command, who were
intrenched ab point about eight miles
from Tientsin. This movement was
accomplished wi tn little opposition, and
early on the morning OF July IA the
walled city OF Tientsin was captured BY
{ he allied forces.
In this action, In which % officers and
1926 men, under Col, II. IL. Meade, par
ticipated, Capt. A. X. Davis, u. 3.
Marine Corps, was killed at the side OF
hts commanding officer in the advanced
trench; Capts. William u. Lemly and
Charles G. Long, First Lieuts. Smedley
ID. Butler and Henry Leonard were
wounded; q sergeant, corporal, and
two enlisted rmen were killed, and a SER
geant, two corporals and IL enlisted men
were wounded.
10 record the instances Of gallantry
capture of 1isntsin would almost be
equivalent to q publication OF the entire
roster.
The Chinese stronghold at Tientsin
was captured early on the morning OF
July IA; on the same day systematic at
taoks upon the beleaguered legations az
pekin ceased; an informal trroe was ar
ranged at the instance OF the tsungh'
yamen; communication between the be-
siegedisnd the outside world was partially
reopened; the legations We're offered GER
tain supplies by the Chinese authorities,
and although subjected to desuitory at
tacks from time to time and TO neroe
final assault on the night of August IL,
were on the following day relieved by the
entrance into Pekin OF the allied forces. I
During the time of these events both
rear-admirals We're In Chinese waters
Their prudence and efficiency are highly
commendable.
Among the recommendations made In
the port is that the office of vice admiral
be revived 1t is also recommended that
the statutes be amended SO that service
in Porto Rico, the Hawaiian islands,
Guam and the Philippines may be de-
clared to be service beyond seas within
the meaning of the law. The treasury
department has held that inasmuch as
these places are under the jurisdiction OF
the United States, naval officers serving
there are no. entitled to the extra COM
pensation for service beyond seas" 1t
Is also pointed out that the marines who
served in China and Guam did not re-
ceiye the extra pay provided for service
IN the Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico,
Cuba and Alaska as only these pla,es ara
named in the act. 1t is argued that the
benefits of the law should be extended to
the men who did the work in China and
served in Guam.
During the year the battleships Ala
bama, Kentucky and Kearsarge have
been accepte by the navy department,
and the cruiser Albany, the torpedo boats
Craven and Dahlgren, andithe submarine
boat Holland nave also been added to the
navy. Thsre are now fifty-three vessels OF
all classes under construction, including
seven submarine boats. Interesting
tables in the report show the naval con-
nh AN n a