The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-09-01
MAD CARNIVAL OF LOOT
Soldiers and Civilians Scramble
Wildly In Tien Tsin.

Client stone walls of the Chinese city
J of Tien Tsin. surrounded on the days
of its occupation by the allied troops,
a square mile of such filth, ruin and
death, such turmoil and pillage as his
tory could hardly duplicate. Under
normal conditions the place was no
better than huge cesspOol, fostering
With the accumulated rubbish and Stops
from Il population of nearly 100000,
packed into a labyrinth of novels,
around the palaces of Viceroys and
petty Tao Tais, who absorbed their
wealth and gave them not even sew
erS in return. Now it is the incarna-
ton of all the suffering, horrors and
waste Of war.
The Euro2ean soldiers, when they
fought their way un to the walls, saw
floating in the canals and bitches out.
side dozens of Chinese slain by their
own people because they refused to
fight. The bodies we're headless and
their hands were tied behind their
backs. The heads were discovered
afterwards. Rows of them decorated
the outer walls. hung by their pig
tails.
Five flags were flying from the high
pagodas on the city walls when the
French, japanese. American, Russian
and British
~ was hard enough to get those flags
up there" remarked a foreign officer,
but the real trouble will be to get
them down"
The suburbs of the city presented a
foTetaste of what was inside Shells
had torn the houses and plowed the
ground, while the dead men scattered
about among dead Xorses. pigs and
dogs, testified how thoroughly the bull
let's had swept the region the day be-
fore
The sights inside compelled respect
for the fighting qualities of the Chi
nese. Their dead were everywhere
Dressed in the coarse blue coolie blouse
and trousers. decorated with charac-
ters guaranteed to render them invul-
nerable to foreign bullets, they were
strewn along the top of the wall
wherever they had fallen. Walking a
quarter Of a mile along the embank
ment the bodies averaged one in ten
! feet, and the wall was nearly ten miles
! lonr,
Throughout the city the demolished
| houses and hundreds Of killed gave evil
| dence of how vastly more effective had
! been the foreign shell fire within the
/ walls of the city than the Chinese bonn
bardment of the foreign settlement,
, which, lasting for a month, had killed
| only dozen persons. The Vicefoy had
constructed in the palace yard two
comfortable and Uncomfortable bomb
proofs, excavations guarded by sand
bags, but the common people were
| less fortunate.
Many women and children were lying
dead in the streets torn terribly by
shrapnel. The living D0Dulace were
utterly Indifferent to them. They would
not take the trouble to drag them out
of the streets, or even cover them with
mating as a foreign soldier did after
wards but trampled them under FOOT
without bothering to turn them aside
Before the shooting in the streets
was finished, thousands of Chinese had
emerged from their burrows, carrying
white flags. or the flags of foreign ma
tons, principally the japanese.
Most remarkable of all the sights
was the looting of the city: the middle
of the place was like an ant hill kicked
open. Chinese swarmed everywhere,
thousands and thousands of them;
diving into the flames of the burning
shops, getting under falling walls end
into choking clouds of smoke Most of
them were half naked, grimy with
smoke and sometimes dripping with
blood. They were piled upon one an
other. The Chinese who would win a
prize must fight his way; other Chinese
will spring upon him and pluck his
plumber. They rolled among the corpses,
pulling and tearing while children, be-
ing tramDled down. cried for help. and
the mob poured right along over them.
The palaces, the mint the pawn
shops. the stores of silks, furs and
jewelry were the first objects of attack.
Near the middle of the city was the
most prosperous pawn shop, an insti-
tuition that had probably existed for
centuries. Wealthy Cinnamon were ac-
custOmed to store their winter clothing
there for safe keeping. When the doors
were battered down the mob flowed in
like a tidal wave. There were British
officers, naval and military, soldiers
and sailors with a good sprinkling of
sikhs, but principally Chinese. In a
twinkling all was Dandemonium. The !
Chinese knew where the best treasure |
was to be found and the soldiers fol- !
lowed them. Two forces collided in the /
gateway, a rush line of Chinese strug-
Cling to enter and another line fighting !
to get ont with great armfuls of loot. |
while an occasional soldier went /
through the crowd like one of the I
Broadway squad. Tien Tsin expert !
enced a sweeping redistribution of !
wealth, but on the old scheme of the |
prizes to the strongest
Looters 1ourished for three DAYS. On !
the first day it was entirely unrestrain
ed. Many white people accumulated |
stacks of goods by simply standing at /
the city gates and holding up the best |
laden Chinese from the endless pro-
cession that flowed out. Pack horses,
carts. rickshaws. collies loaded with
trunks and sacks and piled with loose
silks. furs and bronZeS, crowded all
the roads leading down to the settle
nent English officers rode with their
horses concealed under dry goods
boxes. and soldiers slung bundles on
their bayonetS.
On the second day a conference of
officers decided to adopt
measures. The commanders.
except the French, empowered the
British who were doing the provost
iuty. to sfeze all loot. This order the
British ATTEMPTED to execute by hold
ng up the looters as they entered the
'oreign towns, They took all bundles
md reported the names of claimants
or future inquiry. Naturally this step
grumbling, particularly
among the soldiers of other nationali-
les Captain Bailey, the provost
marshal a big bodied, big voiced Eng
explained that the prohibition
vas designed to restrain civilians from
,etting the spOils which should go to
he men who did the fighting. An of
iciaI statement is that all seized loot
will be sold, the proceeds to be divided
Lmong the soldiers as prize money, but
oldiers, wise through former cam
,aigns, comment skeptically.
The Japanese 50 far as casual obser-
alton showed, did the least footing be-
ause of the admirable discipline under
which their soldiers are held The
americans had all TO themselves one
arge arsenal, which they occupied on
ntering the city. 1t contained not only
annon, but fine store of small arms,
words of curious and rich pattern,
ifles of various makes, with stands of
he long two-man guns, which are sim
ly giant rifles, throwing. ball which
rom the report and whistle, the sol
ierS in the fight Judged to be one | [