The evening times., 1900-06-16

At the State Department today the story
of the destruction Of the foreign legations
at Pekin and the probable murder Of Min
lister COnger and other foreign representa-
| tives by the Boxers was not accepted as
| likely. 1t was admitted that grave fears
were entertained for the safety of Mr..
Conger. as his long silence denotes trou-
| BILE. 1t was stated that a message had
| been sent to him on Thursday, with rush
| instructions TO the telegraph companies,
| but that either the message had not
reached him or for some strange reason
he had returned no word.
1t is admitted that the despatch con-
cerning the murders may be true. since
the department has no information upon
which to base a denial. All that could be
| obtained from high official in the State
! Department was: II sincerely hope sais
| is not true 1t may be, but l hope not"
Several official dispatches Of great i'm
portance were received by the State and
Navy Departments. but these were not
made public They were sent to the Pres
ident and then locked up. It was admitted
that none OF these had come from Mr..
Conger, and that the President is deeply
anxious over the silence Of the latter.
II was intimated by a Navy Department
official that Tientsin had been cut of from
the outer world by the Boxers and that the
few messages received came by courier
Owing to the serious turn OF affairs the
War Department officials have determined
to act at once. and if Mr.. Congcr is not
to General Macarthur TO despatch a resi-
ment Of troops to Teku. together with
several companies Of marines TO be fur
nished by Admiral Remey.
|. Mr. WI, the Chinese Minister, called on
| Secretary Hay this morning. and held a
| conference for over an hour. On being in
| formed Of the news from China, he listened
with interest, and stated that he hal been
very anxious to hear from Pekin as all
communication with his Government had
been cut OF.
Il will not say that this despatch is not
actual fact" said he, but I hope 1t is al
| wrong. l don't like the date line, Hong
kong. as this is a hOtbed Of unreliable de-
| spatches, and is another Mole St. Nicho-
| las. Having heard 10 word from, my peo-
| pie, cannot give an opinion Il the mat
| ter, but l hardly think your Minister has
met with any harm. I myself come to your
Secretary Of State to get my rev, OF the
| situation, and neither he nor 1 anticipate
| any serious breach Of our peaceful rela-
tions. l am inclined to believe the Tient-
sin dispatches. but place no faith in those
from Hongkons."
/ Secretary Hau wa rnTipau-
report.
| The department" said the Secretary,
| has had no communication with Pekin for
the past three days, owing TO the cutting Of
the wires.
The Government can do no more than
it is doing at present. All the available
| naval and land forces have been ordered
| from Cavite to the scene Of the disturb
| ances and must by this time, be rear their
goal 1t is impossible for me to affirm or
| contradict the report Of the destruction
Of the legations and the killing of the
| German Minister"
| At the White House it was stated that
the President knew nothing of the situa-
| tion other than that contained in the press
| dispatches. The news had a DEPRESSING ef-
feet on Mr.. Mckinley. 1t was intimated
that if the news was confirmed during the
| day a Cabinet meeting would be held to
discuss the subject.
Postmaster General Smith was in close
| consultation with the President for over an
hour. Secretary Hitchcock was also pres
| ent. On leaving the White House the
Postmaster General expressed the opinion
| that the situation in China was serious
Secretary Hay stated that the President
had been notified, and would take prompt
| action in the matter. 1t is understood
| that General Macarthur will today be or
defed to send troops from Manila to Taku.
| Secretaries Hay and Root called upon
the President together at LIS O'Clock this
afternoon. They were with him for half
an hour. At the conclusion of the inter
view the two Secretaries, with grave faces,
were greeted by half a dozen newspaper
| men.
| I'VE have no dispatches Of any kind
| other than those which have appeared in the
newspapers explained Secretary Hay.
The President is now trying to get every
available fact before proceeding to act"
| do you care to say whether troops will
be sent from Manila to the relief of the
Ministers at Pekin?" Secretary Root was
asked
Il do not care to discuss that" he an
swered as he entered his carriage and
| drove away.
| 1t is understood, however, that troops
| from General MacArthur's command will
| be sent at once. Their number, however.
| cannot be stated
GERMANS DOUBT THE REPORT.
1 No News Received mt the Embassv