Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-28
Startling Announcement Cabled by
Gen. Chaffee.
TROUBLE ON THE LAND Line
Had Not Heard From Washington
for Two Weeks.
Ii HUNG CHANGES STATCS

noyed at the difficulty in communicating
with Gen. Chaffee, in command of the
An erican forces in China. From the tenor
of a dispatch received today from Gen.
Chaffee, (which was undated, 1T is evident
that the American commander has not
heard from Washington since August IA.
Many communications have been address,
ed to him since that date. and very ur-
gent cable was sent last Saturday, calling
for information. None of these has been
received by Gen. Chaffee, apparently, and
he has been as much perplexed by the
silence Of the department as Washington
has been embarrassed by his supposed
failure to report upon conditions.
1t was said at the War Department to-
day that the trouble evidently lies be-
tween Chefoo and Shanghai. This is the
land line, which can be dominated by the
Chinese. There Is no way of telling what
important and vital information may be
hung up along this line by the Chinese
authorities. The kilograms that have come
through recently from Gen. Chaffee were
unimportant and every of them was
undated.
Tampering of Unfriendly Hands.
For awhile it was thought that the diff
fculty in communicating might lie between
Tien Tsin and Pekin, as the line was down
and couriers were being utilized. 1t was
not suspected for awhile that there was
any trouble after the messages left Tien
Tsin, but the recent developments have
opened the eyes of the officials to the fact
that there is no surety of getting kilograms
which have not been tampered with by un-
friendly hands in the course Of transmits
sion between Chefoo and Shanghai.
Ttn 1nvn
forts to get into communication with Gen
Chaffee, but the means Of doing so will
not be discussed. 1t is of the very first
Importance that Gen. Chaffee should be
placed in unrestrained communication with
the department, if such thing is possible
and every effort will be bent in that direc-
ton.
The cablegram received from Gen. Chat
fee last night, and which was undated
conveyed no information Of interest to the
public, 1t was said at the War Depart
ment today. 1t is understood that the
main Importance of the message was the
intimation that Gen. Chaffee's messages had
not been delivered, and that the cable
grams of the department were held up
somewhere on the line. ..
Dispatch Boat to He Run.
Several conferences were held TODAY be-
tween the officials of the War and NAVY
departments upon the subject of interrupt
ed cable communication with Gen. Chaffee
The President was also apprised of the sit
uation.
AS result Of the conferences 1t was de-
termned to establish a dispatch boat serv-
Ice between Chefoo and Shanghai. The dis
tance is about 800 miles, and United States
war vessels are at both places. BY this
plan 1t will be possible, it is said to insure
communication between Tien Tsin and
Shanghai and. by means Of couriers, be-
tween Tien Tsin and Pekin
All important government messages can
then be transmitted with safety, even
though at the expense of delay.
The Proposed Cable.
the discovery will certainly tend to
hasten the construction of the projected
cable connecting Shanghai and Chefoo,
thus placing the control Of the entire cir
cult from Washington to Pekin outside of
Chinese control at any point. The subject
may also be made the basis of some strong
representations to Sheng, the Chinese direc-
tor or posts and telegraphs, at Shanghai
Apprehension Not Excited.
This interruption of communication is
embarrassing and annoying and shows a
disorganized condition of affairs in China.
but does not excite the apprehension of the
department as to the welfare of the allied
forces. No reports to the effect that the
allies are threatened by a large force of
Chinese and that they are in danger are
credited at the War Department. The fact
appears to be that Gen. Chaffee is as much
perplexed at the failure to receive COM
munications from Washington as the de-
partment is at not being able to hear from
him, and it is all explainable on grounds
other than that of the revival Of Chinese
resistance Ignorance or indisposition might
lead to confusion of messages by the oper-
ators and scattered bands or individual
malefactors might easily break up the tele-
graph communication faster than our small
corps Of operators could repair 1t. 1t is be-
lieved at the War Department that II the
allies were in trouble information to that
effect would be received much more speed
lily than under conditions not especially
threatening, but confused and chaotic.
ALLEGED DEFEAT OF ALLIES.