New-York tribune., 1900-08-29
TAMPERLNG WITH MESSAGES.
ADMINISTRATION TAKES MEASURES TO
ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION.
[BY TELnaRAPH TO TIE rRIBuxEl


washington. Aug. 2S.-The officials Of the War
Department, and 10 some extent those Of the
state Department also. were chiefly concerned
To-Day on account Of the state OF facilities OF
communication between Washington and Pc
KING ana preparations were begun 70 overcome
the difficulty by ordering Admiral Remey to es-
taonsh regular communication between Che
FOO and Shanghai by means OF swift dispatch
ooats. Ihis was the outcome OF an undated dis
patch received from Major General Chaffee late
last night the contents Of which made II evil
Gent that he had not heard from Washingt n
since August IA although several important dis
patches have been sent TO and received from
MIN since that time. None of the messag ges re
Gently received from him or from Minister Con-
ser nave had a date line other than Taku. from
"hlcn fact and other internal evidence the
apartment officials have reached the conclusion
that all these messages Especially General
Charee 81 have been tampered with while they
were in the custody of Chinese telegraphic Of
ncials between Che-Foo and Shanghai. It has
also been noted that only messages Of com
paratlvely minor Importance have come through
since those which announced the fall and occu-
patton of Peking.
That messages Of great Importance have been
sent by both Minister Conger and General
ChaHee in response to equally important and
urgent messages sent to them there is no doubt
IN the minds Of the officials What has become
OF the messages II they have not been i'm
pounded or destroyed by the Chinese to whose
custody they were intrusted for transmission
is an interesting question which the officials
would be glad to have answered Perhaps
Director Sheng might answer 1t, but his name
has unaccounta bly, vanished from recent Shang-
hal dispatches.
Whatever may be the cause, the War Depart
ment has not yet received reply 70 the dispatch
lnstructing General Chaffee to report the mill
tary operations. situation and requrements-in-
formation which is of the highest importance
Other dispatches of equal Importance have
failed TO elicit reply, and II is assumed that
they never reached their destination, or If go
that the replies had been seized and destroyed
A dispatch received from Minister Conger last
night was in reply to one sent by the President
on August 10, from which it is regarded as evil
dent that the trouble is not with the telegraph
line itself Except as It may be overburdened
with business) much as it is with the Chi
nese who control and operate it between Che
Foo and Shanghai. distance of 400 TO 500
miles The message was simply one of thanks
and an expression OF gratitude.
dispatch received from General Chaffee yes
terday read as follows:
AdJutant-General, Washington:
sSiege battery not needed. CHAFFEE.
The Chinese would not be likely TO impound or
destroy a dispatch of that sort. Perhaps Gen
eral Chaffee would not have sent it. however
If he had suspected that the international forces
in Peking were to be so soon defeated and the
city recaptured by the Chinese-with the help
Of dispatch dated at st. Petersburg