Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-29
Missionaries Showed They Were Not
to Be DegPissd.
DRILLED BY AMERICAN MARINES
Account of Their March to the
British Legation.
EXCITING Noes
Copyright, 1900, by C. H. Fenn.)

The events of the summer OF 1900 in North
China afford an excellent opportunity for
a study Of the Church Militant" The
ambassadors Of peace" We're compelled by
force of circumstances to lay aside the
work of preaching the Gospel. and take UP
the temporarily more necessary work of de-
Tending their own and others lives against
the fierce attacks of an enemy who would
show no quarter. For some time before
the siege actually began, we had all car
RED revolvers as we went about the streets
hardly expecting to use them, but not
knowing what a day might bring forth.
Then on the Sth of June, when We gather
ed together in the M. E. Mission there
was an instant call to arms.
A List was made of all the firearms In
our possession. The British minister, who
had promised ten marines to help in our
defense, III consideration of our protecting
also the London Mission converts, sent Us
instead ten rifles, and there Was no d.tfi-
Guilty in finding ten men to carry them
Raw recruits indeed we were, most of us
totally without military training, but the
American marines took hold Of us and each
day at evening put us through the drill
while the unarmed and the ladies' sitting by
laughed at and cheered the awkward
squad" We forward marched, we right
about faced. we charged the barbed wire
fence with such vigor that We nearly got
tangled up in it. We fired countless ROUNDS
Of ina gfnary cartridges at an enemy SO &C
cunmodati as to let US have things our
own way. We took our turns on guard
with the marines, playing y, tinel for six
to ten hours of the twenty-tC\r, on walls
and roofs.
Guard Duty in the Streets
My own guard duty the greater PAT OF
those strange days at the NJ. E. misNion
was from II to 3 am. and II to pm. in
the lane leading from the main compound
to the university, about one-eighth of mile
in length. and in the large open space be-
tween the university and the city wall.
There were several chances of being cut off
here by an enemy rushing down a side
street. across these streets we strung
harbed wire, and posted native sentinels at
every corner to give the alarm. few or
these men had revolvers or biunderbusses,
but most Of them were armed with either
spear or sword. Occasionally 1t was neces-
sary for one IF US to take position re-
moved from the rest to oversee the clearing
away Of rubbish piled against our walls and
rendering them too easy to scale.
At such times it was curious to see the
awe which one inspired. some of the natives
going around several blocks to avoid the
awful foreigner with rifle, while that poor
foreigner longing, for the end of his
watch and hoping that he might not fall
victim to a sudden attack on his exposed
position. And then at night the moonlight
and the darkness each had Its own Shad-
owy proba b lt.es and We were glad enough
to have the moral support" Of bitches,
barbed wire and barbados, with which
hoped to prove more familiar than the mob
whose onslaught we awaited.
1t seems now a great pity that we had to
leave all that wire when We went to the le-
cations; for not only would it have proved
very useful there, but we missed the fun of
seeing the Boxer make his first acquaint-
ance with that interesting American inven-
ton.
Hard Task
One of our chief occupations during the
night watches was that of keeping our
Chinese sentines from going to sleep. Their
hours were long and their flesh was weak.
To work all day and then watch part of
the night was more than many Of them
we've equal to, yet they were in the main
most faithful 1t was great relief to some
of us to know that the Chinese did not know
how little We knew of the use Of a rifle.
Another position which l occupied for
a time the galvanized IRON roof of
the great church. From this point of van
tage We could occasionally see armies with
banners entering or leaving the city, and
had d fine view Of the great fires in which
the Chinese consumed everything foreign
which they could find undefended In the
city. Here l watched. through much OF
that awful night of June ID, all our mission
houses with their contents and every ma
teral element Of our work go up in flames
and smoke. and thought of the probable ac-
cCmpanying nassacres. So constantly was
one another of US seated on the ball of
Of the cupola Of the church that we
learned from outs de Chinese the Boxers
had announced that they would do nothing
until a certain day when the BLACK spirit
should no longer sit aStride the dome.
Those of us who were not carrying rifle
on sentry duty were busiy engaged day af-
ter day in the digging Of bitches. the build
ing Of barricades. the stretching Of wire.
and the blocking OF windows.
A Sally to the Markets.
One of the most venturesome. yet most
ridiculous performances of this prelm'nar
siege was the exploit of four of our number
who escorted our servants to the great street
to buy provisions, one morning after a night
of fires and massac ores. The presence of
four foreigners with r.fles was quite suffi-
mt to awe the hitherto unwilling shop
keepers into disposing of their goods at
market prices. and we soon had all we
Der proposed that We should produce a
moral IMPRESSION. which proceeded to
do by holding up the street." 1. e., halting
each cart and borseman. examining the for
mer for foreign goods and questioning the
latter to his business. Two Of us held
up three suspicious looking horsemen, who.
on being questioned. fled in terror in three
different directions. We held quarter of
lection for nearly two hours and then with
drew.
That afternoon our escapade was sur
passed by that of four of our number who
went out at o'clock. with two marines and
directed the keeper of the Hal Tai gate of
the city to carry out the wish OF Minister
Conger and close the gate two hours before
the usual time. After brief demur he did
so. and turned over the great iron key
about two feet long to the keeping of the
missions 1t was returned to him early in
the morning, but the next evening retaken
and a foreign paddock affixed to the gate
for greater security i''
Kept the Chinese in Awe.
I have often wished that we could see
ourselves just as the Chinese saw us dur
Ing those days. It was most fortunate
for US that a certain awe of the foreigner
pervaded people and officials and held them
in check until we had put ourselves In a
position of comparative safety. In those
days even a high official accepted our re-
frsal to permit him to use his own city
gates at the usual hours as final and made
his exit by another way. We were not in
terfered with in absolutely isolating our
selves In our limited district, though it
involved barricading four small streets, to
the serious interference with the business
and domestic pursuits Of divers residents.
During the twelve days spent In the
Methodist mission we 80 intrencbtd and
fortified and trained ourselves that we had