The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-22
CATHAR|NE
Of CHINA
Terror Inspired by the
Dowager.
THE FAILING EMPEROR
Two Extraordinary Scenes in the
Palace at Peking = How the
Emperor Was Coerced.

Emperor Was Coerced.
SHANGHAI, May 9.-Recent events in
China have given special significance 70
the cohdltlon of the young Emperor
kuang Hsu, who is still looked upon as
the hope of the Chinese Reform marty.
ne emperor whose abdication has been
deferred by the old Empress Dowager
owing to the strong protests which she
received on the subject is said to he in
very poor health. The foreign dipIoma
lists at Peking had audience with him
on February 10, and they were shocked
10 note the great change in his appear
ance. One year ago, when the Diplomat
ic Corps had another audience with him.
he was found to be of very delicate ap-
pearance, but he seemed healthy and
took lively interest in the proceedings.
rms time, however, when the diploma
fists called to congratulate him on the
new year, they We're shocked to see his
draWn lace of grayish-yellow color and
MS deep-set eyes surrounded by dark
rings, all testifying to his feeble bodily
condition. His movements were slow
and his hands shook like those of an
OLD man. The general impression of
those who saw him was that he would
not survive long unless his health i'm
proved.
A letter was recently received by a
member of the Reform party in Picking
| from a relative who is eunuch in the
imperial palace 1t throws mood OF
| light upon the mental suffering and the
| daily humiliations which have robbed
kuang Hsu of his strength and mis- cheer
| fulness. The writer of this letter was an
- m Rf al III
| the palace-one the wrestling from the
| Emperor of his signature to the astonish-
| ing decree abdicating his power, the 9TH
| er the rage of the old Empress Dowager
| when she received the memorial from
] Shanghai, signed by more than Il tnou-
| sand prominent Chinese, protesting
| against the Emperors abdication and re-
| questng that he should be allowed to re-
| tain his imperial rights even during his
| illness. 1T was on January "A last that
| the old Empress Dowager who had given
| her nephew peace for weeks, finally
| forced him to abdicate his throne. The
| writer of the palace letter says:
| Il was one of those who stood around
| with fnkslab and pen for the Emperor to
| use, While the Empress DoWager herself
| held out the pen to him. Even then His
| Majesty hesitated to take it and sign the
| ready-prepared imperial decree of abdi-
cation held out to him; but an imperous
stamp of the right foot and the piercing,
menacing eyes of the Empress Dowager
| froWning upon him seemed to enthrall
and fascinate the Emperor. He immedi-
ately stretched forth a trembling hand
and the next moment, with a groan and
a gesture of despair, the fateful deed was
done and the Empress DoWager triumph
| anty Snatched the decree from her neph-
| ews hands. At once her face lost it's Sc
| verify and became soft and benevolent.
He had sunk down on his chair, a deadly
| paleness spread over his face and mo-
| ment later his robes We're dyed by blood
! that flowed from ruptured blood vessel,
due to his intense excitement. Very kind
| fierce ppr
nephew to his sedan chair and she only
left him when she saw him taken into
his imperial prison-the Water-SurrounI-
ed kiosk at the Southern Lake palace
and the drawbridge lifted, which made
him "a secure prisoner. All the way from
Peking to his palace prison | heard the
| Emperor weeping over his hard fate He
seemed utterly broken and hopeless
The letter then gives details of the
preparations made for the crownng of
the new Emperor. which was to have oc-
| corresponding with January 81 in cur
calendar. Four days before imposing
memorial delivered into the Emper-
or's hands. 1t was drafted by Kin LIan-
Shan, master of the Shanghai Telegraph
administration, and was signed by him
self and more than a thousand we'll
known Chinese 1t prays that "the En-
peror be allowed to resume the reins Of
government. even in his illness, for that
was the only way to satisfy His Majes-
| tvs millions of subjects throughout the
| En- pire." Then the letter-writer gives
this picture of the effect of the memoir
ial:
"Oh, the rage of the Empress DowageF
when she read that obnoxious memoriaii
| have seen many of her displays of tenn
per and anger, but none like this one. 1t
surpassed even her rage at Kang Yu-Wei
and his reformers. We eunuchs and even
the Prince of Lii. who brought the me-
morial We're terrified and trembled lest
her anger should be wrealied on any one
present. Who dare send such a tele-
! gram she saked. Kin Yuan Shan (his
official name) of Shanghai and over
| thousand Others was the reply. Very
! we'll she said, well show them how we
deal with traitors who cross our path
| Upon this protest many others followed
which showed the Empress very clearly
that it would be dangerous to follow out
her plan. No fewer than forty-siX pro-
tests came from Peking, as many as
| dozen in a single day. So the coronation
was deferred to a more propitious time,
| but those who know the Empress do not
believe that she has abandoned her at
tempt to place young boy on the throne,
so that her own power as Regent would
be secure for several years.
| Meanwhile Kin Lien Shan, who fed
| when he was warned that orders had
been issued for his arrest, has been cap
| tured at Macao and the Portugal au-
thorities at first actually prepared to de-
| liver him up to the Chinese officers who
demanded him. They had prepared
trumped-up charges of malfeasance in
| the Shanghai telegraph office and expect
| ed 20 extradite him on these charges. His
counsel objected, however, pointing out
that the Chinese officials used the device
of embeZZlement to cover up the real pO-
litical nature of his offence and that un-
der the law of nations the man should
not be delivered up to what would be GER
tain death The result has been that the
case will be argued and Kin Wi prob
| ably escape.
| Since the Emperor's abdication the de-