The age-herald., 1900-07-31
No Answer from Second Mes-
 sage to Conger.
THE REPLY IS ANxIOusLY AWAITED
It Is Said That Ten Battalions of Chi nese Shelled the Legations Con- tinuously From June 20 to
 July l7-May Renew

Washington, July sO.-The Secretary of State received at midnight last night dis patch from MT. Fowler. American Consul at Che Foo dated July 9, at noon. Mr. Fowler says:
 "A letter from the German legation, dated the Fist instant, received at Tien Tsin, says: German loss is ten dead and twelve wounded. Chinese ceased their at tack on the 12tE Baron Von Kettelers body Is said to be safe. The Austrian, Dutch and Spanish legations destroyed, and the French partially
 "A letter from the German legation, dated the 22d, arrived at Tien Tsin on the 18th. It said that ten battalions of Chinese shelled the legations consecutively from the 20th of June and stopped on the 17th of July, but may renew. The enemy are de- creasing. The German Russian, American, British and half the Japanese and French legations are still defended. Japanese say they have food for six days, but little am- intuition. The Emperor and Empress are reported at Pekin.'
 Proce dag tantiousIy
 With all it's anxiety 10 get Mir Conger and the Americans in Pekin safely away,
 
 caution and is by no means disposed to accept any proposition that would unduly jeopardize their lives. Such might be the result of an off-hand acceptance of the proposition to have the Chinese government deliver the foreign Ministers at Tien Tsin. for it Is realized that the escort might be overpowered by superior forces of Boxers on the way to the sea The State Depart hoe xl.1 Conger himself is the best person to judge of the conditions under which his deliver ance shall be effected, and therefore 1t is again looking to the Chinese Government to place it in communication with MT Con- ger in order that it may be advised by i.-m That requirement was the first of the conditions laid down by President Me- Kinley in answer to the appeal of the Chin ese Emperor, so that the situation diplo- matically cannot be said to have been ma- terially changed by the developments of today. The State Department was inclined to regard Consul Fowler's communication as the most valuable piece of confirmatory evidence yet received touching the safety of the Pekin diplomats.
 No Answer to Second Message
 Up to late hour no answer had been received to the second Conger message. but in view of General Fewler's news the officials were inclined to look forward to an early reply,
 It is known here that Germany is one of the governments which is putting forth every effort to get into direct communica- ton with the beleaguered Ministers and thinks the United States has recourse to the underground route. An object of special solicitude Is to discover whether Ba- roness Won Ketteler has escaped or whether she shared the fate of her hus- band. Up to the present nothing has been . received to throw any light the sub ject. The German Ambassador and the French Charge d'Affairs called at the State Department today to secure the fastest in- formation which Secretary Hay had re- ceived and both were immensely pleased with the Fowler dispatch.
 Chaffee today reported his arrival at Taku in advance of expected time
 The view which the Washington Cab- inet has taken from the beginning that with the exception of Baron Ketteler the legatoners at Pekin were alive long after the date which was said to have marked their massacre, is being slowly but surely confirmed. The most important contri- button in support of our governments po- sition since the report of the Conger au- tograph letter representing the foreign Ministers to have been alive on July came today from the United States consul at Che Foo.
 The letter referred to by the cousul as coming from the German legation at Pe- kin Is supposed here to have been an au- tographic letter and as such absolutely removed from fraud.
 The Japanese report Is also understood to have come down to the sea without having passed through Chinese hands. It was one of the first results of private mes- senger system inaugurated by the com missioners of the allied forces. Taken in conjunction, the two reports submitted by MT Fowler have added overwhelming ly to the weight of testimony in favor of existence of the legationerS.