The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-11-24

not always) are, at the expense of the
people. This would have been a heavy
tax, but 1t was followed by much
worse. The Imperial idea seemed to
be to supplement the natural defic en-
cies of the soldiers by the supernatural
excellencies of the Boxers. In order ito
guard the Legations" large detach-
ments of the troops Of Jung-Lu, Com
mander-in-Chief of the provincial ar
my, and of those of General Tung were
brought in. The latter is really ruff
fan from the province of Kansu. He
arrived in Picking two years ago. and
has exerted sinister influence ever
since. The guarding" presently sig
nified the making of war on them.
The soldiers were related to the Boxers
as much as scorpions to grass-hoppcrs.
DEATH AND MISERY.
Between them the city was reduced
to an acute pitch of misery such as it
has never known since the arrival Of
foreigners. Many families were ex-
tinguished. and in others only one or
two out of eight or ten members re-
main alive. Hundreds of house .loors
are walled up entirely, which often
means that there is no one left. The
savages from the province of Kansu
who followed General Tung spelk a
s strange dialect almost unintelligible to
the Pekingese, but they have written
their names in blood. They are to the
Chinese In Picking what the Chaideans
from afar were to the ancient Jews.
"a hasty and a bitter people," The ruin
OF all Christian property has been men
toned. The followers of foreigners
were all called 'Maotzu" Those who
had traded with them or aided them in
any way were styled Erh- Maotzu, or
secondary devils, while those who were
related to such, or who helped them to
escape, were called San-Maotzu. or
tertiary devils, and all of every class
were liable to be plundered at sight.
With a base-line of this width 1t is
easy to see what sweep was included.
THE WEEK OF BURNING.
During the week of burning, the rel
atively few foreign houses by no
means sufficed to quench the unquench-
able thirst for places to loot and to de-
stroy. On some days one could count
six or eight distinct fires in different
quarters, the greatest of them al! being
the destructive confiagration outside
the Front Gate of the southern city
: where were situated the richest shops
and the most fiourishing trade of Pc
king The compradore of the Hong
kong and Shanghai Bank Chimselt af-
forwards killed as an rh-Maotzu")
estimated the loss in this fire alone as
five million pounds sterling! 1t is i'm
possible to say over how great an area
hIf q
are numerous and some of them large
A tract from the Russian and Ameri
i can Legations westward, many hun
dred yards wide and perhaps a quarter
of a mile long, shows no building
standing intact. A similar devastation
e Is seen to the north of the northern
gate of the Imperial city, and on {
smaller scale in multitudes Of othe
localities.
i. THE DEAD EVERYWHERE.
When 1t was once more possible TO
:. foreigners to traverse the streets of Pc
: king, the desolation which met the ey
was appalling. Dead bodies of soldier
lay singly or in heaps, in some in
stances covered with torn old mat
y but always prey to the now well-fe'
dead horses poisoned the air of ever
: region The huge pools of stagnan
! water were reeking with putrid corpse
of man and beast; lean cats stare
wildly at the passer-by from hole
, broken in the fronts of shops boastin
|, such signs as Perpetual Abundance,
IL Springs of Plenty" Ten Thousan
= Prosperities," and the oft quoted ak
r
{ a highway to the production O
l. wealth" One might read over the Goo
: Of place thrice looted, and lying in ut
ter ruin, the cheerful motto. "Peac
{ and Tranquility" For miles rpo
! miles of the busiest streets of tn
$ northern and southern city not a singl
! shop was open for business, and scarce
e ly group of persons was anywher
IT, to be seen.
AFFECT SUBMISSION.
The Boxer movement was distinct
,, anti-foreign, even foreign cloth, watch
II es, and matches being taboo. One, {
e the permanent notices everywhere :
. played on their flags were the Chimes
l. words for "Exterminate Foreigners
But the capital of the Chinese Empil
had no sooner been occupied and i
territory distributed for purposes
:, patrol among the several military cor
tingents represented, than the Chimes
i began to adapt themselves to the ne
- relations with the same ease Wi
d which water fits itself to the dish I'M
e which il is poured. The Japanese, hay
y ing the command of the Chinese wri
ten language, were the first to emit
this new field. and in three days tt
i whole city was inundated with lit
o, flags with a red disc in the middl
lie and thousands of doors began to
= ornamented with the legend: "Con
plant subjects of the Great Japane
- Nation" For some time 1t was con
- mon to meet Chinese with such flag
le the upper space blank. and only Il
re words complaint subjects inserte
pt the nation to which they gave in the
Of adherence being left to be- filed
g. iater7-a striking commentary on Il
y, patriotism of the Chinese. OF tt
men on the streets, eight would pro-
" ably be furnished with flags in chez
TT imitation only. and much the wor
d. for a heavy shower) Of different land
;, The advice so often given by Chine
H. to one another not TO sfollow foreig
e. ers" has, then, brought about this r
G. suit, probably unique in the histo