Evening star., 1900-12-10
Departure Of the International Ex-
pedition.
TRAIL LEFT BY 4 VANDAL BAND
Destruction of Temples and Desc
Grafton of Tombs.
THE THIRST FOR LOOT
pecial Correspondence of The Evening Star.

cApeuiAioH Bot away cH us Lndrcn OF SeV-
enty-five or eighty miles.
All sorts of reasons have been advanced
for the going of the expedition. Pao-ting-
fu was the place where a good many mis-
sionaries were killed 1t has been regarded
as a hotbed of rebellion. Native Chinese
spies. in the employ of the powers-and no
more ornate liars than these same native
spies can be imagined-have been bringing
In all sorts Of hair ir-raising tales. Thousands
and thousands of Chinese soldiers have been
massing at Pao-ting-fu. More missionaries
have been captured and sent there for ex-
ecution. Pao-ting-fu is to be the capital Of
new, upstart dynasty, with a sovereign
sprung from the Boxers. 1t is even ru-
mored that Prince Tuan did a circuitous
sprint and reached Pao-ting-fu.
Just how much OF this variegated nom
sense the international generals have be-.
heved 1t would be hard to say. Outside Of
the American and English generals here
none Of the commanders believe in talking
to correspondents
In Pekin today there Is a very well-de-
fined suspicion among the junior officers
of all commands that the Pao-ting-fu ex-
pedition is in reality a strategic movement
against Singan-fu. This means that the
Pao-ting-fu procession has some hopes of
capturing the imperial family and suite.
Whatever the plans hopes or opinions Of
the commanders may be, there Is little no.
ton among the best-informed people here
that any move will succeed that has for it's
object the capture of the imperial family ct
al. The empress dowager and her follow
Ing have proved themselves the best sprint
ers in the world. If the soldiers go two
hundred miles after them the fugitives will
snow a record of two hundred and fifty
miles in the same time.
But the expedition Is away. It started
out several days ago. The force was made
up of British, French Germans and a small
q Ito1i
ing there. There was not the slightest at
tempt at secrecy about the start Of the
march. AS Chinese coolies, on pretense of
looking for work. hang about the different
camps all the time there is hardly any rea-
son Tor supposing that wherever the COL
umn goes 1t Will achieve anything like the
surprise that Is supposed to be inseparable
from successful military movements.
Some of the troops started from Tien
Is1n, the main body going from Pekin
On the route OF the latter body of troops
the first village reached was Pa-li-chang.
This might be called one Of the geograph: cal
landmarks. since the name of this little
place, when translated, means "the village
of eight H." AS it takes about three I'll"
to make one OF our miles the reader will
be able to figure with fair accuracy 9bout
how far on the line of march this place is
The Modern Vandals.
Small the village is, it has been
famous for countless generations for the
magnificent temple. The other was
please note that 1 write "was"-a beautiful
thirteen-story pagoda. Just after the cap
ture of Pekin an expedition of Russians
and English went out through the nearby
towns on a search for Boxers. Failing to
find any Of the enemy at Pa-li-chang, they
took it into their heads to wreck the great
White pagoda. 1t was, purely and simply,
piece of vandalism of the kind of which
we would expect no one but an oriental
to be guilty. There is but stump of the
pagoda standing. 1t was Of the land
marks that the Chinese venerated. Every
time they look upon the ruin of their splen-
did pagoda in these days they will think
devilish ways. Such military atrocities as
these are numbered among the acts that
will render the Chinese peculiarly hard to
deal with in that remote day when our
diplomats and those Of China settle down
to the real work of arranging redress.
The temple Of Pa-li-chang still stands.
though why it does must be classed as
mystery.
There was a halt at this village, but it
did not last long. After hours of tramp
Ing over a road that was sadly in want of
repair the column came to one Of the
greatest wonders of China. the bridge that
crosses the River Hun at a distance of
about fifteen miles from Pekin. Though
this bridge has never been mentioned
among the wonders of the world, it is fair
ly entitled to place In that marvel cate
gerry 1t was built in the third century be-
fore the advent of the Savior.
Shih Huang TT, the emperor who built the
great wall of China-by proxy, of course.
was the emperor who was also responsible
for the construction of this marvellous
bridge. Much Of the material needed for
the great wall had to be started from
Pekin. AS it would take more than one
lifetime to get all his material across the
river on the junks and RATS Of that period
the imperial Shih was advised by the en-
gineers of that time to throw some kind
of a road across the Hun. The bridge was
therefore. built, and after that the freight
line to the great wall was in active opera
ton.
Though this bridge was built in the
wonder to Marco Polo when he made the
first white mans exploration of China in
the thirteenth century. In his writings OF
his travels he dwells upon this bridge with
a good deal of wonder. 1t was then, as
now, one Of the finest specimens Of bridge
building known to history. In that day
and in the present there was and is the
same balustrade of white marble. and the
same perfect paving of huge stone blocks.
The ancient city Of Pekin stood at the
east end Of this bridge. A few above
ground traces of old Pekin are still visible
near the east end Of the bridge. When the
Mongois captured China in A. D. 1920 they
decided that the demands Of luck indicat-
ed a new site for the capital and there
fore the present Pekin was surveyed, laid
out and built.
And at this point there Is curious con-
tyast between old China and the modern
rest Of the world. Not far from this old
bridge over the Hun Is a new. modern, iron
structure built by the railway people who
brought their superior knowledge from
Europe. This new bridge Is good enough in
its way, but 1t does not compare with the
work performed under the orders Of the
Emperor Shih 1000 years ago. The old
bridge is capable of doing work for man.
kind for at least 1900 years to come.
The Scene of n Former Fight.
Crossing over the bridge to its west end
the Pao-ting-fu column reached the village
where the Belgian engineers had their IA
nous stand-off fight with the Boxers in the
days Immediately preceding the siege of
Pekin.
Here the first days march ended. In the
ruins Of the railway depot some Of the
troops camped. The remainder distributed
themselves among the buildings that had
been left standing by the Boxers, who had
visited and incidentally more than half de-
stroyed the place.
Never did a place present a more COM
plete picture of desolation and emptiness
What Shall We