Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-03
Genuineness Of His Cipher Message
Established.
CONSUL FOWLER saw THE ORIGINAL
It Was Signed and Dated by the
Minister.
CALLS, SEEKING NEWS

Fowler AT CneIOO, apparently removing ali
doubt as to the authenticity of the famous
cipher Conger dispatch which excited the
derision and scorn Of nearly all Europe
persons in this country.
Consul Fowler's dispatch is dated at
night on the I'd of August stating that
when he learned from the Shanghai
papers that doubts were entertained of the
genuineness of the Conger cipher telegram
he wired on the 9th to the governor of
Shan-tung to send him the original by
courier. The governor at once complied
with his request, sending special post
man, who, by travelling night and day for
five days, made the journey, which in ord-
nary times would have required twelve
days. He delivered to Mr.. Fowler the
original Of the Conger cipher dispatch. 1t Is
signed by Mr.. Conger and dated the 18th Of
July. 1t is precisely the same as the message
received at the State Department, with sew
eral words prefixed which came In an unin-
telligible form to the Chinese legation here.
The dispatch in its complete form says that
the members Of the American legation had
been besieged for month in the British
legation. Mr.. Fowler says he has no doubt
Of the genuineness of the dispatch
Interesting Facts Brought to Light.
Some interesting facts connected with the
original cipher message have been brought
to light by Mr.. Fowler's report. 1t appears
that when Minister WI received the cipher
message. about the 21st instant, he found
that it contained cipher within a cipher.
The governor of Shantung Yuan. trans
mitted with the message a message from
the tsung Ii yamen. which, in turn, trans
mitted Mr. Conger's message. The latter
n he Ctlt Ilar, rf, oat,t s.irha he
former in the Chinese official cipher. When
Mr.. Wu, deciphering the message, reached
the end of the tsung Ii yamens message of
transmittal he was unaware Of that fact
and thought that the several groups Of
figures following were a portion of the
tsung Ii yamen's message. AS matter of
fact they We're the initial words of Mr..
Conger's message and they were undec-
pherable by Mr.. WI because they were in
the State Department cipher. So. instead
Of beginning: "In British legation, etc.
Mr.. Conger's message really began-"We
have been for month in the British lega-
ton, etc
Another fact developed is that the mes
sage was signed ''E. II. Conger, July II
This effectually disposes Of the most SER
ious doubt that had been entertained re-
garding the Conger message, namely, its
date. Many persons had supposed that
while the message was genuine it was one
written by Mr.. Conger long before and at
the beginning of the siege, and that it had
been fraudulently dated by the Chinese
officials Now it appears that the tsung Ii
yamen, or Yuan, did date 1t the 18th. 1t is
thought that this date was accurate move
over and that while Mr.. Conger actually
wrote his dispatch on the 18th and put 1t in
oir tr. sion the first
opportunity, the message did not really
leave Pekin until the following day. These
developments have done much to rehabili-
tate the Chinese officials in the estimation
of some officials who have heretofore been
very skeptical as to their integrity in con-
nection with the transmission of these off1-
cial messages.
The Chinese Minister Calls.
The news situation this morning, so far
as the Chinese legation was concerned. re-
mained unchanged. The absence OF the
Chinese minister from the State Depart
ment yesterday, in spite of the fact that
1t was diplomatic day, taken in conjunction
with the exceedingly sharp note of Secre-
tary Hay which the State Department
made public yesterday, was the subject OF
some speculation. Minister WI had ex-
planned his absence from the department on
the ground tnat he had no news to COM
municate. Consequently his appearance at
the department this morning was awaited
with considerable interest. The minister
came in the course of the morning. imper-
turbable as usual. He announced thai he
had absolutely no news from China, and
had come to the department simply to see
If Secretary Hay was any better off. lis
interview with the Secretary was exceed
ingly brief, the shortest, in fact, in the
whole course of the present excitement.
The German ambassador also called ut
the State Department in quest of informa-
ton, having, as he said. no news himself.
An Old Offer.
In connection with the cabled statement
from London this morning that England
had rendered Japan financial assistance In
her Chinese campaign 1t can be stated with
authority that this offer was made many
weeks ago and declined at that time by
Japan in the same friendly spirit that it
was made. 1t is well understood that
Japan, while a prosperous and progressive
country, is not over rich in actual treasury
assets Taxation is quite light and the leg
islative body Is quite as jealous of any eX-
pansion in the annual budget as Is Congress
in its most economical moods. Consequent
ly, in spite of the potential wealth of the
country, Japan Is not burdened with a large
available cash balance.
The offer of England to lend her finan-
cial assistance in the present emergency
was well timed, but 1t Is understood that
Japan replied that all her financial ar
rangements for the campaign had already
been consummated and she was prepared
to do her part without outside assistance
The japanese Army.
As a matter of fact, the Japanese army
even on a peace footing is a powerful in
stitution, numbering 142, GOO men, and is
particularly well adapted to the exigencies
of a Chinese campaign. The soldiers are
much the same type as the Ghurkas those
wtry little hill men who are the backbone
of Great Britain's native Indian troops
They live largely on rice compressed in
balls, with little meat, and a sufficiency
of condiments, that the regular army
ration Is almost as compact as the emer-
gency ration, which is now q feature of
the commissarfat in all modern armies
The Japs can carry a relatively immense
amount of provender ON their persons with
out aid Of wagon transportation. There
fore the advent of the full complement OF
Japanese troops in China Is one of the
things looked forward to with great in
terest by all of the other powers interested