The age-herald., 1900-07-29
CHINESE PUZZLE
 HARD TO SOLVE Washington Thinks of Little Else
 Just Now. MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS Some Are Inclined to Accept the Con ger Messages as Genuine, While Others Stoutly Proclaim
 Them Chinese Fakes
MANY DIFFERENT OPINIONS
BY ALBERT HALsTEAD

BY ALBERT HALSTEAD
 Washington July 2S.-(Special)-W ton thinks of little else than the Chinese situation. On all sides the question of the fate of the foreigners in Pekin is discussed and various theories and opinions are pre- scented and warmly debated. The opinion that prevails most generally is that the ministers are dead, having been massacred some time after July 4, when the last mes- sage from Conger that is accepted as au- thentic, the one forwarded by Captain Thomas of the navy from Taku, was writ ten.
 There are certainly many reasons for this opinion. The silence of the ministers Is an especially strong argument for that be- lief, while the numerous stories of their being massacred and the belief in Chinese mendacity and duplicity strengthen this view with those who held it.
 In considering this question it must be news of an official kind, whether it comes from Chinese sources or from Hart, the director of Chinese customs or from Sir Claude Macdonald, the British minister at Pekin or from Minister Conger in the ac- cepted dispatch of July 1, or in the doubted one of July IS is to the effect that the for eigners were safe the date of this off, cfal news
 The only official news of the death of any foreigner tells of the murder of the Japanese secretary and of Baron Won Ket- teler, the German ambassador.
 From Chinese sources
 The story of massacre comes from Chi nese sources, from rumors, all of them emanating from Shanghai, a city seven hundred miles from Pekin as the crow flies, without railroad communication of any kind whatever and without telegraph com muncation, the center of many false rumors, where they no really accredit- ed newspaper correspondents. As far as reliability is concerned one might as we'll hear from Cincinnati what was the condi- tion of affairs in New York if there were no railways and no telegraph.
 Not one word of officials news from any source has told of the death of the foreign ministers. Place that against the news from Hart, from Mcdonald of the 4th inst or from Conger of the 4th, with the alleged Conger dispatch of the 2Sth and the sev- eral assurances from Chinese viceroys and Teotais Then consider the Conger dispatch said to have been written the 18th. What Is the history of it? Secretary Hay ex- pressed to Minister Wu anxiety to hear
 
 dispatch through. Hay prepared a very brief dispatch in cipher and gave it to Wu. It specifically asked for answer in cipher. Wu sent the dispatch to China. Of that there is not the slightest doubt. Nine days after Wu received a dispatch from China in the Chinese cipher and in the body of it was the Conger message in the State Department cipher
 That such a dispatch was received Is known beyond the shadow of a doubt. Wu himself certainly did not manufacture it. Wu went to Secretary Hay and gave him the translation of his dispatch with the Conger dispatch in cipher. Now it must be remembered that at Minister Wus own suggestion the Secretary of State cabled Conger in cipher. He also asked for an answer in cipher.
 It Came In Cipher
 It came in cipher. Secretary Hay made public paraphrase of the Conger message He could not give an exact translation for fear of giving away the State Department cipher. He stated emphatically that the dispatch contained in itself evidence of its genutneness. He said from it's contents it was his belief it was not an old dispatch. But the assertion Is made that the Conger dispatch Is an old one, some hold 1t may have been written on the same day as the dispatch of the 4th and that Conger sent one to Shanghai and one to Taku, hoping
 
 But why, the question is asked, did Con- ger write one in cipher and the other not in cipher for had the dispatch of July transmitted by Thomas been in cipher he could not have translated 1t, and 1t came translated to the Navy Department How did 1t happen that the dispatch to Shanghai, the one that was forwarded through Minis ter Wu, was in cipher? Why was 1t not the one to Taku? It Is said that because one of the State Department cipher books was missing several years ago, and at that time 1t was suspected that it had gotten into Chinese hands The Chinese either "faked" the Conger dispatch of the 18th OF used an old dispatch that Conger had tried to get through, choosing one that read as if 1t would best suit the inquires of the Ameri- can government.
 It Is undoubtedly true that the State De- partment cipher book was lost some gears ago. Probably several have been mislaid since, but on the other hand the depart ment changes the key to the cipher code very frequently, sometimes as often as cree a month and that when the key is changed no one, even with the code in his hand, can decipher a code written message This fact would seem to injure the theory that the Chinese government either 'faked' the Conger dispatch of the 18th or knew its contents. Still, they might have sent a delayed dispatch, but Secretary Hay, know Ing exactly what the question he asked was, anu SeelnS lIe answer n1mSelf, said it was genuine and answered his inquiry.
 Why Didn't He DateIt
 People want to know why Conger did not date it and. did not speak more fully. But he was under a great strain, confined in the small British concession, writing has, tly and in imminent danger of his life. At such time it is hardly natural to SUD- pose he could have written fully or thought of saying anything beyond direct answer to inquiries made. The answer that is ex- pected from the dispatch sent by Secretary Hay on Sunday through Minister Wu will If 1t ever comes, answer directly certain catch questions that are expected to prove the genuineness of the dispatch and give the exact date 1t was written.
 Another interesting feature of this Chi nese puzzle is the fact that no one dis credits the Conger dispatch of the 4th re- ceived in Washington on the 18th. Captain Thomas does not say who brought 1t to him. It Is in plain writing and though identical in many things with the dispa tch alleged to have been written by Conger on f for otrtI