New-York tribune., 1901-04-28
CHINESE SIMPLICITY.
AN INNOCENT PRIVATES REQUEST OF
GENERAL CHAFFEE AT THE WALL.
OF PEKING.
From The London News.

| From The London News
| When General Chaee and his staff officers went
! 10 the gate that had been dscoyered pass911 s,s1i
| / accompanied them. None of the party felt in the
the danger of position. We eventually discov
court which apparently between the cater
wall and an inner one OF equal dmensons Of oosi
Before we had discovered all this however. and
| those in advance came upon a Chinese. in the unI
10 WoDde9 Ul if he had not sprung from the groa
His proximity at the moment OF the discovery
armed and the broad and trustful grin viii
his sIn St wGTe AL Hdd pdrs b beeh fir
seen at any distance. had he attempted to es
the existing circumstances he very probably owed
his life to the presence of the American command
AS the Americans advanced ne presented a small
tablet Ills upon eTent nSety that We should
not overlook this BIZ OF gnln1eis&ibS & Io inSiItpeu
city within city within city, In other words
We thought Here is man with Inessase from rom
the palace. Perhaps it is from the Empress DOW
AT moment 1 saw the Interpreter OF the
French general approaching Knowing that N; ne
explained the important find We had made me
INTERPRETER mad come to ask General ;I CneS ti+ IL
the French artillery might shell the iinpeIlaI City
towers from the Tartar City wall firing over the
heads of the American troops. Chafee refused TO
entertain such a proposition for a moment but.
of course that didn't stop the French In fact.
and even employ discourteOuS and prOfane Ian
guage before the French shells ceased bursting
within few yards of the American advance but
that is another story
The French interpreter eager as / to see
what was on the placard. He the soldier detailed
guard the Chinese and myself formed an & anx-
ious knot the Frcncnman Scannei the queer
hieroslyphcs ! read disgust on his face before before
unity % before the Chinese commenced an I
earnest and emphatic harangue 10 the newcomer
OF course. the Mongolian had tried the same thi"'
on all of US. but this the first time ne was
understood. As he finished. or rather slowed down
after the first squirt General Chaffee came up
what about this fellow asked the general
Why. sir said the Interpreter. with a sckly
carries teStieS fact and in addition tells
who he is and what body of troops he is a.
tached He belongs to a sort OF Imperial guar.
H.. saws ne was an duty guarding that gate
the outer wall. and left his post but for momen'
ind his return that your soldiers naI ehtert %
in his absence. He IL very anxious that shouIC
Sll YOU outside the gate at once. for ne says
10 one is allowed IN here anu II IL ms @ Ift
discovers that he has neSected MS duty ana leIt
his post and gun hc will be severely punlShed- he
also says th't if you Will allow him TO return 10
tho gate ne will show YOU the order which forbiCS
Well we ali laughed. One or two of the younger
fairly hOwled- We didn't any or US Ieei gay.
could keep a straight face in the pres
.nc, nj such amazing simplicity. Even the gem
crdl smiled and srunted %hlch Is as near as ne
ever comes a laugh There was that innocent
il Iiot of Chinese soldier actually asking his enc
mics. who even then undecided whether 10
nut an rrd 20 him send him to the rear as "A
prisoner to 20 out of the Imperial City because
his commanding officer would punish him for let
tin us in, And when one thinks of the American
casualties that We're piled up before that day was
over that StuhhornIy contested ground. the gate
unusual request seems still more ludicrOuS
The last | saw of him he vanly endeavOring
To make up mis- mind whether to stop and expOStu-
late with the American soldier whose hold on his
sisuedv he face of the anticipated severity OF
his 9unishm. M when he should be called to ac-
count for his abandonment of his post