Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1901-05-23
CHINESE SIMPLICITY.
An Private Request Of
ner ChaHee at the Wall
OF Picking.

When Gen. Chaffee and his staff of
feers went to the gate that had been
discovered, passed through it and along
the inside OF the outer wall, / accom-
panied them, says a correspondent OF
the London Mail. None of the party
felt in the mood for levity, and ] re-
under a very Strong realization of the
danger of our position. We eventual
" discovered that the gate had but adj
mltted US to an outer court, which was
apparently between the outer wall and
an inner one of equal dimensions.
Consequently we had gained nothing
in matter of position by finding the
gate.
Before we had discovered all this,
however, and as we were still engaged
in exploring the court, those in adj
vance came upon a Chinese, IN the uni
form of a soldier, so suddenly as to
u tAem to wonder if he had not
sprung from the ground. His prox-
unity at the moment of the discovery
of his existence, the fact that he was
apparently unarmed, and the broad
and trustful grin which illumined his
co~untenance were all partly response
BILE for his escape from death. Had he
been first see at any distance, or had
he attempted to escape, he would cer-
tainly have been shot. Under the ex-
listing circumstances he very prob
ably owed his life to the presence of
the American commander in chief.
As the Americans advanced he pre-
SanfnA small Nrnn6on - HAT Trnnn
which we're several Chinese charac-
tiers. His evident anxiety that we
should not overlook this bit of unin-
telligibly inscribed wood caused us at
once to jump to the conclusion that
he was the bearer of a message from
"the city within a city within a city"
In other words, we thought: Here is
a man with a message from the pal
ace. Perhaps it is from the empress
dowager, or even the emperor him
self"
At that moment I saw the inter-
p%reterof the French general approach
ing. Knowing that he could speak
Chinese, / fastened toward him, and
explained the important find we had
made. The interpreter had come to
ask Gen. Chaffee if the French ar
tillery might shell the imperial city
towers from the Tartar City wall, fir
ing over the heads of the American
troops. Chaffee refused to entertain
such a proposition for a moment, but,
of course, that didn't stop the French.
In fact, Chaffee had to use all his we'll
known b~luntness and even employ dis
courteous and p~rofane language be-
fore the French shells ceased burst
ing within q few yards of the Amer
lean advance. But that is another
story.
The French interpreter was as
eager as / to see what was on the
placard. He, the soldier detailed to
guard the Chinese and myself formed
an anxious knot as the Frenchman
scanned the queer hieroglyphics. I
read disgust on his face before he had
finished, but he did not have an oppor-
tunity to speak before the Chinese
commenced an earnest and emphatic
harangue to the newcomer. Of course,
the Mongolian had tried the same
thing on all of US, but this was the
first time he vas understood. As he
finished, or rather slowed down after
the first squirt, Gen. Chaffee came up.
what about this fellow ?'' asked the
general.
"Why, sir" said the Interpreters,
with a sickly smile, "this is a Chinese
soldier. The board he carries testi-
fes to that fact, and in addition tells
who he is and to what body of troops
he is attached. He belongs TO a sort
of imperial guard. He says he was on
duty guarding that gate in the outer
wall, and left his post but for a mo-
ment, to find on his return that your
soldiers had entered in his absence.
is very anxious that 1 should ask
you to- go outside the gate at once,
he says no n is allowed in here,
and if his commander discovers that
he has neglected his duty and left his
post and gun he will be severely pun.
He also says that if you will
allow him to return to the gate he will
show you the order which forbids any
one to enter it" !
Well, we all laughed. One or two of
younger ones fairly howled. We
1idn't any of US feel gay, but no n
-O0A h~SP StAoASAb 4dSC III Lie pres
of such amazing simplicity. Even
general smiled and grunted, which
s as near as he ever comes to a laugh. |
There was hat innocent idiot of a
Chinese soldier actually asking his
enemies, who were even then unde- !
,ided whether to put an end to him
send him to the rear as a prisoner, |
go put of the imperial city because
MS commanding officer would punish
him for letting us in! And when one
kinks of the American casualties
hat were piled up before that day was
,ver, and the Chinese dead that were
scattered yer that stubbornly con
ested ground, the gate keepers un-
request seems still more ludi-
,rous.
The last I saw of him he was vainly
.ndeavoring to make up his mind
70 stop and e~xpostulate with
he American soldier whose hold on
lis pigtail was too secure for comfort,
to go on resignedly in the face of
he anticipated severity of his pun
when he should be called to
for his abandonment of his
Iost.
One of Natures workshops.
In an island in the Lake of Bombon
) the remarkable Taal volcano, which
readily accessible from Manila. It's