Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-01-03

PEKIN'S DtSOLATION
Havoc Wrought in the Ancient Chi
nese gapDal.
Z u
SVARMS OF Wild DOGS EXIST
Vandalism of the Bozers in the Inn
s e,
perial City.
FIRES FEA RETTT WODH
FEARFUL
FIRES
WORK
Copyright. 19O1.)

the pause granted by the diplomats Civ
pussy newspaper men time to really lool
about. We all begin to realize the desola tior
that has come upon Pekn the metropoli.
OF China, the capital of the empire.
For hundreds Of years this city has beer
one or the greatest and certainly the mos
unique In the world. In its own classes OF
fortifcatfon and architecture this old Chi
nese city was little short of marvellous
For the same number of hundreds of wear.
the great. queer old place had gone on alons
the same lines. Never before had such de-
struction and such panic visited here as arc
now apparent. The streets I'D to a few
months ago, fairly teemed with business
lhere was greater number Of merchants
mere ana more kinds of merchandise dis
played than anywhere else on the globe.
Bankers, too. throve for they directed
here, the finances Of almost a third of the
| worlds population. Barter and nepotia tir N
made the air fairly hum. Now ali is still.
Ihere are some bankers. of course but
"a th more merchants. yet whole sections
! OF the city are practically abandoned Per
| maps, now that the weather is becoming
coi1; II Is better that this should be SO for
S na1i ana nre nave done their work and
| Fehin cannot shelter as many by some hun-
dreds of thousands of people. as if once
| did t'' q" ~ oHce
One kind of population remains az prea+
az ever l refer to the wild dogs, who roam
the streets as they always did Ever sinca
| the knowledge of the civilized world hepan
adoncerning this great yellow city the Wild
e,sn i in oeen vastly more numerous than
even IN the cur-intested city of Constant.
nope. Great. gaunt, wolf-like animals RIM
about here, living in the most democratin
r ,ao Wlth all sorts of smaller and still
more cuf-ike CANNES. All these dogs ara
great thieves Hunger has often temnteG
mem 10 make half-hearted attacks on hu-
| man beings. " o
| The Pekin Cur
| But the Pekin cur is a great coward
He never fights except when the odds .re
| greatly in his favor. Before the Roxer ont
| break missionaries and other white resi-
dents always went about carving stont
canes as means of defense apainst tho
dogs.
Nowadays the soldiers have q better
method Of defense against these hungry
pests. Whenever dog comes within range
the troopers raise their rifles and shoot
bul these dogs are as tricky as foxes. The
mere CLINT of a rifle they can See blocks
away The sight is sufficient to drive them
to cover. Where they go no man can saw
but they vanish at the first note Of alarm
"A Grove or these wild, hungry beasts comes
racing down a street. If a rifle is thrust
through a window and shot is fired the
entire drove Immediately disappears. It
may be hours before the same drove is
seen again.
Yet when l speak of hungry dogs 1t would
be best to qualify that statement by saw
ing that in most eases they are hungry
only on principle Since the fall of Pekin
many have fattened in the most disgusting
way. These animals have always been toll
Grated in Pekin for much the same rea son
that they have been permitted to flourish
in Constantinople. They are scayenpars
and their instincts~in this line are no more
refined than those of the hyena Ever
since hunger, epidemic and the quick tenn
pers of the soldiers belonging to the allied
army began to pile up the mortality rec
ora among the natives these dogs ha cd
largely on human flesh.
Atrocious as 1t may seem, Cinnamon have
grown to appreciate these more than
they ever did before. Dogs fattened from
scavenging make better meat, according to
the native idea than animals that are
slowly dying from hunger. 1t takes
Chinaman to catch of these dogs The
yellow man will prepare trap with all
the patience and cunning Of a small boy.
He will bait it and watch for hours. Some
prowling cur comes around. shifts the bait
and makes for it. The beast is caught, and
inside of an hour bangles from the BAN
boo pole of some itinerant peddler of meat
The dogs eat the Chinese; Chinese eat the
dogs. 1t is nauseating form of indirect
cannlbal1Sm, but your yellow man is not
particular.
Savage and hungry as these dogs are,
and ferocious as they would like to seem, |
they are, like the Chinese themselves YER |
table towards. A hungry American dog, |
not above feasting his own species |
would ask nothing better than to be turned |
loose in the streets Of Pekn. He would |
have things all his own way and feast on |
anything canine he saw and wanted. The only |
American dogs here are a few that came |
over with the troops. The other day 1 |
willed bulldog -fed on the best that the
company rations offered, turn a street cor
ner and run plump into pack Of these
wild Chinese dogs.
Bulldogs Pluck.
In an instant the lot sprang at him. Mr..
Bulldog had his business end at the fore.
The first wild dog to reach him fell back
on the dirt with the spine bitten through
near his neck. Other animals flew at The
mascot. 1t looked like such an unfair con-
test that 1 felt inclined to rush to the
rescue of my canine countryman. l ON
glad now that l didn't, for, by keeping in
the background. 1 witnessed some Of the
best sport that ever happened.
The air was loud with mongrel yelps and
growls. Mr.. Bulldog was doing little
quiet talking himself. though his cultural
re marks were audible for the distance Of
fifty ours. he failed to retreat an inch.
Neither did he advance. The spot on which
he was standing appeared to suit him per-
fectly. Every time mongrel came within
reach he snapped at the unfortunate ami
NAL. The click Of jaws was sometimes
audible over the growls and howls With
less odds against him this mascot might
have seized some of his enemies by the
throat. Under the circumstances he did
nothing of the sort, but snatched each
close-at-hand foe just at the back of the
neck. 1t seemed to take less than second.
Before the first minutesw&s; over Mr.. Bun
dog was forced to junP, over the bodies of
several Of the slain m order to get him.
self into a position fofi nere work.
Driven to desperatioll,i the assailants re-
sorted to strategy. stfyhi1sf most of them
to assail hin, from the front, a
lalt a dozen darted Back of him. Amid
much snarling they FASTENED their teeth in
MS TANKS. At this point it again seemed
necessary for me to 50 tsti the aid Of the
mascot. But Mr.. Rplldag, beyond inn
patient twists OF hiS, hing quarters. did
nothing to show thatIIhe felt this rear at
ack He was still bHsy vi the other end
If his spinal column..iD Not ionly busy but
n hand. e5sis
Once in a while off 81 the ours hap
,ened to escape 'front.' 'MredBuldogs teeth ,
without fatal injury. AS often as this ,
the wounded bAft lucky beast
lunk away to the reaf, ard. once through
he pack Of his comrades, went yelping {
lCwn the street. ssv
Again the number of slain or helpless
ldversaries made such pile that Mr.. |
Bulldog was forced to jump over them I
md leap forward. His enemies retreated l
Except those hanging on at his rear who |
ldvanced with him. As the number of the /
ffacfiva loas he hos, l 4