Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-04-27

ago today, the tsung-li-yamen sent the
foreign ministers word hat as the ad-
nirals at Taku had notified the viceroy
Of Chilli through the French consul II
he opposed troops landing in any re-
quired numbers they would take the
Taku forts, and as this was really a
declaration OF war, the foreign minis
.ers were thereby requested to leave
Picking one and all within tw~enty-four
hours and proceed to Tien Tsin en-
route to their respective countries. A
Chinese escort for them was to be pro-
vided by the Chinese government. AS
the railroad had already been de-
stroyed all the way TO Tien Tsin and
the intended relief corps under Admiral
Seymour and Captain McCalla had
been driven back without being able
TO reach us, n as we knew the coun-
try between Picking and Tien Tsin was
filled with thousands Of Boxers n
hostile soldiers, IL seemed patent to the
most simple Intellect that to "a the
protection Of u legation walls was to
invite massacre. But the intensely
dense ministers. SiraA2aude Macdonald,
+. III. Conger. M. de fGiers. M. Pichon
and others. all excepting Baron Won
Ketteler, the German minister. actually
agreed TO proceed to Tien Tsin on the
morrow with all their nationals, pro-
viding only that the Chinese govern
ment would furnish transportation.
The military officers all declared this
would mean the massacre Of the entire
community.
The ministers, however, would GER
tainly nave had us all thus m~assacred
had not the unfortunate Baron von
Ketteler been murdered the next morn
ing by the Chinese troops while pro-
I caa6inR m tha QlnD-Ii-V va man IN com
suit about details. He rode as Is GUS
tomary to the tsung-li-yamen from his
legation In a sedan chair. When pass
Ing the entrance OF Tsung Pu street,
just below the yamen, he was fired
upon by q body OF Manchu troops of
Young Lu pom the command of a
lieutenant with q white button and
was MORALLY wounded. His secretary
interpreter, Mr.. Corder, who accom-
panied him, was also badly wounded
by the volley, but aided by some
friendly natives escaped to the Method
list mission near Legation street, where
after having his wounds dressed he
was sent on to his legation. The horse
coolie had galloped back to the lega-
ton. The folly of trusting our lives
to the Chinese escort was thus made
clear, and the foreign ministers, dense
as they were, could not but realize that
TO trust themselves and their families
to the lender mercies Of the rufflans
who would be appointed to escort and
murder them and us would be lunacy
to a degree hat even they were not
yet arrived at.
l had In company Of the correspond
ent OF the London Times early In the
morning Of the goth OF June In the most
emphatic language represented the
true state Of the case to Minister Con-
ger, only to be met with the cold reply
as he turned away after listening to
US, II don't agree with you" But on
receipt OF the news of Ketteler's death,
a few moments later, the United States
minister Changed his mind" and re-
l~uctantly admitted IL would be impossi-
BILE to go to Tien Tsin, and that we
must try to defend ourselves In Pek-
ing until a large relief force could ar
rive to rescue us. Hasty preparations
were then made to sem all the women
and children into the English legation,
which was the largest OF all the lega-
lions as well as the strongest, from
which to make final stand. In a few
hours after the news Of Won Ketteler's
murder a steady stream of men, women
and children, carrying bundles, buckets
and trunks could have been seen pour
ing into the main gate of the British
legation, all with anxious faces. Carts,
too, loaded with provisions from the
three foreign stores were making the
best use of the time in transferring all
the available eatables and drinkables
within the protection Of the legation
walls. AS the t~wenty-four hours grant
ed us in which to clear out expired at
4 p. m, all used their entire energy as
well as that of the coolies 1T their dis
posal, so that promptly at 4 p. m, when
the Chinese opened fire upon us from
all sides, provisions enough to last us
several months were safely under shell
ter.
AT 4 o'clock on the afternoon of June
20. 1900, all the foreign women and
children and nearly all of the civil
ians OF Picking n vicinity, includ-
Ing the customs staff and the mission
airy body had taken refuge In the Brit
ish legation. 1t was surprising to ev-
eryone to find that in the time that
had elapsed since the arrival OF the
British marines. May 81, no barricades
had been erected, no trenches dug, nor
any attention paid whatever to rem
dering the place better able to stand
a siege. In talking with one of the
British %sergeants and commenting up
on this utter neglect, he informed Inc
that Captain Halliday had a few days
DeIOTe dtteIIlplcu W lHlpEONlSc BOIlle
barriers by means of dry goods boxes
filed with earth, but had been so
laughed at and snubbed by Captain
Strouts and Wray, British officers,
hat he had given up the attempt. Sir
Claude Macdonald, the British minis
ter, who Is an eN-major In the army,
and should have instructed in this
very important duty, was equally with
the marine officers culpably silent.
II. - ~ HAtantA wtAa
no sooner arrived, than they formed
committees on fertilization. sanitation,
food, etc, and set actively to work.
And TO them belongs, as every one
agrees, the credit of placing the lega-
ton in a defensible condition. To Mr..
+. ID. Gamewell OF the American Meth
odist mission, more than to any 9TH
er one man, is due the success that has
attended our defense. His energy was
simply extraordinary. From morning
until night he was to be seen super
intending the filing of ~sandbags. tear
ing down Of houses cdjoining our walls
that might serve as cover to the enc
my, building OF barbados and
strengthening of walls. from the tim
bers and brick so obtained, making
~loopholes for firing through at the
proper places and doing, In fact, ev-
erything that could nave been done
by an army engineer Of experience.
All the time, too, under a calling rifle
fire from the outside Chinese army I'M
der the command OF the Kansu ruffian,
General Tung Flu Hsiang. All the
Chinese coolies. servants, cooks and
retainers Of the foreigners. to the num-
Der of over 1000, were enrolled, given
q badge sewed to their arm sleeves,
declaring their Identity, and hours
fixed for their employment on public
works for general defense.
Latrines and garbage tanks were ar
ranged and the place put under proper
sanitary regulation. supervised by Drs.
Coltman, Lowry and Inglis.
A hospital was equipped under Drs.
Velde and Poole and a trained nurse
corps installed, consisting Of several
nurses. The Holland and Belgian lega-