Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1901-02-08
SHUT UP IN PEKING.

| lazy Co0ole-SmltnB story Oh tAe steSe ~
| b Published m Book Form.
There came q present from the dow
ager empress which looked fairly like
mama rained down from heaven upon
AZ. Il was q present OF mules and
Aorses, ostensibly to help us to escape,
but In reality only to assist In our
capture by the Boxers. With tho
Aorses and mules came large sacks OF
aour which, happily. were ordered to
bs Arst examined by chemist in the
legation. Two of these sacks were
found to be absolutely good, but every
one Of the rest was mixed with horrt-
bic poisons. From the Picking Diary
81 Miss Mary Condit- Smith.
The diary of Miss Mary Condit-
Smith, written during the terrible
Diege of Picking, while she was await
Ing her fate INSIDE the British legation,
Ii to be published In book form. A
New York publishing house has paid
her $4,000 for her Journal of those
Agonizing days, and 1t will soon issue
from the press.
| Between now and the date set for
her marriage to Lieutenant Hooker OF
the marine corps, February u, Miss
Condit-Smith will 60 to New York for
. conference with her publishers, in
order to strike out such matters as
are 80 personal in nature that they
cannot be printed In the book.
Since her return from the Orient,
Miss Condit-Smith has refused to be
Interviewed regarding her experiences,
but some of her friends have been per-
mitted to hear her story from the
pages of her diary and from her own
lips, and some of the most thrilling
parts of her narrative as 1t will appear
In book form are herewith appended:
I'VE grow to be horribly expert in
pistol practice. Every woman in the
legation was provided with pistol
and the vital spots where q well-di-
rected bullet would kill instantly were
pointed out to her. Four hours every
day we practiced target shooting, and
most horrible of all. firing with blank
cartridges at ourselves In order to
steady our nerves and accustom us to
the use and sound of pistols In such
near proximity, for our instructions In
this respect were most rigid.
AT sight of the first Boxer scaling
the wall or forcing the gates of the
legation, we were to place the muzzle
In the mouth and blow off the head.
Should any woman's courage fail her.
the men in the legation down to the
lowest were solemnly pledged to in
stantly shoot the women until not one
should be left alive, when the Boxers
took possession Of the place.
-Four days and nights together not
. soul in the legation dared to sleep,
but stood ready at any moment to use
the pistols in our hands, which, tired
Is they were, never once relaxed theii
hold upon the weapon Of death.
"On one never to be forgotten occa-
sion we were lined up with the men in
Q solid line in front Of us, for it was
momentarily expected that the Boxers
would gain possession.
AFTER the extreme tension Of such
times would be temporarily relaxed.
there was left In us an appreciation OF
certain comicalities over which we
actually laughed. And that, too, with
shot and shell hurting through the
very air about VI.
II remember on one occasion how
Mrs. Conger made us laugh by saying
that she actually, all through the
siege, was more afraid Of her husband
than any Boxer who was ever born,
for Mr.. Conger was in such an over.
wrought condition she was MORALLY
afraid he might shoot he dead on
some false alarm.
III anything could have been worse
than this, standing pistol In hand
ready to blow out ones brains at any
moment, 1t was to witness the suffer.
ings and starvation of the poor child.
rem huddled in the legation, but to die
for lack of GOOD.
1.-THE positive heroism of some Of
those children in trying to distract the
attention of the starving ones from
their pitiable condition and give them
heart to live through the awful expert.
ence is beyond anything that was ever
written. No pen can ever properly dc
justice to these children Of the lega'
ton.
ION one occasion one of the officers
came to me, holding out his sword,
reeking width Boxer blood, and, giving
1t into my hands. told me to use it fol
IL OWh uCoSA uCSiVA uPOA ehC AZ % AA-
slant of hearing the signal, which was
then momentarily expected.
There was not many idle moments.
for the aspirations of every woman
was to held and encourage the men
who were defending us. In many
ways we could do this. One Of the
most powerful was in sewing large
bags, which were then filled with dirt
to be used az breast works. For thii
purpose every portiere hanging within
the walls of the embassy was only toe
willingly sacrificed. Then there camt
q time when the supply was exhausted
and we were at our wits end to know
where to turn in this emergency, FOL
the cry kept coming for more bags.
"Then 1t was that some one had
happy thought, and with will thu
women brought out their ball gown
and silk dresses, which, ripping up al
quickly as might be, We made intt
bags for the earth works.
"A new use for ball gowns? Oh, yes
but the very happiest use to which
ball gowns were ever put, we felt"
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