The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-04-11
OVER 10000 CONVERTS
ARE KILLED IN CHINA
Startling Report Regarding Work Of Boxers Made
by Christian Missionaries.

New York, April 1O.-The annual re-
port of the American Bible society rel
alive to the situation in China Will
contain the following interesting state
ment from its agent in China, the Rev.
John r. Hydes, d. D.:
There was a deep and cunningly
laid plot, under imperial sanction, to
extirpate Christianity, eXpel all for
eignerS and destroy all foreign inter
ests. No one OWNED the full extent
of the iniquity, which was deliberately
contemplated
In all 1873 Protestant missionaries,
including sixty men, seventy-five wom-
-en and fOrty-eight children. have been
massa cred. With the exception of the
MASSACRE at ku ChOo in Che k1ang,
in which eleven persons were killed,
and at Heng ChoO, in HUI Nan, al of
these deaths occurred in the northern
provinces.
The question has been raised at
home as to whether the Boxers upriS-
airy in its character. No doubt exists
in the mind of any well Informed per-
son in China. The movement was un-
doubtedly against foreigners. as such,
and the crusade was directed against
everything Decentralization of
course. included.
''Hsu Ching Cheng and Yuen Chang.
two ministers Of the foreign office.
would not transmit the awful edict
which reiterated the order to painful
iy eXtirpate all foreigners, but changed
1t SO as to read protect all foreigners
and then sent it flying over the wires
to the remOteSt provinces. They were
sentenced to be cut in two Mission
aries were the class that benefited by
this act of heroism. The fact that
every missionary escaped from four
teen out of the eighteen provinces
would indicate that the crusade was
not specially anti-missiOnaTy.
Looted and Burned by Boxers.
, In the provinces OF Chi Ii and
Shan 81 every school. hospital. chapel
and dwelling was looted and burned by
the Boxers or imperial troops. the only
exception being the property in the for
eiSn settlement at Tien TSin. So COM
plete was the demolition of property by
these mad fanatics that not a vestige
was left to mark the site; even the
foundations were dug up and carried
away There was also destruction of
mission property in the provinces of
Shan 81, Hotan, Human, Hupch, Kiang
ST, Che Kiang and Kwang Tung The
native Christians have been, the worst
sufferers Those who escaped the gen
eral slaughter in the northern prov
1nceS lost absolutely everything and
many of them are perishing from cold
and starvation.
THE scriptures DESTROYED will aggre-
gate not less than 100000 volumes, and
the actual loss to the society will not
be less than 5000 or 10000 gold dollars
including the necessary expense of
getting workers to places of safety and
back again to their stations
All of our foreign Superintendents
were saved. We have to mourn the
loss of many noble and devoted native
workers They were warned of the
risk they were running. but not a. man
Of the noble band Of eighteen fiinched.
Their reply was. We go on a cOlportage
tour. Gods viii be done Only four
of the eighteen returned from that
journey.
The homes of these martyrs were
looted and burned and their families
eXterminated. Those who survived es-
capped to the mountains, where they
suffered terrible privations and man
aged to get back to Pekin after it was
captured by the allied armies. OF the
colporteurS under missionary super
vision 1 have not heard of one who
escaped In some other parts of Chi
ma coipCrteurs endured terrible perse-
cution, and some of them are only now
venturing out of hiding.
Slaughter of Converts.
More than 10000 native converts
Gncluding Roman Catholics) met death
with a heroism worthy of the best age
/ of the church.
While the total number of volumes
of the scriptures published is 81. 700 less
/ than the previous year, the number of
pages is slightly in excess. The num-
Der Of pages printed in 1899 was 76.-
! 932, 200; this year it was 1856, 200. or
about three-quarters of million more.
/ This is the largest number of pages
ever printed in one year by the China
! agency, and will give some idea, of the
proportions to which the work had
I grown when. in common with all other
forms of Christian work. it was sud
denly interrupted by the events of the
! past year.
THE number of mandarin Bibles
manufactured is worthy of special no
tice. There were received from the
printers no less than $500 complete
Bibles, and 5000 copies were in press
on Dec. 81. Ten years ago an edition
of 1000 copies was thought sufficient
to meet the demand for several years
This fairly indicates the growth OF the
native church during this period. for il