Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1901-05-11
June 20. and at that we were naard

June e. n at mat we were naaro
This letter of the British consui's
the besiesed. It had begin impossibis
up to that time to get any word from
the outside world, though many mes
sengers were sent out, n then when
one did succeed In getting through The
Chinese lines. to receive O letter ana
that, from an official, tool which gave
no Information OF any attempt TO re-
ieve us! !.
Following is the story Of the mes
senger's trip to Tien Tsfn and back:
Lin WI Yuan, 16 years old, O messen-
ger, native of Shantung. living in Pc
king, arrived this morning from Tier
Tsin. He left Pekin with letters on the
night Of July 4, disguised as a beggar.
He was let down over the wall by q
rope, crept along the to the
Ch'ien Men, slept under the gate, and
In the morning walked to the Yung
Ting Men, passed through, and went
to Machiapu station without being
molested. Hearing nothing there he
went to Tungchow n worked his
way along the main road to Tien
Tsin. At a village near Hosiwu he was
stopped by the villagers and made to
work eight days. He reached Tien
Tsin July Is, first met Russian. then
Japenese, and on July 81 met the
British troops at Peiving Men, the
entrance through the defense wall.
half q mile from Tien Tsin city, on the
Pekin road. He delivered his letters
to a foreigner In citizen dress, who
spoke Chinese. July 20 he was taken
to the British consulate: there the con-
sui gave him a letter. He was then
sent to the foreign outpost at Hung
ch'iao.
July 20 he left Hungchiao and soon
met the Chinese troops. That night he
slept at Yangtsun in q locomotive
boiler near the bridge. The bridge
there was not destroyed. That day he
saw only hines infantry, the main
body OF which was at Peitsang; he saw
no Boxers. Night Of July he slept near
Hosiwu: saw few soldiers and no
Boxers; night Of July 25 he slept at
Mat'ou. That day he saw a few par
ties of Boxers in villages, but none on
the road. At Mat'ou and elsewhere he
saw the river was in high flood: few
boats moving. but many moored to the
banks. July 26, had no adventures
spent the night at Yuchiawei.
July q he reached the Sha Kuo gate,
the east gate of the south city, I 10
a. m. Reports roads good. Telegraph
poles and wire along the river all gone.
Railway torn up everywhere, rails
buried, or used for making Boxer
swords. He was not estopped at the
gate, though there were many Boxers
and Tung Flu Hsiang's men there. He
made his way without trouble to the
Ha Ia Men, which he found closed,
and to the water gate, which was toe
closely guarded to pass by day. He
slept last night near the Ch'ien Men,
crawled along the moat and entered
the water gate without challenge be-
fore daylight this morning.
The high road to Tien Tsin Is in good
condition. Crops everywhere look
well. Villagers attending to their
farms, but there is a Boxer %organiza-
ton in every village. When he left
Tien Tsin the foreign troops had not
advanced beyond the defense wall "San
Ko Hin Sins Folly" built by that gen.
eral against the British and French In
1860, but never defended-hence
folly surrounding Tien Tsin city at
a distance Of one-half to one mile. All
the yamens in Tien Tsin are occupied
by foreign troops, chiefly Japanese. All
Boxers have left the front at Tien Tsin
because badly punished in the battle,
SO the Chinese soldiers despise them.
chinese army vas concentrating on
Peit Sang, eight miles northwest ot
Tien Tsin. The messenger had a dollar
in his pocket when he met the foreign
pickets at Tien Tsin, and they relieved
him of 1t, Test he might lose IT,"
Continued Next Week.