Washington sentinel., 1901-05-11

eA@~ Nhh SPGCIs E.n AuGflCc
" soldier landed and tramped alor
RI after the refugees with his gun @
VS. his shoulder, talkinp as much /
or himself as to the spokesman OF th
I'd quartette: "Id like to see an
lg blanked Cossack try to get 20
h. back, the blanketV blank blanks!
" If the Americans had had tel
,e thousand flags at Peking, Tientsin
N and Tungchow, those cities woult
d have looked like a Fourth OF JulJ
:. celebration. Hundreds, yes, thou
e sands, OF Chinese begged Tor Amer
o lcan flags to raise over their doors
and carry on their persons. The
9 saddest words you could tell in
+ applicant was, mo have got" But
he soon discovered a substitute.
"Makee chit-say: Belong to
/, Americans" and this saved hum
dreds OF lives, Tor a Chinaman was
not safe abroad in Peking tor
weeks after the occupation, be-
cause OF the brutality OF the Rus.
slams and the French. Hundreds
OF American flags were roughly
made out of red and blue pieces of
silk stitched together by Chinese
women. People hung them out Of
their windows, or carried them
over their shoulders wherever they
went.
In the consulate compound at
Tientsin there was kept under
guard Boxer cnieL He was cap
tured ia Tientsin, where he had
returned alter the fight OF the
legions.
why don't you shoot him?"
said a German officer one day, |
calling upon Consul RagsdaIe.
Shoot him3" retorted the con
sui. "Tm not in the slaughter
house business. A little kindness
has made the old fellow over, too.
He likes it here now. He sees the
error o his ways, and has given us
some valuable information. I
shouldn't wonder if liberated him
one OF these days." continued Mr..
Ragsdale, aud tn old Chinaman's
face beamed, for he understood.
"Gott in Himmel, you Ameri-
cans are hopelessl" replied the
German. awe shot eight yesscfs
daV."
The naked form OF a Chinese
woman fioated past the American
headquarters at Hoshiwd. Two q
soldiers were near by, working on
the telegraph wires.
"My God, that's horriblel" said
one. Lets bury it,"
The woman's corpse was swollen.
Her hair Aoated on the surface Of
the water. With long pole she I
was dragged into a little inlet in (
the bank. One OF the soldiers took
half OF his tent sheet, and covered {
the body. With their spades, {
which they carried TO dig tele- l
graph poles, they made a grave in /
the soft sand. Rolling the corpse |
upon the sheet, they lifted it into v
the grave. Gently they covered /
the remains with soil, and even h
went so far as to throw up a little
mound over the spot, in feeling l.
recognition OF Chinese burial Gus
IONS. Sentimentalists, you say. G
Well, perhaps. Would that there c
we're more like them! il
War, in its mildest form, IS not S
pleasure excursion It is brutal. a
horrible. cruel. In China a great a
orce OF mixed nationalities were q
'ushing to the rescue OF their d
;ountrymen in Peking, whom they c
cared TO find dead and outraged. ID
The intense strain OF such a mis- il
ion affected every mans mind, Il
rom commander to private. The "a
'nemy was an inspired fanatic, B
o'ally irresponsible for his acts. Il
The situation was unparalleled in o.
modern warfare. II the veneer Of W
gave way where it was tc
he thinues', aud brutal vengeance M
inspired mems hearts. human na- IL
ure must be held partially respon- Ii
ible. c,
But in this campaign Of blood tf
he Americans displayed, under vi
.reat difficulties, instincts and pur- bl
'oses that were credItable to our 70
d,
went up to Peking with Amer VI
can troops. | spent some time in Ii
he American camp. In both in OF
tances Associated closely with the q
soldier. sleeping under oil
iis tent, sharing his food at the E
company mess, watching his daily fu
work., and listening to his tales. T
ndiscriminate plundering was not o,
ndulged in, nor was the buy al
ng and selling Of loot counten- W
need, General Chahre strenu- G
,uslV opposed IL NOT onIv au,onc, .