Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-16
BE f..

have located the particular spot where
the great wealth lay In the night as easily
as in the day.
III we could only get a small part of
that treasure was the thought of be. h
of us. and, then as the difficulties doomed
up, the diabolical cunning Of the dowager
empress, the threat OF Prince Ching, and
finally the plan whereby we might enrich
ourselves as we'll as force a solution Of
the Chinese puzzle which was troubling
the allies, became clear. We alone had
the trump card and we proposed to play
out the game.
All that we needed was the assistance
Of the United States troops. As we look
back at 1t now 1t recalls the story Of the
Irishman who had a match and all
that he needed for a comfortable
smoke was a pipe and some tobacco.
We knew where the treasure was located.
II we could have had the cooperation Of the
United States troops We could have seized
the whole amount and, after taking 10 per
cent for our share In the matter. as was
our purpose, turn over the balance to the
allies for such disposition in the way OF
payment of indemnity claims as seemed best.
Took IL to ChaRee.
With this idea in mind I approached Cen
eTdl CuduHt anu lOlQ 0lm Inc WHOlt SlbTys
reserving only the information as to the
exact location of the building in which the
treasure was stored. My circumstantial
evidence was SO strong and convincing that
he became very much interested in our
plans and 1 believe he agreed entirely with
us that 1t would be the very strongest lever
to force the return Of the emperor to Pekin
and that the seizure would have been en-
tirely justiiable under the rules OF war.
After some elaboration, however, General
Chaffee decided that he could not take the
responsibility upon himself and, therefore,
he cabled the full facts of the case to Presi-
dent Mckinley and asked for instructions.
Reply came promptly from Washington to
the effect that General Chaffee should con-
fer with W. w. Rockhill, United States
peace commissioner, and take such action
as was deemed advisable.
At the outset Mr.. Rockhill was skeptical
and, while he afterward acknowledged the
value of the plan, he was compelled because
OF his mission for peace to avoid any COM
plications whatever. He felt that the
seizure OF the treasure would antagonize
the Chinese and stir up trouble among the
allies. On this account Mr.. Rockhill could
not give his consent to the plan.
Germans wouldn't Touch II.
I was firmly convinced that the treasure
was at the end Of the rainbow and that the
rainbow in this case ended very definitely
in a particular building in the imperial
city. so. when the Americans gave up the
idea of acting in the matter, / went to
some friends on General Waldersee's staff.
I had several talks With General Schwartz
kopf (afterward burned to death in the de-
struction Of the summer palace and
through him asked the German forces to
take the matter up. As in the case of our
own troops, the Germans we're intensely
interested, but they. too, feared inter-
national complications, and, since the
Americans and Japanese were in direct con-
troll of the imperial city. they could not act
without the concerted action OF the allies.
We did not dare trust the Japanese, and
so, for lack of n necessary assistance we
were compelled 70 give up our plan. l am
positive that II Mr.. Rookhill could have ar
ranged for some concerted action in the
matter at the time, just a year ago.
1t would not only have FASTENED
the final peace negotiations, but it
would have insured the speedy return OF
the court to Pekin. 1t is a matter of his
tory now, however. that the protocol was
not signed for many months a~fterward, and
the return OF the Chinese imperial court
was only accomplished a few weeks ago.
The very recent news Of the finding OF
$4,000 900 OF the treasure where 1t had been
concealed more than a year before will
doubtless CONFIRM to the government o%ficials
approached at the time our plan was formed
of the truth Of our statements, II such a
condemnation ho naodaA