The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-19
SIEGE OF PEKING.
Great Reproduction of Historic
Event to Be Shown at Fair.
UNDER DIRECTION OF THE PAINS
Murder Of Won Ketteler and Storm
ing of the walls All to BE
Graphically Shown. ="

The murder of the German ambassador
to China and the supposed massacre OF.
the entire European population in Peking
inflamed the whole civilized. world. The
relief and rescue proved to be one Of the
most dramatic episodes of modern times.
The horror OF the siege is still fresh In,
mind. 1t Is this which will lend special
interest to the production of ''The Siege
of Pekihg" by the famous Pains at the
stat e. fair week after next. -,
Tie ryrotechnic spectacle siege OF
Peking' requires stage 800 feet long.
The scenic work was prepared under the
direction of Edward H. Kirby, and covers
$1,000 yards of oil painting. % It repre-,
sents the beautiful picturesque city OF
"Peking," the capital OF the empire with
it's narrow streets and quaint buildings,
among them being the Temple of Heaven,
the emperor's palace and other imperial
buildings and pagodas Also to be seen to
the right is the Tartar City, drum and
bell towers and one of the great gates OF
the wall. Near to this gate is the Tsung
Ii Yamen of Chinese foreign Office and
further on to the left are the foreign le-
cations and the great Eastern Gate.
The scene given Is that Of the night OF
the imperial ceremony. The emperor IS
about to return to the palace after MS
devotions to the Altar of Heaven, ana, as
upon all state ceremonials, the Cn1nese
have Illuminated and decorated IN tne1r
known picturesque manner. Houses
and bazars are festooned with lanterns
of every description, with colored hgnts'
with flags and tannerets. 49, 81. ! :,
In the center of the stage 1ss a great
gate guarding the road leading to the
Forbidden City. The famed purple palace
is seen in the distance. From the pal
cony of this gate the empress doWager,
the emperor, Prince Tuan and the court
are to review body OF the Imperial
troops. Everywhere strange devices meet
the eye ~Garands of flowers hang across
the streets and form arches under winch
the Son of Heaven (the emperor) must
SIS. the incessant gable of the crowds,
the beating Of tom-tcms, the crackle ana
sputter of f1recrackers all bespeak the un-
usual excitement of the hour.
Although, apparently everything IS peace
and goodwill, through it all runs the
rumblings of discomfort and the mani
festation Of hatred for foreigners. The
narrow streets, the surging masses OF
men. women and children; groups OF Box
ers and imperial soldiers, criminals, ven
ders' and fakirs, make an ODD eontrast.
Upon this scene comes Baron Won het-
teller, the German ambassador, with MS
secretary, on his way to a conference at
the Tsung Lii Yamen They attract tne
attention Of the populace, particularly OF
the Boxers. hostile movement is mace
and in a brief few minutes the German
minister is murdered by an infur1ated
mob. The secretary escaped through tne
aid of native Christians. 1t was this
horrible crime that electrified Chrlsten. i.
dom and compelled the civilized nations OF
the world to demand the full measure OF
retributive justice.
Following the murder Of the ambassa-
DeO-
| pie. Soldiers and Boxers disappeared,
| fires broke out in the neighborhood OF the
| legations and the homes Of the foreign
ers were doomed by the incendia aries'
! f1endish work. 80 =. ~s11a'1,Tz: -:-r,-s'e.: !
The Second Scene. ~
In the second part of the production are
seen the walls of Peking with a view O
| the imperial palaces in. the. distance
Chinese banners hang deflantly on tn
outer walls, The Chinese are ready fo
the coming of the army OF relief. DIS
| tant guns announce the approach OF tn
| deliverers. Closer and closer comes tn
sound of the artillery. The advance
guard of the allies appears. The star
and stripes Of the United states Tn
union Jack of Old England the tri- colo
of France, the double-headed eagle o
Russia, the blazing red ball and rays OF
the white field Of Japan, the battle flag
of Germany, Italy and Austria. appear be
fore the grim walls Of Peking, benin
which European and American legation
are confined. s-,'
Cannons open fire; soldiers advance t
the attack; the gates are battered down
the walls are scaled and the stars an
stripes and the flags of the allies az
planted on the walls. The Legations an
the Christians are rescued. This all oc
Cured on the morning of Aug. 10. Tn
Russians disregarded the agreement G
the other commanders and made the at
tack single-handed. This was taken q
cue for the general attack of all tn
forces They went at it pell NELL, eac
soldier animated by the same heroi
spirit.
For hours the battle ragged; the Chi
nese from the walls making stubborn de
fense. Two companies of the Fourteent
United States infantry made dash &c
the east wall, scaled it, tore down tn
Chinese flag and hoisted the stars, an
stripes The first Yankee soldier to clim
the walls was a bugler STRIPPING. OF
years. He led the way against every re
sistance. For twelve long hours the bal
tie continued, during which time IT
walls were scaled, the gates battere
down, and Americans, English, Russian
Japanese, French, Germans, Italians ar
Austrians fought and forced their wa
| through the gates and streets to the res