The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-08-10

about the book and, one OF them put
ting it upon his shoulder, departed.
Breckenridge remained at his post 10
keep guard upon the remaining artf-
cles within the room, never suspect
Ing that the supposed order was a
fake and forgery, which it turned out
to be, and the men, not Japanese OIL
GERS at all, but determined Chinese
looters In Japanese military garb.
AS soon as the theft of the book was
made known at the various army
headquarters searching parties were
sent out and orders issued to all off,
GERS up and down the PelhO and at
Taku, Tientsin and Shanghaikwan to
be on the lookout for the precious arti-
cle Breckenridge was called before
the generals and gave as good de-
scription as possible Of the men who
posed as Japanese officers and carried
away the book. He also volunteered
his services to search for it and with
out compensation of any kind, feeling
deeply the fact of his being duped by
a trio of Chinese robbers. The gener-
ais gladly accepted his services and
exonerated him from all blame. Lieu
tenant Schoeffel said that he himself
would very likely have given the
great book over to the men upon the
production Of the order.
Breckenridge said that the order was
signed by several officers whose sigma
lures were familiar to him and that the
body of it was In French and English,
like all orders that were issued in the
name of the allies. This caused those
who were in quest Of the book to be-
lieve that others besides the Chinese
this assumption turned out to be the
correct one The additional fact that
the robbers wore the uniform of Japa-
nese officers gave a clew which pointed
In the direction Of that army, and Mar
shall Yamagata was forced to believe
with shame, as he put it, that some of
his officers were engaged in the high
handed footing. He issued the follow
ing order:
Japan's army is disgraced by robbing
officers, who are known at these head
quarters. Those officers who were engage
ed In the stealing of the Chinese book of
prayer from the temple of the imperial
household are given until this hour to-
morrow to deliver this foreign property
to the American commander. Without
further orders from me these officers will
return to Nippon.
The order did not have the effect
hoped for, and the Japanese command
~
officers, but they all satisfied him of
their innocence in the matter and none
was punished. The other army COM
manders were too lax in their efforts
to restore the volume to it's proper
place, but there seemed little hope of
success, and the affair was almost en-
tirely forgotten when Ii Hung Chang
arrived at Tientsin from Canton to par.
ley as to terms Of peace. The aged
vicerOy had heard of the loss of the
book at his home at Canton, and it was
among the first things he inquired
about upon his arrival at Tientsin. He
made offers Of large rewards, and the
search began anew.
Breckenridge was at this time at the
port of Taku, and there, under author
ity given him by Captain Wood of the
quartermaster's department, he kept a
constant vigil, carefully examining all
outgoing packages and boxes. During
this time he was living at the expense
of the army, but he was firing of his
work when in February, 1901, six
months after the disappearance Of the
great volume, he discovered it packed
neatly in heavy wooden box and ad-
dressed to an officer of the japanese
army at Kobe. Captain Wood at once
reported the find and sent the book to
Tientsin under special guard. From
that point it was taken again to Pc |
king and in due time, upon the return |
of the fugitive imperial family, restored
to its place in the chamber Of sacred J
writings.
Breckenridge was given $1,000 by |
Chinese merchants of Tientsin, but the |
rewards offered by Ii Hung Chang |
had been withdrawn, and the vicerOy |
had taken lis departure for the south
again. The japanese military authori- |
ties caused an investigation to be |
made, but nothing came of it, for the
officer to whom the package was adj
dressed had not been in China and
claimed that he knew no one who
would be likely to consider him an ac-
complete in such piece of work.
Mr.. Breckenridge, who was seen re-
Gently at his home about four miles
from Redwood n. Y, said he was not
quite sure what form the Chinese dec
Grafton would take, but believed, from
q letter in his possession from the
American minister at Picking, that it
would take the form of a ring of pale
blue jade 81 don't care a rap for the
decoration" said this intelligent and
good looking young farmer. but 1 did
feel mean when l saw how completely
l had been duped. OF course the
forged order was well got up, but as a
matter of military business 1 should
never have let the thing go without
the personal and verbal order of the
lieutenant of the guard I nut in sew