The Detroit times., 1908-11-16
EMPRESS, RULER
OF CHINA, Is
DEAD
pEsT,NIEs OF EMPIRE NOW 81.
REcTEp BY THREE-YEAR-olO
eoY-AFrAIRs QUIET THROUGH
OUT COUNTRY.

| PEkIN, Nov. 16.-Prlnce fu-}l. the
three-year-old son OF Prince Chun. now
sits upon the throne OF the Chinese
empire. The dowagey empress Tue
! Hsi An. died al o'clock this after
noon. News OF the dowager empress
death was contained In an official an
nouncement, which also stated thai
/ Kuang- Hsu. the emperor, died at
o'clock yesterday afternoon. The
dowaser empress directed the desIin
les OF the Chinese government since
1861. Her reign was marked Dy nc
| protest since 1881.
Prince Pu.Yi. the chiid.ruler. sue
ceeds TO the throne, in accordance
with a promise which the dowager EN-
press made IN 1905 when Prince Chun
the father OF Pu-YL, was married. Pu
III was maze heir presumptive last
Friday In an Official edict.
The foreign legations were notified
this morning by the foreign board oil
the death Of the emperor and the sue
cession OF Prince Pu-Yi. Troops have
been In readiness Tor several days 10
quell any disorders that might arise
on the death OF Kaang-Hsu. and the
possibility OF uprisings WAS made
greater because OF the fact that the
death OF The dowager empress was
known 10 be close al hand.
Two divisions Of troops have been
held In reserve and these are now sta.
toned In various quarters OF the city.
Twenty gendarmes were dispatched to
guard The approaches to the legations,
hut up 10 the present the duties OF
this force have been slight. 1t was
announced that the legation guard was
ordered out lat the special call OF the
legations, on account OF the emperor
death"
Prince Chun, the regent. has order
ed the viceroys and governors to take
precautions for the continuation Of
Tie administration Of the provinces as
heretofore, and he has ordered hun
dred days of mourning. The court
will go into mourning for three years.
Pekin already has been greatly
transformed: all red objects have been
removed and blue substituted. The
people learned this evening Of the
death OF the dowager empress, and,
although the Chinese are in no wise
emotional, they showed that they were
profoundly impressed by the passing
OF their powerful ruler. The foreign
ers of the city are watching the
strange ceremonies with great inter-
est. AT the palace elaborate rites are
being observed and food of edicts
has been sent forth.
Death bed obseryances of 5000
years ago marked the passing OF the
emperor and dowager. they died alone
and unattended, although surrounded
by circles OF AFFECT spectators, who
remained a rod distant, as. on &C
count of sacred persons Of their ma.
jestiss, they could not. be approached
The emperor died as he lived. with
out ministrations of whatever kind or
scientific aid. For months he had re-
fused to permit the services OF for
eign physicians. and although It was
stated that he had gone back to the
old form OF medical treatment. Ii Is
believed that latterly he received no
treatment at all.
Tsze Hsi An, or western empress"
was born Nov. II, 1884. She was the
child OF poor people. who lived In
Pekin. At an early age, following a
common practice In China. she was
sold as a slave by her parents on ac-
count Of their poverty. She became
the property OF a famous general, who.
enchanted with her great beauty
adopted her and offered her as a pres
ent TO the reigning emperor. Hsien.
Feng.
She SO charmed the emperor by her
looks and intelligence that he made
her his secondary wife. and on her
bearing him a son, the future emperor
Tung-Chih. raised her to the first rank.
On his death she became the regent
OF the empire. administering the ma
tional affairs with more vigor than
any of her predecessors.
Her authority was complete over
about 1900 offcials and over the vel
fare and lives of the vast majority OF
the inhabitants of China, who number
olosa 70 o1n anA a0a