The sun., 1912-08-11
Entrance to the P>1Ac4.
e.psr,she sy ondsr~oed ..a ondar~osA

American army authorities. for wa
were in control of the Forbidden CITY
and our troops were at that time wholly
encamped within the walls Of that
and OF the Imperial City---in order to
conduct an intelligent and successful
search was whether II was loot"
stealing removal or the "dastardly
work" Of Chinese.
Naturally Gen. Chaffee called for
statements first from his own officers.
or course there was no intimation or
supposition that they as individuals
were concerned, but nevertheless those
officers who We're on duty about the
palaces were questioned with a direct
ness and rigor that In some cases
brought forth rather warm remon-
strances. Lieut.. Schoeffel said he would
resign as the result Of tAe exam
lining. He was the officer of the guard
on tho night It was first supposed the
book disappeared. Lieut.. Smith did
resign as the result of the exam
ination. though every one fel. salts
fed that Smith know nothing and told
all he knew. Lieut. Clark. reputcd to
he the wealhicst young officer in tho
| army. a nephew of the late Gen Shat
| ter. declared he would buy a new book
as nearly like the old as possible and
make present Of it to ChIna-"if
there Is any China left" he added
To Capt. Connel and myself wos
given the task Of locating the ancient
relic. hut MS Capt. Conncll was moro
than overwo-ked with his duties as ad-
jutant found In few days that I was
the sole representative Of the United
States upon the international comnais.
tee or board OF officers to unearth tps
treasure. 7 was told to protect no one.
but to so ahead and work with such
energy and ability as l might possess
to track the guilty ones and locate the
loot" We had decided that 1t was
loot" and were in a short time work.
ing wholly upon tho theory that either
our men. or officers and soldiers of tho
English or French forces were the
guilty parties To tell the truth 1t was
not our first consideration to arrest the
guilty ones. hut rather to find the great
cmpcrors' history. and We worked along
upon this plan.
Major OGorman Of tho British staff,
Capt. J. f.. BRADLEY of the Austria ms.
fresh from South Africa. and Capt.
Pierre La Plante Of the French Artil-
lery, We're the active members of the
International board. l did not stand
officially or otherwise m par with
these men, but | can say truthfully,
and with due regard to modesty. that
my superior knowledge OF China and
the Chinese placed me in a position
where they were my advisers and help
ers rather than my superiors. And
to this knowledge l owe the fact OF at
length getting upon the right trail and
(eleven years laterD finding the book
for which millions of people had
mourned.
on the Sunday night following tho
entry OF the allies into Pekin and f,r
days after the looting of the Room of
Heavenly Grace and Intelligence
passed into the Forbidden City in the
guise of a mandarin, accompanied by
: Capt. La Plante. Once inside We were
, halted by a special patrol in command
: OF a Lieutenant. the latter insisting
upon seeing my pass az we'll as i~l
Plante's. I did not wish to show 1t.
! and tho French Captain expostulated
. In vain to the effect that was his
E friend and was accompanying him by
, verbal orders OF Major Robinson. tn"
, American provost marshal of the
! Chinese city.
: While we were standing In argument
over the matter--I taking but a pidgin
t English part-we all noticed coolie
' Chinese crossing the marble bridge
r near the Swans Lake Two men,
g bers of the patrol were sent post haste
, after him. and though he FASTENED In
4 the direction Of the Ancestral Palace,
, ne was soon overtaken by the soldiers
and brought forcibly back to where wc
, were standing.
}. ne was a suilen fellow. ana I knew