The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-03-03

city this morning began when a detach-
ment Of artillery headed by a band,
marched to the palace of Duke Kuei
Hsiang, father Of the Empress Dowager.
and shelled down the gate They looted
a large amount of property and burned
a part Of the palace. A general attack
on the palace is feared tonight and tho
situation is getting more grave as tho
hours go by.
There was lengthy conference be
tween the chiefs of the foreign legations
this evening, az which "a plan of action
was agreed upon. should 1t be necessary
TO resist an attack. IL was the consensus
OF opinion that the time had arrived when
the mutineers. firing of robbing and
killing their fellow countrymen. would
turn on the foreigners here. While up
to the present the rioters have discrimi-
mated between nat i've and foreign property
there is little doubt that they will soon
try to plunder everybody.
In the robbery Of the palace OF the
father of the Dowager Empress some
1000, 900 taels. or about 81 .30o, 900, was
stolen.
The fire in the city. which for a time
was under control, has broken out afresi
and is spreading rapidly through the
himsily constructed houses Of the native
quarter. No effort has been made this
evening to combat the spread OF the
flames. They we're famed by n strong
wind, and it was believed certain that a
great part Of the city was sure to be de-
stroyed.
Mutineers we're being executed whole
% ,exht lat h., - mo bodS
Of the authorities seemed only to increase
the disaYection among the soldiers. Agi-
tators suspected OF stirring up the mutiny
were seized and decapitated without
trial. Rumblings Of discomfort were
heard even among the most loyal men,
bers of luan's guard. who asserted that
many innocent persons had been put to
death.
So busy were the authorities in trying
to prevent another outbreak that hun
dreds of thousands of dollars worth Of
loot was taken out of the city by the
thieves tonight under cover of darkness.
Freight trains were seized and piled high
with booty and without opposition the
soldiers left the city firing at groups of
civilians as they passed.
The charge was made to-day that the
entire trouble was started by President
Yuan Shih kai as an excuse for the cstab-
liahment of a Dictatorship. IL had been
planned, it is alleged, that the uprising
would bc of a mild character; but the
mutineers. cmboldened with their success,
simply got beyond control and looted and
murdered at will.
Color was lent to this charge later by
I,-,l.,I,,a hot of
loot were taken within the grounds of
the Forbidden City and kept there for
a while before being taken out in to the
country beyond Pekin.
Yuan has directed that the most strikin
measures bc taken to put down the up
rising. hut there are very few foreigners
now here who believe that he will be able
10 enforce his orders. His Manchu troops
are waverinG in their loyalty and if they
abandon him chaotic conditions must
rule.
The civilian population is arming and
barricading private premises. while barri-
cades are also being erected in the streets
for purposes Of defence.
Strong defachments of foreign soldiers
have been ordered to proceed Immediately
to Pekn. The American contingent
probably will number 300. They will
he part of force Of 1000 men. The
diplomats here have been considering
since the outbreak of the mutiny a pro-
poeal 10 bring these soldiers to the capital
The troops are TO guard the foreign
missions and other buildings outside the
foreign quarter.
Another gang Of mutineers visited
and looted Fengtai to-day. II is twenty
two miles from Peiin on the railroad
to Tientsin. The British troops who are
guarding the railroad there protected
the women and children. hut the mutt
neers looted and burned the railway sta
tion and held up train, robbing many
OF the Chinese passengers.
Yung ping-fu, to the north Of Lan-chu
where the American troops are guarding
the railroad to Chin -wang-ao. has also
been looted to-day.
II is evident that all the soldiers of the
northern Chinese armv are in agreement
in the pillaging movement. They are
under the belief that the coming of the
republican delegates from Nankin Ia
Husn Sbih Kai means the dismissal of the
northern troops from the service.