New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-04-14
For Two Horrible Nights, a
Month Ago, MODS of Mutt
nous Soldiers Burned and
PiIlaged in Chinese City.

tFrom Special Correspondent AT Feking
Picking March :.
xuyITH a Crackle and q roar and
NJ smash Picking burst into flames on
w Thursday night, and to-day lies
8 vretched city stripped Of its wealth. in
sbiect fear Of further woe and CONNER
cally crippled while from outlying points
particularly Tientsin and Paoting Fu.
come reports Of similar troubles. bring
1nc to mind tho horrible possibility II
this dreadful business spreading over the
North Of China. and maybe still further
The germ Of loot seems highly contagious
and quickly travelling carrier Of a vicious
disease Quiet has been restored i'm Peking.
and the trouble thero seems at an end. II
has been said that lightning never strikes
twice in the same place, because it doesn't
have 10 30 it is with Picking. The town
has been pretty thoroughly torn apart and
Invested Of it's riches. There Is much left,
of course. but Picking has had its share Of
the trouble. and folk here devoutly hope
that there will hc no recurrence Of the
troubles of Thursday and Friday nights,
when the lootug was in full swing.
The main business streets Of this great
city. in the Tartar city and the chi
What the soldiers who started the outrage
didn't get on the first night, they went
after. augmented by other troops and
hundreds of civilians, on the next night.
For two whole nights and during some OF
the sunlit hours Of two days, this town oi
Picking was i'm the absolute control of the
mob. Not an effort was made to control
the soldiers in their mad career through the
Oh Sh
Up and down the streets they went, burst
ing the doors of shop after shop, killing
where they had TO TO carry on their work
skipping unpretentious places here and
there, but going thoroughly through tie
better business places through miles or
streets And when a shop had been suf-
fciently stripped the torch was applied.
TWO hours after the show started the east
ern portion Of the Tartar city was a mass
Of flames. There were great, wanton. un-
necessary fires in a score of places, and for
most of the night It seemed that this great
section of the city was absolutely and err
tirely doomed It was not so, however. and
really only a small part of the region was
DESTROYED. The next night the soldiers
moved over TO the west city and continued
the looting there. The eastern city had
naming untouched but there were plenty
Of rich places in the west city. In the
Chinese city, Just over the wall from the
Legation quarter. the work Of the hooters
was thoroughly done on both nights
HEADS FREELY Topped OFF.
Yesterday morning the authorities came
10 their senses. and drastic steps were
. i'm, 20 pp6p q
venerable General Chang Kuei-u, an
enlinently respectable man with a most dig
nifed air. stepped into his carriage and
drove through the city, escorted by de-
tachment of his own troops-men clad In
dark blue that contrasts with the gray oil
the other troops and with picturesque tur-
bans wound round their heads. Most OF
these men are from the south. and while
they like their bit Of loot as well as any
other Chinese soldier, they were more ready
10 aid in the preservation OF order than the
soldier who comes from the vicinity OF
Picking The old-fashioned General Chang
Kuei-u also had pair Of public eXecu-
TONERS with him-men with great two
handed knives.
The general drove through the streets
where the looting had been going on the
night before, and IN his wake there re-
manned a trail of headless bodies and dead
men. men caught in the act and executed
on the spot under the personal supervision
OF this aged warrior. There the bodies still
lie, grewsome examples Of what happens
TO hooters when an efficient man takes
charge Of such a situation. and to-day the
looting has stopped. General Chang Kuei-
II is about the only man who has shown
much efficiency
The affair started between 7:S0 and
On Thursday night. The exact time Of the
first firing is In doubt, principally because
no two clocks in Peking ever agree. Sol
diers Of the third division, stationed in the
eastern part Of the city, were responsible
for all the trouble The delegation from
toe revolutionary government in Marking
had been in Picking for several days, and
had asked. or demanded, that Yuan Shin
kai go to Marking to take the oath of
ONCE. The word went forth that Yuan
shih-kai had agreed to make the trip. This
led TO the report that there would be no
need OF the northern army. once the Presi-
nent-elect moved TO the south, and the
troops In Peking would be disbanded. There
vas also something in the air about reduc-
ZION OF soldier pay and the compulsory sew
anoe OF the queue All this led to the
niutlny. so the authorities say. but there
are bigger and more serious reasons behind
than these. The principal one is ineffi-
cheney Of officers.
NO WARNING OF THE OUTBREAK.
There had been absolutely no warning Of
the impending outbreak. 1t suddenly burst
iortn with roar that swept over the en-
tire city. For weeks Picking had been lit
eraliy packed with sodery, laden down
with great quantities Of ammunition. The
soldiers who began the riot left their bar
racks and marched westward, toward the
rich Hatamea street. determined to loot
and burn. They emptied their rifles I'm and
down the streets.
II was a signal. and almost at once Their.
was tremendous volume of rife fire from
all sides. IL swept from one side Of the
city 10 the other and back again. II
sounded like full-hedged battle. The CITY
was stunned. And then 1t went into a
panic "
The shutters Of the shops-ineffectiva NJ, q
OF ~ood-went hurriedly into place ana m q
auaking shopkeepers hid behind their