The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-01-17

States government officially to recog-
nize the republic Of China recalls
sharply the dynamic upheaval Of one
short year ago which transformed the
Celestial empire ITO a republic-a
republic in form at least, and even this
is a high light in the renaissance of
Chinese self-government. 1t is not
generally known that over 1000 years
ago the Chinese people maintained a
republic n elected their own presi-
dents.
The Chinese revolution of 1911 was
startling in it's rapid effectiveness.
Perhaps it has no parallel in history,
taking into consideration the tremen-
dous changes of which it was the FORE
inner The first shot was fired Oc-
tober 10, 1911, the boy emperor abdi-
Gated on February II following, and
on March 10, just five months to the
day after the outbreak at Wuchang,
sovereignty over 400, OO0,o 900 people
changed from a mummified despotism,
rigid in it's cruel limitations, to a pro-
visional republic in which the tyranni-
cal Manchus and their legion of COM
placent Chinese officials had no part.
For is years DIR. Sun Vat Sen and
his followers had been carefully plan
ming the overthrow of the Manchus and
the eradication of all that their reign
typified. They had worked very sue
eessfully among the majority of en-
lightened Chinese, however placed and
wherever found, and nearly every stu
dent who returned after a civil or mill
tary education abroad was at heart a
revolutionist. DR.. Sun has since said
that he could have taken over Canton,
Marking and Wuchang as early as
1908, but that ne was waiting to fur
Their convert the more self%-contained
soldiery and officers of Pekin and
North China. All this the Manchus
and their barnacle-encrusted Chinese
officeholders eemed deaf to the rum
blings to which everybody but them
selves gave anxious ear.
A date about the middle of December
had been named for the beginning Of
the revolution, the signal to be given
by Liu King, a member of the Chinese
gentry Of sthe Yangtze. He was 81
years old, educated in Japan, and there
became a convert of DR.. Sun Vat Sen.
But on the afternoon of October 8, Sun
WI, an expert bomb maker in revolu-
tionary employ, accidentally exploded
a bomb while at work in a native
house in Hankow. The shack was just
back of The German butcher shop in
the Russian eoncessioH, and only a few
doors from the Russian apoliee Station.
Hearing the explosion, the Russian
police rushed to the. scene. Sun WI
was injured by the bomb, but escaped.
The Russians caught two other plot
tiers and found maps, a long roll call,
bombs and flags. Wuchang,. capital of
Hupeh province, situated just across
the Yangtze river from Hankow, was
the subject of a very elaborate sketch,
which gave the plan >of attack even
then drawn up. Viceroy Jul Cheng
was notified and acted promptly. He
beheaded the two revolutionists who
had been captured. Many suspects.
mostly young students, were then ar
rested In HankoW and Wuchang. Sew
eral of these We're given short shrift.
Their cries for mercy were speedily
changed to peans of praise in the
heavenly choir.
Ordinarily, a few chain lightning
exits like this nave been quite suffi-
cient to quell disorder in China. But
the worm really had turned this time,
Llu King had escaped, but his wife
and his brother were captured. The
young woman Vas not suspected, al
though she was one of the arch plot
ters. The brother was tortured and
his death set for 10 o'clock the next
night. Liu King saw the necessity
of immediate action. He wrote the
soldiers that their names were known
through the captured roll call, and
lhat the Viceroy would disarm and
execute them. He told them to wear
any kind of a white band around the
arm, II to begin the revolt at 10
O'Clock that night, the hour his brother
was to die.
The soldiers repaired accordingly,
but the glory of firing the first shots
OF the revolution went to civilians.
When darkness fell, or about Z O'Clock,
several hundred GOA miners took pos
session OF the various city gates and
Tired Off rifles and shotguns without
dolhg any particular harm. The SOL
dlers, who were in camp just outside,
then came pouring in. without firing
a shot they took the powder maya
zine, H~wanghwalo promontory and the
serpent hill. They deployed with two
pieces of artillery in front of the vice
foNs yamen, but an Investigation
showed that worthy to have evapo-
rated throush a hole in the back wall.
When next heard of he was safe in
Shanghai.
Lhu Kings next move was to confer
win his associates over the selection
OF a trained military mar to be COM
h'ander-ln-chicf of the rebel forces,
and to tight to the death for a republic.
Ihey picked up Colonel Lii Yuang-
hnnS, commanding the mixed brigade
OF imperial troops in the Yangtze val
icy. HIS men were among the revolt
efs. Ii refused the dangerous honor,
but was forced to accept. At that time
Colonel Iii Yuan-hung was an obscure
OFFICER; within two months he was one
Oh the famous men of the day: now
ne is vice president of the provisional
republic of China, and is generally re-
garded as the coming strong man. of
the country.
In the succeeding five months New