The Warwickshire Herald. — 1891-10-15 (Birmingham, West Midlands, England)

THE ANTI-FOREIGN MOVEMENT IN CHINA.  THE RIOTS AT ICHANG.  Mail advicee have just been re...eyed at San Francisco giving details of the anti-foreign riots which occurred at the river port of Ichang, on the Yangtse-Kiang. A despatch from flankow states that the steamer Paohua has arrived there with the Ichang refugees. They number 20 in all, and had lost everything except the clothes which they wore at the beginning of the outbreak. Several also bore marks of serious violence. The riot occurred in broad noonday, without either warning or provocation. It was carried out by a handful of men, who were evidently acting, meter oi.. s, hi lie very presence of a number of Chinese officials to whom every one of the rioters was known. The work of destruction was p.rformed with the utmost speed. A crowd collected, and a rush was made for the house belonging to the American Episcopal Mission. The gate having been smashed, a man, who was leading the mob, cried out "Slay the foreign:Ts,' and the rioters came on with a rush towards the j building. One aimed a murderous blow with a I kitfe at Mr. Sowerby. The latter, however, disarmed his assailant and, avoiding another thrust, ran for his life to the Consulate, it hence he was transferred to the Paohua. The American mission house was then set on fire, and the Tamen and soldiers fell back, neither the civil nor military mandarins making any effort to protect property. The Roman Catholic convent was next fired. The sisters, seven in number, barely escaped to the river, some, indeed, being thrown headlong down the steep bank by the soldiers. They were taken by beat on retard the Paohua, the mob on the hank throwing stones and other missiles, whereby several of the sisters were badly injured. It is f. ared that a number of children who were in the convent were bunied to death. Several other buildings, however, were burned, while Mr. Rockburn's house was ruined, and the new British Consulate in omrse of construction was torn down. Pursuing their career of violence unchecked, the mob marched through the town losting right and left. Although no one was killed, several attempts were made to murder the foreign residents and those who sympathised with them, and threats wcre frequent.- At the old Consulate the foreigners kept the rioters back at the bayonet point. The leaders of the mob carried gunpowder and kerosene with which to fire the buildings. Many of the rioters were 5..1.1..rs who had taken off tie ir uniforms and disguised themselves as civilians. During the whole time of the disturbances, the mandarins present made no attempt whatever to prevent people from carrying away plunder. The Scotch missionaries owed their ecsape to the fact that they had gone boating up the river at the time oi the outbreak. They hurried back on hearing the ncws, and had just time to rescue the senior missionaries and the children when the mob  arrived. As in former cases, the telegraph clerks decined to send any telegrams concerning the riot. On the day of the riot itself and on the following clay all fore4,ll meaoag a \SU,: refused. It was only after the third day, when all possible damage had been done, that the military mounted guard over the blackened ruins.  The North China Daily News says that there are points about the lchang riot of serious importance, inasmuch as it was in no sense the work of the mob. There was indeed a pretext in the shape of a child which was said to have been kidnapped ou the day of the riot, but this was evidently merely a subterfuge in order to give some shadow of excuse for the outbreak. The evidences, says the journal, that the riot was directed and carried out by soldiers are only too numerous. There were, moreover, people in authority who restrained the outbreak in certain directions and fostered it in others. The paper sums up as follows: "The situation is very critical, and the only solution is for a foreign force to overawe the Hunan soldie-s with the tacit connivance of the Chinese Government. There can . . .  be no security for foreign life or property in China unless the rebellious Hunanese are suppressed by force."  In Rankow itself things were stirring again on the day previous to the latest despatch, when it was known that a gathering was held of the ants. foreign element in the town, inc uding a large number of magistrates and officials. They resolved that all foreigners must be driven immediately from the central provinces. The Christian missions at Wuchang have received menacing placards ordering them to leave at once on pain of ex. termination.