LETTER FROM HONGKONG.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 198, 21 August 1900, Page 5

LETTER FROM HONGKONG.

THE BATTLE OF TIENTSIN.

FURTHER MASSACRE OP MIS-

SIONARIES.

CHARACTER: OF LI HUNG CHANG.

A WILY DECEIVER,

HONGKONG, July 27.—The situation in China has not materially changed since I last wrote; but some important events have happened. One of these undoubtedly is the departure of the Viceroy Li Hung Chang for the north. His Excellency, having received an Imperial edict appointing him Viceroy of Chihli and recalling him to the capital, announced his intention of obeying this summons on the 16th inst., and. on the 17th he baae farewell to Canton, leaving H. E. Te Shon, the Governor of Kwangtung, In charge pending the appointment of his successor. LI HUNG CHANG'S MENTAL ENERGY. I am told, shows no abatement, and he certainly left his mark on Kwangtung during the few months he administered it. When he arrived at ;Canton the gaols were crowded, piracy amd brigandage were rampant throughout the interior, and especially in the delta of the West River; and when ne took his departure the prisons were almost empty, order had been restored in most districts, and the robber' gang had learned that the Viceroy's arm was very long- and uncommonly heavy. His ways were SUMMARY, BUT EFFECTIVE. In one month alone upwards of 2000 heads bit the dust of the execution ground, and trials were regarded as superfluous in cases where a man was a known bad character. In such cases it was simply a sentence of "cut head;" Only a few days before his departure Li's attention had been drawn to a noted gambling house in Canton, and he was told that the two men wno kept .it were formerly notorious pirates. "Then," said he, "why is this house suffered to exist? Off with their heads." And:before dusk of that day the gambling-house keepers were shortened by a head. It was feared that when LI'S RESTRAINING INFLUENCE had been removed the turbulent City of Ruins would break out into antimissionary and anti-foreign demonstrations. But up to the present this anticipation has not been verified, though there is an uneasy feeling abroad, and many unruly spirits are on the "gui vive," waiting only for a chance to create a disturbance and to drive the foreign from Shameen. THE BOGUE FORTS. Rumours are in the air that it may be necessary to take the Bogue Forts, in order to keep the Canton River open; but I hope that such a. necessity will not arise. A close watch is, however, being kept on the actions of the Canton officials, and the disposition of the people is being naiTowly observed. AN ANXIOUS SITUATION. An incident occurred at Canton on the 21st inst. that, but for the tact of the captain of a French gunboat, might have had serious consequences. A junk was coming up the river to her anchorage, and fouled with the gunboat in question. For a short time intense- excitement prevailed. The junk people misunderstood the action of the French sailors, who hastened to the side to clear it,thinking they were going to fire, and signalled to the other junks near for assistance. The captain, of the gunboat at once perceived the mistake, and hastened to reassure the. junk people. The matter was reported to the acting-Viceroy, who lost no tinie in. issuing a proclamation embodying the terms of a recent Imperial edict, calling on the people not to molest merchants and, foreigners in general. The following is a translation of this document: / HONGKONG PRECAUTIONS. Meantime precautions are being taken in this colony, though all movements are made quietly and without fuss or parade. The garrison, which had been weakened by the despatch o-f some 900 men to Taku to reinforce the allied army at . Tientsin, has been strengthened by the. arrival on Sunday and Monday last of the 3rd Madras -Infantry and the 22nd Bombay Infantry, who were promptly landed and mai-ched to quarters at Kowloon. Another regiment is expected shortly, and I hear that a division of 10,000 British troops will be" landed there between next month and September for , service, in North China. It is intended, however, I learn on good authority, to increase the garrison here permanently to 7000 men. A number of-"transports , bearing troops of various arms from Calcutta have passed through to Wei-Hai-Wei, which has been made the base lor the China expeditionary force. The battleship Goliath, which arrived here on the 21st inst., from England, will leave here for the niorth in a few days. This big battleship had a narrow escape of going aground in Singapore harbour, owing to a vessel selecting the time of her going to her berth to draw out from her wharf right in the Goliath's track. The lother foreign expeditions a:«i naturally slower in nrirval, but I euppose they will be passing through hereiiext month. . v , CAPTURE OF TIEN-TSIN CITY. \; The Japanese are, however, rapidly pouring troops into China, and the al-:

lies will soon have a considerable body of men with which to essay the task of cutting a way to the capital. As a preliminary to that they have attacked and taken the native city of Tientsiu. . This was necessary, because it gave shelter to a larg attacking force of Imperial tiiQops and Boxers, who have for weeks been engaged in besieging the settlements and making mvoc of foreign property. The attack was made early on the morning of the It4h" inst. THE ALLIED FOIICJES consisted of about 8000 troops. They were formed into two divisons—the British, American and Austrian contingents, under General Dorward; the French under Colonel de Ploeot; and the Japanese under General Fukushima, attacking on one side of the1 city; while the Russians and Germans, numbering- some 4000, stormed the other side. The Allies reached the city wall before it was light, having advanced under cover of the darkness, and then carried it by A DETERMINED ASSAULT. . A party of Japanese sappers succeeded in laying a mine under the south gate, which they blew up in a great sheet of flame, and their ctomrades of the infantry then poured in at a run, being the first to enter the city. The British soldiers were close at their heels, and streamed through the narrow lanes, carrying all before them, pluckily supported by the Americans and the Austrian sailors. The British captured about two hundred junks and a small river steamer, which will be useful for purposes tof transport during the advance on Pekin. LOOT. The Japanese stormed the Government Treasury, from which they secured silver to the value of about a million" taels, which they handed over to the care of the Americans. Meantime the "Russians had also entered the city and captured 11 guns. The city was set on fire in many places by bursting shells, but efforts were made at once to extinguish these outbreaks. When the city had been taken it was divided into sections, and the foreign flags were hoisted over these sections.. Colonel Bower, of the Ist Chinese Regiment, was appointed Administrator Jof the British section. The fighting lasted.altogether 16 hours. THIS 1 SIGNAL AND DECISIVE H VICTORY was not gained, however, without heavy losses, the total of the killed and wounded in the ranks of the Allies being 775 officers and men. Of these the British lost 14 killed and 91 wounded; the Americans, 40 killed and 125 wounded; and the Japanese, 6 officers and 50 men killed' and 150 wounded. The Chinese losses were; very heavy, but it is impossible to estimate them. They had about 35,000 men engaged in the defence, of whom some 10,000 were Imperial troops. Among the British killed was Lieutenant Ollivant, Ist Chinese Regiment. Subsequent" advices; dated the 20th inst., state that order was gradually being restored at Tientsin, everything being quiet, and* that the country people were gradually returning to their villages. The commanders of the allied troops have done their best in preventing promiscuous looting, and to afford protection to peaceable Chinese non-combatants. v The successes gained over the Chinese have been won in spite ofj A LITTLE WANT OF COHESION, among the allied forces and, a certain amount of jealousy; -'The Japanese have fought most gamely, and they come on the scene well equipped in every way, and have behaved in a generally creditable manner. The Russians, on the other hand, are very loose in their methods, and give themselves up to looting at every opportunity. The Chinese troops have proved'much more. difficult to; deal with than in former years, owing to the instruction and drill by European teachers during the last few years. FOREIGNERS AMONG THE ■ . . CHINESE. 'It is stated-that foreign military instructors were seen among the Chinese directing the guns; and this has been |onfirmed by a Russian who escaped to the foreign side with his hands bound, who said that the Russian instructors had been compelled to work the guns under threats, and told tnut in the event of them misfiring they would be tortured. LETTER FROM MACDONALD. The following letter from the British Minister, dated 'Pekin,'.June :6, and received by the British Consul at Tientsin on the Ist inst., shows the spirit in which the besieged were prepared to meet the attack. ; This was on the eve of the bombardment with big guns: — .., ~ Dear Charles. —Yesterday at 4 p.m. all the foreign representatives, here got despatches from the Yamen stating that the Tientsin' Viceroy had received a despatch from the' doyen of the Consular body stating that if the Taku Forts were not given up at 2 a.m. on the following day they should, be taken. The despatch went on to say that as it was now clear to the Chinese Government that we wished to divide their country, they must ask us to clear out in 24 hours, after which time they could not protect us against the fury of the mob. This, I take it, is a polite way of saying that they are. going to massacre us. I don't know whether the senior Consul sent such a, despatch—but if he did, he has much to answer for. Every Legation has been defended for weeks, but to-day it has been decided that all the women and children, numbering several hundreds, are to come to this Legation, the other Legations .to fall back on this when they cannot longer be held. : • We wrote to the Yamen that the whole affair was incomprehensible; that we, as the representatives of our Government, were advised as to acts of war. and such a step as that taken by the Consular body was quite impossible to us, and we asked for a meeting with Prince Ching and Prince Tuan. We received no reply to our note, and Yon Ketteler, the German; Minister, insisting upon going to the'Yamen with Cordes, his, secretary, was shot down by the soldiers. Yon Ketteler is supposed to have been killed on the spot. His body has not been found, though 50 marines went back to look. Cordes has been dangerously wounded. I fully expect that shortly after 4 they will fire on us, when up goes th.c Union Jack, and we nail the old rag to the post. We are in absolute ignore ance of where the relieving force is, or whether there is , such a thing. Please give bearer 100 dollars! if he gets this through. < THE STATE OF CENTRAL CHINA* The provinces lying in the Yaugtsze Valley, which up to quite- recently were quiet'and friendly to foreigners,

are now showing unmistakable signs of. unrest, and the ladies ond children* from Nanking and Chinkiang htfvd been sent for safety to Shanghai. The|f engineers on the Lu-Han railway harff all withdrawn from the line, and aref; now at Hankow, which remains quiet^' Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, onR board his flagship the Centurion, ancEi. accompanied by the battle-ship^ Barfieur., was expected " yester-c day at : Woosung. .The- resi< dents of Shanghai are, I hear, ,b$ no means comfortable, and fully. he*[ lieve that hostilities will break outt there before long. There aremen-oW war at all the Yangtsze ports—thq Linnet at Kihkiang, the Hermiojie! atl ? Nanking, the Snipe at Wub,u, and th^. Pique at Hankow. i At Ningpo all is quiet, and in a let* ter received yesterday from the Brlt-f ish Consul, and shown, to me, he ex 4 pressed perfect confidence in the Tao« tai, who, though not, young, is veryf energetic, and quite determined toj suppress any attempt at disorder in aj sumary manner. '■ THE MISSIONARIES FROM) THEJ INTERIOR • are fast arriving at the treaty portsj and aif Hongkong.. On the 25th insti they Were arriving at Shanghai byjhundreds, chiefly from the Yangtszal Valley. There have been further mas* sacres both of missionaries and thelifl converts, and it is becoming evident! that the anti-foreign agitation A* spreading south. An Italian Bishop and two priests have been murdered ati Lungchow, near Ichang, in Southern! Hunan, and other missionaries ara missing. On the 25th inst. details ot this tragedy reached this colony by a! priest who escaped with his bare life* and made his way south to Canton, af* ter a long and perilous voyage in na« tive boats. The hero of these advem tures, the Rev. Stephano Sette, wild was at an out-station at Hen-cien-fu, was on.the 4th inst. warned by somej native Christians to fly, and told thatj the Boxers had set fire to the Bishop's residence, about two hours? distance* and murdered the Bishop and twq priests, as well as a number of con» verts. Mr. Sette made his way. to thtf mountains, where he remained* in hid* ing for a few days, eventually, witlj the assistance of native Christiana^ reaching Canton, whence lie came oil to this port. " , i Another shocking, and. distressing ' MURDER OF LADY MISSIONARIES has taken place in Shansi province* Miss Whitchurch and Miss Searell, of the China Inland Mission, have been murdered by a native mob at HsiaoIhsien, Shansi.' This news has jusK reached Shanghai, but no details ot the cowardly crime have yet been 'rep ceived.—Sydney "Daily Telegraph."-^ j

QNEHUNGI BOROUGH'^} COUNCIL. '," |j

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of thei Onehunga Borough Council was held in the Council Chambers last night. There were present His Worship the Mayor (Dr., W; Hi Close Erson), in the chair, Coun* cillors Colledge,. Brown, Tates, J, Shal« drlck, Hill, Bradley, McLeod. ■ ■ ■ A, Nuisance.—Dr. A. Symons Kenny wrote that he noticed.that the dead bodyff' of a horse had been -b'urle.d, in the open space at'the back of his pretaiises, used frequently by chiidren,'.;andll£J seemed to him to constitute ;:a grave danger, Which should be attended" to.—^jtafi^tow.n-. clerjs read the nbtt6eI'?^plied': -tiVl'M6f]^ay6ii-'"'tS the Inspector of Nuisances ordering him to cause the ,removal qf the,carcase referred to.. He understood that the owners of "the horse had refused to do- anything., —The Mayor explained that he had given orders to have the nuisance abated, which; was done ultimately by the order of the , Inspector of Nuisances. He would move, that all expenses" incurred with the re*' nioval of the carcase be recovered fr6m the owner within the week, failing which1 proceedings ■be taken for its recovery.-* This was agreed to. . ..' - - . , ? Blue Metal.—The offer of Messrs Patten and Bartlett to supply small -quantities of blue metal at 6/ per yard was referred to the Streets Committee to deal with. I Boundary Road.—Mr F. M. P. Brook^ field -wrote complaining of the state <dfc Mount Smart Road, adjoining his entrance gate.—lt was! resolved, on the motion b'f Crs. Colledge and Shaldrlck, that the matter be referred. to the Streeta Committee to deal with. ' Board of Health:—A commun!catibnt?;ai* received from Prof. Thomas intimating that,: in consequence of important dutiea, he .was unable to accept an appointment on the Consulting Board of Health.—The Mayor mentioned that in, consequence of the bubonic furore the Council had appointed a Board comprising Dr. Scott (medical officer), Prof. Thomas and Dr. King.—Letter received with instructionfl to acknowledge. < '■ - Old Shanties.—TheMay.or.lntimated that ; the Sanitary Inspector and the Health Officer had made their visit through Onehunga, and found ■ that were seV^* eral' buildings in the borough . which; should be removed. —Oh the .Mayor's. .motion, it was resolved that the town 'clerk* notify the owners of the condemn^ ed bu,ildihgs that they wo^ild be Seniollsh^ ° ed in compliance with the Inspector* certificate. New Gas Lamps.—On the recommendation of the Streets Committee it was resolved to erect 4 additional gas lamps, a.% the following junctions:—Church-street arid Quadrant Road, Albert and Arthur streets, Church and - Hill; streets, an<X Church and Alfred streets.- • Accounts.—The town clerk made hii usual fortnightly financial statement, after which accounts amounting to £22T ■ 18/ were passed for payment.

Captain Edwin advises for 24 hoursj from 9 a.m. this day: West to south* west and south gale, glass rise, indica* tions of rain> tides decrease. The scow Kahu when -leaving- foi* Whangai'ei this morning collided with.1 the inner western tee of the Queenstreet Wharf, receiving some damage to her stern. The vessel was sailing out from near^ the Hobson-street Wharf, but found that, owing to the shallow water, she could not let her centreboard down. Seeing that he could not weather the wharf, the master dropped his anchor, but this caught in the bobstay, an/1 the stem, of the scow struck the tee with some force. Several of the planks in the, topsides' were broken, and the but*, warks were also smashed. The vessel sailed up to Mr G. Niccol's slip, where: repairs will be effected. ' .'