THE WAR IN CHINA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2425, 5 September 1900, Page 23

THE WAR IN CHINA.

DISPERSING THE CHINESE.

Li Hung Chang a Prisoner,

MASSACRE OF FIFTY FOREIGNERS,

Peking Looted by Authority.

THE DESOLATION OF PEKING.

Reports of Russian Ferocity.

GBEAT BRITAIN'S POLICY.

RUSSIA'S PROPOSED WITH-

DRAWAL.

THE ALLIES' MISSION AT AN END.— RUSSIA WANTS NO TERM. TOIiY.—FKANCE AGREES WITH RUSSIA.—AMERICA URGES SO3SE DELAY.

GERMANY AND ITALY OPPOSE. BRITAIN DOBS NOT ACQUIESCE.

EPIDEMIC OF SUICIDES.

REPORTED DEATH OF THE HEIR-APPARENT.

.RUSSIA'S SUCCESS IN MAN-

CHURIA.

HONGKONG, August 28. Colonel Wint and the 63rd Regiment of American Cavalry dispersed on the 19th (las'. Sunday Aveek) a force of Chinese that Avas gathered seven miles from Peking.^, ■ They killed 100 Chinese, then- own loss' being five Avounded. A cable from Chefoo to Taku has been laid. Li Hung Chang ha« asked the Dowager Empress to arrest Prince Tuan and disarm the Boxers. This avouM open the Avay for negotiations Avith the PoAvers. Peking is noAV clear of the enemy. Stubborn street fighting is proceeding. In the rescue of tha. garrison from the cathedral in North Peking, the French General Frey commanded the relieving column. They captured a series .of earthworks benveen the Imperial Palace and the cathedral, killing 500 Chinese regulars. The French Admiral Courrejolles announces that the admirals haA r e decided to detain Li Hung Chang a prisoner in the .roadstead pending a settlement of the ques- j tion of negotiations.

The besiegers had almost completed a long tunnel toAvards the American Legation when relief cam*.

FiA-e hundred Italian marines are around Peking. Tha German squadron has reached Hong-

Kong, en route for Taku. The Japanese have mounted Nordenfeldts commanding Amoy. August 30 It is reported at Chefoo that 50 foreigners who had accepted the proffered protection of Yu, Governor of Shensi, were massacred last week. The pursuit of the Dowager-Empress has been abandoned.

Houses Avithin 50 yards of the Legations were pierced Avith tiers of loopholes, allowing of a continuous fire. The attack was pushed with fiendish vindictiveness, and only the coAvardice of the enemy prevented the extermination of the foreigners.

The Allies prevent anybody stealing out of the forbidden city. The other parts of Peking have been looted Avith the consent of the authorities, who are receiA r ing one million of the general funds for prize money.

A French gunboat is ascending the Yang-tse.

A Japanese detachment from Taku is advancing to occupy Paoling fu. Twelve hundred Japanese at Formosa are expected to proceed to Amoy. !Twq hundred bandits raided tfie Tartar

| city '• at Canton. They looted four houses,. ■ The raid is ascribed "to hatred by the Cantonese of the northerner* 1 . The defence of the Legations is compnia able vo that of the LucknoAV Residency,. Tin aspect of Peking is one of absoluta desolation, and Legation street is unrecognisable. The foreigners' houses have been either burned, riddled Avith shell, or bloAvix. lip. The mere fragments only of the French. Legation are standing, one of its walls having been undermined and exploded. Only fragments of the boundary Avails of thvi Italian Legation remain. Hundreds of acres of the native houses were burned, and the destruction was of so Avanton a character that where they were not burned thji buildings Avere demolished. From the top of the city Avail a marvellous sight is presented, showing the barricades that had been erected every 20 yards in the thoroughfares, Avhiie the underground shelters ara littered Avith discarded uniforms, cartridges, rifles, and spear?. The foreign cemetery at Peking has been, desecrated in a shocking manner. Persistent reports are to hand that the Russians have desolated the NiucliAvang district, and have ruthlessly slaughtered all non-combatants. " - The Chinese official report announcea tbat the J)oAvage.r- Empress Avas on Sunday; la.st halfway to Siang fu. Li Hung Chang is appealing to the Dowager-Empress to permit himself, Prince Ching, General Yung Lv, and the Viceroy of the Yang-tsr province to act as peace plenipotentiaries. The British and German cruisers have arrived at Amoy. The action of Japan in landing troops afe Amoy is interpreted in some quarters as an answer to the Russian occupation of Niuchwang. ' A German firm have offered Chang Chitung, Viceroy at Wuchang, the loan' of one million taels (about £333,000) on the security of all vice-regal industrial undertakings. August 1 3.Lr The Legations' barricades presented a I wonderful sight. The besieged possessed : a feAv obsolete guns, and one was constructed out of fire-extinguisher cylinders, Avhiie the metal of candlesticks and other ornaments was converted into bullets. Tea thousand sandbags, made of silk brocade, and valued at £1 per bag, were used in the defence. The relieA-ers wei^e amazed at 'the gay appearance of the Legations, resembling, ais they did, a large garden party, owing to tLc ladies being arrayed in their fresh, bright, summer toilets. But they, afterwards found lioav pathetically pale and emaciated the unfortunate people Avere. It Avas arranged that the Allies should march through the Imperial city on tha 28th. • September 1. The Viceroy (? Governor) of Paoting fit recently wrote a letter, which has been, intercepted. It stated that the Taotai of Mangchau, at the outset of the troubles, invited two thousand , Boxers to a feast, and during the meal the Imperial soldiers, acting on the Taotai's order, slaughtered them all. ' Li Hung Chang promises to vigorously restore order, protect foreigners, and punish the Boxers. September 2. M. de Giers, the Russian Ambassador, ?<nd General Lenevieh, commanding' the" Russian forces at Peking, have been instructed, local circumstances permitting, to AvithdraAV all the Russians to Tientsin, pending the appointment of plenipotentiaries. ' All troops, excepting 80 Japanese .and 60 British marines, have been Avithdrawn fron* Amoy, and these will also leave ' very shortly, the Chinese authorities guaranteeing to maintain order. - _ General Rennekama has captured the town of Tsiti3ihar, on the Sungari River, in Manchuria. " '■ -, _ ■ Russia- has regained the Avhole of the Manchurian railway. September 3. v Prince Ching is Avilling to return to Peking if guaranteed libertj'. An epidemic of suicide prevails, in Peking. Whole families are hanging themselves. LONDON, August .29. Renter reports that Great Britain and Russia haA r e replied to the Message from Washington in reference to the opening up of negotiations Avith a vieAv to peace. These tAvo PoAvers are prepared to admit that Li Hung Chang's credentials as peace envoy are adequate. Germany, hoAvever, gives an emphatic and peremptory, negative to the inquiry. The Peking refugees are^now arriving afc Tientsin. August 30. The remains of Baron Ketteler, tne German Minister at Peking, Avere bur\d in. the roachvay, although the,Tsung-la-Yamen declared that the body was interred in the foreign cemetery. The Japanese haA-e occupied the S anmer Palace. The Russians wish to destroy the