MORE ABOUT THE BOXERS.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 17, 10 July 1900, Page 1

MORE ABOUT THE BOXERS.

The leader of (he Boxers in the vicinty of Wcn-hai-wei is desenbed as a cabinet maker, whose name ia Luh-Shin, end ever since the news of the cession of the district to Great Britain became common property ainoogsfc the Chinese, snyg the St. James' Budget, Luh-Shin has been indefatigable in stirring up the people to revolt, and to assert what he calls their rights. As in other parts of the Empire, fchfl most ridiculous rumours wero set afloat, and aid was promised to the Boxers throughout the wholo province if they would rise and repel those wh^imu, been branded as tba invnders of the Chinese Empire. The present Governor of Shantung, and General of the troops, is Yuan Shi Kai, an amiaLle officer, who seems to have been n t his wits' end to know how fo cope with the spread of the disaffection. He began by reaffirming the Imperial decree that there should be no gathering of the Boxers, or Big Swords anywhere in the province, and exacting certificates fri.e the local heaasmen that no juek meetings ware being held. 'l^ local authorities obeyed this injunction with alacrity, giving, of course, false certificates, and Yuaa Shi Kai reported to Pekm that the Boxers were being awed into submission. On the arrixal of Co/onel Dorward, Major Penrose and a small force of engineers and surveyors, peace was maintained on»y with the utmost difficulty. The people would not listen to tho explanation that Wei-hai-Wei was now British temtory, and that no Chinese subject would be iris, governed or molested. One of the placards displayed by the rioters serves to show the temper of tho people. "People of Shan Tung," it ran, " you are being encroached upon by the red-haired barbarians, who seek to drive you out of your lands and homes. The red-haired ones claim to have made a treaty with the Emperor surrendering to them these lands. They only want a foothold in order to curse the soil and spread their religion and their customs all over China, Let us arise and drive them into the sea." It is stated that this is the sort of placard that is constantly met with throughout the provinces of Shantung and Chi-li, and it is hardly to be wondered at that the ignorant Chinese believed that the Europeans were their enemies.