October 15, 1898.].
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
instated as President of the Court of Censors As for Chang Yin-huan, when he was cast in- and is also appointed President of the Board of to the prison of the Board of Punishments the Comptrollers-General of the Imperial House-other day, the goalers reaped quite a harvest in hold Department.
the shape of "squeezes on his family, no less than Tis. 1.000 being paid for the single privi- lege of allowing his bedding to be taken into his cell.
SENTENCES ON THE OTHER UNFORTUNATES.
1st October.
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Grand Secretary Sun Chia-nai recently selected him and three other high literary officials to proceed to Japan to examine into the educa tional system in that country, in order to get information for conducting the proposed Peking University He was subsequently ordered by Imperial edict to be acting Chinese Minister at Tokio, should he be in that city upon the ex- piration of the term of office of Yu Keng, the then incumbent. This post has now been made a substantive one by the present edict of the 5th instant. As is well-known, H.E. Li, the new Minister, is a resident of Shanghai, a brilliant scholar and a progressive official.
Chang Yin-huan, the cashiered Senior Vice - President of the Board of Revenue, has been proved to be a cunning, low-principled
When the search for the principal members -man fond of currying favour with men in of the Reform Party was first ordered by the high places and therefore unfit for his high Empress-Dowager on the fatal 22ud of Septem- post. He must be kept under strict surveillanceber, daylight had not yet appeared. The house and we therefore banish him to Chinese Turkes- of Yang Shen hain, the Censor, was first sear tan to expiate his sins. The cashiered Hanlia ched by the gendarmes, under their Command- Recorder, Hsu Chih-ching, is ordered to be im- ant. the Imperial Clansman Chung Li; but the prisoned for life in the Board of tuuishments, former managed to escape for the time being to while the Hanlin Compiler and ex-Literary a neighbouring monaster y, when he was cruelly GREAT FIRE AT HANKOW, Chanceller of Hunan, Hsü Jèn-chib, is hereby betrayed by the monks and captured. The bril cashiered and dismissed from the public service liant and talented Tan Tze-tung, the Governor Late dispatches from Hankow to the Universal for ever.
of Hupeh's son happened to be ill in bed at the Gazette regarding the great conflagration in the [Note: It is most significant that Hsu Chib-time, but this did not prevent him from be- native city on the 1st instant state that the des. ching's title of Junior Vice President of the ing brutally dragged off by his captors and cast truction was even greater than at first estimated. Board of Rites, which was given him by the into one of the filthy and cheerless dungeons of The fire arose through the upsetting of a kero- Emperor just before his Majesty was murdered the Board of Punishments, without bedding or sene lamp in a thatched roof house at 11 p.m. on or deposed, has not been recognised in the Em-covering of any sort. Yang Jui, the Haulin the 1st instant and it was not until 1 p.m. on press-Dowager's decree above translated.] Compiler, was still lying abed when the gen- the following day that the fire was got under darmes appeared, so no trouble was experienced control. It transpires now that no less than in taking him into custody. Lin Hsio and Liu three miles of streets and alleyways were burnt Kuang-ti happened to be on duty in the ont leaving homeless 1931 families.
was a gale of wind blowing at the time, BO Grand Council Chamber and fell an easy prey to the Empress-Dowager's myrmidons. Hsu that the flying sparks started a conflagration Chih-ching happened to be out returning in alleys in several opposite quarters at the same official calls when he received news of search time, thus cutting off the people living in inter- being made for him by Chung Li and his genrening houses from escape. In this way over a thousand people are said to have been burnt darmes, but on learning that two of his sons had already been arrested as hostages for their to death. In one alley alone 217 persons, old parent's appearance, the old man gave himself and young, failed to escape, while two fire en- As for Wang gines in the alley were also burned in the gen. up in order to save his sous. Chao, the courageons Secretary of the Board eral catastrophe. Amongst the larger hongs of Rites, and Liang Chi-chao, the ex-Editor of gutted were nineteen banks, three of the largest Chinese Progress, who were greatly “wanted pawnbroking bouses in the province of Hupeh, by the Conservatives, they somehow managed and nine well-known large book stores, the last- to effect their escape in time and have not yet named aggregating a capital of not less than been captured.
Tls. 300,000. It is claimed that this has been the greatest conflagration that has ever befallen a Chinese city since the suppression of the Tai- ping rebellion, when, of course, whole cities were set on fire and destroyed by the rebels.-N. Ç. Daily News.
A NEW COMPTROLLER-GENERAL, Chao Shu jao, Senior Vice-President of the Board of Punishments, is appointed Comp- troller-General, with Wang Wenshao, of the Board of Railways and Mines, vice Chang Yin-
buan banished.
UNDER THE BAN.
All books and literary essays written and published by the arch conspirator Kang Yu-wei are hereby ordered to be destroyed, and all local officials are commanded to search for them, owing to their being pernicious and contrary to the tenets of our sacred religion (Confucianism). -N. C. Daily News.
THE TRIAL OF THE REFORMERS AT PEKING.
The Sinwenpao publishes the following trust worthy account of the arrest, trial and execution of the six martyrs to the cause of reform, and incidents relating to what took place during the first few days of the Coup d'Etat at Peking:
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It is stated that the members of the Reform men, Party at Peking consist of over 240 amongst whom are sixty odd members of the Hanlin Academy. The Couservatives intended to arrest every one of these and make them a warning to the world, but these extreme mea. At the trial yesterday before the joint tri-sures were afterwards considered impolitic and bunal, consisting of the Presidents and Vice-only the Chief Reformers are being now searched Presidents of the Grand Council, Board of for. Punishments, and Court of Censors, the follow- ing prisoners were questioned: Hsu Chih-ching, Junior Vice-President of the Board of Rites; the Censor Yang Shenbsin; the Hanlin Com. piler, Yang Jui; Tan Tze tung, Lin Hsio, and Lin Kuang-ti, first-class Secretaries of the Grand Council, and Kang Kuang-jen, M.A., the younger brother of Kang Yu-wei. It was proved that Hsu Chih-ching bad not been guilty of anything more serious than recommending Kang Yu-wei to the Emperor's confidence. It seemed that Kang was a classmate and intimate friend of Hsu's son, Hsu Jên-chu, Literary Chancellor of Hunan-since cashiered and dismissed for ever,from the public service-and the latter wrote so warmly on Kang's behalf to his father, that Hu did all he could to make the Emperor favourable to Kang. For this reason Hsu was only adjudged to have been "careless in his recommendations" and was therefore recom. mended by his judges to the Empress-Dowager for mercy. [We know that the act of "mercy' was lifelong imprisonment in the dungeons of the Board of Punishments.] The other six prisoners were charged with being deeply. dyed traitors" and unworthy of mercy. the 28th of September while the six were again before the joint tribunal, a secret edict suddenly arrived commanding the instant de.' In a recent issue of the N. C. Daily News the capitation of the prisoners.The hour was following paragraph appears with reference to almost dusk, but when the edict was read to the this unfortunate official :--An edict of the 5th unfortunate six none of them showed any fear instant states that Huang Chan-hsien, Minis Tan Tze-tung (the Governor of Hupeb's son) ter-designate to Tokio," has reported illnessand and Lin Hsio being especially fearless, glorying inability to proceed to his post; he is hereby in this opportunity to die for their principles allowed to resign and Li Sheng-tu, 4th rank and warning their judges that for every head Metropolitan Officer and Censor of the Kiang. that fell that day a thousand others would rise nan Circuit, is hereby appointed to succeed the up for liberty and reform. Heaven spread, as
former, with the rank of breret 3rd rank Me- it were, a veil to hide the sanguinary deed, for tropolitan Officer acting as second class Am- bassador to the Court of Tokio A hope was darkness had already fallen over the city when the executions began. After the judges who recently expressed in these columns that H. E, Huang Chun-hsien, being an official of liberal attended the executions had left the ground, the families and servants of the six unfortunates | view and education, would not find this to be a sowed the head of each victim on to its trunk mark against him in the eyes of the Empress
As for H.E. and placed the bodies in coffins that had been Dowager, but apparently he has. prepared for the purpose by them.
Li Sheng-tu, it will be remembered that the
The N. C. Daily News, from which we take the above, says in a subsequent issue :-
According to a dispatch received on 7th Oct. from Peking there was no one bold enough to come forward to procure a coffin to bury the body of the brother of Kang Yu-wei after the executions of the 28th ultimo, for fear they would be arrested as fellow conspirators of the dead men. Hence, although the families or friends of the other tive of the six victims of the Empress-Dowager's vindictive wrath gave them decent burial, the body of the unfortunate Kang Kuang-jèn was left to lie neglected on the execution ground until the following day. when the executiouers came and dragged it away to cast it in what is called the myriad peoples' hole or paupers' burying ground-❘ the greatest dishonour and misfortune that can ever befall a Chinese.
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WONG KUNG-DU.
In our issue of the 11th iust, appeared a spe- cial telegram from Shanghai stating that Wong Kung-du, also known as Huang Chun-hsien, who was formerly Chinese Consul at Singapore and had latterly been designated Minister to Tokyo, had been arrested at Shanghai.
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JUNO LU.
There
It is perhaps not generally known that the Grand Secretary Jung La, who, until the other day, held the post of Viceroy of Chihli, is a favourite nephew of the Empress-Dowager- the son of her ouly sister-and that this cir- cumstance alone, if any other were wanting, would have placed him on her side in the conflict with His Majesty Kuang Hsu and the Reform Party. Naturally, since the coup Jung Lu has been made more powerful than ever, in fact, the most powerful official in the Empire, for since his recall to Peking he has been appointed not only Generalissimo of the naval and military forces of the Paiyang, but also Comptroller- General of the Affairs of the Board of War, an appointment which places him in supreme con- trol of all the military forces of the Empire and of China's modern fleet. His rank as Grand Councillor and second Grand Secretary further places him at the head of all the civil officials of the Empire with the exception of Li Hung- chang, who happens to hold the post of Wenhua- tien or Senior Grand Secretary. The power Jung La holds now would enable him to carry out effectually the most ambitions personal schemes, were he so disposed.-N. C. Daily News.
ANOTHER DEATH FROM HYDRO- PHOBIA AT SHANGHAI.
Shanghai, 5th October. The mad dog which had caused two deaths already of residents in Broadway, claimed an- It is with great regret other victim to-day. that we have to chronicle the death of Mrs. Scott, wife of Captain Scott, which occurred to-day. Mrs. Scott made a brave struggle against the terrible disease, and it was hoped that the heroic treatment which she went through in the Pasteur Institute at Naga- saki would have saved her. But the hope in vain, and another Shanghai resi- dent has fallen a victim to the most horrible disease known to medicine. This she might have escaped had there been a Pasteur Institute in the great commercial metropolis of the Far
was