November 12, 1898.j
could go until I found that we were going farther away all the time and leaving mother and Ethel at the mercy of that crowd. Our carter had disappeared when we stopped by the chairs, and no one volunteered to stop our fiery steed. Mabel climbed out on the shafts, got the reins and stopped the horse. In another minute the carter came, as scared as he could be, whipped up the mule, and away we went as fast as we could in a Peking cart. I didn't want to leave Mother and Ethel a bit, but I thought that it would be better to get word to the compound. The male was young and frightened and got along pretty fast. I never was so jolted in all my life. But that didn't matter so much. As we were going along, I thought I heard some one calling Laura and sure enough it was Ruth in the other cart. Dr. Lowry had jumped out and stayed with Mother and Ethel, and sent Ruth on. She was nearly scared out of her senses and was screaming at the top of her voice. One of the chair coolies came up, on a dead taer, and, jumping on Ruth's cart, gave orders to drive ahead, as fast as possible. And we did not know whether the mob was following or not. Oh, how endless that ride seemed. Down this way and that, going so fast over those terrible stone streets, waiting at the be- ginning of some narrow alley, till we could get room to go through. When at last we stopped at the gate and I saw Father, oh what a relief it was! I managed to kiss Father and told him that Mother and Ethel were on their way, then turned to speak to Mrs. Lowry, and as I thought of Mother and Ethel back there in the crowd, with Dr. Lowry fighting alone, the "tears came to my eyes.
The American Minister and his wife happened to be calling in the compound, and Father rather summarily in- terrupted him, saying, Major Conger my wife and daughter are being mobbed near the temple of Heaven." They immediately went back to the Legation, and in almost less time than it takes to tell all the men in the compound were off, with clubs, guns, and pistols. They wouldn't let Father go, because he could not speak the lan- guage and wouldn't be any help so we were walk. ing up and down the street. Young Dr. Lowry, sick abed with malaria, jumped up and went off with his gun. In about ten minutes we saw chair coming and my heart stood nearly still.
We were afraid it was empty and they would tell us that Mother was way back by the road side injured, or dead. But we soon saw her looking out of the window, and she said she was all right, and Ethel and Dr. Lowry were coming. And when they all came, and got out of their chairs, I think we all felt that we had never been so happy and thankful as we were at that moment. But Dr. Lowry was hurt. He had two wounds on his face and a rib broken, In talking it over, it came out that going to the station he and Mabel had had a similar experience, and it was then he was hit. Of course they said nothing to us about it. Mother and Ethel never lost their wits once. They put on their hats when the men dinned at the top of the chairs, and Ethel held up her jacket on the side to protect her from the mud and glass, and the kodak in front, to keep off the mud that came in that way. She says that several times she thought she had breathed her last. Once, a man picked up what seemed an immense stone and aimed it at her face, but it hit some part of
the chair and landed at her feet. Another throw an immence one, on the roof, but nothing came of it. They think that it was mostly concrete from the wall of the temple, and mud that was thrown. You could never have told that any thing had happened except by the chairs, and Mother's face, which showed that she had been under a great strain.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. MORE EXECUTIONS AT PEKING.
Things here are in a very unsettled and dan. gerons state. Any day we women folk may be sent off to Tientsin, to take the next steamer for Shanghai..
At the Yokohama Races on the 28th October a little boy, Avil Hornstein, son of the pro- prietor of the Globe and International Hotels, was kicked on the back of the head by a pony, which was just being led out of the enclosure by a betto. The injury rendered him uncon- soions and in this condition he was taken to the General Hospital. His recovery: was considered doubtful.
It appears from late dispatches received from Peking that the Empress Dowager is still unsatisfied with the amount of blood shed by her since the coup over a month ago, and that exeontions "of a private nature" have been going on at the rate of an average of two a week. The majority of the victims of her bloodthirsty vengeance have been eunuchs, palace slave girls and ladies-in-waiting, all such as had at one time or other been looked upon with favour by their Imperial Master. With the exception of fourteen palace menials and four ladies-in-waiting whose active devotion to the Emperor naturally marked them out for instant denunciation to the Empress Dowager by their envious fellow-menials, followed by summary death at the hands of the eunuch executioners belonging to the Shenghsingsze or Palace Department of Control and Punishment, the other victims of the Empress Dowager's bloodthirsty vengeance were executed, after a short mock-trial, in the order of their denunciations inside the palace precincts. Never was mercy granted in a single instance and private envy and malice have naturally played a large part during the reign of terror. The last execution, however, was an open one "for the benefit of the public." The victim was a runaway" junior eunuch whose chief or head eunuch had been one of the first to fall under the Empress Dows- ger's vengeance. Palace eunuchs, be it known, are divided into divisions of
a dozen twenty, each under a chief or head eunuch, This "runaway" eunuch, it seemed so the story goes-wished to avenge his chief's death, and early one morning about a fortnight ago was arrested at the palace gate by the guards, and on being searched a long knife was found secreted on his person As it had been given out that Kang and his Reform Party had been guilty of trying to assassinate the Emperor, the opportunity was not to be lost, and so the captive being sent to the Board of Punishments for trial was, of course, found guilty and then publicly strangled in the chief market place of Peking. According to the captive's own assertion, he had been sent to of the Imperial farms, outside Peking, over which his chief had control, to collect the usual autumn tithes, in proof of which he had the tithes' book on his person, together with silver and Peking bank drafts amounting to over Tls. 1,500, and that the knife was a weapon of defence while travelling to and from Peking. Naturally the silver and drafts with the tithes book had been seized upon by the palace guards, as legal "loot" when the man was searched, and only the damaging knife produced to the officer commanding the guards. The public therefore had a convincing' proof that a fellow conspirator of Kang Yu-wei had been caught, which, however, only a few have be lieved.-N. C. Daily News.
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COLLISION IN THE INLAND SEA. GREAT LOSS OF LIFE REPORTED,
Kobe, 26th October. The N.Y.K. steamer Satsuma-maru brings news of a terrible disaster in the Inland Sea, last night about half-past eight. A collision occurred between the N.Y.K. steamer Kinshiu maru and the O.S.. steamer Miyagawa-maru about 80 miles down the Inland Sea, off Tádotsu. The Miyagawa maru is a small coasting steamer and appears to have had on Kinshiu which was in charge of a pilot (Mr. board upwards of 200 passengers. The Kaya) at the time, is stated to have crashed into the smaller steamer with great force, doing such damage that she sank in three minutes. both vessels that 130 persons were saved, but It says much for the efforts of the crews on the number of drowned is believed to be no less stated to be severely injured. than 60. Several of the rescued passengers are
tained considerable damage, obliging her to The Kinshiu-maru is reported to have sus- anchor.
It is only a few weeks since the Kinshiu came out of the shipwrights' hands at Seattle where she had been damaged in collision,
·The Miyagawa-maru was on the way to Kobe from Bakan,
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Kobe, 27th October in the Inland Sea on Monday evening between Fuller details respecting the terrible collision the N.Y.K. steamer Kinshiu-maru and the O.S.K. steamer Miyagawa maru, show that the disaster occurred at 6.30 p.m., but no informa tion is available as to the cause of the collision. The 0.8.K. steamer was making for Tadoteu at the time. She had on board about 160 persons including 84 members of the crew, Most of the passengers were in the steerage and these included about 60 bluejackets from Kure. There were three or four first-class passengers and seven or eight in the second exception of an old man of a class, and all these were saved with the members of the crew appear to have been sa ved, sixty. All the including the captain, and 89 of the pas- the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Agents, and the sengers. These are figures furnished by deduction therefrom is that the loss of life is rather under 40 than over, though the vernacular press places the loss at 50. The Kinshiu,
the starboard side near the bow, and she rapidly appears, struck the Miyagawa on filled and sank. Her masts now show about five feet above the water. Boats were at once lowered by the Kinshiu and as many persons as possible were picked up. Several were injured in the collision-some very badly. Seven or eight of the bluejackets are reported to be amongst the drowned.
but she
The bow of the Kinshiu-maru was damaged was not making water when the eleven o'clock the same evening. Satsuma-maru-communicated with her about
office of the N.Y.K., left yesterday by the Mr. Inouye, the sub-Manager of the local Hiogo-maru for the scene of the disaster, and the managing director of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha also proceeded to the spot, taking divers and salvage apparatus with him. Hiogo News.
YU MAN-TZE BOUGHT OFF.
Chungking, 29th October. courier on the 27th instant a letter from General The Acting Viceroy Wên has received by Chou, commanding the troops opposed to Yu Man-tze, stating that he has received a petition from that rebel asking for peace with the Go- Vernment and promising to release the Roman Catholic priest Fleury. The Acting Viceroy has given his consent to a peace and has ordered 8 "reward" or solatium to Ya Man-tze in the shape of a commission carrying a brevet button with it. This was sent on the same day to Ge neral Chou to prove the bona fides of the Aot- ing-Viceroy's intentions towards the rebels in order to obtain the persons of the R.C. priests Fleury and Huang held by them. The followers of Yu are soon to be enlisted in the local battalions while others are to be paid their expenses to their homes. Peace is therefore within reasonable distance of accomplishment and in consequence alarmist rumours are already dying out, Shanghai, Shasi, and Hankow bankers and merchants having trade connec tions with Chungking are advised to take ad vantage of the present opportunity coupled with the favourable condition of the river and hurry on their winter shipments so as to avoid loss in delay.-
Chungking, 5th November. The "gift" of the high provincial authorities at Chêngtu to Yu Man-tze as the reward for his return to the allegiance to the Manchu dynasty was sent him yesterday. It is in the shape of an opaque blue button official hat, Second Captain in the Chinese army. In con- with peacock feathers, and a commission as sideration of the above Yu Man-tze will hand over Père Fleury to-day to the authorities. N. C. Daily News special telegrams.
The China Gazette of the 5th November says: -The once well-known crack P. & O. line Hydaspes, which was sold recently to Chinese, was to-day towed from the lower reach of the Dock, where she will be broken up and sold for river up to her last resting place at Tungkadoo old iron. She had practically no steering power, her rudder being useless, and it was task of some hazard to more her up through the crowded shipping, but it was safely accom. plished by Pilot Carmichael with the aid of the two tugs Fuhles and Samson.
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