Directory_and_Chronicle_1903 — Page 613

144

PEKING

A cough census was taken of the foreign population about this time, and gave the following numbers :—Women, 147 inside the British Legation, 2 outside; Children, 76 inside, 3 outside; Men, 191 inside, 54 out; total, 473. The marine and other guards were between 450 and 500; so that altogether inside the lines there were nearly 1,000 foreigners. On July 1st, the besieged made their first big sortie, the object being to capture a gun near the Su Wan'g-fuh. Although skilfully executed it was not successful. On the 3rd, the Chinese pressed very hard on the Americans who were holding the west part of the foreign section of the wall; they actually carried a barricade, but it was quickly retaken by a conjoint party of Americans, British and Russians, in which Capt. Myers of the American Army was seriously wounded. July the 4th was celebrated by an artillery duel. The chief weapon of the Allies deserves « paragraph to itself. Some forgotten shell had been found in a well in the compound of the Russian Legation and then by a curious coincidence in one of the foraging expeditions constantly made in parts of the town within the lines an old British muzzle loader was discovered-it had probably been purchased as old iron by the possessor in the early sixties but found too refractory to his tools. This was furbished up by the skill of some of the armourers, and fired with very considerable moral effect by an American gunner on the Chinese. The gun was aptly called the "International." Necessity proved the mother of invention in many cases during the siege; the excellent pewter of the Pekingese was moulded into bullets, and the Fathers of the Pei-tang in their desperate efforts to keep the Chinese at bay actually made their own gunpowder as well as bullets.

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On July 11th, the French caught and shot some twenty Chinese in a position which they rushed with great gallantry; but on the other hand they were caught by a suc- cessful sap on the 13th. By this device the Chinese managed to blow up two large houses in the French Legation, and drove still more people into the neighbouring British compound. On July 16th, the gallant Strouts, the commander of the British Marines, was killed by rifle fire while examining the defences of the Su Wan'g-fuh along with Col. Shiba, the Japanese commander, and Dr. Morrison of the Times. This loss was irreparable in more senses than one. Captain Strouts had shown himself a hero anong heroes, and had the complete confidence of everyone, civilians and military alike. It would be no injustice to say that he and his gallant Japanese colleague, Shiba, were the active heroes of the siege. The gallant Colonel on this occasion had a narrow escape, getting a bullet through his coat, while Dr. Morrison was severely wounded in the leg. After this the British Minister, Sir Claude Macdonald, resumed his military rank and took a leading part in the defence as a military man as well as British Minister.

Trench digging to countercheck the possibilities of further sapping was now extensively undertaken; still it did not prove altogether a success. The very day the relief was effected, a deep mine was discovered under a portion of the Students' Quarters with the boxes to receive the powder ready in position; another two hours more and there would have been a tragedy of unexampled magnitude. About July 16th the news of the capture of Tientsin reached the high Chinese authorities, and at once modified their attitude: their attack slackened, and on July 18th hostilities practically ceased, as far as fighting was concerned, while attempts were made to reopen com- munications between besiegers and besieged, though the latter were as rigidly as ever secluded from all news of the outside world. Chinese soldiers came inside the Su Wan'g- fuh and wished to fraternize with Colonel Shiba's men, offering them protection: the Colonel refused; thereupon they sent in small quantities of fruit and food. Similar offers were made in other parts of the lines, but there was a just suspicion of the "Danaos et dona ferentes." With a few exceptions the gifts were rejected, especially so the bag of flour hoisted over the barricades in one place. The Chinese made much of this offer of supplies in their attempts to delude the World as to the real nature of the position in Peking. About this time the besieged received their first news of Ouside affairs, and learned that Tientsin had been attacked and relieved, and that a Relief Column was being organized for them. The paucity of information was one of the most curious features in a situation that was full of surprises. China is a country where news may as a rule be bought for money easier than in any country in the world, as spies abound; yet for weeks the World knew nothing of Peking, foreign-Peking nothing of the World. For the next ten days active hostilities were in complete abeyance, though vigilance on both sides was unremitting, and the defences were continually being strengthened.

On the 22nd of July, the attack was reuewed at the Pei-tang or Northern Roman Catholic Cathedral, where the Catholic Fathers under Bishop Favier had assembled more

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