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Show piiisiiiiiiiiiiiinniiin : , H - iMy -o I s 1 Invasion of the Empire-Will 1 kiTiPaiUnSiSM I Involve Great Hardships-Road e !T J Zj to Pekin is Almost Impassable H 2T tf g at this Season Whole Country s $ A is One Vast Graveyard and "the .-s lfif sskkSUQ Water is Poisoned with Disease. iiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiia (ropvriftht. 1900. by G. M. Walker.) Competent judges believe that cara-liaifrning cara-liaifrning in north China by European end American troocs will involve greater hardships' than Occidental troops have ever been called upon to endure. The earlv rtart of the summer about Pekin is usually dry and hot, and the last eitrht or ten weeks have proved no exception to the general rule. But lcfrinnine- about the middle of July, torrential rains, which flood the entire , lain about China's capital and all but Ftop traffic across it, generally prevail for a short season. This period of li avy rains is accompanied by hisrh winds, which sometimes are very destructive, de-structive, while along: the coast dense fos are the rule, the atmosphere being heavily charged with humidity. The entrance to the Gulf of Pei-chili Pei-chili lies through the narrow straits between be-tween Che Foo and Port Arthur, which are thickly studded with rocky islands, a veritable graveyard of shipping. In proportion to the tonnage passing through, there are more vessels lost in 1hese straits than in any other similar simi-lar waters in the world, and if the trouble in China is not quickly quelled many other warships and transports besides the Oregon will come to grief in these treacherous waters. Even those that pass the dangerous Ptraits and anchor at Taku will not bfi much safer, for there is no harbor there nothing but the open sea. The coast is low. and the mud fats, which extend for miles, make landing almost impossible. The tides are high, and should the autumn winds be as severe as they are nearly every year, more than one of xlie foreign vessels will find its last resting place- on the mud flats of Taku. A Vast Tilarsh. From Taku to Tien Tsin the country Js a vast marsh, which the natives have attemnipd to render fit for cultivation culti-vation by draining it with numerous ditches, but as the river is easily navigable nav-igable to Tien Tsin by the gunboats of lighter draught, the troops will likely like-ly be taken to that point for disembarking. disem-barking. It would be folly for them i to land at Taku and attempt to go by railroad to Tien Tsin, owing to the danger of the rails being torn up. And though the distance is only twenty-seven twenty-seven miles, it would be madness to try to march over the territory, for it is B, well nigh impassable, because of its marshv nature and its labyrinth of ditches. It is unfortunate in the extreme that the relief force under Admiral j-evmour was lorcea to turn Daciv from its attempt to reach Pekin. In their early stages Chinese uprisings rarely include any very large proportion propor-tion of the population, there being always al-ways many who wait to see whether a demonstration shows signs of being successful before taking sides; the I turning back of the relief force has undoubtedly resulted in a great addition addi-tion to the Boxer forces, and this will render the ultimate relief of Pekin much more difficult. Then, too. the Chinaman is a fatalist, and a predesti- natarian of the most pronounced type. Being led in such movements by fanatics fa-natics who claim to have rendered themselves Immortal and to be able to extend the same immunity from death and wounds to their followers, they fight with the greatest bravery and desperation as long as they appear to be winning, and there could, of course, be no greater proof of the efficacy of their charms and incantations than their success in turning back the re-1'ef re-1'ef force. Many who have been doubtful doubt-ful about the outcome of this uprising will now feel satisfied, therefore, that it is really the great movement which j has long been expected to sweep the foreign devils into the sea. For this reason the troops which lead in the new movement toward Pekin may expect to encounter some of the fiercest and most desperate opposition luropean forces have ever encountered. encoun-tered. But the Chinaman is quick to see when the tide is going against him: he is always looking for some sign or omen indicative of the favor or disfavor disfa-vor of the genii. When he sees a few of his "immortal" leaders In id out cold he quickly loses faith in the charms on which his own safety depends and acts on that ancient Chinese proverb, which duplicates the occidental saying: "He who fights and runs away may live to fight another day." When this spirit unce possesses a Chinese army you could not get Ifl.ODO of them to stand against a hundred white men. Must be Got "On the Run." Here is where great loss is likely to result fi-om the exercise of too great camion. A Chinese army once in retreat re-treat can be pursued with perfect safety, if only it is closely followed. In fact, as leaders in retreat, the Mongolians Mon-golians are in a class by themselves, and it is only when the pursuit is so long delayed that they discover some new omen or charm on which to pin their faith that they can be pur-suaded pur-suaded to make another stand. The relief force under Admiral Seymour made the characteristic British mistake mis-take cf taking the hardest way." The system of frontal attacks which proved so disastrous in South Africa was straightway repeated before Pekin. The country west of the Pei-Ho is' full of swift and treacherous streams, and the whole plain is a big swamp. It would be almost impossible to march across it without opposition, yet the relief force started out across it over the railroad whose destruction was known to be one of the main objectives objec-tives of the hostilities. o IL Was PrePsterous to suppose that 2.000 men could protect eighty mfles or railroad running through an unfriendly unfriend-ly population of eight or ten millions, so when the relief forces reached Lang-fang, Lang-fang, half way between Pekin and Tien Tsin, they found the railraod destroyed ahead of them, their communication cut and their rear and themselves literally lit-erally smothered in the mass of people about them. The Chinese cart road from Tien Tsin to Pekin follows the western bank of the Pei-Ho until a short distance below Tung-chow, where it turns west to the capital. The proper prop-er route for the relief force to have taken ta-ken was to go by boats up the river to Tung-chow. Disembarking there, they would only have to march twelve miles west over easy ground to reach Pekin. A WALL ON WHICH A COMPANY MIGHT PARADE. This is from a photograph of part of the outer wall of Pekin. the top of the wall only being shown. It is sixty feet wide and more than forty feet high, wide enough for a company of soldiers to march abreast in two ranks, and high enough to dominate a goodly portion of the great Celestial city. The celebrated ancient astronomical obpervatory is shown in the background. If, however, the opposition was too ! strong or the fighting too severe to make the attempt in boats, then the forces should have marched to the east bank of the river, along which a low, but continuous water shed runs; thus for the whole march they would have j had the river between them and . the I Boxers, who were busy tearing up the railroad. China's" Bad Water. The relieving force suffered from lack of water, and this is one of the greatest great-est dangers to be encountered in campaigning cam-paigning in China. The country has been so thickly populated for so many centuries that it is one vast graveyard, and the graves are not made by interment, inter-ment, but by setting the coffin on the ground and heaping the earth up around it. Then, too, there is no system sys-tem of sewerage or drainage, except into cesspools, which often stand almost al-most alongside the wells that supply the various communities. The water, therefore, is always reeking with the germs of typhus, typhoid and that fearful fear-ful Oriental dysentery that makes living liv-ing skeletons out of the strongest men in a few weeks. The Chinese only manage man-age to escape these epidemics by boiling boil-ing all the water and drinking it hot, and the troops campaigning in China must follow this tame plan, unpalatable unpalat-able though the water may taste when so treated ,or they will lose a hundred by the dread- disease mentioned for every man that is lost in fighting. Quarantine is unknown in China, and it is common to see men all broken out with smallpox lying along . the streets. The Chinese regard smallpox much as we do chickenpox, as something some-thing that everybody must have; in fact, among them, measles is much more feared. The troops moving in China at this season will find the country full of the finest gardens, and many will doubtless yield to the temptation to sample the numerous greens and vegetables, but let them beware, for the method of fertilizing fer-tilizing the fields and gardens is such that all green things are risoned with the same germs that taint the waters. As a rule vegetables and fruits are safe to eat in China after they have been thoroughly cooked. It will be particularly trying on troops who have been serving in Cuba, the Philippines or India to be trans- j f erred at this time to north China. The rainy season there is over by the last of August, and the falls and winters win-ters are dry and' cold, while frequent storms of wind sweep the plain and raise such clouds of sand and dust that traffic ia stopped. These sand storms have played no unimportant part in the history of China. Both the Mongols and the Manchus, being northern north-ern men and accustomed to them, have reaped great advantage from them, more than once successfully attacking the southern Chinese while the storms were in progress; the stinging sand and gravel of the storms demoralizing the southerners utterly. Winter in North China. Frost comes about the middle of October, Oc-tober, and about the last of November the steady cold sets in and freezes up the river, which stays closed until the last of February or the middle of March. There are no snows to amount to anything, a few flurries, perhaps, which amount to six inches, say, in a whole winter. The mean temperature for the winter months is not much over 20 degrees. It seldom warms up enough to thaw, while it frequently drops to near zero, so the men will- need gener-our gener-our supplies of warm clothing and bedding. bed-ding. Most of the troops now going to north China will doubtless have to winter there, for it is unlikely that ouiet will be iestored before the clos- i ine of the river in November, and after j that it will be impossible for them to leave the country before spring. The wintering of such forces about Pekin will be a difficult problem, for there are no decent camping places about the city. They might be placed on the top of the city wall, which is fifty or sixty feet wide and well paved, but to keep the troops in the city would only be to irritate the people and endanger the health of the men. In the hills about ten miles north and about fifteen miles west of the city, however, there are extensive temples which are used as summer resorts and stopping places for Dilerims. and these structures would make excellent quarters for the troops. There, too. are magnificent springs, which would furnish an ample supply of the best water, and the coal mines at the foot of the hills would give ulentv of fuel. A short military road across the plain would place them in close touch with the capital. So little interest has been taken in China by this country that an adequate map of it is not to be found in the United States; even the war department depart-ment has no map of value, and has been at a loss to know what provision to make for our troops that were be-ins be-ins sent there. It is amusing to read that the transport Port Albert carried 100 mules to Taku. when north China's mules are probably the largest and most plentiful to be found in the world. Much of the hostility toward foreigners for-eigners that has been displayed in the present outbreak has been due to the harshness of the foreigners in dealing with the Chinese, particularly that of the Germans in Shan Tung, and unless great care and consideration is shown toward the non-combatants the occupation occu-pation of Pekin. instead of bringing auiet. will inflame the whole empire. The Chinese are not savages, nor even barbarians, and while their customs and manners may seem peculiar to us, it should be remembered that they have been in force for many centuries longer than ours have prevailed. Their prejudices and superstitions must be respected and their graves and shrines kept inviolate. Firmness with a due consideration for their peculiar point of view will quickly restore peace, but harshness and injustice will simply kindle a fire that will light up the , whole world. GUY M. WALKER. |