Show I IS PLAY TO iAIN TIME I I I Belief in London is that Thereis no Hope for c the Foreign Legationsin fI 1 > Peking Jr Elaborate Fabric of the Dispatches Which Chinese are Building to j Persuade Civilized World that Ministers are Still Alive Held to I be Only Intended to Enable Celestials to Prepare for War Most of Legations Reported Dead I i r T London July 2G 4 a m Congers 1 Cablegram the substance of which has been transmitted to the United States Ij Secretary of the Navy through Capt Thomas of the United States cruiser t Brooklyn has Increased the belief In I London that there is no hope for the foreign legations In Peking and that the elaborate fabric of the dispatches which the Chinese arc building to persuade i per-suade the civilized world that the Ministers Min-isters arc still alive Js only intended to enable them to gain time to complete com-plete preparations for warfare MOST OF THE LEGATIONS DEAD The Shanghai correspondent of the l Dally Mail asserts that a Chinaman who was employed at the British legation z lega-tion as a writer nnd interpreter has escaped from Peking to Niu Chwang and that he declares that at the time 1 he left Peking most of the members of I the legations were dead and the condition t condi-tion of the others was hopeless He Bays that Sir Robert Hart Director of Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs i died on July 2nd The correspondent goes on to say No other dates are given in the mes 1 page from Nlu Chwang x ALL OVER WITH LEGATIONS 3 The Chinese newspaper here published 1 pub-lished yesterday a dispatch declaring 11 that It was all over with the members of the legations The president of a minor board at Peking wrote to a relative In Shang j hal under date of July Dth saying p The foreign legations are still un captured but owing to the dally fighting i fight-ing It Is rumored that only about 300 persons are loft alive In the legations J and If there Is any delay in the arrival of the relief force I fear that none will be left to receive it This letter is regarded in Shanghai as authoritative Strange enough Jt says nothing of any assistance to the c legations by Prince Chins or Gen Lung Lu j SALISBURY DOUBTS EVIDENCE The British Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Lord Salisbury has I notified the United States Embaspndor th Mr Joseph H Choate that It was impossible im-possible accent the evidence so far submitted by the ChincBe or transmitted transmit-ted by the United States regarding the c7 uafoty of the t foreign l Ministers atPe king and that until their safety was fully established the British Government Govern-ment would be unable to discuss any question of mediation or kindred matters 2 mat-ters l I sifi PRESS PESSIMISTIC Tho tone of the European press with regard to tho message dated July 4th received here from the British Minister at Peking Sir Claude MacDonald continues con-tinues pessimistic and the endless and extraordinary succession of Chinese 0 J I dispatches purporting to describe the g situation at Peking only serves to be itvilder I STORY OF MASSACRE SHAKEN 1 However the earlier unquestioning l 1 belief that a massacre took place has I 11 to some extent been shaken and it is now admitted despite the heavy load of evidence supporting the reports of I the massacre that as Sir Claude Mac Donn Ids letter disposed l of the first oAl 1 story alleging that the crime occurred Juno 30th BO Minister Congers dispatch dis-patch and other ntorles reporting the legations safe July 10th 14th and 18th give some ground for assuming the poa olblllty that the second reports were also unfounded LEGATIONS BOMBARDED 1 Another version of the story which eA reached Gen LI commanding the Pel rA1 Tan forts by a runner from Peking who brought to him yesterday the report re-port of anarchy In the Chinese capital which Gun LI communicated to the Brlthh officer colnmnndlng nt Tong Ku JHlyn tho British legation was being bombarded when the messenger left Poking July 14th Prince Ching this 1 report sayH was assisting the Ministers tSi Minis-ters and his palace was protected by II 10000 Chinese troops Prince Ching according to this report considered ii himself able to cope with the situation J situa-tion tionRUSSIANS RUSSIANS SLAIN BY CHINESE 10 Telegrams from Seoul and Chemulpo 4 Tinder tho date of Nla roport from Ruslan sources that eighty Russians 5t havfflbeen J killed by Chinese at AnTon An-Ton twenty escaping across the Yalu 1 river to JIJu island According to another cti an-other account fifty Russians who had hi en defeated by l Chinese arrived at JIJu Suqday en route from Port Arthur oori to PyongYang Russian officials have J loft Seoul for PyongYang d RELIEF FOR CUARBIN A dispatch from St Petersburg says Rupnlan troops from Nlkolsk are hast has-t tonlng to tho relief of Charbln and other places In a similar light PREPARING FOR HOSTILITIES Whll these brief side lights as to lh TOte of the Europennn leave little ground for hope Shanghai sends a Pi batch of reports Indicative of prepara topB for hostilities on the part of the a < ulni ae It Is alleged that the Yang J To Viceroys have sent deputies to I r Shanghai to Inquire as to the prospect tt of lolslng a foreign loan ostensibly to I l pursue military operations against the lr > x < ri whoSE movement is extending nnldlv flout wJrd with constantly rawing strength and had reached a 4 llnt where the provinces of Shang i T < mr Ho Nan and Shun SI meet leav I iP 1 u behind It a trail of burned missions or cri murdered Christians I I MOBILIZING CHINESE Finiultancounly Lhori Is I a movement jithnard of southern Chinese troops iJ to Join the main army gathered to op 1 the foreign advance on Peking lc1 Ihr > strength of this principal force Is 11 < v fstlnmtpd at 200000 men I c CAniUFONS BEING REINFORCED i It la believed that about three weeks 4 inuit elapse before the Chinese prepar f DtlonB an completed It Is rumored thai 300000 Chinese troops and more are being sent to reinforce the garrison of I I the Klan Yin forts commanding the i I entrance to the YangtseKlang ninety nine-ty miles east of Nanking CANNON DISABLED Chan Chi Tung Viceroy of Wu Chang on the YangtseKlang telegraphs tele-graphs that he is apprehensive that ho will not be able to restrain his troops for more than another ten days He says that he has thrown the breechblocks breech-blocks of the guns commanding San how Into the river DECLARATION AGAINST FOREIGNERS FOR-EIGNERS These signs of unrest In the southern provinces are coincident with Li Hung Changs presence in Shanghai They are supposed to be the beginning of a general declaration against foreigners In this connection the Canton correspondent corre-spondent of the Telegraph wiring Tuesday Tues-day sends the following important newsAN AN IMPORTANT MANDATE Viceroy Tak Su today published the following mandate An important Imperial Im-perial idecrcG was Issued on the 23rd I day of the sixth month It says We have lost Tien Tsin and great precautions precau-tions are taken In Peking No peace can be obtained without gOjug through a war In the time of Chung an agreement agree-ment was made that no murder can he Inflicted on Ministers from abroad It is a month since the Minister of Germany Ger-many was assassinated by Boxers and strict orders have been given for the arrest of the murderers We are trying our utmost to preserve the lives of the other Ministers and they are still in Peking We fear that the Vicero sand s-and Governors may misunderstand the intention of the decree relying on the safety of these Ministers as ground for making peace and taking no heed whatever to prepare for attack and defense de-fense The neglect to fortify the districts dis-tricts under their Jurisdiction will bring endless calamity Viceroys and Governors Gover-nors arc to pay all attention to and to urge on preparations for v coast attack and defense and they are to take the consequences in cases of any territory being lost entirely through their del lay and mismanagement > WHAT THE EDICT MEANS Europeans here understand thoroughly thor-oughly the last part of the edict which means that the Viceroys and Governors are commanded by the Empress Dowager Dow-ager to prepare for a Chinese war against the allied powers Viceroy Tak Su Is bitterly antiforeign and he Is increasing In-creasing his army and armaments military mil-itary and naval He has made an objection ob-jection through the prefect of Kwan Chou to four small gunboats two French one American and one British that are here to safeguard the lives of foreigners and he asks that they be movedbeyoud the Bogue forts His clans will be unmasked shortly short-ly after the allied powers ascertain definitely def-initely the facts concerning the massacre massa-cre at Peking SITUATION IS CRITICAL Ohinese gunboats Infest the channel at the back of the Shameen and eighteen Chinese gunboats lie awaiting orders below the Imnerlal Government wharf The Cantonese arc daily becoming becom-ing more hostile and the situation Is critical Business is almost at a standstill stand-still and leprosy and plague claim fresh victims dally Natlvo Christians assert that the notorious Black Flag Chief Lan who Inflicted reverses on the French in the Tonqulu war now refuses to obey LI Hung Changs command to go north and fight the Boxers His soldiers are here and compose the crews of the gunboats gun-boats In the Shameen LIS SECRET INSTRUCTIONS I According to the Shanghai correspondent corre-spondent of the Times Li 1 Hung Chang is residing at the residence Liu who was the envoy of the Empress Dowager Dow-ager In the secret mission to Japan He has received secret instructions to remain re-main at Shanghai and to endeavor to open negotiations with a view of preventing pre-venting the European advance POWERS DISAGREE With this accumulation of evidence of an Impending big struggle comes also the news of disagreements between the powers and the foreign commanders which threaten to hamper united action and to encourage Chinese resistance A conference of the Admirals at Tiku called to settle the question regarding the management of the restored railway rail-way decided in favor of the Russian control only the British and American Admirals disscntiner S NEED SINGLE LEADER Tho Tien Tsln correspondent oC the Daily Mall Insists upon the necessity of a single l leader and of a general headquarters head-quarters with an Intelligence olllce Hu says Much valued time is wasted by the present system Little scouting la done and very few guides are employed The allies have no intelligence regarding regard-ing tho position or numbers of the enemy en-emy The supplies of food and medical stores as well as the number of surgeons sur-geons are insufficient The morning papers do not comment upon the reported differences of policy bctwcon the United States and Europe probably preferring as the DaIly Graphic says to wait for more authentic authen-tic Information on the subject SITUATION IN MANCHURIA Them appears to be a difficulty owing ow-ing to the Russian censorship to gel an accurate Idea of the I situation In Manchuria Man-churia The Government dispatches available wires and little block the nvalnbll WhCK lttJe private news come through Nevertheless I Never-theless thero are rumors that the sit I uatloYi is I more serious than It la l otll daIly represented to he und that the Russians have been driven back while the southern portion of trying lo save 8ulhel porlon the eastern railway MOBILIZING RUSSIAN FORCES The Chinese have burned Lavoang to prevent Russian concentration there and are now trying to smash communication communi-cation between Port Arthur and Nlu Chwang The critical situation has forced the Russians to withdraw n number of tr oim from Tien Tsln while 3000 troops have been sent from Port I Arthur It IB reported that an entire Continued on Pago 2 PLAY TO GAIN flME1 S Continued from Page army corps is being mobilized at Odessa Odes-sa for transport to Taku by Iho volunteer volun-teer licet It Isrcportcd from NIu Chwang that the Russians are concentrating forces at a point fifteen miles cost of that fort and raising reinforcements before advancing ad-vancing on Moulcden Manchuria The Boxers have wrecked the bridges of the Shanghai Kwan and Kin Chau section of tho railway Admiral Seymour and Gen Sir Alfred Gaselee are consulting at VclHalWel |