| Show war correspondent who died at the hands of chinese had accumulate ed large fortune the career of louis etzel war correspondent for the london dally tele erash and native of butler pa shot and killed by chinese soldiers in mistake ifor a pirate near New chwang was remarkable tor deeds of daring although etzel was born and reared in butler he did not visit home for fourteen years preceding his death during that time he roved about the world ho planted sugar in the philippines ip pines he found a gold mine and realized a fortune out 0 it in china he bred horses he was war correspondent chief of scouts and soldier of fortune in the expedition of the allies against disguised as a mandarin he crept through the boxer lines to peking and gave to the world in his newspaper the first news of the foreign ministers imprisoned within he saved sixty chinese ladles imprisoned in a palace at peking from attack by russian soldiers and was awarded the order of the seven clawed dragon and an ermine coat by the empress dowager he refused to become a mandarin although offered such an office by the chinese court and all the while his relatives in butler and his sister miss anna etzel who lives in denver scarcely ever heard a word from him until now finally the announcement has come that he was killed even as he lived upon the field of action and adventure with etzel newspaper work was only a side line he was estimated to be worth in the neighborhood of sixty thousand dollars made from the sale of mine rights and the successful breeding of horses but he was a man of action and when at the beginning of the russo japanese war the dally telegraph wired him an offer to act as correspond ted h accepted it for the excitement it promised ethels intimate knowledge of the scenes of hostilities and of the chinese language enabled him to ascertain many things walca the russians desired to keep from tho public and as uncensored an wire ran from binkow to it was only necessary to cross the capo river to transmit news to the thousands who read the telegraph this did not please the russians very much early in march the correspondents detailed by their papers to join the russian army foregathered fore gathered at new chwang to await action by the foreign office at st petersburg upon their applications for permission to go to the front twenty three filed credentials but the number dwindled by reason of the dilatoriness of the russians in fulfilling promises many returned home others went to chefa and on april 15 only fifteen remained and ot iem permission was given to seven to proceed to mukden these men included only the men who represented newspapers favorable to the russian point of view among the correspondents refused permission were etzel and ernest brindle of the london dally mail manchuria Is infested with armed hands of or manchu bandits who can it they choose prove a thorn in the side of either the slavs or japs up to date by bribery and cajolery they have been held off ona of the moat interesting problems of the war is that at how the bandits will act when the moment arrives in the nearly part 0 june news was received at New chwang that several thousand had taken up arms in the lower part of liao province and were threatening to destroy the railroad between binkow and As neither etzel nor brindle could go to the front and as thia bit of news teemed the most promising within their radius of action they hired a junk and set out to investigate their course took them out of the llao river into the llao tung gulf and they were afloat throughout night at upon the following morning as etzel and brindle breakfast they heard having 0 from their crew and a of blots closely followed by a ari grating nolsie made apparent y craft bumping into abo ju J chew 10 ment later one ol 01 the chinese down tumbled bleeding and the hatchway etzel immediately seized hla revor ver and hurried up the pa 0 the level of the deck appeared upon him ona twenty shots were fired at of them struck him in the bead be and fell back into the cabin knocking down brindle who was following him As brindle arose and took him in hia enough life left w arms etzel bad just gasp no use old man im done tor ie died without another word by this time a hundred chinese soldiers from five junks bad clambered over the sides 0 the correspondents vessel and several other members of the crew were killed before explanations could be made the leader of the soldiers at last conscious of his mistake begged forgiveness and explained that he was in search of a pirate junk brindle insisted however that the commander and his soldiers accompany him to New chwang where he submitted the circumstances of the cabe to consul general henry B miller and to united states minister edwin B conger and sir ernest seton british minister both at peking the soldiers are now under arrest INSTINCT LED HIM TO DANGER HE HAD A NARROW ESCAPE ethels career of adventure began when he went to the philippines to engage in sugar planting in 1894 afterward he moved to slam where he was connected with the teak industry in company with another american he also prospected for gold in the dankan mountains near peking there he found a mine that netted him nearly it was during the boxer troubles that etzel came to the front as a correspondent of note disguised as a mandarin of the crystal button he left one night and although the town was surrounded by boxers crept through to peking to ascertain conditions in that city he interviewed ter viewed the different foreign ministers there and started back on the return he was not so fortunate his actions in peking having been reported by spies he was set upon at hsiang by twenty men and barely escaped with his life when etzel finally arrived in ho cabled to hta newspaper the first accurate story of the conditions in the forbidden alty during the march of the foreign relief expedition to peking etzel in addition to being a newspaper correspondent was made chief of scouts he became noted at this time for his ability to take photographs under trying circumstances cum stances when several miles in advance of their column etzel and four companions were discovered and chased by two hundred mounted chinese they took refuge behind a hill just aa the rest of the foreign detachment came into view As etzel lay there behind the hill with the cavalry charging and the bullets singing overhead ove rheau instinct proved too strong for him he rose stood out on the declivity and leveled his camera on the combatants his companions urged him frantically to come down but all unheeding he pressed the button As he did so a shot struck the button and smashed it in to fragments he swore a bit took another camera from another pocket obtained the photograph to and then jumping out of view eald angrily that picture cost me 50 during the sacking 0 peking when the russian soldiers were turned loose them gathered about the palace of a prince in the forbidden city whither the wives of sixty high chinese officials had fled SAVED MANY AND WAS RICHLY among those who notice t elano battering at the palace a etzel and two other corros corro S entering the palace by they hurried ough the COOM balcony and from loophole v russian after russian until ere were driven away for saving the chinese i and hla companions were to 1 sensed with tha order of afta clawed dragon in addition r melved a royal coat of anat a from the empress rift he was offered a third by yuan kal ia alt d he declined earlier in the campaign who accompanied by a alor who tode to songku arl tain to telegraph the atory attl tack upon that city the wire si been cut between those two was entirely adne to theae men S A news reached shanghai the chinese are not alone in asli for gratitude to etzel at leaah russian officer owes his life T crossing the llao riter on a ayt sledge propelled from behind effs 1 stream was frozen over last pan this officer struck a weak and the manchu with him jt through etzel who wag folin closely stopped his pesa edge of the ice and held out blak the ice cracked and he too M but be seized the russian fur collar of his coat and out with him to the men who knew his adre ous spirit the death of etzel doe bring surprise they expected laj meet juet such a feet nl |
