January 0, 1001.
rrir if! 1 1 . T .iiOTTf A rv i iji
7
Fighting Missionaries-
Personal Experiences
(Copyrighted, 1900, by C. II. Fcnn.)
Tho events of tho summer of 1900 In
North China afford nn cxcellont opportunity
for a study of tho "Church Militant." Tho
"ambassadors of pcoco" were compelled by
forco of circumstances to lay asldo tho work
of preaching tho gospel and tako up the
temporarily raoro necessary work of de
fending their own and others' lives against
tho fierce attacks of an enemy who would
show no quarter. For somo tlmo boforo
the slcgo actually began wo had all carried
revolvers as we went about tho streets,
hardly expecting to use them, but not know
ing what a day might bring forth. Thon
on June 8, when wo gathered together In
the Mcthcdlst Episcopal mission, there was
nn Instant call to arms. A list was made
of all the firearms In our possession. The
Ilrltlsh minister, who had promised ten
marines to help In our defense, In consider
ation of our protecting also tho London
CARPENTER GOES TO
mission converts, sent us Instead ten rifles
and there was no difficulty in finding ten
men to carry them. Raw recruits Indeed
wo were, most of us totally without mili
tary training, but tho American marines
took hold of us and each day at evening put
us through tho drill, while the unarmed and
tho women sitting by laughed at and
cheered "tho awkward squad." Wo forward
marched, wo right-about faced, we charged
tho barbed wlro fenco with such vigor that
wo nearly got tnuglcd up In It. Wo fired
countless rounds of Imaginary cartridges at
an enemy so accommodating ns to let us
havo things our own way. Wo took our
turns on guard with tho marines, playing
sentinel for six to ten hours of tho twenty
four, on wnlls and roofs.
On C u II ill Duty In tile StrectN.
My own guard duty tho greater part of
thoso strango days at tho Methodist Epis
copal mission was from 12 to 3 a. m. and 12
to 3 p. in., In tho lano lending from tho
main compound to tho university about
ono-elghth of a mile in length, and In tho
largo open Bpaco between tho university
and tho city wall. There wore sovoral
chances of being cut off hero by an enemy
rushing down a sldo street, so across theso
streets wo strung barbed wire and posted
natlvo sentinels at every corner to glvo tho
alarm. A few of theso men had revolvers
or blunderbuse-cs, but most of them wero
armed with either spear or sword. Oc
casionally It was necessary for ono of
us to tako a position removed from the
rest to ovorseo tho clcnrlng away of rub
bish piled against our walls and rendering
them too easy to scale. At such times It
was curious to seo tho awo which ono in
spired, somo of tho natives going around
sovoral blocks to avoid tho awful forelgnor
with a rlflo, while that poor foreigner was
longing for tho end of his watch and hop
ing that ho might not fall n victim to n
sudden attack on his exposed position, And
then at night tho moonlight and tho dark
ness each had Its own shadowy possibili
ties, and wo wero glad enough to havo tho
"moral support" of ditches, barbed wire
and barricades, with which wo hoped to
provo moro familiar than tho mob whoso
onslaught wo awaited. It seems now a
great pity that wo had to lcavo all that
wlro when wo went to tho legations, fcr
not only would It havo proved very usoful
there, but wo missed the fun of seeing tho
Boxer mako his first acqcalnlnnco with
that Interesting American Invention. Ono
of our chief occupations during tho night
watches was that of keeping our Chinese
sentinels from going to sleep. Their hours
wero long and their flesh was weak. To
work all day and then watch a part of tho
night was moro than many of them wore
equal to, yet they wero In tho main most
faithful. It was a great relief to some of
us to know that tho Chlneso did not know
how llttlo wc know of tho use of a rifle.
Another position which I occupied for a
tlmo was ou the galvanized Iron roof of the
great church. Prom this point of vantago
wo could occasionally seo armies with
banners entering or leaving the city and
had a lino view of the great llrcs In which
tho Chinese consumed everything foreign
which they could find undefended In tho
city. Hero I watched, through much of
that awful night of Juno 13, nil our mis
sion houses with their contents and every
matorlal clement of our work go up In
llamo and smoke, and thought ot tho prob
able accompanying massacres. So con
stantly was ono or another of us sented on
tho ball of tho cupola of the church that,
as wo learned from outsldo Chinese, the
Boxers had announced that they would do
nothing until a certain day, when the
"black Bplrlt" should no longer sit nstrldo
tho dome. Thoso of us who were not carry
ing n rifle on sentry duty were busily en
gaged day after duy In the digging (if
MACAO ON THE STEAMER.
ditches, tho building of barricades, tho
stretching of wlro and the blocking of win
dows. A Sally to the MnrkctN.
Ono of tho most venturesome- yot ridic
ulous performances of this preliminary
slcgo was tho exploit of four of our num
ber, who escorted our servants to tho great
street to buy provisions ono morning after
a night of flres and massacres. Tho prcs
onco of four foreigners with rifles was
qulto sufficient to nwe tho hitherto unwill
ing shopkeepers Into disposing of their
goods at markot prices, and wo soon had
all wo needed for tho tlmo. Then ono of
our number proposed that wo should pro
duco a "moral Impression," which wo pro
ceeded to do by "holding up tho street,"
1. o., halting each cart and horseman, ex
amining the former for foreign good3 and
questioning tho latter ob to his business.
Two of us held up three suspicious looking
horsemen, who, on being questioned, fled
In terror In thrco different directions. Wo
held a quarter of a mllo of the street In
nbsoluto cringing subjection for nearly two
hours and then withdrew. That nftcrnoon
our escapado was surpassed by
that of four of our numbor, who went
out at 6 o'clock, with two ma
rines, and directed tho keeper of
tho Hal Tal gato of the city to carry out
tho wish of Minister Conger and close tho
gato two hours boforo tho usual time.
After brief demur ho did so and turned
over tho great Iron key, about two feet
long, to tho keeping of tho missions. It
was returned to him early In tho morning,
but tho next evening retaken and a foreign
padlock nfllxed to tho gate for greater se
curity. I havo often wished that wo could seo
ourselves Just as tho Chlneso saw us during
thoso days. It was most fortunato for us
that a certain awo of tho foreigner per
vaded people nnd ofllclals and hold them
in check until wo hnd put ourselves In a
position of compnratlvo safety. In thoso
days oven a high official accopted our re
fusal to permit him to uso his own city
gates at tho usual hours as finnl and mado
his exit by another way. Wo wero not In
terfered with In absolutely Isolating our
selves In our limited district, though It In
volved barricading four small streets, to tho
serious Interference with tho business nnd
domestic pursuits of divers residents. Dur
ing the twolvo days spent In tho Methodist
mission wo so Intrenched nnd fortified nnd
trained oursolves that wo had llttlo fear ot
a noxer attack. Our walls, ditches, barbed
wlro and rifles would havo been moro thnn
a match for tho far moro numerous knives
of tho Boxer hordes, for nt that tlmo tho
rlflo, as an Invention' of foreign deviltry,
was strictly tabooed among thorn; but wo
feared tho onslaught ot legtons of Imperial
soldiers with their Mausers and Mnnnllch
ers and Krupp guns. And at last tho day
camo when wo know with a certainty that
their forces would bo arrayed against us,
and a cannon flro from tho city wnll would
soon render our position untenable.
HxuiIiin friiiu tin .MInnIiiii DlMlrlot.
Tho foul murder ot Baron von Kettelcr
saved us from nn optimism which woull
have been fatal. Our captain of marines
sent Instant request to bo relieved, tho
ministers abandoned the thought ot a march
to Tien Tsln nnd we were ordered to march
at onco to the legations, there to mako a
last Btnnd for life. The Herman marines
camo for Ihelr wounded Interpreter nnd led
tho van cf cur retreat; then followed our
women and children, flanked by us volun
teers. The long procession cf 800 native
Christian refugees, guarded by American
marines nnd more volunteers, brought up
the rear. We passed within 120 yards of
the Hal Tal gate and saw on tho tower nnd
by tho gato hundreds of Chlneso soldiers,
who might have mowed us down nt any mo
ment. It wns an anxious passage until we
reached the Italian barricade. Eager to
savo something of tho stores ot clothing
and food left In tho mission compound on
our hasty retreat, wo begged tho marines
to return with us. Hut they would not con
sider It. Uov. W. S. Anient, 1). I)., of tho
American Honrd mission, bravo oven to
rnshness, making no announcement of his
Intention, set off with no other companion
than ono Chlnrso servant, found tho prop
erty still undisturbed nnd brought off his
blcyclo In snfety. Emboldened by this deed
of dnrlng. fifteen or twenty of us mission
aries, tnklng fifty or sixty Chlneso refugees.
with ropes, poles, spears and rifles, spent
the afternoon In running tho gnuntlct of
the Chlneso soldiery, bringing In load after
load of the Indispensable clothing nnd food
which wo had abandoned. Ileforo wo hnd
finished tho attack had begun In nnnthcr
quarter; but wo mot with no Interference,
except that some of our number wero com
pclled, nt the last, to repol certnln
would-ho looters, who could not wait till
wo wero through. Rev. W. I). Stello of tho
Mission to the Higher Classes had boon
stationed cn the corner of tho great street
near tho Hal Tal gate. Within 120 yards
wero tho Chlneso srldlers, yet ho ehnl-
longed nt will any who entered tho gato
and ordered tho suspicious appearing to
withdraw, and they withdrew. Presently
twenty-five or thirty rough fellows came
In on tho half-run. evidently bent on mis
chief, disregarded the challengo of tho sin
glo trembling, but determined sontlnol. and
continued their ndvnnce. Mr. Stello leveled
his rifle. They hesitated, turned nnd fled
Hnd thoy had tho courage to attack him
tho lives of our party would havo been
U-orth very little between thorn nnd tho sol
dlers, who would, doubtless, hnvo supported
uio attnclc.
CoiiNtimtly Under l-'lrc.
With our settlement In tho British lega
tlon, tho nctlvo military career of most of
tno missionaries camo to nn end. Wo be
took oursolves to tho work
tho chnrgo of Chlneso Inbor, or tho digging
of trenches, filling of Handlings nnd build
lng of bnrrlcndes, In all of which work,
however, wo wero almost constantly under
flro. In splto of our almost constant ex
posure to shot and shell no missionary was
killed, and but ono received n wound which
rendered him hors du combat. Two of us
wero wounded very slightly, my own escape
from serious Injury or denth being narrow
In tho oxtromo. Working behind a barrl
cado on tho city wnll, I was suddenly felled
by bricks dislodged from that barrlcado
by an unexpected shell from the enemy's
gun. My heavy plh hat saved mo from
moro than a slight scalp wound, which
speedily healed.
If our missionary women wore not "fight
ing men" thoy wero the next thing to It.
Calmly, courngeously, they carried on their
work of feeding us, caring for tho wounded,
making clothes for the soldiers nnd thou
sands of snndbaw which undoubtedly saved
many n life. And our children mado mud
forts and fought many n llttlo bnttlo of
their own nnd gathered up tho real fallon
bullets by tho basketful.
I bollcvo others will bear testimony to
tho fact that tho missionary as a fighting
mnn Is not to bo despised: nevertheless
there were none more Joyful thnn ho when
tho dnys of his fighting were over. Yet I
am proud to possess a lasting souvonlr of
my fighting days In n flno Mnnnllcher rlflo,
presented to mo when I left tho city by
tho first seerotnry of tho United States
legation, who had seized a number In n
Chlneso magazine
COURTENAY HUOHES FENN.
Carpenter's Letter
(Continued from Sixth Pago.)
thoy begnn at C In the morning and will not
stop until G.
Later on I visited tho tobacco factories,
Somo of theso In Mncao are lnrge, employ
ing hundreds of women and girls. Every
thing Is dono by hand. Tho women squat
on tho floor nnd pull tho leaves from the
stems nnd sort them Into round baskets. I
nsked about wages, and found Hint a good,
likely girl could mnko C cents In eloven
hours. I noticed thnt thoro wero many old
women nt work, nnd somo wero mothors
with babes nt tho breast.
In nnothor room 1n tills Fame factory I
saw how tho Chlneso mako lino-cut
tobneco, Tho leaves aro first pressed Into
great plates or plugs, which aro then
fastened to n board and Bhnved off with a
piano much as wo piano boards. Tho plan
ers wero half-naked and somo hold tho
tobneco botwecn their baro legs ns thoy
shaved It. This factory employs 200 men
and 100 women and girls.
FRANK Q. CARPENTER,
Photographic Art Studies
Theso aro tho works of tho Tonneson Sisters ot Chicago, nnd there Is probably no
moro cnpablo photographlo artists In tho world thnn theso enthusiastic young women.
There nro twclvo subjects from which to
Theso pictures nro handsome enough for
effectively unfrnmod, or will look splendidly
How to Get Them
Theso pictures aro mounted on hnndsomo black raw silk stock mounts, 12x15
Inches, tho photographs aro 7x9 Inches.
for less thnn ono dollar. By securing an Immense quantity of them wo nro ablo to
offer thom L
With a Coupon for 10 Cents.
Whou ordering stato tho name of the subject, nnd If they nro to bo mailed enclose
four cents additional for postngo and packing.
AKT HHPAIITMIONT,
THE BEE PUBLISHING COMPANY,
17th mid Fnriiuin Sts.
THE ROSE.
EASTERTIDE.
OUR PET.
THE WAIF.
CUT OUT THIS COUPON
Present at Boe Office or mall this coupon with 10c and got your cbolco of Photo
graphlo Art Studies. When ordering by mall add 4c for postage.
AKT DEPARTMENT, IIEB PUBLISHING CO., OMAHA.
choose, of which wo rcproduco eight.
anyone's drawing room nnd may bo used
with a simplo dark frame.
Thoso havo never been sold nt tho art stores
DOLORES.
THE NEW BABY.
BUBBLES.
THE OLD HARPIST'S TREASURE.
