The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 31, 1900, Page 1

VOLUME LX.‘{.\'VIII—NO. 92, SAN FRANOISCO, FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 1900. PRICE FIVE CENTS. UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA WHIP POWERS INTO LINE N Three 1 ations Only Still Oppose Withdrawal From Peking and Treating for Peace. ; w res: ety Ty = 1 *, gure w e re Special Dispatch to The Call. HOME ON THE THOMAS CONGER CA3LES OF A BIG FARADE OF ALLIES The r Conger. e United State De. following d States 644 ngton dated German Imperial Military ench, ving. Oticie y Mr. meyt that Mints- £ \d.ted ** bIY sefers to the 1t being nedes-ary to send place on the message as They do not tcd Peking, sy him eans that it was at Chef rear while th | but came conspicuou: | 100ting FROM MANILA AND CHINA ® COMING DOWN THE GANG-PLANV — less hands and sald, “Bear up, man, "' DETAILS OF SUFFERINGS OF - THE PEKING LEGATIONERS 14 (by post via| tops of the walls have niches for the rifle- | A medal will be struck | mer and the buildings at their portic rating the siege of | and windows have armor boxes, bags! will bear the legend, | stuffed with dirt and pillows, too. | t, Walls Maks a Cliy. 7| Fort of the Marines. | 3 itul of men with-| Back of the United States legation is a stood ns of the Chinese mm"m work named “Fort Myers,” which the | tor fif \ memorable celebra. | Marines held, completely screening both | stdes of the walls, with steps leading to it. | There is a loophole in the barrier acros “inging the Dox.| the wall, which faces a similar Chinese ng. Soldiers ama | WOTK a few yards away. Another wall tionalities are fraternis. | Pars Legation street in front of the Ge are appiauding the souna | man legation, and confronting the en- nnon that are smashing the yel- ny's barricades within those limits are f the Forbldden City. The| Yet more walls, enabling the foreigners planting their tents on | tO contract the area of defense if pressed. American and Russian | The tops of the American and British | mpfires atong | Pulldings were badly torn by the Chinese | & beyond the | Shells. The rate of the foreign shells that fell during the first three weeks of the | | bombardment was 400 a day. Bucketfuls | ; \!‘L; 3 ht in vindication 1aries, assembled | re “rowd i | ©f bullets were gathered in the grounds et 151 "Four hundred and fourteen people lived a P frm b8 IO | 4y the compound through the greater part | | of the siege. Three hundred and four | marines, assisted by sixty-five volunteers, | commanded by the English eaptain, Poole, defended the place. Eleven civilians were kilied and fourteen wounded. Fifty-four the Japanese. who | | began. Only rn re e killed and 112 re carned th st plac | marines ana saflors were | have carned the first place, are absent, | wouracl' | Resident foreigners weicome the iuxury | = Gilbert Reid, who was wounded in the of walking about and tmmunity from bul- | foot, was the only American civilian in- lets. The newcomers are anxious to in- | jured. Two foreign ladies were wounded. | spect the t\'ld;nces of an historic defense. | * The reception which the survivors gave | These barricades are, after all, the most | the ; orth the hal | wonderful sight in Peking. The barriers | troope 1o waders ek 0 TS | troops had undergone. The entrance was hedging the British legation are a marvel | not spectacular. General Alfred Gaselee, of stone and brick walls and earthworks. | with his staff and & company of Stkhs, Bandbags shield every foot of space, Thfll waded up a bed of sewage In the canal “iplinarians t discreetly to the Ing, was In progress, ¥ to the front when | | rounded the rescuers under the Tartar wall. The besieged re- moved the barricades and when the gates swung inward and the British colors ap- peared there arose a great and continuous cheer on both sides. Non-Spectacular Entrance. Generals, soldlers and correspondents scrambled up. the banks through fiith, elbowing to be first. Men and women sur- nid shook the hands of the Sikhs. Everybody was hustled ex- citedly along into the legation grounds, where the colors were planted. The sol- diers surrounded the wall which had been the salvation of the besieged. The Min- isters and officers demanded the latest news on both sides. An hour afterward General Chaffee, riding at the head of the Fourteenth United States Infantry, marched to the Tartar wall. An American marine who was on top of the wall shouted: “You are | just in time; we need you in our busi- ne: “Where can we get In?" asked General Chaffee. “Through the canal. The British en- tered there two hours ago,”” was the re- sponse. The American general looked disappointed. Although the Americans entered behind the last of the British forces, their recep- tion was just as enthusiastic as if they had been first. - When the Stars and Stripes emerged into view Mr. Tewks- bury, the missionary, cried: “Americans, cheer your flag!” Ladies waved their handkerchiefs and the soldiers cheered the ladies. - On entering the grounds of the British Continued on Page 5. OUNDED HEROES HE first consignment wounded. men from the tleflelds of China arrived on the transport Thomas late Wednesday night. All of them bear the marks of their en- counter with the Boxers and not a few are still in a precarious con- dition. The transport was given pratique early yesterday morning and at once moved | down to the Presidio. | and sick soldiers were landed and later the Thomas was docked at Folsom-street wharf. At Nagasaki the hospital ship Solace and the Thomas met. The former had aboard a number of the officers and men from the Ninth Infantry. All of them were with Colonel Liscum in the famous fight before Tientsin and all of them were wounded in that terrible encounter. When the Thomas left Nagasaki there were thirty-one prisoners aboard, but ten of them escaped at Nagasaki and the chances are some of them will come along | on the next transports under arrest. The Thomas brought from Nagasaki 47 gallant American soldiers bearing witness in the shape of scars and wounds of the fierceness of the engagement of July 13 between the allied forces and the Chinese. The battle of Tientsin in which the Amer- | fcans behaved so nobly cost the Ninth In- | fantry more men than two years of ser- vice in Cuba and the Philippines. American Troops’ Awful Experience. From 3 a. m. untll dark the American bat- | flelds and through trenches containing { water that reached tneir walists. From | the outer wall, which bad been demo by the British artillery, to the inn. £ » a_distance of aboui a mile, the troops forced their way through a pe: fect hail of bullets. Despite the hare | ships, the sight of failing comrades and | the knowledge that tie yellow devils far outnumbered them, the gallant fellows | kept on. Fired .on from all sides, they never halted until they reached the un- | fordable Peiho River. They stood in the | trenches and returned bullet for bulle Urged by the fire example of their offices | the men stood the death-dealing fire of the “Chenes” until' their ammunition be- came almost exhausted. Brave Colonel' Liscum marched at thé head of his regiment cheering his men. “There are no bullets here, men: come on,” he shouted, and was obeyed. March- ing by the side of Sergeant Gorman, who There the wounded | so that when the advance was made not a | soldiers marched and fought over the rice | carried the regimental flag, the fearless | on-his men. faltered. from his nerv old colonel led and urged Gorman received a bullet and Liseum took the colors | | ’I No Bullets Here, Said Brave Liscum. | | 1 | I your're not hurt.” Poor Gorman, however, was fatally In- jured and dropped. A few yards farther on Colonel Liscum reiinquished his hold on the flag and putting his hands to his side fall without uttering a sound. Major Lee, In command of the First Battalion, | ordered a couple of men to stay by their | gallant old leader, took command of the | regiment and continued the battle. Colonel Liscum was icflied about 11 a. m. | and from that time until dark the men | behind a house, where there were a num- | fought for all | to an American.” | comrade 400 yards on his back and re- | safety. While bandaging his wound he savage, R, W. W as struck in the jaw by another Chinese | r and R. H bullet. Caring for himself as best ne | S. E. J could he proceeded to bandage _th wounds of his comrade. Hardly had he were under the command of Major Lee. Major Regan was wounded shortly aft-| er, and Captains Bookmiller were both hit. Lieutenant Carries Ammunition. Liéutenant Lawton, seeing the necessity | for more ammunition and the need of many of the men of the attendance of | surgeons and nurses, started across the | field, every foot of which had been won | so dearly. Wounded as he was, the brave lieutenant never faltered, and through a hail of bullets succeeded in reaching the | rear. To send men with litters for the wounded was to send them to death. Giving up this idea, the intrepid officer | grabbing up two boxes containing about | a_thousand rounds of ammunition, start ed for-the firing line, reaching it utterly exhausted. The men wounded lay all day exposed and Noyes | | to the heavy fire and nearly ail of them | received more than one wound while | prostrate. i The returning ones speak in the highest terms of the Japs, claiming that the It tle brown men are the best soldiers they have seen. Went Into a Hell Hole. One of the most interesting personages ‘that arrived was Captain Bookmiller ot the famous Ninth. There were only six companies of the regiment engaged in the conflict at the point where the Ninth was slaughtered, and they certainly had a very caloric _reception, as the captain's state- ment of his experience will show. ““The fact which caused the Ninth to get into such a bad position was that there was no commander in chief. There was only a nominal commander, General Dor- wood of the British forces. We were or- dered to support the Japs and went into Getion on” their right. We advanced too ward the walls, and to our misfortune there was a considerable space between | Colonel Liscum was killed while gallantly | command re | under guard of the T | Americans and Russtar FROM TIENTSIN Transport Thomas Brings Half a Hundred From Battlefields of China. of , the Japanese troops and our force. Our | Noves, Sth I : Licutenant W. D. Conner, experience was to meet an enfilading fire | enginder corpa: Chapinin 6 Miler fh Cant from a considerable section of the walled | alry. Chapi plley Allenswereh , -3 city and from the mud village, which fantry; Lieu might be called a suburb of the city | fantry: Sroper. “‘Colonel Liscum combiration of brav He led us in the a life through a v and recklessness. ult on the village and died a soldier's death almost instant- ly. Poor fe he exposed himself un- necessarily. Wé were going against an enemy that could not be seen. The houses were of mud and they had been loophoied hinaman could be seen. The fire of the enemy was quite accurate and our losses were heavy. However, we went as far as, we could and then held ¢ through the day. We also quieting the yellow men on our front after some exceedingly warm work. rly in the nce they twice, once in the right hip and ¢ the left leg. This was . within 150 yards of the a imposs| to drive the Chinese 1 account of a_river which we could mnot | 3 - cross in the face of the flerce fire. OUr @ 3l " which, as I said before, were Very | Higgins occurred while we were crossing | Kanawam d which the Ct were in a po- | F. Ler sition to sweep from In fact they had us tically during the ent of the Ninth held every rently untenable ed until dark: ordered to fall back. hands of the surgeons : field all day and did not see t 1 : following day heir intrenchments. which the wier, Cha McDonal walls e carried and the allies gained the victory. | Wiiliara “As to the fighting qualitie: Seliain. nese, I will say that so long et e fight behind fortifications or Hood. 3. B they do well and the trained ers shoot | ¢ “Nactarain quite accurately, but you put them in th= | Fuggine o open to contend with American troops G and the Yankees can walk over odds of five to one. They have necessary quality of the soldler k heart. Captain Noyes, who lasted n the fight than 1 did | o 3 W better idea of the day the e Long, M True and P. O, Convalescen Gained Ground by Fierce Volleys. | “T was hit just before the last advanc sald Capt R. Noves, adjut of the Ni " were & very-Dewvy et ined our groun by flerce volleys and es made 1 ullery: Georse the enemy athering for the re Conway, F, oyl g Bt g G ed under fire from the ea . dawn till dark before retiring. I got a | g% {Amtey: h on the arm about m.. in the | 50 Tntantry ad re W ide the | 776" Wagnes mud w A me in the calf of t g e me wound that put'me out of action. After I was hit I went back about sixty yards ber of other wounded men. Finally, after great effort, 1 crawled through ditches In the fleld until I got out of range of the crossfire. “About twenty minutes after 1 was it | \ st Infantry; W. sam.. 1. 3ith Infaniry i Our | Tl ading the assault on the village. ted finally under cover <x, O3 AIf of the regiment w s ged on that part of the fleld. The | s next day the Japanese force fought their | & way into the city and the works were | — taken after hot fighting in the street y from barricades and from houses. Th four parts of the city were then 1glish, Jap: “Some idea of the heat of the action may be gained by the statement of the fact that out of a command of 450 men and fifteen officers the percentage of cas ualties was in the case of the men 20 the officers 33 per cent. I am here on a furlough to recuperate.” £ Sergeant Dorey’s Story. | Sergeant Dorey of Company C of the | Ninth tells an interesting story. This gallant fighter now pies a cot at the fenora] hospital. He is crippled for life, having lost his left arm in the Tientsin | battle. His story of the battle is as fol- | Bilot, M, low Propete 3 “We started about 3 o'clock in the | 2ist_Intantr: morning and by daybreak had marched | ¢ four miles and taken the outer wall. The Japs blew up the gate and planted their guns on the wall and kept up a contir ous fire, which enabled us to advance to within about 300 yards of the inner wall, | a mile from the first one. We finally reached the trench: but not before most of us had been wounded and five had been killed. We got into the trenches and | we were worth, but with the knowledge that every shot must count as ammunition was running short. Tha he ump _as D © g Chinese had guns at the ends of the | = - trenches, with which they poured in a - raking fire. We were up to our waisis| " 1 ., in water d_had to stoop to keep from Lamb, E. being hit. The sight of a head poking n Infantry up called forth a shower of bullets in its k direction and these Chinamen are all good | marksmen. I was shot in the arm about | 11 a. m. and had to stick it out ail day as to move out of cover me t certain death. Colonel Liscum was t bravest | ¢ of the brave. He led his men right | through the thickest shower of lead I|[ have ever been in, and when we saw him drop we felt we could y where we were forever if we could but get a chancs to avenge his death. I think we did, but a it cost us a number of brave lives. Jame: The Japs are great fighters and will | Infantry; E give up their last crust or drop of water | H. Fowler. E Four Wounds Could Not Stop Him. | Private von Schlick has been recom- | SN B | mended for a medal of honor. He was |2 i Tty 3 wounded four times and still carries a| iy 3 o T in his neck. He was ordered to | #3th_Infantry; E. ige, K, 46th A. Perinssey, J. J. Dimond, J. J. Du J. Seymour, A, 9 McBride, W Crawford, P. B, 9th Infan: E by a wounded comrade and place him in a protected vlace. He carried his shoulder just be- | upposed place of | lings celved a bullet in hi fore reaching the finis ed the operation when he was struck | "1 fantry Mahon. A Abi Webster. oth Infantry Wuburg and L Murphy an again, this time a few Inches below t first > W. wound received. His officers wit- | s ed his splendld behavior and will see | s properly honored. Bickhort is another one of Cc s brave soldiers who is now occu® pying a cot in the hospital. He is suffer ing from a shot through the lung: The | serg: t, though scarcely ble to talk as the hottest fight I have ever bee and I saw a number of battles in_Cuba and *he Philip idea Colonel L in_China. He and asked them to do do himself. Lieutenant Law- man fell would not ton performed one of the greatest feats of daring ever witnessed. He went twice across the field we had just won and. };"*:y‘ b3 though severely wounded, carried two l';“r}r‘v 2 heavy boxes of ammunition, of which the | 1 Hitntine. A boys on the firing line were very much In | sy futantes. £ need. We were at all t'mes under a cross- | F. J. Arnott, H, 33th fire and could not move for fear of being | I, f6th Infantry; ¢ hit. We d to stay where we were and | fantry; H. Talbert after lying in dirty water all day sneak | Baxter, D, out of danger when darkness came on.” | 30th Infantry The Complete Passenger List. Following is the complete passenger Mat | [20IrY of the Thomas, prepared by C. L. Clay- | Soymanskl, ¢ ton, the quartermaster’s clerk: e & Cabin—W. H. erett, commander, United | stock. hospital States navy; Major T. D. Kelleher, paymas- | Cavairy; D. F ter: Major W. G. Gambrill, paymaster; Cap- | C. Kendricks, 'F‘, ith Cavalry; " tain V. Bookmiller, Captain T.”H. Schoet- | #th Cavalry; George Critzman, t fel., iieutenant L. B. Lawton, Sth Infantry: | Thomas Max Artillery: W. L. R Chaplain W. D. McKinnon, Assistant Army | C. 34 Infantry: huitz, L. 34 Surgeons C W. Rash. S. T. Harrls, P. M Insane—J. L. Dawson., H Ashburn, W. R. Davis and W. J.' Lyster; | Zeardt, L, 28th Infantry: J. Blac Lieutenant G. D. Montgomery, 34th Infantry: Infantry; H. H. Huff, M h Infantry. Lieutenant F. W. Muhr, 239th Infantry: W. J. Crowiey, Whitney Burnham and Guy W. Fast.| The following named died during the quartermaster’s department, United army; Major J. C. Dent, 2ith Infantry; Major James Regan, th Infantry; Captain W. A. Thurston, 16th Infantry; Captain C. B. ) Continued on Fifth Page,