St. Louis Post-Dispatch
August 15, 1900

Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.

The text was read from the page scans by machine (OCR), so it has mistakes and its columns may run together. See the pages · About this title · At the Internet Archive

Page 1

PERS the ct sas Nema er tgs ROR NE Pe weet are Fagihts waiter; both hands lacerated, arms cut. Regular Edition. COMPLETE MARKET REPORTS. TO FIND THE Get a nice, comfortable room, The netrest DRUGGIST that you “COOLING BREEZES,” with southerm exposure, through P.-D. Wants. ' } a oF * an ~ .— ‘we er fo . cu THE ONLY ST. LOUIS EVENING PAPER WITH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCHES Zz = Ft ee ~~. Se 2. Ge: 2 J Regular Editiot COMPLETE MARKET REPORTS. iy WHY GO nm a” . c “4 . . a You can find a regular “lake breeze’’ | by advertising for a room through P.-D. Wants Will send your W..NTS to the P.-D. VOL. 52, NO, 359. in St Louis, One Cent. Vutside St Louis. Two Cents The nearest RUGGIST th at you see Will pend » our Ww. NTS to the P.-D. WEDNESDAY EVENING—ST. LOUIS—AUGUST 15, 1900. PRICE COLLISION I A DENSE F0G Nine Lives Lost in Train Wreck at Pierson, Mich. NINE MORE BADLY INJURED. MANY OTHERS SUPPOSED TO RE BURIED IN WRECKE. Two Heavily Loaded Passenger Trains Crash Together Owing to Misun- derstanding of Orders by En- gineers and Heavy Fog. GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 15.—The northbound Northland express, which left this city at 4:05 a. m., and southbound pas- Benger train No. 2, due here at 6 a. m., col- lided in the dense fog of the early morning at Pierson, 29 miles north of Grand Rapids. Nine lives were lost and many passengers injured, one probably fatally and eight or more seriously. Both engines and the bag- gage cars were completely demolished. The killed, as far as known, are: Mark, Grand Rapids, agent; base of skull fractured. Box*e, Louis G., Grand Rapids, fireman No. 2. Fish, William H., Grand Rapids, engineer No. 2. Groetveld, gineer No. 5. Letts, Charles M., Grand Rapids, conduc- ll tor north-bound train No. 5. Blossom, news Gilbert, Grand Rapids, en- Levan, Ralph, son of Baggageman Levan of Grand Rapids, who was in the car with his father. Pierson, C., passenger, of Franklin, Ind. Fatally injured: Woodhouse, Edward D., Grand Rapids, fireman No. 65. The injured: Barnes, William, Grand Rapids. dining car conductor; left of chest hurt, head cut. Dennis, H. A., Grand Rapids, passenger; cut on head, legs jammed, left shoulder hurt. Ford, C. M., Grand Rapids. colored, porter No. 6; injured about legs and chest. Graves, W. M., Grand Rapids, colored, waiter on No. 5; compound fracture of right arm and badly cut. Hartsaw, W. G., about face and chest. David C., Grand Rapids, Kageman of No. 2; scalp wound, throat cut, passenger; badly hurt Powers, bag- contusions on limbs, both eyes closed. Poroff, Frank, Traverse City, trainman; head badly cut. Taylor, Harvey, Grand Rapids, colored, Six bodies have been taken from the wreck and it is believed that the bodies of sev- eral others are still buried in the mass of broken iron and wood. Eight persons were taken to the hotel at Pierson. Men are at work endeavoring to reach the dead and injured who are still imprisoned. Several physicians accompanied the wreck- ing train to the scene. A telephone message from Pierson says that the engineers and firemen of both trains were killed as well as five other per- sons. The express train was largely of Pullman cars. made up It carried the Grand Rapids coach, a day coach, several sleepers from Cincinnati and the South, the buffet car and baggage car. According to the railway officials the col- lision was the fault of Operator Wells, sta- tioned at Mill Creek, four miles north of WENT OVER THE HILLS TO THE POORHOUSE \ Y \ ~ Ns: WITH PROUD JOHN AND ANNA WARD. — ~~ Pride, that had its origin in worthy ances- try and was nourished through years of prosperity, did not desert aged John and Anna Ward, husband and wife, when for- tune, with the last turn of its wheel, threw them to the bottom. When, on Tuesday afternoon, after they had spent the last cent they had been able to save from the wreck of their fortunes, and assistance was not to be hoped for and would not have been sought even if it had been forthcoming, they decided to turn their faces ‘‘over the hills to the poorhouse,” they kept their real destination from their friends, and assured them that they were going to visit their daughter in Moberly, Mo. So great was their shame of the end to which poverty had driven them that they took special pains to use every little detail of their conduct and speech to impress their friends with the story thai they had ar- ranged to make their home with their daughter. For days before giving up their humble apartments they talked of nothing else but their new home. They laughed merrily as they spoke of the luxury of having every- os that would add to their comfort. Their neighbors never before saw them so happy to all appearances and they shared the aged couple’s joy. When the lumbering express wagon that carries unfortunates to the poorhouse, drove 7 to the house at 2110 Adams street, where Ward and his wife resided, they greeted the driver with a smile, although their hearts ached with sorrow. They said their good-bys with well-feigned happiness to Mrs& McGrath, their nearest neighbor, and, as the driver cracked his whip and the vehicle went rapidly around the cor- ner, there was nothing about them to in- dicate the test of grief to which they were being placed. But once out of sight of the neighbors, they broke down and sobbed as though their hearts were breaking. The sun was setting as they passed through the poorhouse portals and it seemed to them as though the great day —, indeed, ended and the great night set 4n. Ward was 73 years old Tuesday. His wife is three years younger. They have been married fifty years and are greatly at- tached to each other. Ward has owned several farms in Missoumt, and was at one time in good circumstances. Reverses of fortune came, and ill health followed. That was two years ago. After his debts were cleared, only a paltry sum was left. He and his wife came to St. Louis and have been living on the bal- ance since. They have two sons and two daughters. They do not know the where- abouts of the sons, but one of the daugh- ters lives in Moberly and aonther in Cleve- land, O. Ward says they would help him if they could. LOVERS QUARR INTHE MIWA Had Come From Effingham to Be Married. BRIDE CHANGED HER MIND. GROOM PERSISTENT AND DISAP- POINTED. John F. Richardson and Miss Jessie Millard Planned an Elopement and a Wedding in St. Louis. After coming all the way from Effing- ham, Ill., to St. Louis to marry, John F. Richardson and Miss Jessie Millard had a lovers’ quarrel in the Midway of Union Station Wednesday morning, and aban- doned their plans. Miss Millard left her husband-elect at the Station to amuse himself as he pleased, while she went out to see the city with a party of girl friends. Neither Miss Millard nor Richardson at- tempted to conceal-the fact that they had come to St. Louis to escape the wrath of the girl's father, which, they said, they Knew would be great when he should hear of the marriage. The Richardson and Millard families live on large farms near Effingham and enter- tain friendly relations. The objection of Millard to his daughter's marriage is based on her age, which is only 17 years, and is not aimed at Richardson, although he is 10 years the girl's senior. this city. The trains usually meet at Sand Lake, two miles south of Pierson. An or- der was issued that they meet at Wood- stock four miles north of Pierson. Later Operator Wells was asked is the express had passed his station yet. He answered “No.’’ He was then told to countermand former orders and give orders to No. 5 to meet No. 2 at Sand Lake. Similar orders were given to No. 2. Train No. 5 never got the order, having already passed Mill Creek. They collided therefore while both were go- ing at full speed. The forward cars were telescoped. The baggage, mail and dining cars on No. 5 saved the Pullman in the rear and the pas- senger coaches on No. 2 were saved by three freight cars which happened to be at- tached next the engine. There were 11 cars on train No. 2 and 10 on No. 6 Only six cars remained on the track and the engines were literally torn to pieces. , | FARMER COUNTERFEITERS Deputy Marshalls Arrest J. F. Kinnor and Jesse Beiler of McAllister Springs, Mo., and Capture Their Outfit. @Mpecial to the Post-Dispatch. SEDALIA, Mo., Aug. 15.—United States Deputy Marshal T. H. McKenna of Jeffer- gon City has arrested John Frank Kenner and Jesse Beller, sons of farmers ne@r Mc- Allister Springs, upon the charge of coun- terfeiting and circulating the bogus com. The outfit for the manufacture of the | money was found last Saturday, and the were ted today. Kenner has con- | ‘will be taken to Clinton tonight. | arrest nr eee ere | ,dalia road, When they learned a few days ago that an é@éxcursion would be given on the Van- from Effingham to St. Louis, they immediately planned an _ eiopement. Millard accompanied his daughter to Effing- ham Wednesday, and placed her on the train. Richardson was there to meet her, but kept himself in the background until the train pulled out of Effingham, when he sought Miss Millard and occupied the seat alongside her. ns 2 was planned, ; At the time the elopement F ‘chines were captured and taken to the Four enthusiastically. Miss Millard indorsed it But, She thought it would be so romantic. P he train in the |, after she found herself on t | whose places the machines were found. considered that both | ‘ACID ON CARD PLAYER'S HANDS «Bing hinking made itself evi- | The result of her thinking Miss Mil- | act of carrying out the plan, she had an- other thought. She her father and her mother would be heart- broken at her conduct, and might not for- give her as easily as she expected at first. dent as the couple left the train. lard announced that she would not marry without her father's consent. Richardson said she would not marry. at all if she waited for that. Some angry words were passed, and, at last, Miss Mil- lard suited her action to her words. She left Richardson standing in the Midway. He deciared he would wed her before they should return to Effingham. He thought she would change her mind during the day. | SAVED BY A PICTURE OF BRYAN Gverturned Boatman Reached Shore by Aid of Its Heavy Frame Which As- sisted Him to Float. Special to the Port-Dispatch. SYRACUSE. N. Y., Aug. 15.—The picture of William Jennings Brvan saved Frank “Swan of Utica from drowning at Seneca Falls today. Swan and Elmer Gray of Troy. who were ‘camping on the shores of Cayuga Lake, started this morning in a boat for Burns Creek, but the current was so swift that the craft was overturned, throwing both young men into the’water. Swan had a large picture of W. J. Bryan in a heavy frame. He could not swim. and grabbed the picture and was enabled to reach the shore in this way. POST-DISPATCH THERMOMETER. R a. e a. a. 10 i ee , mm. eeeeeer ee ee li a. | Wwerenre. Tae i Bhs deccccsoae e OB ‘> ee Ome: ne pes ee ~ —— « : eae a = tis if a pe faa = BSS sn ¢. a ee - ATE SN ata ae ef 8 » Ee ® CT tts Gime de Se nt ee Be ae we aes ee a ae La “ASK THE PRESIDENT’ — CHIEF CAMPBELL’S ANSWER TO A PLAIN QUESTION. SLOT MACHINES NOT SPOILED. Police Say They Are Determined to Close Out Gambling Devices, but the Machines Go Back. Chief Campbell stated to the Post-Dis- patch Wednesday that he would keep up the raiding of slot machines as long as he was at the head of the police department, and he had hopes of eventually driving them from the city.- “‘Many of the machines and their owners have been arrested,’’ said Chief Campbell. ‘“‘Most of them have been sent to the police courts, where they have been dealt with as the courts saw fit. Fines have been as- sessed in some instances, and sometimes the men have been allowed to go on the pay- ment of costs. In many instances the pro- prietors of the machines get their property back, and the machines are installed again in the same saloons from which they were taken. Of course we take possession of thé machines in the first place, but we have to turn them~over to the marshals when the cases are sent to court. The marshals, of course, can them. We absolutely have nothing to do with them.” ‘Does not the new police law permit the police to destroy these machines?” the chief was asked. ‘“Yes,’’ was the reply. ‘‘None have yet been destroyed by the po- lice, have they?” ee a “Why? “Ask the president of the board that ques- tion. I cannot answer it. I wish they would destroy the machines. The new law pro- vides that these machines a be taken be- fore the president of the po.ice board and given into his custody. Then the president ' of the board may cite their owners to ap- pear before him and show cause why they should not be condemned as gambling de- vices and destroyed by order of the presi- dent of the board. “I have had no orders to pursue this plan with reference to the machines. Personally I think this is the proper way to dispese of the question, for when a machine is once de- stroyed we will not have to arrest it again.”’ Another general slot machine raid was made Tuesday night by the police. Ten ma- they will ask for saloon-Keepers in olice say the Courts. The warrants against —_—~_-— — Novel Plan Adopted by Angry Wife to Oblige Her Husband to Stop Gambling. BRperial to the Poet-Dispatch. CHICAGO, Aug. cinity of Garfield boulevard and Halstead street are speculating on the identity of an angry wife who threw carbolic acid over the hands of her husband and several other men who were playing poker in a rear room at Crawford's saloon. She stopped the game. There are several of the ‘‘gentlemen’s games’ in the vicinity. After making sure her husband was in one arty, the woman went to a drug store and ought a bottle of acid. Through an open window she sent a shrower of the fluid over the hands of the players, who howled from pain. The woman fled before her identity could ve learned. Wives in that neighborhood who have heard the story, are inspecting their hus- band’s hands. THE WEATHER INDICATIONS. ———— ee POSSIBLY SHOWERS. St. Louls and vicinity—Unsettled and possibly showers Welnesday night or Thuraday. Missour!—Fair, except Wednesday night; Thursday fair, except showers east portion. lilinole—-Showets and thunderstorms Wednesday night; cloudy weather Thursdays. Kanses—Fair Wednesday night and Thureday; light eoutherly winds. ee ; oa ¥ : ee eee ihe Sete eee eee HEARTS, PROOF AGAINST DYNAMITERS ‘ He Brennan and Northway Again — TRANSIT MEN KNEW THEM. CHIEF DESMOND BUSY GATHER- ING EVIDENCE. Police Summons Issued Against Two Women on a Charge of Having Made Threats Against Others. Conductor L. A. Swan and Motorman Emil Jensen at noon Wednesday positively identified Brennan and Northway as. the men who placed the dynamite on the track last Thursday that damaged a car on the Seventh street line at Seventh and Pesta- lozzi streets. “It was at 9:12 o’clock last Thursday night that the car on which I was mo- torman was blown up,”’ said Jensen. “Our car was going north and I was on the look- out for trouble. When we approached Sev- enth and Pestalozzi streets I saw two men go to the track and place something on it. I slowed up and watched the two men. I got a good look at them. They are the same two men I saw in Chief Desmond's office this morning and who the police said were Northway and Brennan. “I slowed up, so that the explosion was not nearly so great as it would have been had I kept up the high rate of speed. As it was there was only one stick of the dy- namite to explode. Two sticks were placed on the track and the other was picked up after the car passed. “I did not want it to appear to them that the car had been damaged by the explo- sion. I did not want to give them that satisfaction. The car wheel was cracked, but I made the trip up and down and back again before I turned in the car.”’ olice court summonses were issued against Mrs. Mary Schwartz and Mrs. Mary Connolly on charges of disturbing the peace. These summonses were procured by Sergt. Dowdall on order from Chief Desmond as the result of Miss Emily Heisler’s visit to the Four Courts on Tuesday, as told by the Post-Dispatch. These women, it is alleged, threatened Miss Heisler’s mother and said they would blow up her place. Mrs. Heisler keeps a boarding house at 8750 Evans avenue and many of her boarders were employed by the transit company. Prisoners Plead Not Guilty. Brennan, Northway, Schwartz and Wha- len were arranged in the Court of Criminal Correction before Judge Clark Wednesday morning on the charge of tearing upa rail- road. Each entered a plea of not guilty, and their cases were set for hearing Aug. 27. Attorney E. F. Cunningham appeared as Schwartz’ representative. Brennan and Northway had no attorney. Whalen, who has given bond, was represented by Attor- ney E. A. Noonan. Bond Fixed at $1000. Bond was fixed in each of the two cases of Brennan, Northway and Schwartz at $1000. Attorney Cunningham said: ‘‘We have been representing all union men, and will fight the case for Schwartz. Emile Zakszewski of 1503 Obear avenue, who was taken before Chiefs Campbell and Desmond Tuesday afternoon and ques- tioned, succeeded in demonstrating that he had no knowledge of the dynamite explo- sions, and he was consequently at once re- leased. Maurice Brennan Is Identified. Maurice Brennan, the confessed dyna- miter, has been identified as one of the men who was on the scene at the time a Southern Electric street car was wrecked by an explosion in front of 1014 Arsenal street on the night of July 27. do whatever they want with | ! to 15.—Residents in the vi- | showers north pvertion | The identification was made by Con- ductor Edward Davidson, who was on the car at the time of the explosion. Davidson was taken by Detective Schmid the holdover where Brennan is held a risoner Wednesday morning. He picked im out from among a score of prisoners. He was very positive in his identification. “IT was on the rear end of car No. 5 of the Southern Electric Division of the transit company’s line,’’ said Davidson to the Post-Dispatch. “It was about 12:20 o'clock. We were running at a fair rate of speed and when we were in front of 1014 Arsenal street, there was a terrific ex- losion. I was hurled forward and fell eadfirst in the car. “Most of the windows in the car were broken and the floor was torn up for more than the length of the car. The shock was terrific. I sprang to my feet and stepped on the rear platform from which I had been thrown. “The car had not stopped when a man stepped on the rear platform where I stood. I had never seen this man before to my knowledge. But he was so close to me that I had so good a look at him that I could never forget him. “« You. I didn't get you this time,’ he said, ‘but I will get you the next time.’ “Saying this, he jumped from the car and ran away. There were some police ar- riving of the scene in a moment after this, but I could not tell them in what direction the man had gone.” LONG LOST BROTHER ROMANCE Has Been Found in Paris, a Famous Artist and Possessed With a De- sire to Pose as Napoleon. Special to the Post-Dispatch. NEW YORK, Aug. 15.—A romance par ex- cellence has developed here, provided there be enough truth in the story to lift it from plain fiction. Twenty years ago Samuel Leopold Lan- deau, a boy with artistic yearnings, ran away from his home in Cincinnati. He nev- er communicated with his family. Two years ago the family of Dr. A. B. Whitney of this city met Samuel Leopold Landeau in the Holy Land. He was a fa- mous artist of Paris. Last December in this city he married Miss Mary Louise Whitney. The Whitneys say he told them his par- ents were dead. | Recently Miss Landeau of Cincinnati! un- dertook to locate her long lost brother. The (name of the Paris man was quickly found | when she searched among artist folk. Then, ' she learned of his marriage here, and today | she asked Dr. Whitney to investigate. He ' was only too anxious, as he ts alleged to- ' have been desirous at the time of the mar- riage to know about his son-in-law. Artists here who knew Landeau said he bore a certain resemblance to Napoleon. Even Munkacsy, who was his teacher, used to laugh about it. Landeau, they said, had a way of going into cafes, and, crossing his hat upon Sis row, of sitting there in the familiar pose of the littlc corporal, placed where passers-by would stare and murmur: “Napoleon.” 7 ALLIED ARMY SUPPOSED TO HAVE REACHED PERI 7 “ 7! -* . — > wu: 4 5] we My fiountaing vf -/Tongolia by’ bed | 3 y Os? az ee igh “’ ¢ 4 . ; . oO“, =a a- * ad te, eT 4. eee o a , $$. 2» Ye ‘g * , co A ‘6 at ip he EMO o~ - x , ‘ _ ‘ a : . oe 7 —_— ti tee Fh Cals nN St a eS. . a > - > — ~*~. ‘ | oatell no] , q' S = °% 4 om - a a ° tt x a) a oh -. S Fan’ ts SON Ra tines eho We * ah - wy vs a ~, . yo Py ‘ ba Pi w i). ’ c ! tig’ PEKIN AND NEARBY CITIES. The map gives-a birdseye view of Pekin’s walls. Tung Chow, the point which the allied armies had reached at last accounts, is indicated by the cr oss. EMPTIED. THE HOUSE > MRS. WM. H. EUECKENS LEFT THE CUPBOARD BARE. QUARRELED ABOUT MOTHER. Mr. Kueckens Angry at His Wife’s De- parture and Has Published Her Going Away. NOTICE—I do hereby notify everybody that I will not be responsible for any debts that my wife may make since she has left me. Wm. H. Kueckens, 2916 N. 2ist st. After ten months of wedded life William H. Kueckens of 2916 North Twenty-first street, finds himself with only a bed, a change of bed clothing, a change of linen and three bare rooms in which to live. The cause of it all was a girl. The girl was his wife. Tuesday morning his bride kissed him good-by when he went to work. Tuesday MRS. WM. H. KUECKENS. night when he came home he found only vacancy. “T inserted an advertisement in the pa- pers,” Mr. Kueckens says, “because my wife had so often threatened to leave me during our brief married life and she had atwavs said that if she did leave me she would see to it that she was well fixed be- fore she got away. l don't want a woman to use all of without mv knowledge or consent. My vertisement is simply a matter of self-pro- tection. them ; Mrs. Kueckens was formerly Miss Minnie Edwardsville, Ill. At the she resided at 4322 Kueckens is a fore- of the Kredel Borchwardat of time of her marriage Delmar avenue. Mr. man in the factory Co. ‘My wife and I were happy for six months until my mother came to visit us, four months ago,’ says Mr. Kueckens. four days I was obliged to find another home for my mother among friends in an- other section of the city. From that time on we had trouble. Sunday we quarreled about a visit of a friend of my wife, but 1 supposed that was all over and done. She never treated me so lovingly in her life as she did Monday and Tuesday morning. When | came home Tues- day night not only was Mrs. Kueckens gone, but there was nothing in the house but a bed, one change of bed ciothing, three | chairs. one sbirt and a suit of undercloth- ing and some onions in the cupboard. She even took her picture, the flour sieve and the carpets. ‘“T have no idea where my wife has gone and I do not care. All I am trying to do by my advertisement is to prevent her form heaping up an expense upon me.’’ WON TRINITY SCHOLARSHIP Miss Alice Gray the Victor in Competi- tion With Two Others for Valua- ble Educational Advantage. * Miss Alice Gray of 1218 Goodfellew avenue, a niece of United States Commissioner Gray, ia the winner of the Trinity Colicge schol¢#- ship for St. Louls province. Miss Gray won the honor in competition against two oth- ers. The scholarship is for four years, and rep- resents the income from $8000. — Trinity College is the new Catholic uni- versity for women at Washington, D. C. Miss Gray was valedictorian of her class at the Visitation Convent last year, I have some means, but | ad- | | Spanish mimister in Pekin which Mr. W u forwarded to Madrid. Casket | | portance are on foot. “Within | | quences. They Were Only 27 Miles From the Capital Last Saturday and Meeting Little Opposition. NEWS COMES FROM GEN. CHAFFEE AND THE BRITISH COMMANDER Washington Officials Think the Besieged Foreigners Will Be Surrendered as the First Step of China Toward Making Peace. WASHINGTON, Aug. 15.—The navy department early this morning made public a dispatch from Admiral Remey, announcing the arrival of Gen. Chaffee at Matow, the next town of importance after Ho Si Wu, which the Americans occupied with slight opposition, on the 9th inst. The date of Chaffee’s arrival at Matow is uncertain. It is taken at the navy department to mean that Matow was occupied on the llth, and that the opposi- tion was slight, both on the road and in taking the town. Matow is not a walled city and no serious opposition was expected there. It is about 11 miles by road from Matow to Ching Chia Wan, which is really the suburb of the walled city of Tung Chow and the key to the gates of Pekin. If Gen. Chaffee was at Matow on the llth it is quite possible that by today he is either in possession of Tung Chow or engaged with the Chinese army that it was thought might make a stand beh ind its walls. The allied forces should now be encamped outside the walls of Pekin, if not within the city, unless a halt was made at Tung Chow to map outa plan of action, MAY BE OUTSIDE WALLS OF PEKIN. Gen. Chaffee has been fully advised of every step taken by this government, and has been instructed to arrange for a cessation of hostilities should the Chi- nese accede to the demands of the United States that the allied forces be placed in communication with imperial troops for the rescue of the ministers. The crisis will have been reached when Chinese troops at Pekin offer armed resistance to the allied forces. Washington officials are still hoping that a truce may be effected and an al- lied force permitted to enter the city. | Upon the transmission of Conger’s message to Canton President McKin- ley decided to leave for Washington t oday to hold a cebinet meeting on Thursday. Should China accede to the demands of the United States in regard to the preliminaries for negotiations with all the powers, the American forces may advance upon Pekin under a @ag of truce. KEEPING IMPORTANT DISPATCHES SECRET. Of quite as much interest is the record of the army's advance as the specula- tion now current about the state department as to the status of diplomatic negotia- tions. The state department has thrown around these proceedings a sudden and unaccustomed veil of secrecy that is taken to presage important developments, One thing is well nigh certain, uamely, that the Conger message of yester- day which was not made public is one of a series of identical notes addressed by the beleaguered ministers to their governments. Minister Wu, who beside being the Chinese minister here also is the accredited representative of China to Spain, received along with the Conger message of yesterday a cipher message from the It was not made Sir Claude MacDonald’s dispatch to the British foreign office, evi- dently of the same vintage as the two other dispatches referred to, also was withe held irom publication. This is taken as a fair indication that negotiations of ime public there. FEAR THAT DISCLOSURE WOULD ENDANGER CONGER, The state department this morning stated that not only would the text of the Conger dispatch be kept secret, but no questions would be answered in connection with its contents. It was pointed out by the department that with the interna- tional forces practically at the gates of Pekin, any statement of Minister Conger might involve him and all of the other ministers in very serious conse- It was said, however, that the statement from London this morning, credited to a member of parliament, that negotiations were on foot at Washing- ton between the various powers, looking to a future form of government for China, was without foundation. The state department announced that no note on this subject had been exchanged between the powers CONGER MESSAGE SAYS | SITUATION IS MORE CRITICAL. - . A dispatch received yesterday by the state department from Consul Fowler, at Che Foo, was so badly mangled in transmission as to be almost undecipherte able. The cipher experts of the department worked on it last night and today. Sb far as made out the dispatch appears to contain a message from Minister Con- ger, transmitted to Che Foo by courier. The gist of the Conger message con- tained in the cablegram is that the situation in Pekin is more critical and that the” Chinese government is endeavoring to force the ministers to leave the imperial — city under Chinese escort before the arrival of the relief column. Beyond this point the dispatch is unintelligible. LONDON, Aug. 15.—The allies have almost certainly arrived at Pekin. The advjces received from the British commander at the front, dated Aug. 1, % & inh 4 tu through Rear Admiral Bruce, give reasonable assurance that the 27 miles at that ay date between the allied forces and Pekin would be traversed in four days, . *"® ae NORTH, WHEN | > ee ae ee a eee ee re Stee meet tee es eS ee é Peta A i nee Pecan a" -" en mys . y " vats ‘ : lin elles tate Ei nl act tlt ar tec he Ate ALE a 5 laa. se p> Bina be *