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| Prince Tuan or Duan. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Friday, July 6, 1900.
PRINCE TUAN MASTER.
Evident That He Controls the Situation In China.
FORCED RULERS TO TAKE POISON.
Empress Dowager Craftily Swallowed Only a Small Bit of What Was Given Her and Survived. Boxer's Revolting Acts.
LONDON, July 6.—The story that as foreigners in Pekin were murdered on June 30 or July 1, appears to be circulating simultaneously at Che Foo, Shanghai and Tien Tsin. Yet, as it is not confirmed by official dispatches and is not traceable to the southern viceroys who are still in certain communication with Pekin, there is a basis for the hope that it is untrue.
Correspondents of The Express at Shanghai gather details from Chinese sources which, pieced together, relate that when the foreigners ammunition was exhausted the Boxers and imperial troops rushed the British legation and poured into the courtyard with fanatical fury. The foreign troops were so hopelessly outnumbered that their fate was certain. The moment the mob broke, the courtyard was converted into shambles. Others of the invaders spread into the interior of the building. The correspondent adds:
"It is only left to hope that in the final rush of the murderous hordes, the men of the legations had time to slay with their own hands the womenkind and children. The Chinese are whispering the terrible story under their breaths. Their attitude towards the foreigners in the streets has undergone a strange change. The demeanor of the better class of Chinese is one of pity rather than of triumph, Even/the rabble in the native quarter are silent."
Two Manchus who arrived at Shanghai certify to the truth of the statement that Prince Tuan visited the palace and offered the emperor and the dowager empress the alternative of poison or the sword. The emperor, they say, took poison and died within an hour. The dowager empress also chose poison but craftily swallowed only a portion of what was offered her and survived. On the same day the Chinese customs bureau was destroyed, Sir Robert Hart, the inspector of customs, and his staff escaped to the legations.
Intense indignation is felt in Shanghai against the supposed action of the powers in restraining Japan from sending an army to Pekin immediately. The powers are accused of being as guilty of murder as Prince Tuan's fanatics; and Sir Robert Hart is blamed for not having informed the foreigners of the immense imports of arms especially a few weeks ago.
The Chinese commanders are preparing for a long severe campaign and are putting into operation plans drawn up by German officers last year for resisting an invasion from the seaboard by Russia.
The correspondent of The Daily Mail at Shanghai telegraphing under date of July 5, 12:10 p. m., says he believes that when official information comes regarding Pekin it may include news of the outraging of English women and the torture of children. It may almost be taken for granted, he asserts, that all the foreigners in Pekin have been wiped out.
Taoti Yu admitted to the correspondent that the case of the Europeans in Pekin is utterly hopeless in his opinion. He believes that if they have not yet been massacred it is only a matter of hours before they will be.
A letter brought by courier from Pekin received in Shanghai on July 4 says the Boxers are gathering huge forces about Pekin. Reinforcements are arriving from all directions. This is taken to indicate a concerted action among the nobles who are believed to have thrown in their lot with the Boxers. The emperor and empress dowager, the letter says, are completely under the thumb of Prince Tuan and Yang Ki.
Dispatches from Hong Kong say the "Triads," a secret society, are assuming a threatening demeanor on the mainland.
CONDITIONS AT TIEN TSIN.
Rivers Are Full of Dead Bodies Which Dogs Are Devouring.
TIEN TSIN, June 29.—via Che Foo, July 1 and Shanghai, July 5.—Those best informed in Tien Tsin consider the position of foreigners in Pekin is almost hopeless. It is hopeless to attempt to force the way with the force available. Commanders are willing to resort to desperate means but to attempt a forced march from Tien Tsin with the forces at hand means certain destruction to the army besides slaughter of the civilians left at Tien Tsin.
The river to Taku is full of floating bodies and many have been washed up by the tide. Dogs are feeding on these bodies along the banks. The small American contingents everywhere distinguished themselves. Captain McCalla and Major Waller are most popular at Tien Tsin. Their men are placed in the lead of every movement. By common consent the British are close beside them. The foreigners in Tien Tsin declare, however, that they owe their lives to the Russians without whom the other small detachments must have been overwhelmed on that darkest Wednesday when the Chinese were pressing on every side and the bravest men were abandoning hope. The Russian commander, Colonel Wozack, arranged the main body with the civilians to make a sortie in the direction of Taku. He left four hundred Russians to defend the city and engage the attention of the Chinese, the intention being for them to ultimately sacrifice themselves. The arrival of the Americans saved the day. Their arrival proved a complete surprise.
Among the evidences of immense Chinese military preparation for war may be mentioned that arsenals and stores hitherto unknown have been discovered with ten million dollars worth of arms and ammunition of the most modern type. These arms and ammunition have been destroyed. In three arsenals outside of Tien Tsin several thousand troops under General Nich are holding the native city five miles north of Tien-Tsin.
The hero of Tien-Tsin is James Watts, a young Englishman, perhaps the best rider in China, who with three Cossacks ran the gauntlet to Taku with messages for reinforcements, charging through villages under fire repeatedly. Several foreign commanders have recommended the quartet be decorated.
ANOTHER SOLON BOY.
M. W. Nesmith of Waukon, Ia., Recalls Early Days, People and Events.
To the Editor of the Standard:
SIR—I feel greatly indebted to a friend who has lately favored me with two copies of the Cortland Evening STANDARD containing a Solon boy's reminiscences of that quaint old town (Cortland) and how its first appearance struck him when on their way hither. Now I happen to know something about that Solon boy, and I will tell you how it came about. I was a Solon boy myself. Both of us Solon boys at the same time [were] schoolmates together, and both graduated from the same institution.
Oar Alma Mater wan the old frame schoolhouse situated in the suburbs of Solon on the Cincinnatus road. It is either there yet, or another much resembling it externally, occupies the same historic ground. I can see the interior arrangement of that ancient institution as plainly as though but yesterday. I can see its slab seats with holes bored for legs and those legs about six inches too short so that our feet wouldn't reach the floor and disturb the reveries of the teacher. I can see the writing desks fastened to the wall and the quill pens and homemade ink. I can see all these things now. And I can see a boy here, another there and a girl over yonder who for throwing paper wads at the teacher or some other misdemeanor is taking their little medicine. But don't understand me that these prescriptions were in homeopathic doses. That was not the practice of those days, as you will see. One boy stands with his feet touching each other and back bent so that the forefinger of the right hand rests over a crack in the floor. Another stands with right arm extended supporting a huge ruler with a book weighing about a pound balanced on the farther end of it with a strict injunction to keep it there. Another kid of smaller dimensions hangs upon a peg in the wall, while the girl sports a nondescript headdress called a dunce cap. There she poses. I can see her now making hideous grimaces at the teacher every time his back is toward her. What a picture for an artist.
This is where at least two Solon youths got their first inspiration on the road to fame, your correspondent and myself. But not one word of this did I intend to say when I began to write. What I sat down to do was to express my astonishment that the writer of those reminiscences should select the denizens of that old sleepy one horse hamlet as his subject to the exclusion of the wide awake, thorough going enterprising and energetic men of his own metropolis.
How that Solon boy could look away back through the dim vista of nearly or quite sixty years and rake up such merchants as Hibbard and Dixon, and entirely forget such men as the proprietors of the Solon drygoods emporium, Harlow Emerson, I can not see. And he seems to remember so clearly such men as the Randalls, the Brewers, the Freers and McFarlands of that faraway town of our boyhood days, and doesn't remember one thing of such men as the Warrens, the Pecks, the Wheelers, the Emersons, the Hathaways of his own town. How true it is that distance lands enchantment. Will the time ever come when the nearby impresses the boyish fancy like the far off?
I am so surprised that the Solon boy in his reminiscences continues to remember those one horse lawyers, Bob Reynolds, Gus and Horatio Ballard of Cortland, and seems entirely oblivious to the fact that that great legal light, politician and statesman, Samuel McGuire of Solon, ever lived.
Of the medical profession of those days he has no difficulty in recalling such men as Dr. Shipman, Dr. Goodyear and Dr. Hyde of Cortland, and fails entirely to recall Dr. Williams, Dr. Crane, Dr. Brockway, Dr. Kingman and Dr. Finn of his own burgh.
There are two or three others of whom I will speak briefly that I feel sure the Solon boy will never forget though he makes no mention of them in his reminiscences. The first is old Major Rice, the Socrates of Solon, the old schoolmaster that we kids were ready to swear had eyes behind. I have reminiscences of that old pedagogue that will always stay by me. And I guess that other Solon boy has too if he would stop and think.
I believe the old major has a son that claims some distinction for having had a revelation. The story as related to me runs something like this. This son was afflicted with inflammatory rheumatism and suffered a thousand deaths and yet could not die, though he desired it above all things else. His substance had all been wasted on doctors; his courage, his hope, his patience had all been exhausted by disease and suffering. In short, the world that seemed to have so much joy and happiness for others had entirely gone back on him. And why not want to die? But in his dire extremity, when deep sleep was upon him, there came to him one clothed in white, and it said to him, "Destroy not thyself. The world has a future for you. I hold in my hand a mighty remedy, a remedy that was conceived far above the stars, and down through the beautiful azure I have brought it to you; take it and be healed. Let others take of it also that your wasted exchequer may also be replenished. No quacks can control it—nor trusts can guess it." But 1 can not dwell longer on this than to tell the reader that it has seemingly done all that was promised, and I am informed is still on sale at the old stand at $1 a bottle.
Though this article is getting far beyond my expectations, and I fear is becoming tiresome, yet I must mention one or two more of Solon's mighty men of the ante-bellum days, and then if the whole thing goes in the waste basket it will only be another instance of the tail going with the hide.
The next that 1 will mention is Lord Emerson. Lord being a prefix that was added to old Sam Emerson's name by the early Irish settlers in Solon for his disinterested benevolence toward them when they were pilgrims and strangers in a strange land. But old Sam's main assistance was assisting them in getting rid of their money, which he did in various ways. And the prefix Lord was soon dropped and another prefix substituted, which seemed more congenial to public taste. I have called the readers' attention to some of the illustrious characters in Solon far back in the memory of the writer. Lords, lawyers, doctors, merchants, as well as men in the lower ranks of life, which perhaps should have engaged the attention of that other Solon boy.
I now come to another man who in his tastes and habits was quite the opposite of those that I have mentioned. Every man who lived in Cortland county the middle part of the last century will recall the man from the description that I shall give. He was called the Dick Turpin of Solon. I can only speak of him in general terms here. To do him full justice a book of 500 pages must be written and that book would be read a hundred years after the real Dick Turpin was lost sight of and forgotten. Dick Turpin, Captain Kidd and their clans were freebooters of land and sea, while the operations of Solon's Dick Turpin was confined to the land. They respected sex and condition. He respected neither. They had regard for poverty and distress, while his heart was steeled against both. They had too high a sense of honor to cheat, rob and defraud their friends. He knew no friend, only as he could use that friend to gratify his sensuality and his greed. Hence the epitaph that I would have suggested for his tombstone, and I would have had it chisselled in granite so deep and enduring that time could never efface it till the grave and the sea give up their dead. It would be, "He lived and humanity mourned. He died and humanity rejoiced."
Yes, that other Solon boy, your correspondent, now of Winona, Minn., and myself both graduated with honors, I hope at the same institution. And while our Alma Mater did not rank with a Yale and a Harvard many, very many, have gone out from her cloistered halls and have written their names high in the scroll of fame. Charley has made a name standing at a desk making pictures to please the eye and gratify the taste of the rich and fashionable people of the North and West, while your humble servant has retired from a somewhat eventful life with the grim satisfaction of having added his mite to the business of the undertaker, the worker in marble and the scatterers of flowers.
But while I told the reader of some of the advantages enjoyed in that ancient hall of learning I forgot to mention our text books. They were the following: Cobb's speller, the old English reader published in the reign of George III, Daboll's arithmetic, Kink's grammar, Olney's geography. And our teachers were as dull and stupid as our books. I remember well that when I had struggled through the elementary rules of arithmetic, the teacher said to me, "you may skip fractions. They are of no practical use, only to shop-keepers, grocers and dry goods merchants." Only think of it—no use for fractions. Is it any wonder that those times brought out the following couplet:
Multiplication is vexation,
Division is as bad.
The rule of three does puzzle me
And fractions make me mad.
[Signed] ANOTHER SOLON BOY.
TO HOLD AN INQUEST.
Post Mortem Showed That Cecil Darling Died from Use of Chloroform.
Dr. W. J. Moore started for Marathon to-day to bold an inquest over the remains of Cecil Darling, the six-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jebial Darling who, with her mother, was found dead at their home yesterday morning. Dr. Moore stated this morning before starting, that the post mortem examination made yesterday pointed conclusively to the fact that the child came to her death through the agency of chloroform. Under what conditions the fatal dose was administered, will perhaps never be known; but it is more reasonable and more humane to think that little Cecil Darling came to her death through a mistake, and that grief, resulting from this mistake, led the mother to take her own life.
SIDEPATH BADGES.
Misdemeanor to Wear a Last Year's Badge.
It may be of interest to bicycle riders to know that one of the this year's amendments to the bicycle law makes it a misdemeanor punishable with a fine of from $5 to $25 to ride a bicycle anywhere on or off a sidepath with a last year's sidepath badge on, unless there is also a this year's badge on the wheel. In that case no notice is taken of the old badge. It is also a misdemeanor punishable by the same fine to place this year's badge anywhere except on the left fork of the wheel. It is also a misdemeanor to ride a sidepath without a badge of the current year. Local riders had better take notice of this as the sidepath commission is bound to enforce the law.
NEW COAL POCKETS.
Babcock Property Leased by Sprague & Stearns for Coal Business.
Mr. J. A. Jayne has leased to Mr. A. A. Sprague, of the firm of Sprague & Stearns, a portion of the vacant lot on Elm-st., just below the D., L. & W. R. R., known as the Babcock property. An office is already being built on the Elm-st. side near the tracks, and scales will be built adjacent to it. The coal pockets will be built to the south of these and near the tracks, and will have a capacity of from 800 to 1,000 tons. The firm expects to be doing business in its new quarters in sixty days.
Cortland Postman Honored.
At the meeting of the New York State Letter Carriers' association in Syracuse July 4 Mr. S. L. Palmer of Cortland was elected treasurer of the association. Mr. Palmer was also a member of the committee on resolutions.
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| Y. M. C. A. Gym in Standard Block. |
Y. M. C A. FIELD DAY MEET.
Well Contested Events—Automobile Exhibition and Race.
A large and thoroughly appreciative audience saw the Y. M. C. A. field day sports and automobile exhibition and race on the fair grounds July 4. The events were well contested and showed that much training and practice had been indulged in by the participants. Several Cortland Y. M. C. A. records were broken. L. S. Hawkins lowered the time for the hundred yard dash from 10 1/2 seconds to 10 2-5. H. P. Wallace broke the record for hammer throwing, raising it from 96 ft., 6 in. to 11 ft., 4 in. R. W. Wheeler, the easy athlete, raised the broad Jump to 10 ft., 6 in. T. R. Persons put the shot 37 ft., 8 in. Wheeler also broke the pole vault record in a clever leap of 8 ft., 9 in. R. B. Hilsinger lowered the 440 yard dash from 56 3-5 seconds to 56 seconds. Hawkins, the clever sprinter, won four first and two second prizes.
The preliminary 15 and 6-mile bicycle races have been announced. F. L. Alexander won first, and Harley Seamans second place in the latter. The best time was made by H. L. Brooks in 17 min., 2 sec.
100-yard dash—L. S. Hawkins, first prize, low tans; R. W. Wheeler, second, umbrella. Time 10 2-5 sec.
Hammer throw—H. P. Wallace, first, kodak; T. R. Persons, second, Canfield coaster and brake. Distance, 112 ft., 4 in.
Baseball throw—H. P. Wallace, first catcher's mitt; L. S. Hawkins, second, baseball and finger glove. Distance, 278 ft., 5 in.
Fifty yard dash—Jas. F. Robinson, first; Sager saddle; Thomas S. Clark, second, autoharp. Time 6 seconds.
Running high jump—F. A. Mantanye, first, Morrow coaster brake; R. W. Wheeler, second, umbrella. Height 5 ft., 1/2 in.
1/2 mile bicycle novice—Harley Seamans, first, Nestor coaster brake; Geo. Wheeler, second, Chantwell bicycle chain. Time, 1:16 2-5.
1 mile city championship—H. S. Hopkins, first, Y. M. C. A. trophy; F. L. Alexander, second. Time 2:41 2-5.
Running broad jump—R. W. Wheeler, first, umbrella; Ernest Russell, second, Keating roller chain. Distance, 19 ft., 6 in.
1/2 mile bicycle, boys—Harley Seamans, first, toilet set; George Wheeler, second, Thames bicycle chain. Time 1 min., 32 sec.
220-yard dash—L. S. Hawkins, first, Sanger bars; R. B. Hilsinger, second, walking stick. Time, 26 1-5 min.
One mile automobile—Curtis L. Kinney, first; Wm. W. Kelsey, second. Time, 2:86.
One-half mile run—L. S. Hawkins, first, bamboo fishing rod; R. W. Wheeler, second, trip cyclometer. Time, 2:27 2-5.
1/2 mile Bicycle—H. S. Hopkins, first, Morgan & Wright tires; F. L. Alexander, second, LeFever chain; time, 1:18 2-5 .
12 lb. shot put—T. R. Persons, first, low patent leathers; L. S. Hawkins, second, bundy lamp, distance 37 ft., 8 in.
50-yard dash—L. S. Hawkins, first, one dozen cabinets; R. B. Hilsinger, second, electro lamp. Time, 5 4-5 sec.
Pole vault—R. W. Wheeler, first, low patent leathers; W. H. Mills, second, hammerless revolver. Height, 8 ft., 9 in.
1/4 mile bicycle—R. E. Wright, first, New Brunswick tires; A. K. Weatherwax, second, Reading bicycle chain. Time, 85 seconds.
440-yard dash—R. B. Hilsinger, first. Fisk tires; T. R. Persons, second, Twentieth century lamp. Time 56.
2-mile handicap—R. E. Wright, first, Cleveland racing tires, H. S. Brooks, second, rubber neck saddle. Time 5:10.
The exhibitions by automobiles proved very interesting. Mr. W. W. Kelsey cut many a curve and showed a great amount of skill in handling his carriage, especially for one who had manipulated a machine for so short a time. He proceeded with great care, however, and with considerably less boldness and dash than characterized Prof. Perry's work with Mr. Kinney's automobile directly after and with better results than the expert showed.
The automobile race was a very pretty affair. The start was as fine as could be, Mr. Kelsey having the poll and his machine being perhaps eight inches ahead of the other. For the first half-mile it was first one ahead and then the other. The tape was crossed the first time in 1:15, Mr. Kelsey's machine having a lead of about a length. As the machine's approached the three-quarters mark Mr. Kelsey's machine seemed to have difficulty in generating steam and Mr. Kinney's machine took the lead and constantly widened the distance between the two till the finish, winning by several hundred yards. The time was 2:36. It was a pretty race and every one enjoyed it hugely.
One of the prettiest races of the day was the half mile run. There were in this three entries, Wheeler, Hawkins and Higgins. Higgins led the procession at a good clip, followed closely by Wheeler; Hawkins fell back and at the three quarters [mark] was at least a hundred yards from the pace setters. From there he started a lively sprint, overtaking them, and getting first in a lively finish. The whole matter passed off finely and was a success in every way.
Two unfortunate spills occurred during the progress of the events. The first of these happened in the 6-mile bicycle race when Hillock caught up with Way and collided with him. Hammond and Hogan also got in the mix-up. In the half-mile novice Hillock spilled directly in front of Whiting who crashed into him with tremendous force. It took both riders some little time to regain their feet. No serious accidents, however, happened to any of the participants.
In the one mile city championship race there were four entries and as they first set out to ride, it was about the greatest loaf of the season. It appeared that the difficulty was that no one was willing to set the pace the whole distance and they rode along the back stretch talking it over. At the rate they were going they would hardly have made the mile in five minutes. When they came around the first time the referee rung the bell on time and made them stop. He insisted that the race must be run over and set a 2:40 time limit on them. When they started again each took a turn for a quarter at setting the pace and the result was a fine race with a great finish.
The Y. M. C. A. meet showed in the first place that the men who have been in the events in the past two or three years are doing better work than ever before, and secondly that a hardworking and well ordered bunch of young athletes are coming into line, among whom the Apulia youngster, Brooks, is by no means the least.
BREVITIES.
—The first annual picnic of the chorus choir of the First M. E. church will be held at the park this evening.
—The account of the ride of Rev. L. J. Christler against time in an engine cab is found in our Homer letter to-day.
—On July 4 the E. & C. N. Y. railway sold exactly 1,000 round trip tickets from different points on the road to Cincinnatus.
—New display advertisements to-day are—M. A. Case, June clearing sale, page 6; M. A. Hudson, Saturday's special sale, page 7; Mitchell & Strowbridge, Meats, page 5; Glann & Clark, Earning money, page 4.
—Secretary F. K. Armstrong and the sixteen young men of the Y. M. C. A. start for the camp at Sodus bay, Lake Ontario, to-morrow morning. During the absence of the general secretary, Mr. Clarence N. Tyler will be in full charge of the Y. M. C. A. rooms. Mr. Tyler is authorized to receive money for the association and receipt therefor and will have full authority in place of the secretary.
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