This morning, however, a new complexion on the' situation seems to have suddenly arisen by the dispatch of mounted couriers to the various Generals of Army Corps belonging to the Grand Army, beating copies off an edict of the Empress Dowager, commanding each of these Generals, namely, Sung Ch'ing, Nieh Sze cb'éng, Tung Fuckstag, and Yuan Shih-Kai to select for dispatch at once to Peking, whenever called upon, 3,000 picked men from each Corps, and that "these troops are to start for their destination at any hour, the moment the orders arrive, be it midnight or daybreak." A portion of these troops will be told off to guard the Railway Terminus, but the majority of the 12,000 men selected will be stationed in the vicinity of the "Forbidden City" and Eho Park, which is about four miles from the West-gate of the capital, As Yuan Shih-k'ai's cantonments are at Hsiaochan, 15 miles to the south-west of Tientsin, arrangements are being made to have railway trucks ready at all hours at the latter place to transport his brigade to Peking, and to these most likely will be given the task to guard the terminus at Machiapu, outside the Yungting-gate.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.