When his orignal statement was made on Saturday it was at once assumed that in protesting hitherto that he had no direct news be had been guilty of gross bad faith in view sometimes ordered to cover one hundred miles a day, but very few do as much as eighty niles,' which is a very high rate of speed.
Heavy rains are falling in the north, ani the country ly disturbed, and fully five' days wust be allowed for the journey mentioned. The news thus dates back to June 28 at the Intest, while the alleged massacres occurféd on June 30 or July 1.
6.—Daily Express, London, Staurday, July Telegram despatched from Shanghai on or about Friday July 13, In reply to your cable, I have been wholly unable to obtain any confirmation of the story that the foreign Ministers were mas-suered on July 6. You may rely on hitherto to cable you the earliest' possible details of any information of a reliable charueter It would be a waste of money and would serve no useful purpose to telegraph you the thousand and one stories of purely. Chinese origin which are floating about the settlement and find their way into native papers, Thave nothing to aaa to the message 1 sent you on July 2, that the foreigners in Peking Were massacred at some date between June 25 and June 30 or possibly July 2.
Despite all statements to the contrary, no official news of any description hus come through from Peking since.
I have the authority of the Consular body for making this statement in the most empha-
The Imperial decrees and edicts to which You refer will date back to early in June, lich the exception of that promulgated by Prince Tuan and one dated June 17, in whicl 'Li Hung-chang is commanded to request all tle Vidfroys and Governors to dqspatch troops without delay, to aid the Peking govermment against the' rebels. Full details of these despatches have already been sent you.
I should warn you that many stories dating back to the middle of last month are bein, rehashed in the native papers, and as sever: of them have been translated and republished in some of the English-printed papers, fresh versions of them brought up to date will probably be transmitted to London.
The only new information to hand to-day emanates from Tsinanfu, the Governor of Shantung, Yuan Shi-kai, informing the Consular body that on July,'7 (Chinese reckoning—or July 3 according to our calendar) Boxers and soldiers were planning a final attack on the British Legations, which they had been bombarding for some days. Yuan Shi-kai, in transmitting this information, added a quite gratuitous expression of his anxiety for the safety of the foreigners in Peking and their Chinese servants. As Yuan Shi-kai is rabidly anti-foreign, this affected concern for the fate of the Ministers is regarded as a wholly unwarrantable piece of insolence.
This is the third message of the same kind which has been sent through by the governor of Shantung, who appears to have received a special mandate to do the dirty work of the Peking officials.
These messages have ceased now to argue either the anger or the indignation of the foreign officials here.
AI! hope has long since been given up, and the only desire now is that the etiquette of diplomacy shall no longer, be permitted to delay the operation of a fully adequate measure of retribution for the terrible crimes which have been committed.
ZaBaily Express, London, Monday July Telegram despatched from Shanghai on or about Sunday July 15 or Saturday July, 14, and set out fully in particulars al
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.