Below is an account of a first-hand experience of an American lady during the Boxer Uprising in Peking (today's Beijing). Although the Boxers today are but ancient history, Mrs Gamewell's account shows us that in 1900 this was a very real and personal encounter.
The image to the left is the cover of the French Journal called Le Petit Journal, depicting the murder of German minister Baron of Ketteler in Peking.
Mrs. F. D. Gamewell, who was with the besieged Americans in Peking and is now in New York City, said recently of her experiences: "There was no place in the compound where we were safe from bullets. They ricocheted everywhere. All that saved us from being hit was the sandbag and other fortifications of men built. Making the sandbags was the occupation of the women. We made thousands upon thousands of them. We made them of everything -- towels, bedclothing, sheets, pillowcases, our own clothing even. They were piled up about the verandas and before the windows of the houses and on the roofs as well. Thousands of them were used on the walls also."
The Massillon Independent, December 13, 1900
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