... an electric thrill ran through Peking—Yuan Shih-kai was dead! At first the news was not believed, but by eleven o'clock it was definitely known in the Legation Quarter that he had died a few minutes after ten o'clock that morning from uraemia of the blood—the surgeon of the French Legation being in attendance almost to the last. A certificate issued later by this gentleman immediately quieted the rumours of suicide, though many still refused ... — The Fight For The Republic In China • B.L. Putnam Weale