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The History and x

ConquesUePhilippines

AND OUR

OTHER ISLAND POSSESSIONS

By ALDEN MARCH, A.M.

The Noted Journalist and Author

EMBRACING

OUR WAR WITH THE FILIPINOS IN 1899

Together With a Complete History of Those Islands from the Earliest Times to the Present

AN AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF THE SPANISH WAR

PREPARED FROM OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT REPORTS OF OUR ARMY AND NAVY OFFICERS
PRESENTING ALL THE FACTS FOR THE FIRST TIME

THE HISTORY OF CUBA, PORTO RICO,
The Ladrone and the Hawaiian Islands

FROM THEIR DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME

RICHLY EMBELLISHED WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED FULL PAGE
HALF-TONE AND OTHER ENGRAVINGS

M'bl^

WM. E. SCULL

ALL RIGHTS RBSBRVED

EVERY CHAPTER IN THIS VOLUME BEING ORIGINAL MATTER PREPARED EXPRESSLY
FOR THIS WORK, ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO INFRINGE UPON OUR COPYRIGHT BY
USING EITHER THE MATTER OR THE PICTURES WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION.

Library, Univ. of
North Carolin/

INTRODUCTION

THE whole world has turned its eyes upon the Philippine Islands.
The nations of Europe and of the far East are anxiously
watching their future. The United States stands with that
future in its possession. Our country has made itself more vital
than ever before in the great brotherhood of nations.

The magnificent victory of Admiral Dewey in the Bay of Manila,
when he scorned hidden torpedoes and open foes, and swept the ves-
sels of Montojo's fleet from the face of the waters without the loss of
a single man or any considerable damage to his own battleships, not
only brought our nation to the very forefront as a naval power, but
focused upon the Philippines the eyes of all the world.

Previous to that time nobody knew or cared where the distant
archipelago was. To-day there is not a schoolboy who cannot tell
you, or a street urchin who does not speak its name as familiarly
almost as that of his own city.

Necessarily, however, popular knowledge of the islands is ex-
tremely limited. Most persons have read in snatches here and there,
of Aguinaldo, of the insurgents, of the famous battle of May ist, of
General Merritt, General Otis, General McArthur and the brave lot
of soldiers, volunteers and regulars, who have crossed the 10,000
miles of sea, which leads to this our new possession.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS VOLUME.

It is the purpose of this volume to present a clear, concise, inter-
esting and readable story of the conquest of the Philippines and of
1^0 our other island possessions.

'^5 Now that the smoke of battle has cleared away and we are able

Y~ to see more distinctly the splendid work of American arms, the valor
__ of the American soldiers, the generalship of the American leaders,

»» INTRODUCTION

and the wise direction of American statesmanship, we are ready and
anxious to know not only the story of our march of victory, but also
something about the new lands and the new people, which have come
under the folds of the flag, and which from now on are likely to be so
prominent in the scheme of our national life.

Ever since the beginning of the war an elaborate, careful collec-
tion has been made of all books, newspaper and magazine articles,
published both in this country and abroad, about the Philippines and
about the events which have taken place there since our troops landed
on those shores. These have been at the disposal of the writer, and
their very possession alone insures the most complete record of the
history of the Philippines possible.

This volume aims to bring you in contact with the people of
these islands so vividly that you will know their past and their present,
and become so interested in their future, that every word spoken for
or against them will enlist your attention.

LONG STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY.

As a people the Filipinos appeal to the American heart through
their long years of struggle for liberty, — a struggle that has been
marked throughout by a trail of life-blood of patriots, — a struggle
t-.hat has been waged against unequal odds, — a struggle that was
once, years ago, at the verge of successful issue, but was brought
to naught at the very hour of victory, by an accident.

As a nation the Filipinos are not strong enough to protect them-
selves alone against the grovernments of the world. The United States
took them under its protection. It offered to them liberty and civi-
lization under its rule. Unhappily for them the insurgent leaders,
whether for motives of personal gain, or from ill-advised sentiments
against their protectors, have turned upon the hand that helped them.

The battle which was so costly, both to insurgents and to our
own gallant soldiers, has made it impossible for the United States to
o-o back. The demands of civilization hold us to the islands. Presi-
dent McKinley in his speech at Boston in February, 1899, summed
up the situation and the duty of the Government as follows :

"The future of the Philippine Islands are now in the hands of
<he American people, and the Paris Treaty commits the free and

COMMODORE JOHN CRITTENDEN WATSON. REAR-ADMIRAL W1NFIELD SCOTT SCH1.ET.

LEADING NAVAL COMMANDERS OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.

INTRODUCTION ix

franchisee! Filipinos to the guiding hand and the liberalizing influ-
ences, the generous sympathies, the uplifting agitation, not of their
American masters, but of their American emancipators.

" No man can tell to-day what is best for them or for us. I know
no one at this hour who is wise enough or sufficiently informed to
determine what form of government will best subserve their interests
and our interests, their and our well-being.

" Until Congress shall direct otherwise, it will be the duty of the
Executive to possess and hold the Philippines, giving to the people
thereof peace and order and beneficent government, affording them
every opportunity to prosecute their lawful pursuits, and encouraging
them in thrift and industry ; making them feel and know that we are
good friends, not their enemies ; that their good is our aim, that theirs
is our welfare ; but that neither their aspirations nor ours can be real-
ized, until our authority is acknowledged and unquestioned ; that the
inhabitants of the Philippines will be benefited by this Republic is my
unshaken belief ; that they will have a kindlier government under our
guidance, and that they will be aided in every possible way to be a
self-respecting and self-governing people, is as true as that the Ameri-
can people love liberty and have abiding faith in their own govern-
ment and in their own institutions.

" No imperial designs lurk in the American mind. They are
alien to American sentiment, thought and purpose. Our priceless
principles undergo no change under a tropical sun. They go with a
fiat : 'Why read ye not the changeless truth, the free can conquer but
to save ?'

" If we can benefit these remote peoples, who will object ? If
in the years of the future they are established in government under
law and liberty, who will regret our perils and sacrifices ? — who will
not rejoice in our heroism and humanity ? Always perils, and always
after them safety; always darkness and clouds, but always shining
through them the light and sunshine ; always cost and sacrifice, but
always after them the fruition of liberty, education and civilization.

" I have no light or knowledge not common to my countrymen.
I do not prophesy. The present is all-absorbing to me, but I cannot
bound my visions by the blood-stained trenches around Manila, where
every red drop, whether from the veins of an American soldier or a

* INTRODUCTION

misguided Filipino, is anguish to my heart ; but by the broad range
of future years, when that group of islands, under the impulse of the
year just past, shall have become the gems and glories of those tropi-
cal seas, a land of plenty and of increasing possibilities, a people
redeemed from savage indolence and habits, devoted to the arts of
peace, in touch with the commerce and trade of all nations, enjoying
the blessings of freedom, of civil and religious liberty, of education
and of homes, and whose children and children's children for ages
hence bless the American Republic, because it emancipated and
redeemed their fatherland and set them in the pathway of the world's
best civilization."

And so the beginning of the new life under the Stars and Stripes
at the dawning of the new century will mark an epoch not only in
the history of the Philippine Islands, but of the whole world. Upon
the people of the United States the future of these new possessions
imposes an immense responsibility.

Kipling has written of it as "the White Man's Burden:"

"Take up the white man's burden —

Ye dare not stoop to less —
Nor call too loud on Freedom

To cloak your weariness.
By all ye will or whisper,

By all ye leave to do,
The silent, sullen peoples

Shall weigh your God and you."

OUR OTHER ISLAND POSSESSIONS

While the novelty of the islands across the sea draws toward it
curious eyes, the American people will never lose sight of the others
nearer home, in behalf of which the sons of the flag laid down their
lives, and for which the war with Spain was waged.

Cuba, with her historic past, a great drama of war and blood, is
and always will be an object of keen interest. Ever since the explo-
sion which blew up the Maine and stirred the hot blood of our whole
nation beyond control, the past, the present and the future of Cuba
have become almost part of our own history. The persecution,
enslavement and utter extinction of the native Indians in sixty years

INTRODUCTION xi

through Spanish cruelty, thii new race of Cubans, the feeble insurrec
tion of a hundred years, the more virile Ten Years' War, and, finally,
the War of 1895, that last great struggle for liberty, reads like a
romance. And at last the terrible oppression and cruelty of Spain
brought forth such an agonizing cry for help, that America could no
longer resist its appeal, and " for the sake of humanity " took up arms
in her behalf.

The campaign in Cuba and Porto Rico was a brilliant one. It
was short, decisive, heroic. The deeds that were done, and the vic-
tories that were won, rival the greatest stories of valor that the world
has ever heard. And now Cuba and Porto Rico are ours, — one tem-
porarily, the other forever. Porto Rico, which Columbus discovered
and where he was buried, will be familiar in the future to all the world
as a winter resort. Beautiful, fertile and healthful, it will ever be a
land of romance and of pleasure and of poetry. Hawaii, too, brought
by the new cable in touch with the rest of the world, will be a part of
us from this time onward. Their interests and our interests mingle.
It is of them, and of Hawaii, " the Paradise of the Pacific," that a
fuller knowledge is desired by all persons. And so in this history of
our conquest of the Philippines and our other island possessions,
they play an important part, and enlist your interest.

Alden March,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
The Philippines — Past and Present

A Rapid Review of History, Place and People. — The Story of Discovery. — The Firsl
World Girdlers. — Another Expedition. — Naming the Islands. — Struggles for
Supremacy. — English Take Manila. — Uprisings of the Natives. — The Last
Struggle for Liberty. — A Warlike People. — Manila and other Towns. — Industries,
Climate, Etc. — Admiral Dewey begins a New Era.

CHAPTER II
Behind Admiral Dewey's Guns

The Magnificent Naval Battle of May ist Described by an Officer who stood by
Dewey during the Fight. — The Personal Side of the Nation's Greatest Hero.
— A Brush with German Officers. — The Surrender of Cavite.

CHAPTER III

The Second Battle of Manila

How 8,000 American Soldiers Swept into a Heavily Entrenched City, Garrisoned by
Nearly Twice that Number of Spaniards. — Insurgent Army Kept from Plunder.
— Rare Bravery and Sacrifice. — What Major-General Wesley Merritt, Command-
ing the Expedition, General Frank F. Greene, General Arthur McArthur and
General Thomas Anderson Said Officially of the Battle.

CHAPTER IV

The Trouble with General Aguinaldo

A. Face-to-Face View of the Insurgent Leader. — A Man of Craft and Cunning. — His
Rapid Rise to Prominence. — Sold Out His Own People. — The Battle Against the
United States. — Insurgents Swept Into the Sea. — Sacrifice of Life and Property.
— The Flight of Agoncillo to Canada. — The Battle and the Treaty of Peace in
the Senate. — The Oregon Needed "for Political Reasons."

xiii

*1V TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER V
The Men "Who Won Fame in Battle

Commanders and Soldiers whose Bravery has Brought them Special Honors. — Intrepid
Fighting, Mad Dashes, and Fierce Firing of Boys from Pennsylvania, New York
and other States of the East ; from Tennessee, Kentucky and the Rest of the
South Line ; and the Heroic Warriors from Oregon, California, Dakota, Kansas,
Iowa and the Middle and Far West. — Individual Deeds of Daring. — Scout Work
Outside and Inside of the City.

CHAPTER VI
A Past History Written in Blood

Ever Since their Discovery the Philippines have been the Scene of Terrible Conflicts.
— Began with an Alliance of Peace, but soon were Rife with War. — Legaspi Forti-
fied Manila and made it a Stronghold. — The Raid of Limahong, the Chinese
Pirate. — A Naval Battle with the Dutch for Half a Century. — England Takes
Manila, but Returns It to Spain.

CHAPTER VII
Filipinos' Struggles for Freedom

Periodically the Natives Turned under the Cruel Spanish Heel and Rose up m their
Might. — Revolts against the Tyranny of the Church. — How a Flight of Sky-
rockets once Tore Victory from the Hands of the Natives. — The Last Fight for
Freedom. — The Greatest of Insurgent Martyrs, Doctor Rizal. — His Dramatic
Execution a Few Years Ago. — Other Fighters for Freedom.

CHAPTER VIII
The Great Value of the Philippines

Why all Nations Covet what the United States has Won. — Importance from a Strategic
Standpoint. — Immense Wealth and Resources. — Exports and Imports Amount to
over $40,000,000. — Rich in Sugar, Rice, Hemp, Coffee, Cocoa, Spices and a
Host of other Things. — Untold and Untried Mineral Wealth.

CHAPTER IX
The People of the Island

Over Eighty Different Tribes, most of whom have never seen a AVhite Man. — Inter-
esting Traits in the Character of the Natives. — Cannibalism in all of its Horrors.
Cock Fighting as a Pastime. — How the Better Class Live. — Educational and
Social Conditions. — Something about the Aetas, Negritos, Gadanes, Itavis, Igor-
rotes, Pinguianes and others.

TABLE OF CONTENTS xv

CHAPTER X
Fascinations and Terrors of a New Land

The Awful Wildness of Typhoons. — A Land Ruled by Volcanoes. — Thousands Killed
by Earthquakes. — All Business Suspended until Evening, owing to the Heat. — A
Glimpse of its Birds, Beasts and Reptiles.

CHAPTER XI
Manila, the Metropolis of the Philippines

A Delightful City which may become a Resort under the Stars and Stripes. — High and
Low Life. — Foreigners kept out by the Spanish as much as Possible. — The
Chinese Class. — The Splendid Big Convent. — Shops that Delight the Eye. — Rare
Fabrics Woven from Plants and Embroidered by Nuns. — A New York Officer's
Big Purchase.— A Dress that it took Months to Weave. — Inside of the English
Club. — Americans have Started a Splendid Club for the Army and Navy. — The
Famous Mestiza Girls.

CHAPTER XII
Other Important Cities of the Islands

A. Sight-seeing Trip to Iloilo, Second in Commercial Importance to Manila, Cebu,
which once outranked it, Leyte and other Places of Importance. — Scenes and"
Incidents among the Strange Population. — The Terrible Sultan of Sulu. — Super-
stitions of the Moros. — Funny Episodes of a very Lively Trip.

CHAPTER XIII
The Future of the Islands

How they will Develop under the Care of the United States. — The Treaty of Peace
at Paris and its Effect. — What President McKinley says about the Situation.
— Extracts from his Famous Speeches on the Subject. — The views of Anti-Expan-
sionists.— Extracts from Speeches made by Senators and Representatives. —
Freedom and Prosperity in Sight for the Long Misgoverned Islands.

CHAPTER XIV
• The Ladrone Islands

The Bloodless Battle of Guam. — When the Charleston Opened Fire on the Little City
of Agafia, the Governor Thought we were Saluting Him. — A Population which
has Twice Disappeared. — Poverty and Laziness on all Sides. — The Value of th«

Island as a Military Station.

xvl TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER XV
The Hawaiian Islands, "the Paradise of the Pacific"

Annexed to the United States by Act of Congress, July 7, 1898. — T'.uly a Paradise in
Climate, Fertility and Healthfulness. — Discovery by Captain Cook. — Something
about the Inhabitants.- — Old Times in Hawaii. — A Pen Sketch of Queen
Liliuokalani, the Last of the Royal Line. — The Revolution of 1893. — The Plea
for Admission to the United States. — The Mission of Senator Blount. — The Work
of American Missionaries. — Some Hawaiian Superstitions and Amusements. — ■ .
Products and Commerce. — Sugar is to the Islands what Wheat is to our Northwest.
— Honolulu, the Capital City. — A Beautiful and Delightful Resort. — On the
Threshold of a great Industrial Era.

CHAPTER XVI
Cuba, "the Child of Our Adoption"

The Island whose Cry to Humanity Brought the War of Relief. — How It Received its
Name. — The Founding of the Capital, Havana. — A Terrible History of Spanish
Cruelty. — The Extermination of a Great People, Beginning in the Time of the
Son of Columbus, before 1560 the Whole of the Population had Disappeared
from the Island. — The First Cuban Revolt. — The Capture of Havana by the
English. — Its Restoration to Spain. — A Long Series of Insurrections. — The
Seven Years' War. — The Last and Final Uprising. — The Advent of Weyler, "the
Butcher." — Atrocities before which the whole World Stood Aghast. — His Motto
was "Subjugation or Death." — American Filibusters Lend a Helping Hand.
The Death of General Maceo, through Treachery, a great Blow to the Insurgents.
— Weyler and the Reconcentrados. — Two Hundred Thousand Men, Women and
Children Die of Disease and Starvation. — Insurgents the Masters of almost the
whole Island. — The Fearful Cost of the War. — The Cuban Debt Reached
Nearly §300,000,000.

CHAPTER XVII
Possibilities of the Island

Its Possibilities, its Hopes. — The Extent of the Island, its Soil and its vast Products.
Rich in Sugar, in Timber and in Minerals, it is a Place Promising Wealth,
Rivaling that of the Klondike. — Its Commerce and its Climate. — Havana, the
Capital City, and other Ports.

CHAPTER XVIII
The Explosion of the Maine, and War

The Awful Catastrophe to our Battleship in Havana Harbor. A firm Belief that the
Vessel was Blown up by Spaniards. — A Naval Board of Inquiry. — A Wave of

TABLE OF CONTENTS xxx

Feeling Sweeps the whole Nation. — McKinley Places the Matter before Congress.
— War is Declared, for the Sake of Humanity. — The First Call for Troops. — All
the States of the Union Respond Immediately with their Quota of Men. — The
Mobilization of the American Army.

CHAPTER XIX
The Campaign in Cuba

close Blockade Established at Havana Harbor.— The First Shot of the War. — The
Buena Ventura Captured as the Initial Prize of the Conflict. — Ensign Worth
Bagley, of the Torpedo Boat Winslow, Killed, the First Death of the War. —
Admiral Cervera's Fleet Leaves Spain for the Cape Verde Islands. — A Period of
Search and Apprehension. — The Spanish Vessels Reach Santiago. — Commodore
Schley Bottles up the Fleet in Santiago Harbor. — "I've got them and they will
never get out alive." — Sampson takes Charge of the Blockade. — Lieutenant
Hobson's Daring Deed of Heroism. — The Brilliant Young Naval Officer Sinks
the Merrimac at the Mouth of the Harbor so as to Prevent the Enemy from
Coming Out. — Afloat on a Raft Amid the Shells of Spanish Forts and Cruisers. —
Taken Prisoner and Landed in Morro Castle. — The American Vessels Shelled the
Castle, although the Captured Men were Exposed by the Spaniards to the Deadly
Fire. — The Magnificent Naval Battle of July 3d. — The Capture of Admiral
Cervera and the total Annihilation of the Spanish Fleet.

CHAPTER XX
The Invasion of Cuba by the Army-
General Shafter Starts from Tampa with Transports. — The Shutting up of the Spanish
Fleet Changes the Campaign from Havana to Santiago. — The Landing of Troops
at Baiquiri. — The Brilliant Charge of the "Rough Riders" under Colonel Wood
and "Teddy" Roosevelt. — Marvelous Bravery at El Caney and San Juan Hill.
The Small American Force though Handicapped on all Sides Wins Victory from
the Better Armed and Better Protected Spaniards by Sheer Bravery, and the Mad-
Rush of their Battle. — Terrible and Costly Hours of Waiting. — Shafter 111 in the
Rear, Generals Wheeler, Lawton, Chaffee, Colonels Wood and "Teddy"
Roosevelt Lead the Men to a Marvelous Victory. — The Second Day's Fight.
— The Spanish Flag of Truce. — Consultation for Surrender. — General Miles,
Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Joins Shafter, and Takes Part in the
Negotiations. — General Toral Surrenders, after the Destruction of Cervera's
Fleet. — Hobson and His Fellow Heroes Exchanged. — A Rousing Reception
from the Troops.

xx TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXI

The Surrender of Santiago

Truce Proclaimed and Prolonged from Day to Day. — Consultation for Surrender of
Santiago. — General Miles, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Joins Shafter and
Takes Part in the Negotiations. — General Toral Surrenders. — Terms of Evacua-
tion.— Raising the Stars and Stripes Above the City. — Hobson and His Fellow-
Heroes Exchanged. — A Rousing Reception by Land and Sea.

CHAPTER XXII

The Campaign in Porto Rico

General Miles' Plans for the Invasion of the Island. — Preliminary Operations by
Sampson's Fleet. — Bombardment of San Juan de Porto Rico. — Miles in Charge
of the Army Expedition. — Troops Meet with but Little Resistance. — Capture of
Towns, and Movements of the Army. — The First Steps Toward Peace in Wash-
ington.— As the Guns of Pennsylvania Troops were Being Placed in Position for
a Battle, Word Came from Washington, Announcing that Fighting Must Cease. —
The Last Scenes and Shots of the War.

CHAPTER XXIII

Porto Rico — Past, Present and Future

The Island and its Population. — Its Future as a Winter Resort. — Timberin Abundance
and Variety. — Minerals and Mining. — Some Facts About its Commerce. — The
Chief Cities and Towns of Porto Rico.

CHAPTER XXIV

The Closing Events of the Philippine War

A Proclamation by the Commissioners from the United States. — Dagupan Bom-
barded.— General Montenegro, One of the Great Insurgent Leaders, Killed —
Lawton's Flying Column Sweeps Down Upon the Province of Laguna. — Santa
Cruz Captured. — Lumban and Pagsangan Also Fall Before the American Troops.
— Lawton's Expedition Recalled. — MacArthur's Men Gloriously Storm Calumpit's
Trenches.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Map of the Philippines. Frontispiece.
Map, Hawaiian Islands. Frontispiece.
In the War Room at Washington, . 7
Leading Commanders of our Navy
in the Spanish-American War, . 8

The "Oregon," 17

The Battle of Manila, May 1, 1898, 18
Typical Group of Negritos, Philip-
pine Islands, 29

Volcano Mayon in Luzon, .... 30
Church of Cavite, Philippine Islands, 30
Native Boats and Outriggers ... 39
A Bend in the Pasig River, Manila, 40

The Escolta, Manila, 49

The Barracks at Corregidor After

Spanish Withdrawal, 50

Commandante's House, Cavite, . . 50
Raising the Flag on Fort San An-
tonio de Abad, Malate, .... 59
The Beautiful Luneta, Manila's
Fashionable Promenade and

Drive, 60

A Street Scene in Albay, 69

Sacloban, Island of Leyte, .... 70
Pampanga, a Village in the Sugar

Country, 70

First Battle Between Americans and

Filipinos, February 4 and 5, 1899, 79
General Aguinaldo in February,

1899, 80

View Along the Escolta After the

Last Great Fire, 89

The Harbor and City of Cebu, . . 90
Puebla, in the Lake of Bay, ... 90

TAGS

Insurgents' Attempt to Burn Manila,

February 22, 1S99, 99

Cafe and Chocolate Factory, Manila, 100
Interior View of a Cigar and Ciga-
rette Factory, Manilla, 100

Blockhouse Taken by the Astor Bat-
tery in Their Famous Revolver

Charge, 109

Convent at Malate Showing Effect

of Shells, no

The Philippine Pony and Cart, . .110
Saint Ana, a Suburb of Manila, . .119
The Cordage Factory of Santa Mesa,

a Suburb of Manila, 120

The Famous Spanish Prison, Manila, 120
A Market Man in Manila, . . . .129
Fast Freight of the Philippines, . .130
Cockfighting, the Chief Sport of the

Natives, 130

The Shipyards and Arsenal at Cavite, 139
The Island of Corregidor, Manila

Bay, 140

Native Water Carriers in Iloilo, . . 165
A Native Filipino Woman, .... 166
A Spanish Filipino Mestiza, . . . .166
The Mouth of the Pasig River, . .175
Young Man of the Upper Class,

Philippine Islands, 176

Aguinaldo at the Age of 22, . . .176

Doing the Family Wash, 176

Native Woman Fruit Seller, . . . . 176
Death by the Garrote, Method of

Execution in Manila, 185

Savage Negrito Warriors, 186

Tagalog Tribe, 186

(XXI)

XX11

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

A Native Residence in the Suburbs

of Manila, 195

The Strange Wagons of Albay, . .195
Iloilo, Capital of the Province of

Panay, 196

A Native Mining Cai , In :,uzon, .221
A Popular Street Conveyance,

Manila 222

Drying Sugar, Philippine Islands, . 222
Bridge Over the Pasig River, . . .231

A Wedding Procession, 231

All-Chinese-Shop Quarter on the

Rosario, 232

Milkmen of Manila at their Dairy, . 241
View in Banca, Showing Dutch For-
tifications, 242

The Native Farmer and His Faithful

Servant, 242

Spaniards Executing Insurgent

Chiefs, Manila, 251

Senor Montero Rios, President of

the Spanish Peace Commission, . 252
General Ramon Blanco, Captain-
General of Cuba, 252

Admiral Cervera, 252

Sagasta, Premier of Spain, .... 252

Royal Palace, Hawaii, 277

Raising the American Flag in Hono-
lulu, August 12, 1898, 277

Church in Honolulu, Hawaiian

Islands, 278

Sugar Cane Plantation, Hawaiian

Islands, ■ 278

Map of Cuba, 282

Entrance to the Public Grounds,

Havana, Cuba, 287

Indian Statue in the Prado, Havana,

Cuba, 287

General Antonio Maceo, 288

General Calixto Garcia 288

General Maximo Gomez, 288

Jose Marti, President of the Cuban
Revolutionary Party, 288

PAGE

The Rough Riders Driving Back the
Spaniards, Previous to the Attack

on Santiago, . . 313

Major-General Nelson A. Miles, . . 314
Major-General Fitzhugh Lee, . . .314
Major-General Wesley Merritt, . .314
Major-General William R. Shafter, . 314
Spaniards Repelling the Attack of

Cuban Insurgents, 323

United States Battleship "Maine," 324

Captain Sigsbee, 324

Officers of the "Maine," .... 324
The Peace Commissioners, .... 333
The Fleet of Admiral Cervera at

Cape Verde Islands, 334

President McKinley and the War

Cabinet, 343

Americans Storming San Juan Hill, 344
City of Havana and Harbor, Show-
ing Wreck of the "Maine," . . 369

General Joseph Wheeler, 370

Lieutenant Richmond Pearson Hob-
son, 370

Governor Theodore Roosevelt, . . 370
Major-General Elwell S. Otis, . . .370

Havana Harbor, 379

Landing at Tampa, 379

Camp Scene at Chicamauga, . . .379
The Surrender of Santiago, July 1 7,

1899, 38°

The Market Place, Ponce, Porto

Rico, 421

The Custom House, Ponce, Porto

Rico, 421

Native Belles, Porto Rico, . . . . 422
Hula Dancing Girls, Hawaii, . . . 422
Sunrise Executions, Outside the

Prison Walls, Havana, 431

A Market Girl, Porto Rico, . . . .431
A Volante, the Typical Cuban Con-
veyance, 43 :

San Juan, Porto Rico, 432

CHAPTER I
The Philippines— Past and Present

A Rapid Review of History, Place and People. — The Story of Discovery. — The First
World Girdlers. — Another Expedition. — Naming the Islands. — Struggles for
Supremacy. — English take Manila. — Uprisings of the Natfves. — The Last Struggle
for Liberty. — A Warlike People. — Manila and other Towns. — Industries, Climate,
Etc. — Admiral Dewey begins a New Era.

THE most important, and by far the most interesting, as well as
the least known of America's new possessions, gained by her
war with Spain, are the Philippine Islands. Comparatively
few Americans have ever set foot upon that far-away and semi-
civilized land, the possession of which enables America to say with
England, " The sun never sets upon our flag."

The Philippines lie almost exactly on the other side of the globe
from us. Approximately speaking, our noonday is their midnight ;
our sunset is their sunrise. There are some 1,800 of these islands,
400 of which are inhabited or capable of supporting a population ;
they cover about 125,000 square miles; they lie in the tropical seas,
generally speaking, from five to eighteen degrees north latitude; and
are bounded by the China Sea on the west and the Pacific Ocean or.
the east ; they are about 7,000 miles southwest from San Francisco,
a little over 600 miles southeast from Hong Kong, China, and about
1,000 miles almost due north from Australia; they contain between
8,000,000 and 10,000,000 inhabitants, about one-third of whom had
prior to Dewey's victory, May 1, iS^S, acknowledged Spanish
sovereignty to the extent of paying regular tribute to the Spanish
crown; the remainder are bound together in tribes under independent
native princes or Mohammedan rulers. Perhaps 2,500,000 all told
have become nominal Catholics in religion. The rest are Moham-
medans and idolaters. There are no Protestant churches in the
islands.

THE STORY OF DISCOVERY.

It was twenty-nine years after Columbus discovered America
that Magellan saw the Philippines, the largest archipelago in the
2 25

26 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

world, in 1521. The voyage of Magellan was much longer and
scarcely less heroic than that of the discoverer of America. Having
been provided with a fleet by the Spanish king with which to search
for spice islands, but secretly determined to sail round the world, he
set out with five vessels on August 10, 15 19, crossed the Atlantic to
America, and skirted the eastern coast southward in the hope of find-
ing some western passage into the Pacific, which, a few years previous
had been discovered by Balboa. It was a year and two months to a
day from the time he left Spain until he reached the southern point
of the mainland of South America and passed through the straight
which has since borne his name. On the way, one of his vessels de-
serted ; another was wrecked in a storm. When he passed through
the Straight of Magellan he had remaining but three of his original
five ships, and they were the first European vessels that ever breasted
the waves of the mighty western ocean. Once upon the unknown
but placid sea — which he named the Pacific — the bold navigator
steered straight to the northwest. Five months later, about March
1st, he discovered the Ladrone Islands — which name Magellan gave
to the group on account of the thieving propensities of the natives
— the word Lachonc meaning robber.

After a short stay at the islands, he steered southwest, landing
on the north coast of Mindanao, the second largest island of the
Philippines. The natives were friendly and offered to pilot Magellan
to the Island of Cebu, which lay to the north, and which they reported
to be very rich. After taking possession of Mindanao in the name
of his king, the discoverer proceeded to Cebu, where he gave such
descriptions of the glory and power of Spain that he easily formed a
treaty with the king of the island, who swore allegiance to his new-
found master and had himself and chief advisers baptized in the
Catholic-faith. Magellan then joined the king in his war against
some of the neighboring powers, and on April 26, 1 J21, was killed in
a skirmish. The spot where he fell is now marked by a monument.

FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE.

Trouble soon arose between Magellan's sailors and their new-
found allies. The Spaniards were invited to a banquet, and twenty-
seven of them were treacherously slain. The remainder, fearing for

SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES 2J

their lives, escaped in their ships and sailed for home. It was soon
discovered that they had too few men to manage the three vessels,
and one of them was destroyed. The other two proceeded on their
voyage and discovered the spice island of Tidor, where they loaded
with spices ; but a few days later one of the vessels sprang a leak and
went down with her freight and crew. The other, after many hard-
ships, reached Spain, thus completing the first circumnavigation of
the globe.

SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES.

In 1555, Philip II. came to the Spanish throne and determined
to send another expedition to the East Indies. His religious zeal
inspired him to conquer and christianize the islands. To shorten the
long and dangerous voyage, he decided to prepare and start with five
ships from the coast of Mexico. Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led the
expedition, consisting of four hundred soldiers and sailors and six
Augustine monks. In due time the expedition landed at Cebu. The
formidable appearance of the ships awed the natives, and on April
27, 1565 — forty years after Magellan's remnant had fled from the
island — Legaspi landed and took possession. In honor of the Spanish
king the archipelago was given the name of the Philippine Islands.

In 1570 Legaspi sent his nephew, Salcedo, to subdue the island
of Luzon, the northernmost and the largest of the Philippine group.
He landed near the present site of Manila. The trustful natives
readily agreed to accept the Spanish king as their master, and to pay
tribute. Such slight tribal' resistances as were offered were quickly
subdued. The next year Legaspi went to Manila to visit his relat-
ive; and, seeing the importance of the situation and its fine harbor,
declared that city the capital of the whole archipelago, and the king
of Spain the sovereign of all the islands. Accordingly, he moved
his headquarters to that point, built houses and fortifications, and
within a year had the city well organized, when he died, leaving
Salcedo as his successor in command. It is remarkable how much
these two men accomplished with so small a force ; but they did not
so much by arms as by cajoling and deceiving the simple natives.
Furthermore, they allowed the conquered people to be governed by
their own chiefs in their own way, so long as they paid a liberal
tribute to the Spanish crown.

28 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

The history of the Philippines has been monotonous from their
discovery until the present, a monotony broken at times by periods
of adventures in which Manila has generally been the central scene.

STRUGGLES FOR SUPREMACY.

About 1580, Limahong a Chinese pirate, took the city with ar.
armed fleet of sixty-two vessels, bearing 4,000 men and 1,500 women
The met with stubborn resistance, but succeeded in scaling the walls
and entering the city. The Spanish forces were driven into a fori;,
which the Chinese stormed. A bloody hand-to-hand conflict iOi
lowed, and the Chinese were finally repulsed.

. Early in the seventeenth century the Dutch attempted to obtain
possession of the Philippines. They captured scores of Spanish
merchantmen and treasure ships. Many naval engagements followed,
the details of which read like the thrilling- records of buccaneers and
pirates, rather than the wars between two civil powers. Finally, after
half a century of warfare, the Dutch were decisively beaten, and
abandoned their efforts to capture the Spanish islands, much to the
disadvantage of the Filipinos, for the islands of Java, Sumatra and
other Dutch possessions to the south of the Philippines have been
remarkably prosperous under the mild rule of the Netherlands.

MANILA TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH.

In 1662, the Chinese planned a revolution against the Spanish
authorities. The governor heard of it, and a general massacre of
the Mongolians followed. It was even planned to destroy every
Chinaman on the islands, and they were in a fair way to do it, when,
at length, the Spaniards bethought themselves that by so doing they
would practically depopulate the islands of tradesmen and mechanics.
Accordingly, they offered pardon to those who would surrender and
swear allegiance. In the year 1762, England sent a fleet under
Admiral Cornish, with General Draper commanding the troops,
against Manila. After a desperate battle the city fell, and the terms
of surrender incorporated provisions for free trade, freedom of speech,
and, best of all, freedom in religion to the inhabitants of the islands,
and required Spain to pay England about $4,000,000 indemnity. By
the Peace of Paris, in 1763, however, the war between England and

VOLCANO MAYON," IN THE HEMP-PRODUCING DISTRICT OF LUZON.

This is said to be the most beautiful volcano in the world. It is 8,233 feet h'f?*1, its shape is a perfect cone and its crest is

always fiery. It has indulged in several destructive eruptions. In 1S14 many houses were destroyed and 2500

people were killed and wounded. At its base are famous hot springs of gre.it medicinal virtue.

CHURCH OF CAVITE.

It was in this church that many devout Catholics took refug? when Admiral Dewey was bombarding the forts and

Spanish forces at Cavite.

UPRISING OF THE NATIVES 31

Spain was terminated, and one of the conditions was that Spain
should retain the sovereignty of the Philippines. The English troops
were withdrawn, and the unfortunate islands were again placed (as
Cuba was by the same treaty) under the domination of their tyran-
nical mistress, and remained under Spanish rule from that time until
the Americans freed them in 1898.

UPRISING OF THE NATIVES.

In nearly all the uprisings of the natives, the tyranny of the
Church, as conducted by the friars and priests, was the cause. Such
was the case in 1622, in 1649 and m 1660. The occasion of the
revolt of 1744 is a fair example of the provocations leading to all.
A Jesuit priest ordered all his parishioners arrested as criminals when
they failed to attend mass. One of the unfortunates died, and the
priests denied him rights of burial, ordering that his body be thrown
upon the ground and left to rot in the sun before his dwelling. The
brother of the man in his exasperation organized a mob, captured
the priest, killed him, and exposed his body for four days. Thus was
formed the nucleus of a rebel army. The insurgents in their
mountain fastnesses gained their independence and maintained it for
thirty-five years, until they secured from Spain a promise of the
expulsion of the Jesuit priests from the colony.

Other revolutions followed in 1823, 1S27 and 1S44, but all were
suppressed. In 1842, the most formidable outbreak up to that time
occurred at Cavite. Hatred of the Spanish friars was the cause of
this uprising also. Spain had promised in the Council of Trent to
prohibit friars from holding parishes. The promises were never
carried out; and the friars grew continually richer and more powerful
and oppressive. Had the plan of the insurgents not been balked by
a mistaken signal, no doubt they would have destroyed the Spanish
garrison at Manila, but a misunderstanding caused their defeat. The
friars insisted that the captured leaders should be executed, and it
was done.

THE LATEST STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY.

In 1896, the insurrection broke out again. Its causes were the
old oppressions : unbearable taxes, and imprisonment or banishment,
with the complete confiscation of property of those who could not

THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESEN7

pay ; no justice except for those who could buy it ; extortion by the
friars ; marriage ceremony so costly that a poor man could not pay
the fee ; homes and families broken up and ruined ; burial refused to
the dead, unless a large sum was paid in advance ; no provision and
no chance for education. Such were some of the causes that again
g-oaded the natives to revolution and nerved them with couracre to
achieve victor)' after victory over their enemies until they were
promised most of the reforms which they demanded. Then they
laid down their arms, and, as usual, the Governor-General failed to
carry out a single pledge.

Such was the condition, and another revolt, more formidable
than any of the past, was forming, when Commodore Dewey with his
American fleet entered Manila Bay, May i, 1898, and by a victory
unparalleled in naval warfare, sunk the Spanish ships, silenced the
forts, and dethroned the power of Spain forever in a land which her
tyranny had blighted for more than three hundred years.

THE TEOPLE THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

It is impossible within the scope of this article to give details
concerning all the inhabitants of this far-away archipelago. Professor
Worcester, of the University of Michigan, tells us that the popula-
tion comprises more than eighty distinct tribes, with individual peculi-
arities. They are scattered over hundreds of islands, and one who
really wants to know these peoples must leave cities and towns far
behind, and, at the risk of his life, through pathless forests, amid
volcanic mountains, at the mercy of savages, penetrate to the inner-
most wilds. Notwithstanding the fact that for hundreds of years bold
men, led by the love of science or by the spirit of adventure, have
continued to penetrate these dark regions, there are many sections
where the foot of civilized man has never trod ; or, if so, he came not
back to tell of the lands and peoples which his eyes beheld.

DIFFICULTIES OF EXTLORING THE COUNTRV.

There have been great obstacles in the way of a thorough
exploration of these islands. Spain persistently opposed the repre-
sentatives of any other nation entering the country. She suspected
every man, with a gun, of designing to raise an insurrection or make

DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING THE COUNTRY 33

mischief among the natives. The account of red tape necessary to
secure guns and ammunition for a little party of four or five explorers
admitted through the customs at Manila is one of the most sioriifi-

o o

cant, as well as one of the most humorous, passages in Professor
Worcester's story of his several years' sojourn while exploring the
archipelago.

In the second place, the savage tribes in the interior had no re-
'spcct for Spain's authority, and will have none for ours for years to
come. Two-thirds of them paid no tribute, and many of them never
heard of Spain, or, if so, only remembered that a long time ago white
men came and cruelly persecuted the natives along the shore. These
wild tribes think themselves still the owners of the land. Some of them
go naked and practice cannibalism and other horrible savage customs.
Any explorer's life is in danger among them ; consequently most
tourists to the Philippines see Manila and make short excursions
around that city. The more ambitious run down to the cities of Iloilo
and Cebu, making short excursions into the country from those
points, and then return, thinking they have seen the Philippines.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Such travelers no more
see the Philippine Islands than Columbus explored America.

Even near the coast there are savages who are almost as igno-
rant as their brethren in the interior. Mr. Stevens tells us that only
■' thirty miles from Manila is a race of dwarfs that go without clothes,
wear knee-bracelets of horsehair, and respect nothing but the jungle
in which they live." The principal native peoples are of Malayan
origin. Of these, to the north of Manila are the Igorrotes, to the
south of Manila are the semi-civilized Visayas, and below them in
Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are the fierce Moros, who
originally came from the island of Borneo, settling in the Philippines
a short time before the Spanish discovery. They are Mohammedans
in religion, and as fanatical and as fearless fighters a? the Turks
themselves. For three hundred years the Spaniards have been
fighting these savages, and while they have overcome t'a-m in nearly
all the coast towns, they have expended, it is said, up ward of $100,-
000,000 and sacrificed more than one hundred tho isand lives in
iJoincr so.

THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

The fierce Moro warriors keep the Spanish settlers along their
coasts in a constant state of alarm, and the visitor to the towns feels
as if he were at an Indian outpost in early American history, because
of the constant state of apprehension that prevails. Fortunately,
however, the Moros along the coast have learned to distinguish
between the Spaniard and the Englishman or American, and through
them the generosity of the Englese, as they call all Anglo-Saxons, ha'
spread to their brethren in the interior. Therefore, American and
English explorers have been enabled to go into sections where the
Spanish friars and monks, who have been practically the only Spanish
explorers, would meet with certain death. The Mohammedan fanati-
cism of the Moros, and that of the Catholic friars and Jesuits, abso-
lutely refuse compromise.

The Negritos (little Negroes) and the Mangyans are the princi
pal representatives of the aboriginal inhabitants before the Malayan
tribes came. There are supposed to be, collectively, almost 1,000,000
of them, and they are almost as destitute of clothing and as uncivil-
ized as the savages whom Columbus found in America, and far more
degenerate and loathsome in habits.

THE CITY OF MANILA. ,

The Island of Luzon, on which the city of Manila stands, is
about as large as the State of New York, its area being variously
estimated at from 43,000 to 47,000 square miles. It is the largest
island in the Philippine group, comprising perhaps one-third of the
area of the entire archipelago. Its inhabitants are the most civilized,
and its territory the most thoroughly explored. The city of Manila
is the metropolis of the Philippines. The population of the city
proper and its environs is considered to be some 300,000 souls, of
whom 200,000 are natives, 40,000 full-blooded Chinese, 50,000
Chinese half-castes, 5,000 Spanish, mostly soldiers, 4,000 Spanish half-
castes and 300 white foreigners other than Spaniards. Mr. Joseph
Earle Stevens, already referred to, who represented the only Ameri-
can firm in the city of Manila, under Spanish rule (which finally had
to turn its business over to the English and leave the island a few
years since), informs us that he and three others were the only repre-
sentatives of the United States in Manila as late as 1893

EARTHQUAKES AND TYPHOONS 35

The city is built on a beautiful bay from twenty-five to thirty
miles across, and on both shores of the Pasig River. On the right
bank of the river, going up from the bay, is the old walled town, and
around the walls are the weedy moats or ditches. The heavy guns
and frowning cannon from the walls suggest a troubled past. ThL
old city is built in triangular form, about a mile on each side, and is
regarded as very unhealthful, for the walls both keep out the breeze
and keep in the foul air and odors. The principal buildings in the
old part of the city are the cathedral, many parish churches, a few
schoolhouses and the official buildings. The population in the walled
city is given at 20,000. Up to a few years ago, no foreigner was per-
mitted to sleep within its walls on account of the Spaniards' fear of
a conspiracy. A bridge across the Pasig connects old Manila with
the new or unwalled city, where nearly all of the business is done and
the native and foreign residents live. This section of the city is
known as Binondo and its chief street is the Escolta.

EARTHQUAKES AND TYPHOONS.

It does not take one long to exhaust the sights of Manila, if the
people, who are always interesting, are excepted. Aside from the
cathedral and a few of the churches, the buildings of the city are
anything but imposing. In fact, there is little encouragement to con-
struct fine edifices because of the danger from earthquakes and
typhoons. It is said that not a year passes without a number of
slight earthquake shocks, and very serious ones have occurred. In
1645 nearly all of the public buildings were wrecked and 600 persons
killed. A very destructive earthquake was that of 1863, when 400
people were killed, 2,000 wounded and 46 public buildings and 1,100
private houses were badly injured or completely destroyed. In 1874
earthquakes were again very numerous throughout the islands,
shocks being- felt at intervals in certain sections for several weeks.
But the most violent convulsion of modern times occurred in 1880,
when even greater destruction than in 1863 visited Manila and other
towns of Luzon. Consequently there are very few buildings to be
found more than two stories high ; and the heavy tile roofs formerly
in use have, for the most part, been replaced by lighter coverings of
galvanized iron.

9d.d.

36 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

These light roofs, however, are in constant danger of being
stripped off by the typhoons, terrible storms which come with a twist-
ing motion as if rising from the earth or the sea, fairly pulling every-
thing detachable with them. Masts of ships and roofs of houses are
frequently carried by these hurricanes miles distant. The better to
resist the typhoons, most of the light native houses are built on
bamboo poles, which allow the wind to pass freely under them, and
sway and bend in the storm like a tree ; whereas, if they were set
solidly on the earth, they would be lifted up bodily and carried away.
Glass windows being too frail to resist the shaking of the earthquakes
and the typhoons, small, translucent oyster shells are used instead. The
light thus admitted resembles that passing through ground glass, or,
rather, stained glass, for the coloring in the shells imparts a mellow
tinted radiance like the windows of a cathedral.

MANILA AS A BUSINESS CENTER.

The streets of Manila are wretchedly paved or not paved at all,
and, as late as 1893, were lighted by kerosene lamps or by wicks sus-
pended in dishes of cocoanut oil. Lately an electric plant has been
introduced, and parts of the city are lighted in this manner. There
are two lines of street cars in Manila. The motive power for a car is
a single small pony, and foreigners marvel to see one of those little
animals drawing thirty-odd people.

The retail trade and petty banking of Manila is almost entirely
in the hands of the half-castes and Chinese, and many of them have
grown immensely wealthy. There are only about three hundred
Europeans in business in the whole Philippine group, and they con-
duct the bulk of the importing and exporting trade. Manila contains
a number of large cigarette factories, two of which employ 4,000 and)
one 10,000 hands. There is also a sugar refinery, a steam rice mill,
and a rope factory worked partly by men and partly by oxen, a Spanish
brewery and a German cement factory, a Swiss umbrella factory and
a Swiss hat factory. The single cotton mill, in which $200,000 of
English capital is invested, runs 6,000 spindles.

The statistics of 1897 show that the whole trade of Manilla com-
prised only forty-five Spanish, nineteen German, and seventeen Eng-
lish firms, with six Swiss brokers and two French storekeepers having

GENERAL COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

!arge establishments. One of the most profitable businesses is said
to be that of selling cheap jewelry to the natives. Breastpins which
dealers buy in Europe for twelve cents each are readily sold for from
$1.50 to $2.00 each to the simple Filipinos. Almost everything
that is manufactured abroad has a fine prospect' ve market in the
Philippines, when the condition of the people permits them to buy.

A certain charm attaches to many specimens of native handi-
work. The women weave exquisitely beautiful fabrics from the fiber
of plants. The floors of Manila houses are admired by all foreigners.
They are made of hard wood and polished with banana leaves and
greasy cloths until they shine brightly and give a cool airiness to the
room.

Any kind of amusement is popular with the Filipinos — with so
much leisure on their hands — provided it does not require too great
exertion on their part. They are fond of the theatre, and, up to a
few years ago, bullfighting was a favorite pastime ; but the most
prominent of modern amusements for Hie natives and half castes is
cockfighting. It is said that every native has his fighting cock,
which is reared and trained with the greatest care until he shows
sufficient skill to entitle him to an entrance into the public cockpit
where he will fight for a prize. The chickens occupy the family
residence, roosting overhead ; and, in case of fire, it is said that the
game " rooster " is saved before the babies. Professor Worcester
tells an amusing story of the annoyance of the crowing cocks above
his head in the morning and the devices and tricks he and his com-
panions employed to quiet them. The Manila lottery is another in-
stitution which intensely excites the sluggish native, and takes from
him the money which he does not lose on the cockfights. Under the
United States Government this lottery will, no doubt, be abolished
in time. It formerly belonged to the Spanish Government, and
Spain derived an annual profit of half a million dollars from it.

GENERAL COMMERCE OF THF ?HILIPPINES.

It is hardly necessary, so far as the commercial world is con-
cerned, to mention any other locality outside of the city of Manila. To
commerce, this city (whose to.al imports in 1897, were only $10,000,-
000, and its exports $20.000000) is the Philippine I^ands. Its

38 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

present meagre foreign trade represents only an average purchase of
about one dollar per inhabitant, and an average sale of two dollars
per inhabitant for the largest archipelago in the world, and one of
the richest in soil and natural resources. The bulk of these exports
was hemp, sugar, and tobacco ; and, strange as it may seem, the
United States received 41 per cent, of her hemp and 55 per cent, of
her sugar for the year 1897, notwithstanding the fact that we had not
one commercial firm doing business in that whole vast domain.

The city of Iloilo is on the southern coast of the fertile island cf
Panay, and, next to Manila, the chief port of the Philippines. It has
an excellent harbor, and the surrounding country is very productive,
having extensive plantations of sugar, rice and tobacco. The popu-
lation of Iloilo is only 12,000, but there are a few larger towns in the
district, of which it is the seaport. Though the city at springtides is
covered with water, it is said to be a very healthful place, and much
cooler than Manila.

The other open port, Cebu, on the eastern coast of the island of
the same name, is a well-built town, and has a population of about
13,000. From this point the bulk of the hemp for export comes.

GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE ISLANDS.

It is impossible to speak of the other islands in detail. Seven of
the group average larger than the State of New Jersey ; Luzon is as
extensive as Ohio, Mindanao equals Indiana ; and, as we have stated
before, about four hundred of the islands are inhabitable, and, like
Java, Borneo, and the Spice Islands, all are rich in natural resources,
They are of a volcanic origin, and may be described in general as
rucrored and mountainous. The coasts of most of the islands are
deeply indented by the sea, and the larger ones are well watered by
streams, the mouths of which afford good harbors. Many of the
mountainous parts abound in minerals. Mr. Karuph, President of
the Philippine Mineral Syndicate, in May, 1S98, addressed a letter to
Hon. John Hay, at that time our ambassador to England, in which
he declares that the Philippines will soon come prominently forward
as a new center of the world's gold production. " There is not a
brook," said Mr. Karuph, "that finds its way into the Pacific Ocean
whose sands and gravel do not pan the color of gold. Many valuable

FORESTS AND TIMBER 4r

ttaposits are close to deep water. I know of no other part of the
world, the Alaskan Treadwell mines alone excepted, where pay ore h
found within a few hundred yards of the anchorage of sea-going ves-
sels." In addition to gold, iron, copper, lead, sulphur, and other min-
erals are found, and are believed to exist in paying quantities. The
numerous mineral springs attest their presence in almost every part
of the principal islands.

FORESTS AND TIMBER.

The forest products of the islands are perhaps of greater value
iiaan their mineral resources. Timber not only exists in almost
exhaustless quantity, but — considering the whole group, which extends
nearly a thousand miles from north to south — in unprecedented diver-
sity, embracing sixty varieties of the most valuable woods, several of
which are so hard that they cannot be cut with ordinary saws, some
so heavy that they sink in water, and two or three so durable as to
afford ground for the claim that they outlast iron and steel when
placed in the ground or under water. Several of these woods are
unknown elsewhere, and, altogether, they are admirably suited for
various decorative purposes and for the manufacture of fine imple-
ments and furniture.

Here also are pepper, cinnamon, wax, and gums of various sorts,
cloves, tea, and vanilla, while all tropical fruits, such as cocoanuts,
bananas, lemons, limes, oranges of several varieties, pineapples,
citrons, bread-fruits, custard apples, pawpaws, and mangroves flourish
and most of them grow wild, though, of course, they are not equal to
the cultivated fruit. There are fifty odd varieties of the banana in
the archipelago, from the midget, which makes but a single mouthful,
to the huge fruit eighteen inches long. There seems to be no limit
to which tropical fruits and farm products can be cultivated.

The animal and bird life of the Philippines offer a field of inter-
esting research to naturalists. There are no important carnivorous-
animals. A small wild cat and two species of civet cats constitute
about all that belong to that class. The house cats of the Philippines
have curious fishhook crooks in the ends of their tails. There are sev-
eral species of deer in the archipelago. Hogs run wild in large numbers.
The large water buffalo (car.ibao) has been domesticated and is the

42 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

chief beast of burden with the natives. The timarau is another
small species of buffalo, very wild and entirely untamable ; and, though
numerous in certain places, is hard to find, and when brought to bay
dies ficjhtinc:.

Birds abound in all of the islands ; nearly six hundred species have
been found, over fifty of which exist nowhere else in the world. One
of these species builds a nest which is highly prized by Chinese epi-
cures as an article of diet. Prof. Worcester tells us "the best quality
of them sometimes bring more than their weight in gold." Crocodiles
are numerous in fresh-water lakes and streams, attaining enormous
size, and in certain places causing much loss of life among stock and
men as well. Snakes also abound, and some of them are very venom-
ous. Cobras are found in the southern islands. Pythons are numer-
ous, some of the smaller sizes being sold in the towns and kept in
houses to catch rats, at which they are*aid to be more expert than
house cats.

All the domestic animals, aside from the carabao, have been intro-
duced from abroad. Cattle are extensively raised, and in some of the
islands run wild. The horses are a small Spanish breed, but are very
strong and have great endurance. Large European horses do not
stand the climate well.

CLIMATE, VOLCANOES, ETC.

The mean annual temperature of Manila is 80 degrees F. The
thermometer seldom rises above 100 degrees or falls below 60 degrees
anywhere in the archipelago. There is no month in the year during
which it does not rise as high as 91 degrees. January and December
are the coldest months, the average temperature being 70 to "j^ de-
grees. May is the warmest, the average being 84 degrees. April is
the next warmest, with an average of S3 degrees ; but the weather is
generally very moist and humid, which makes the heat more trying
The three winter months have cool nights. Malaria is prevalent, but
contagious diseases are comparatively few. Yellow fever and cholera
are seldom heard of.

The Philippines are the home of many volcanoes, a number of
them still active. Mayon, in the island of Luzon, is one of the most
remarkable volcanic mountains on the globe. It is a perfect cone

THE BATTLE OF MANILA 43

rising to the height of 8,900 feet, and is in constant activity ; its latest
destructive eruption took place in 1888. Apo, in the island of Min-
danao, 10,312 feet high, is the largest of the Philippine volcanoes.
Next is Canloon in Negros, which rises 8,192 feet above the sea.
Taal is in a lake, with a height of 900 feet, and is noteworthy as being
the lowest volcano in the world. To those not accustomed to vol-
canoes, these great fire-spouting mountains, which are but prominent
representatives of many lesser ones in the islands, seem to be an ever-
present danger to the inhabitants ; but the natives and those who live
there manifest little or no fear of them. In fact, they rather pride
themselves in their possession of such terrifying neighbors.

Such is an outline view of the Philippine Archipelago of the
present day. A new era has opened up in the history of that wonder-
ful land with its liberation from the Spanish yoke. The dense igno-
rance and semi-savage barbarities which exist there must not be
expected to yield too rapidly to the touch of human kindness and
brotherly love with which the Christian world will now visit those
semi-civilized and untamed children of nature. Nevertheless, western
civilization and western progress will undoubtedly work mighty
changes in the lives of those people, in the development of that coun-
try, during the first quarter of the twentieth century, which ushers in
the dawn of its freedom.

THE BATTLE OF MANILA.

In all the annals of naval warfare there is no enraffemerit, termi-
nating in so signal a victory with so little damage to the victors, as
that which made the name of George Dewey immortal on the memor-
able Sunday morning of May 1, 1898, in Manila Bay. ^ The world
knows the story of that battle, for it has been told hundreds of times
in the thousands of newspapers and magazines and scores of books
throughout the civilized world. But few, perhaps, who peruse these
pages have read the simple details of the fight as narrated by that
most modest of men, Admiral Dewey himself. We cannot better
close this chapter on the Philippines than by inserting Admiral
Dewey's official report of the battle which wrested the Filipinos from
Spanish tyranny and placed nearly ten millions of oppressed people
under the protecting care of the U.u'ted States.

44 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST ANt> PRESENT

ADMIRAL DEWEY'S STORY OF MANILA.

"United States Flagship Olympia, Cavite, May 4, 1898.

"The squadron left Mirs Bay on April 27th, arrived off Bolinao
on the morning of April 30th, and, finding no vessels there, proceeded
down the coast and arrived off the entrance to Manila Bay on the
same afternoon. The Boston and the Concord were sent to recon-
noitre Port Subic. A thorough search was made of the port by the
Boston and the Concord, but the Spanish fleet was not found.
Entered the south channel at 1 1.30 p.m., steaming in column at eight
knots. After half the squadron had passed, a battery on the south
side of the channel opened fire, none of the shots taking effect. The
Boston and McCulloch returned the fire. The squadron proceeded
across the bay at slow speed and arrived off Manila at daybreak, and
was fired upon at 5.15 a.m. by three batteries at Manila and two near
Cavite, and by the Spanish fleet anchored in an approximately east
and west line across the mouth of Bakor Bay, with their left in shoal
water in Canacao Bay.

" The squadron then proceeded to the attack, the flagship Olympia,
under my personal direction, leading, followed at a distance by the
Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord and Boston in the order named,
which formation was maintained throughout the action. The squad-
ron opened fire at 5.41 a.m. While advancing to the attack, two mines
were exploded ahead of the flagship, too far to be effective. The
squadron maintained a continuous and precise fire at ranges varying
from 5,000 to 2,000 yards, countermarching in a line approximately
parallel to that of the Spanish fleet. The enemy's fire was vigorous,
but generally ineffective. Early in the engagement two launches put
out toward the Olympia with the apparent intention of using torpe-
does. One was sunk and the other disabled by our fire and beached
before they were able to fire their torpedoes.

"At 7 a.m. the Spanish flagship Reina Christina made a desperate
attempt to leave the line and come out to engage at short range, but
was received with such a galling fire, the entire battery of the Olympia
being concentrated upon her, that she was barely able to return to the
shelter of the point. The fires started in her by our shells at the time
were not extinguished until she sank. The three batteries at Manila
had kept up a continuous fire from the beginning of the engagement,

ADMIRAL DEWEY'S STORY OF THE BATTLE 45

which fire was not returned by my squadron. The first of these batter-
ies was situated on the south mole-head at the entrance of the Pasio-
River, the second on the south position of the walled city of Manila,
and the third at Malate, about one-half mile further south. At this
point I sent a message to the Governor-General to the effect that if
the batteries did not cease firing the city would be shelled. This had
the effect of silencing them.

"At 7.35 a.m. I ceased firing and withdrew the squadron for
breakfast. At 11. 16 I returned to the attack. By this time the
Spanish flagship and almost all the Spanish fleet were in flames. At
12.30 the squadron ceased firing, the batteries being silenced and the
ships sunk, burned and deserted.

"At 12.40 the squadron returned and anchored off Manila, the
Petrel being left behind to complete the destruction of the smaller
gunboats, which were behind the point of Cavite. This duty was
performed by Commander E. P. Wood in the most expeditious and
complete manner possible. The Spanish lost the following vessels :
Sunk, Reina Christina, Bastilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa ; burned, Don
Juan de Austria, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, Marquis
del Duerc, El Correo, Velasco, and Isla de Mindanao (transport);
captured, Rapido and Hercules (tugs), and several small launches.

" I am unable to obtain complete accounts of the enemy's killed and
wounded, but believe their losses to be very heavy. The Reina Chris-
tina alone had 150 killed, including the captain, and ninety wounded.
I am happy to report that the damage done to the squadron under
my command was inconsiderable. There were none killed, and only
seven in the squadron were slightly wounded. Several of the vessels
were struck and even penetrated, but the damage was of the slightest,
and the squadron is in as good condition now as before the battle.

" I beg to state to the department that I doubt if any com-
mander-in-chief was ever served by more loyal, efficient and gallant
captains than those of the squadron now under my command. Cap-
tain Frank Wildes, commanding the Boston, volunteered to remain
in command of his vessel, although his relief arrived before leaving
Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindelberger, of the Olympia, and
Gunner J. C. Evans, of the Boston, also volunteered to remain, after
orders detaching them had arrived. The conduct of my personal
3

46 THE PHILIPPINES— PAST AND PRESENT

staff was excellent. Commander B. P. Lamberton, chief of staff, was
a volunteer for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. Lieu-
tenant Brumby, Flag Lieutenant, and Ensign E. P. Scott, aide, per-
formed their duties as signal officers in a highly creditable manner;
Caldwell, Flag Secretary, volunteered for and was assigned to a sub-
division of the five-inch battery. Mr. J. L. Stickney, formerly an
officer in the United States Navy, and now correspondent for the
New York Herald, volunteered for duty as my aide, and rendered
valuable service. I desire especially to mention the coolness of
Lieutenant C. G. Calkins, the navigator of the Olympia, who came
under my personal observation, being on the bridge with me through-
out the entire action, and mving' the ranges to the guns with an
accuracy that was proven by the excellence of the firing.

" On May 2d, the day following the engagement, the squadron
again went to Cavite, where it remains. On the 3d the military
forces evacuated the Cavite arsenal, which was taken possession of
by a landing party. On the same day the Raleigh and the Baltimore
secured the surrender of the batteries on Corregidor Island, paroling
the garrison and destroying the guns. On the morning of May 4th.
the transport Manila, which had been aground in Bakor Bay, was
towed off and made a prize."

CHAPTER IV

Behind Admiral Dewey's Guns

fne Magnificent Naval Battle of May ist Described by an Officer who stood by
Dewey during the Fight. — The Personal Side of the Nation's Greatest Hero.
— A Brush with German Officers. — The Surrender of Cavite.

MAY i, 1898, will go down in history as the date of the greatest
naval battle the world has ever seen. Farragut made himself
immortal by his famous order, "Damn the torpedoes; go
ahead." Commodore George Dewey, taught in the school of Farra-
gut, went ahead in Manila Bay, regardless of torpedoes or glowering
forts.

On the night of April 30th the United States squadron was off
Manila Bay. Darkness came on, and all aboard the vessels were in a
state of keen expectancy. At 10 o'clock all hands were piped to
fighting quarters, and all lights were " doused." No one knew what
the next few hours would bring;.

Commodore Dewey had been warned that Spanish mines and
torpedoes had been sunk at the mouth of the bay. Balloon-shaped,
with the island of Corregidor across the neck, the bay lent itself
naturally to defence. The path to Manila was a narrow and dan-
gerous one, but Dewey, fearless and confident, decided to make the
dash, and either win or lose all in one stroke.

What a picture the scene conjures up to one's mind ! The inky
blackness of the night, the ships themselves lightless, the men keyed
to a state of excitement, anxious as to what their fate would be, their
Commodore calm as though there was no enemy ahead or danger
beneath. All is silence except the swish of the waters as the fighters
ploughed through. Then a spark or two blown from the funnel of
the McCulloch against the black sky betrays to the sentinels on the
forts at the harbor the presence of the fleet. The sharp boom of a
gun, another, and still another, echo across the bay. They give to
the Spanish forces the first inkling of the approaching battle.

4S BEHIND ADMIRAL DEWEY'S GUNS

The story of that battle, so modestly and simply told in the
report of Commodore Dewey, has already been given. At his side
on the flagship Olympia all through the engagement stood a young
naval officer, Ensign W. Pitt Scott. His name was mentioned by
Commodore Dewey in the report to the War Department, and he
was specially commended for bravery in the battle.

ENSIGN SCOTT'S STORY OF THE BATTLE.

It is stated by Colonel George A. Loud, who witnessed the bat-
tle from the Revenue Cutter McCulloch, that a six-pound shell cut
the rigging four feet over Commodore Dewey's head just as Ensign
Scott was raising a signal flag and the halyards were shot away.
Ensigh Scott has told the story of the battle, which is given here-
with. He writes :

"The Spaniards had ten ships fighting to our six, and, in addi-
tion, had five or six shore batteries, some of which bothered us a
great deal. We steamed by their line and fired some deadly shot at
them. We had anticipated that once across their line would be suffi-
cient to silence them, but they did not yield, and so, when we got to
the end of the line, we turned and went back at them again. It was
getting really interesting now, for many of their shots were coming
close to us, and the screech of the missiles as they whistled over our
heads was anything but pleasant. Now and then we would see a
shot strike in the water ahead of us and explode and the pieces of it
come at us. I will never forget it.

" I was surprised to find how little it disturbed us. I never
believed I would ever feel so unconcerned while the shots were fall-
ing around us. No one seemed to care an iota whether the shells
dropped on us, or fell a distance away, and in the intervals, between
which we were making signals, the most commonplace remarks were
made.

" We passed across the enemy's line the second time ; but that
did not seem to silence them any more than the first, and we had to
try it a third time, with no better result, although perhaps their fire
was not so heavy as at first. A small torpedo boat came out and
attempted to get within striking distance of the Olympia, but our
secondary battery drove her in ; a second time she came out and at

THE BARRACKS AT CORREGIDOR AFTER SPANISH WITHDRAWAL.

The two American newspaper correspondents, while touring the island, were guided by six Igorrote warriors from Agruiu
army. Notice they are armed with primitive savage weapons.

COMMANDANTE'S HOUSE, CAVITE.

The largest arsenal in the Philippines is at Cavite. It is now being used to manufacture and store ammunition

for the V S. troops.

THE FLAGSHIP BORE THE BRUNT OF THE FIRE

us, but again our fire was too much for her, and some of our shots
striking her, she had barely time to get back to the beach, or she
would have sunk.

THE FLAGSHIP BORE THE BRUNT OF THE FIRE.

" It soon became apparent that the Spaniards were concentrating
their fire on the Olympia (as flagship), and we then received the
brunt of the fight. At one time the Reina CJirisiina, the Spanish
flagship, attempted to come out from her position and engage us at
closer distance, but we turned our fire on her and drove her back.

" A fourth time we steamed across their line, and a fifth, and it
began to look as if they were not going to give in until after all our
ammunition would be exhausted, which would leave us in a very seri-
ous predicament, in the midst of the enemy and in one of their ports,
7,000 miles from supplies ; so after the fifth time across their line we
withdrew to count up our ammunition, to see how we stood, and get
breakfast.

" It was only 7.30 a.m., but it seemed to us as if it were the mid-
dle of the day. Then we began to count our casualities, and found
that no one had been killed and no one injured, with a few slight
exceptions.

" But it was the dirtiest-looking crowd I have ever seen, and by
far the oddest. It was so hot that nearly all of the men had stripped
off all their clothes, — in fact, in the turrets they did strip off about
everything but their shoes, which they kept on to protect their feet
from the hot floor. Commodore Dewey himself, the most dressed
man in the battle, was in white duck ; the rest of us appeared with-
out collars and some without shirts, an undershirt and white blouse
being more than sufficient for our needs, and, if our blouses were not
off, they certainly were not buttoned.

STANDING UNDER SHARP FIRE.

"We were a mighty dirty crowd. Our faces and clothes were
full of smoke and powder and saltpetre, and the perspiration rolling
around in that made us picturesquely handsome. I would have given
a good deal for a picture of the ship's company, men and officers.

" Then we looked around to see where the ship had been

52 BEHIND ADMIRAL DEWEY'S GUNS

injured, and found that she had been struck several times, none of
which materially hurt her. On the bridge where we stood was, per-
haps, the hottest place of all, for at least four shots struck within
thirty or forty feet of it. One of the ugly shots flew over our heads
with a screech, but its cry was a little different from most of the
others, and several of us said, ' That hit something', and we looked
aloft to see if it had, and found the halyards on which we had a
signal flying cut in two, and the signal out to the leeward. Another
shot cut the wire-rigging ten feet over our heads, while any number
flew close over us without striking anything.

" About halfpast ten we returned to the attack, and gave the
Baltimore the post of honor in leading, as we were very short of
5-inch ammunition, and the way that the Baltimore did fire into the
Spanish batteries was a caution. It was not long before the enemy
was completely silenced and the white flag run up. Two of their
ships were on fire and burning fiercely, and one was sinking. The
Don Antonio de Ulloa was the last to give in, and after she was aban-
doned by her crew, she still kept her flag flying, which necessitated
our firing at her until it was lowered ; but as no one was left on board
to lower it, we kept firing at her until she slowly began to sink. It
was a grand sight to see her settle aft, with the flag of Spain upon
her.

" Then we sent one of the smaller ships in to destroy those that
were still afloat, and the Petrel burned and sunk four or five of them,
while the Concord fired a large transport, which, we afterward
learned, was quite full of coal and stuff for the Spaniards. Altogether
our six ships, the Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, Boston, Concord, and
Fetrcl, burned and sunk almost the entire Spanish fleet that is in the
East, as follows, viz. : Sunk, the Rcina Christina (flagship), Costilla
and Antonio de Austria, the Isla de Cuba, the Isla de Luzon, the
Marques del Duero, the Velasco, the General Lezo, the El Corrco, and
the transport Isla de Mindanao. There is still one small vessel, the
Argus, on the ways, but she is so badly damaged by shot that I doubt
if she would float if we tried to put her into the water. Besides, we
captured the Manili, a splendid 1900-ton vessel, which they used as
transport, and on which we expect to send home our trophies in the
way of captured guns, etc. We also captured any number of tugs

PROUD OF THE SHIPS' WOUNDS **,

and steam launches, some of which we are now using. Some of them
were very fine tugboats.

ALL WERE PROUD OF THE SHIPS' WOUNDS.

" Everyone seemed proud of the wounds to the ships. The
evening of the fight I had to go around to the different ships on an
errand for Commodore Dewey, and on each one all hands made it a
point to take me around and show me where each shot hit them.

" The harbor presents quite an unusual appearance with eight or
nine ships showing just above water, the masts charred, and their
upper works (those that can be seen) nothing but a twisted mass of
iron. It looks as if we had done something to pay for the Maine.

" I got ashore several days after the engagement and walked
through the navy yard. It presents a woeful sight. The barracks
had any number of holes in the sides, and things were strewn all
over. In one room of the the commandant's house we saw where
a large 8-inch shell had gone through the roof, and after carrying
away the thick planking had exploded, knocking down the side of
the room and wrecking everything in it. In another building I saw
where a shell had gone through the side of it, and had scattered
the bricks all over the room."

In this remarkable battle, Admiral Montojo, the Spanish Com-
mander, fought with the bravery that won from Admiral Dewey com-
pliments and congratulations. His flagship, the Reina Maria Chris-
tina, the best of his fleet, dashed bravely towards the long line of
belching vessels of Dewey's squadron, hoping to cripple at least one
of the warships, that was pouring such an awful fire into his fleet. It
was the madness of despair.

Dewey signalled for a concentration of fire upon the on-coming
vessel, and as she neared the Olympia, the latter discharged her
S-inch guns both fore and aft, killing sixty of the Spaniard's crew,
including her captain, chaplain and a lieutenant, and causing her
boilers to explode. The flagship was a burning wreck, and was forced
Co retire. Admiral Montojo transferred his flag to the Jsla de Cuba,
which maintained a vigorous fire until she too sankyat her moorings.

Admiral Montojo's own account of the fight is interesting as
giving a Spanish view of the greatest of naval encounters. The

54 BEHIND ADMIRAL DEWEY'S GUNS

Admiral is a spare man, of small stature, about 65 years old, with an
air of an old Spanish Grandee. He speaks English fluently, but
with a slight accent, and the following are his own words in describ-
ing the battle :

THE SPANISH ADMIRAL'S ACCOUNT OF HIS DEFEAT.

" About 5 o'clock on Sunday morning I observed the American
squadron coming in line straight across the bay towards Cavite. We
prepared to receive them. A few minutes after 5 o'clock the engage-
ment opened, the battery on Pont Sangley (Cavite) firing on each
ship as she came within range. The American ships did not reply.
All the Spanish ships were in Cavite Bay at anchor — the Reina Chris-
tina (my flagship), Castilla, Don Juan de Austria, Ul'.oa, Isla de Cuba,
Isla de Luzon, Marques del Duero, and some small gunboats. The
Reina Christina and the Don Juan, as you know, were old cruisers ;
the Castilla was a wooden cruiser, but was unable to steam owing to
the breakdown of her engines ; the Ulloa and Vclasco were helpless,
and were undergoing repairs off the arsenal.

" The Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, and Boston engaged my flag-
ship in turn about 5.30, attracted by my flag. I recognized the neces-
sity of getting under way, and accordingly slipped both anchors,
ordering the other ships to follow my example. Although we recog-
nized the hopelessness of fighting the American ships, we were busy
returning their fire. The Reina Christina was hit repeatedly. Shortly
after 6.30 I observed fire forward. Our steering gear was damaged,
rendering the vessel unmanageable, and we were being subjected to
a terrific hail of shell and shot. The engines were struck, and we
estimated that we had 70 hits about our hull and superstructure. The
boilers were not hit, but the pipe to the condenser, was destroyed.
A few moments later I observed the afterpart on fire. A shell from
the Americans had penetrated and burst with deadly effect, killing
many of our men.

"My flag lieutenant said to me, 'The ship is in flames. It is
impossible to stay on the Christina any longer.' He signalled to the
gunboat Isla de Cuba, and I and my staff transferred to her, and my
flag was hoisted on her. Before leaving the Christina my nag was
hauled down. My flagship was now one mass of flame. I ordered

THE LAST SPANISH SIGNAL 55

away all the boats I could to save the crew. Many of the men jumped
overboard without clothing and succeeded in reaching the shore, sev-
eral hundreds of yards away. Only a few men were drowned, the
majority being picked up by the boats.

" Before jumping overboard, Captain Cadarso's son, a lieutenant
on board the Christina, saw his father alive on deck, but others state
that as the Captain was about to leave a shell burst overhead and
killed him. We estimate that 52 men were killed on board the
C liristina and about 150 wounded. The chaplain was killed. The
assistant physician, the chief engineer, and three officers were wounded.
The boatswain and chief gunner were both killed. In the Castida
only about 15 men were killed, but there were many wounded,
both on the Castida and the Don Juan, on which 13 men were
killed. Altogether, so far as we know at present, 400 men were killed
and wounded in our ships.

" As soon as I translated myself from the Reina Christina to the
Isla de Cuba all the shots were directed upon the Cuba, following my
flag. We sought shelter behind the pier at Cavite, and, recognizing
the futility of fighting more, I prepared to disembark, and gave orders
for the evacuation of the remainder of our ships. The Castida had
been on fire from end to end for some time, and was, of course, already
abandoned. The Udoa was also burning.

THE LAST SPANISH SIGNAL.

" My last signal to the Captains of all vessels was — ' Scuttle and
abandon your ships.'

"This was about 7.30. The Reina Christina, Castida, Don Juan
de Austria, Velasco, and Udoa were all destroyed in this engagement.
To prevent the guns being of use to the Americans, the Captains, on
abandoning, brought away portions of the mechanism, and also suc-
ceeded in saving all the ships' papers and treasure. At this point
there was a cessation of firing. The Boston sent ashore a boat with
an officer carrying a white flag, and parleyed with the Chief of the
Arsenal. He asked permission to destroy the vessels completely
without interference from the shore. After consultation with me, the
Chief of the Arsenal replied that it was not competent on my part
to give any pledge ; the ships were at his mercy and he could do with

56 BEHIND ADMIRAL DEWEY'S GUNS

them as he liked. While the parleying was proceeding, the rebel and
Concord went across the bay, and fired a large number of shots into
the Islet dd Mindanao, which was lying ashore near Bacoor, and she
soon caught fire. Her captain had run her ashore when the American
squadron was observed making for Cavite Bay. She never fired a
shot.

" I was wounded in the left leg by an iron splinter, and my son,
a lieutenant, was wounded in the hand by a shell splinter. We were
both wounded on the Reina Christina. I directed the movements of
my squadron from the bridge. There was no conning tower. The
Captain of the Boston said to my chief of staff, Captain Boado, 'You
have combated with us with four very bad ships, not warships. There
Was never seen before braver fighting under such unequal conditions.
It is a great pity that you exposed your lives in vessels not fit for
fighting'. Commodore Dewey also sent me a message by the British
Consul, saying that, peace or war, he would have great pleasure in
clasping me by the hand, and congratulating me on the gallant man-
ner in which we fought."

A WILD EXULTANT CHEER OF VICTORY.

And so the great fight ended. When the little Petrel announced
that the Spanish fleet had scuttled their vessels and fled, a great
cheer went up from all the men who had braved the perils of the
Spanish fire, and that cheer was doubled and redoubled when, later
on, it was announced that not one man of the American fleet had
lost his life. The only death was due to apoplexy brought on by the
intense heat. The Chief Engineer of the McCulioch was the victim;
he suddenly expired, not in the battle, but just as the fleet was
entering the mouth of the bay.

Fighting ceased about 12.15 p. m., by which time all the Spanish
ships were sunk or burned. The arsenal was ablaze, and throughout
the night explosions were occurring in Cavite Bay — an alluring
spectacle of destruction.

It was in the smaller incidents of this great battle that Commo-
dore (thereafter to be known as Admiral) Dewey showed to his men,
and to the whole world, what manner of man he was. The with-
drawal of his fleet so that his men, exhausted by the severe work of

GEORGE DEWEY, ADMIRAL, HERO, STATESMAN, ETC 57

battle, might have breakfast has thrilled every heart. His kindness
and courtesy in complimenting a defeated foe for personal bravery,
proved him a gentleman even in war. His cablegrams to the Navy
Department show him a man of rare modesty. One sentence in the
second of his dispatches, harmonizing as it does with the keynote of
the whole war — " humanity " — will live in history with the sayings of
the greatest men the world has had. Let us repeat his own words :
"I am assisting in protecting the Spanish sick and wounded. Two
hundred and fifty sick and wounded in hospital within our line."
That was humanity's own voice. When in naval history had such a
spectacle ever been witnessed. Before the smoke of battle had even
cleared away, the victorious commander was plying the hand of
brotherly charity to stay the sufferings of the men with whom he had
been engaged in deadly combat.

GEORGE DEWEY, ADMIRAL, HERO, STATESMAN, GENTLEMAN.

The United States Navy has never had, perhaps, as remarkable
a figure as George Dewey. From Maine to Mexico, from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, his name is as familiar, and he is as beloved, as any of
the great figures of the nation's history.

Admiral Dewey is not only a great fighter, but has proved him-
self a great statesman. The situation after the downfall of Cavitc
was a perplexing one ; immediately after the battle, Dewey had cut
the cable that connected Manila with the rest of the world and he
was, therefore, thrown upon his own resources as to what to do in an
emergency. He could not be directed by the government at Wash-
ington. He had gone to the islands seeking only the Spanish fleet,
and determined to carry out the cabled instructions he had received
at Hong-Kong, ordering him to "find the Spanish fleet and capture
or utterly destroy it." How well he did this has already been told.
But now the question of holding an arsenal, captured by him, without
having at his disposal any considerable force of armed soldiers con-
fronted him.

The insurgent forces under General Aguinaldo had moved upon
Manila, when the attack had been made upon the fleet in the bay.
After the withdrawal of the Spanish forces from Cavite the insurgents
were eager to plunder the houses left by the terror-stricken people.

5$ BEHIND ADMIRAL DEWEY'S GUNS

They did not hesitate to rob even the dead. But Admiral Dewey
determined not to allow such things, and immediately he had his
hands full.

DEWEY HAS NEED FOR FIRMNESS.

To add to his troubles the German Emperor sent to Manila Bay
several of his mighty battleships in command of Admiral von Died-
rich. The sympathies of Germany were apparently with Spain, and
the German Admiral let no opportunity go by without showing his
feelings in the matter. An incident occurred when the insurgents
were making an attack upon the Spanish outposts which is worth
recording. The fighting between the Spaniards and insurgents was
always done under cover of darkness, partly because of the extreme
heat, and partly because of the guerrilla style of warfare which was
carried on. When the battle was bepfun the German vessels in the
harbor turned their powerful search-lights upon the places where the
insurgent army was concealed, thus putting them in the glare of the
light and rendering them an easy mark for the Spaniards who were
hidden effectually by the darkness. But the light rested there only
for a moment. Admiral Dewey sent peremptory orders to the Ger-
man Admiral that if the lights were not extinguished immediately, or
if the action were repeated, he would consider it an act of war against
the United States, and take steps accordingly. The lights were never
again flashed upon the struggling insurgents.

When Admiral Dewey was ready to shell the Spanish forces, he
ordered all of the vessels of the foreign powers then in the harbor to
remove to a distance of three miles from his fleet. The attitude of
the German fleet, though not openly hostile, had been significantly
unfriendly. When the German Admiral received Dewey's order he
removed to the required distance, but lined up his vessels in such a
way that they bore directly upon the American fleet so that in case
there was a display of open partisanship on the part of Germany,
Dewey's fleet would be between two fires, — the fires of the forts on
the one hand, and the fires of the German warships on the other.

A FRIENDLY ACT BY THE BRITISH ADMIRAL.

It was then that the British friendliness, which had been such a
prominent feature at home, displayed itself as a reality. The British

THE EARLY CAREER OF DEWEY 6r

Admiral moved his warships and came at anchor in a position imme-
diately between the vessels of Germany and those of the United
States. If Germany, therefore, had fired a shot, it would have fired
through the warships of England. The trouble ended then and
there, although the German Admiral kept up petty annoyances for
some time. Finally, Admiral Dewey turned to one of the German
Admiral's Lieutenants and said to him, " If Germany wants war with
my country, it can have it in five minutes." The invitation, it is
needless to say, was not accepted.

It was thus that Admiral Dewey met emergencies — ever polite,
ever the cultured man of the world, but ever the firm, fearless officer,
ready to fight if need be to uphold the dignity and honor of his
nation and himself. It is fitting that the nation has especially
singled out such a man for the highest office that can be given to
men of the navy. The President personally tendered him the thanks
of the people ; Congress made him Rear Admiral, and revived for
him the grade of Admiral, which went out of existence many years
ago with Admiral Porter. Although his personal history has already
been given, it may be well to recall the leading facts in his career.

Admiral Dewey is a man to admire at close range. Many
heroes lose their gloss on close acquaintance. With Dewey this is
not so. Through a long line of sturdy stock he has inherited a culture,
an integrity, and a force of character that make him a man to honor.
He was born in a fine old Colonial mansion in Montpelier, Vt., sixty
years ago. He was a young man when he first fell in love with his
life work. He wanted to go to sea, but his father did not take kindly
to the idea. A compromise was effected. The boy at 14 left the
Montpelier public school to enter the Norwich University at North-
field, Vt., a military school, where his useful enthusiasm was tempo-
rarily appeased by musket practice and drills. But the craving for
the sea life was still strong with Dewey.

THE EARLY CAREER OF DEWEY.

So his father secured for him an appointment to the Naval
Academy at Annapolis in 1854; he graduated in 185S. When Fort
Sumter was fired on in 1861, Dewey received his commission as a
Lieutenant on the seventeen-gun steam sloop Mississippi. His

62 BEHIND ADMIRAL DEWEY'S GUNS

Yankee blood was hot for fight, and he and his vessel participated
in the terrific actions of the West Gulf squadron. History tells how
)Oung Dewey received the baptism of battle, and how owing to the
terrible fire of the shore batteries on the Mississippi River the crew
were forced to abandon their vessel. The last to leave the ship were
the Captain and his First Lieutenant, George Dewey. Again and
again through the war he showed his metal. He served on the
famous Kear surge and afterward on the flagship Colorado. He
received his first command in 1870, the Narragansctt. Passing
through various years of service, Dewey became, in 1SS4, a Captain
and Commander of the Dolpliiii, one of the first craft of the new
navy. His promotion continued rapidly. From 1885 to 1888 he
commanded the Pensacola, flagship of the European squadron.

On account of his devotion to method, his close application to
detail and his wide knowledge of naval science he was elevated, in
1888, to the head of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting, with the
rank of Commodore. In 1893 he served as a member of the Light-
house Board, and three years later, having reached the actual rank
of Commodore, he became President of the Board of Inspection and
Survey. He left that important post to take command of the Asiatic
squadron.

His son, George Dewey, speaking of his father a few days after
the great victory, said : " When I said good-bye to him at the station
I told him, ' I hope you will have a most pleasant and successful
cruise.' He said with a laugh, 'Well, I guess I will, I am the first
Commodore to go out there since Perry, and that ought to mean
something?' All the others have been Admirals since Perry, and
that rather seemed at the moment to have attached some significance
to the fact that he was the first Commodore on the Asiatic squadron
since then."

THE MAN IN WHITE IN A PERSONAL WAV.

Admiral Dewey is known as the Man in White in the Philippines.
He is a stickler for dress, is himself always immaculate, and insists
that those around him shall be careful about their personal appear-
ance. Those who think, from his photograph, that he is a small
man, are mistaken. He weighs fully 185 pounds, and is so near 6

THE MAN IN WHITE IN A PERSONAL WAY 63

feet in height, that he gives one the impression of being fully that.
He carries himself well, is graceful, though somewhat quick and ner
vous in his movements, and his face reflects keenness, cleverness, and
an appreciation of good humor. He has a quick temper which some,
times leads him to say stinging things, but his self-control is so excel-
lent, that one cannot but admire how well he holds himself in check.
,He is the idol of every man in his command, and what is more to his
credit, he was their idol before he became the victor at Manila Bay.

When ashore, he is a great club man, a fine horseman, and an
expert gunner. His wife died many years ago, shortly after the birth
of their only son, George. Dewey is an early riser when on shore,
temperate to the degree of abstemiousness. He enjoys a good table,
but eats sparingly ; he is fond of a good cigar after dinner, and occa-
sionally smokes between times. He is methodical, business-like, coo!
and very deliberate ; he does his own work well, and expects every-
body else to do the same. He is very fond of children, and in his
younger days, when he visited his native town, it was very often a
familiar spectacle to see him on the piazza of the old Dewey home
surrounded by a group of wide-eyed youngsters, telling them stories
about daring men-of-warsmen and sea battles.

Eugene Field's verse is not a bad description, in many respects
oi George Dewey :

" A single man, perhaps, but good ez gold and true ez steel,
He could whip his weight in wild cats and you never heard him squeel,
Good to the helpless and the weak ; a brave an' manly heart,
A cyclone couldn' t phase, but any child could rend apart ;
So like the mountain pine that dares the storm which sweeps along,
But rocks the wind in summertime, an' sings a soothin' song."

CHAPTER XIII

The Second Battle of Manila

How 8,000 American Soldiers Swept into a Heavily Entrenched City, Garrisoned by
Nearly Twice that Number of Spaniards. — Insurgent Army Kept from Plunder.
— Rare Bravery and Sacrifice. — What Major-Genera) Wesley Merritt, Command-
ing the Expedition, General Frank V. Greene, General Arthur McArthur and
General Thomas Anderson Said Officially of the Battle. — The Peace Protocol.

AFTER the occupation of the arsenal at Cavite by Admiral
Dewey that officer waited without further fighting until he
could receive reinforcements from the United States sufficient
to enable him to take and hold Manila. The insurgents, however,
kept up a continuous fighting in the region around Manila until they
practically held all of the territory except that city in their grasp.
They fought with great bravery, and, although checked by Admiral
Dewey at the outskirts of the city, they managed to drive the Span-
ish behind their fortifications and force them to the wall. They held
Malabon, Tarlac, and Bakkoor, Aguinaldo establishing a provisional
government at the latter place and announcing himself dictator of the
islands. The insurgents were eager to rush upon the city, but
Dewey refused to allow " Hordes of passionate semi-savages to
storm a civilized metropolis." He forbade them to cross the Malate
River, seven miles south of Manila, threatening to bombard them
with the Petrel.

In a campaign of two weeks the insurgents took 3,000 prisoners,
including 2,000 soldiers of the regular Spanish army. On July 13th
Dewey sent the following cablegram to the Naval Department :
"Aguinaldo informs me his troops have taken all of Subic Bay except
Isla Grande, which he was prevented from taking by the German
man-of-war Irene. On July 7th the Raleigh and Concord went there ;
they took the island and about 1,300 men with arms and ammunition.
No resistance. The Irene retired from the bay on their arrival."

This last sentence contains in a nutshell oneof the most exciting
64

THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANILA G5

incidents in the history of the war, an incident which almost involved
our nation in a war with Germany. This was the first open action of
the German Admiral against the United States. When the insur-
gents were about to take the island, the German warship Irene
appeared on the scene and protected the Spaniards there from
attack. Dewey, when informed of the matter, sent the Boston and
Raleigh to the island, and the Irene slunk away. One shot from the
Raleigh caused the Spaniards to raise the white flag. The captain
of the Irene explained that he interfered "in the cause of humanity,"
and for a time it seemed as though the German meddling would prove
a serious matter. The German government, however, repudiated the
incident, and that, together with Dewey's splendid handling of the
situation, prevented the affair from assuming the proportion it
threatened.

In the meantime three expeditions were on their way across the
ocean to take charge of matters, and reinforce Admiral Dewey.
General Wesley Merritt was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the
forces in the Philippines, and arrived at Cavite July 25th. Some days
before, on June 30th, the first expedition under General Thomas An-
derson had landed. Another expedition under General Frank V.
Greene arrived on July 17th, and the third, under General McArthur,
arrived July 30th, five days later than General Merritt.

Immediately upon the arrival of General Merritt it was decided,
after a conference with Admiral Dewey, to attack and take Manila.
No time was lost. General Merritt stated in his dispatch that "to
gain approach to the city Greene's outposts were advanced to continue
a line from Camino Real to the beach. On the night of July 31st,
Spanish attacked sharply. Artillery outposts behaved well. Held
position. Necessary to call out brigade. Spanish loss rumored
heavy." Our loss was 9 killed, 9 seriously wounded and 38 slightly
wounded.

This plain statement of facts gives no idea, however, of the real
battle which initiated our soldiers into the warfare of the Philippine
Islands. The fighting took place amid a terrible rainstorm, a rain-
storm such as we are not familiar with in the United States ; 3,000
Spanish troops made a concerted sortie from Manila on the outposts
and trenches of Camp ..Dewey, near Malate. The attack was directed

66 THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANILA

at the American right flank held by the Tenth Pennsylvania troops
The trenches of the Americans extended from the beach to the
left flank of the insurgents. Sunday was the insurgent feast day, *
and their left flank withdrew, leaving the American riffht flank
exposed. Companies A and E of the Tenth Pennsylvania and Utah
Battery were ordered to reinforce the right flank ; it was there that
the attack was made. The brave Pennsylvania men never flinched,
but stood their ground under a withering fire. The alarm spread and
the First California Regiment with two companies of the Third Artil-
lery who fight with rifles were sent as reinforcements.

The Utah battery covered itself with glory, and all the men
mowed the greatest pluck under the trying deluge of nature and of
the Spaniards. The enemy was repulsed and retreated in disorder.
The Spanish loss was about 350 killed and 900 wounded. On the
night of August 1st the fighting was renewed, but the enemy had
been taught a lesson and made the attack at long range with heavy
artillery. The Utah Battery replied, and the artillery duel lasted
about an hour.

General Greene, in his report of the battle, says : " Major Cuth-
bertson, Tenth Pennsylvania, reports that the Spaniards left their
trenches in force and attempted to turn our right flank, coming within
200 yards of his position. But as the night was intensely dark, with
incessant and heavy rain, and as no dead or wounded were found in
front of his position at daylight, it is possible that he was mistaken,
and that- the heavy fire to which he was subjected came from the
trenches near Block House 14, beyond his right flank, at a distance
of about 700 yards. The Spaniards used smokeless powder, the
thickets obscured the flash of their oruns, and the Mauser bullet
penetrating a bamboo pole makes a noise very similar to the crack of
the rifle itself ; hence, the difficulty of locating the enemy.

" This attack demonstrated the immediate necessity of extending
our intrenchments to the right, and, although not covered by my
instructions (which were to occupy the trenches from the bay to Calle
Real, and to avoid precipitating an engagement), I ordered the First
Colorado and one battalion of the First California, which occupied
trenches at 9 a.m., August 1st, to extend the line of trenches to the
Pasay Road. The work was begun by these troops, and continued

TERRIBLE SERVICE IN THE TRENCHES 67

every day by the troops occupying the trenches in turn, until a strong
line was completed by August 12th, about 1,200 yards in length, extend-
ing from the bay to the east side of the Pasay Road. Its left rested
on the bay. and its right on an extensive rice swamp, practically
impassable."

The right flank was refused, because the only way to cross a
smaller rice swamp, crossing the line about 700 yards from the beach
was along a crossroad in rear of the general line. As finally com-
pleted the works were very strong in profile, being five or six feet in
height and eight to ten feet in thickness at the base, strengthened by
bao-s filled with earth.

" The only material available was black soil saturated with water,
and without the bags this was washed down and ruined in a day by
the heavy and almost incessant rains. The construction of these
trenches was constantly interrupted by the enemy's fire. They were
occupied by the troops in succession, four battalions being usually
sent out for a service of twenty-four hours, and posted with three
battalions in the trenches and one battalion in reserve along the
crossroad to Pasay ; Cossack posts being sent out from the latter to
guard the camp against any possible surprise from the northeast and
east.

TERRIBLE SERVICE IN THE TRENCHES.

" The service in the trenches was of the most arduous character,
the rain being almost incessant, and the men having no protection
against it ; they were wet during the entire twenty-four hours, and
the mud was so deep that the shoes were ruined and a considerable
number of men rendered barefooted. Until the notice of bombard-
ment was given on August 7th, any exposure above or behind the
trenches promptly brought the enemy's fire, so that the men had to
sit in the mud under cover and keep awake, prepared to resist an
attack, during the entire tour of twenty-four hours.

" After one particularly heavy rain a portion of the trench con-
tained two feet of water, in which the men had to remain. It could
not be drained, as it was lower than an adjoining rice swamp, in which
the water had risen nearly two feet, the rainfall being more than four
inches in twenty-four hours. These hardships were all endured by

6S THE SECOND &ATTLE OF MANILA

the men of the different regiments in turn, with the finest possible
spirit and without a murmur of complaint.

" August 7th the notice of bombardment, after forty-eight hours,
or sooner if the Spanish fire continued, was served, and after that date
not a shot was fired on either side until the assault was made on
August 13th. It was with great difficulty, and in some cases not
without force, that the insurgents were restrained from opening fire
and thus drawing the fire of the Spaniards during this period.

" Owing to the heavy storm and high surf it was impossible to
communicate promptly with the division commander at Cavite, and I
received my instructions direct from the Major-General commanding,
or his staff officers, one of whom visited my camp every day, and I
reported direct to him in the same manner. My instructions were to
occupy the insurgent trenches near the beach, so as to be in good
position to advance on Manila when ordered, but meanwhile to avoid
precipitating an engagement, not to waste ammunition, and (after
August ist)not to return the enemy's fire unless convinced that he
had left his trenches and was making an attack in force. These
instructions were given daily in the most positive terms to the officer
commanding in the trenches, and in the main they were faithfully
carried out.

AMMUNITION WAS WASTED.

" More ammunition than necessary was expended on the nights
of August 2d and 5th, but in both cases the trenches were occupied
by troops under fire for the first time, and in the darkness and rain
there was ground to believe that the heavy fire indicated a real attack
from outside the enemy's trenches. The total expenditure of ammu-
nition on our side in the four engagements was about 150,000 rounds,
and by the enemy very much more.

"After the attack of July 31st, August 1st I communicated by
signal with the captain of the United States steamship RaleigJi,
anchored about 3,000 yards southwest of my camp, asking if he had
received orders in regard to the action of his ship in case of another
attack on my troops. He replied :

" ' Both Admiral Dewey and General Merritt desire to avoid gen-
eral action at present. If attack too strong for you, we will assist
you, and another vessel will come and offer help.'

1 ■

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iTq^8

SACLOBAN, ISLAND OF LEYTE.

7 he island of Leyte belongs to the Visayan group, and contains about 3.010 square miles, being Lhe ei,hih in size in tbr
Philippine Archipelago. The finest quality of hemp comes from this island.

1 ' .... &

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. ii_ a ii .KS^^^IH^^Hi^H ^^B^^^^BB

iiiBFW ~.%

PAMPANGA, A VILLAGE IN THE SUGAR COUNTRY.

This historic village, on the island of Luzon, is memorable for the terrible massacre of the Chinese by the Spaniards at thi»

point in the early history of the islands.

THE DOWNFALL OF MANILA 7i

"In repeating this message, Lieutenant Tappan, commanding
United States steamship Callao, anchored nearer the beach, sent me a
box of blue lights, and it was agreed that if I burned one of theseion
the beach the Raleigh would at once open fire on the Spanish fort."

General Greene issued this address to the troops : " Camp
Dewey, near Manila. The Brigadier-General commanding desires
to thank the troops engaged last night for gallantry and skill displayed
by them in repelling such a vigorous attack by largely superior forces
of Spaniards. Not an inch of ground was yielded by the Tenth
Pennsylvania Infantry and Utah Artillery stationed in the trenches.
A battalion of the Third Artillery and First Regiment California
Infantry moved forward to their support through a galling fire with
the. utmost intrepidity. The courage and steadiness shown by all in
their first engagement is worthy of the highest commendation."

THE DOWNFALL OF MANILA.

Manila fell before American arms on August 13th. The com-
bined land and naval forces took the city with little or no opposition.
The official story of its downfall is told in the following dispatch
sent by General Merritt to the War Department :

" Manila, August 13th. — On the 7th instant Admiral Dewey
joined me in forty-eight-hour notification to Spanish commander to
remove non-combatants from city. Same date reply received, ex-
pressing thanks for humane sentiments, and stating Spanish without
places for refuge for non-combatants now within walled towns.

"On 9th instant sent joint note, inviting attention to suffering in
store for sick and non-combatants in case it became our duty to
reduce the defences, also setting forth hopeless condition of Spanish
forces, surrounded on all sides, fleet in front, no prospect of reinforce-
ments, and demanded surrender as due to every consideration of
humanity. Same date received reply, admitting their situation, but
stating Council of Defence declares request for surrender cannot be
granted, but offered to consult government, if time was granted neces-
sary for communication via Hong Kong. Joint note in reply
declining.

" On the 13th joined with navy in attack with following results :
After about half hour's accurate shelling of Spanish lines, McArthur's

72 THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANILA

Brigade on right and Greene's on left center under Anderson made
vigorous attack and carried Spanish works. Loss not accurately
known — about 50 in all. Behavior of troops excellent ; co-operatio.":
of the navy most valuable. Troops advanced rapidly on walled city,
upon which white flag shown and town capitulated. Troops occupy
Malate, Bynondo, walled city San Miguel. All important centers pro-
tected. Insurgents kept out. No disorder or pillage."

The fleet under Admiral Dewey opened the engagement at «, 30
o'clock in the morning. A sudden cloud of smoke, green and white,
against the stormy sky completely hid the Olympia, and a shell
screamed across two miles of turbulent water, and burst near the
Spanish fort at Malate. Then the Petrel and Raleigh and the active
little Callao opened a rapid fire directed toward the shore end of the
intrenchments. The Spaniards replied feebly.

Less than half an hour after the bombardment began, General
Greene reported that it was possible to advance. Thereupon six
companies of the Colorado regiment leaped over their breastwork,
dashed into the swamp and opened volleys within 300 yards of the
Spanish lines. The land forces under General Anderson advanced
from the South, General Greene in command of the First Brigade
held the left win^r, General McArthur of the Second Brigade was on
the right of the line and covered two miles.

The Spanish made a hard fight against the right and left wings,
but after a while were forced to retreat inside the Malate fort, from
which they were driven by the fire from the ships. The American
troops speedily captured the fort. Our land forces followed closely
upon the retreating Spaniards. The Second Battalion of the First
California headed the advance on the city. A company of the First
Nebraska did effective work with Gatling guns.

TOOK A BLOCKHOUSE AT PISTOL'S POINT.

The Astor Battery gave a splendid example of daring in this
assault. At the call of General McArthur, Captain Peyton C. March
volunteered to dislodge some Spanish soldiers occupying a block-
house which controlled the roads at Passay. Fifteen or more of his
men accompanied him, armed only with pistols, in the rush up the
hill in the face of deadly Spanish fire. Of these fifteen but three.

KEPT THE INSURGENTS OUT y3

including Captain March, remained when the Spaniards fled from the
blockhouse. All the others had been either killed or wounded in the
charge. It was a costly and magnificent show of bravery, but it
served the purpose, and practically ended the fighting for the day.
General Greene, in his report of the battle, says :
" Captain Grove and Lieutenant Means, of the First Colorado,
had been particularly active in this work and fearless in penetrating
beyond our lines and close to those of the enemy. As the time for
attack approached, these officers made a careful examination of the
ground between our trenches and Fort San Antonio de Abad, and,
finally, on August iith, Major J. F. Bell, United States Volunteer
Engineers, tested the creek in front of this fort and ascertained not
only that it was fordable, but the exact width of the ford at the
beach, and actually swam in the bay to a point from which he could
examine the Spanish line from the rear. With the information thus
obtained it was possible to plan the attack intelligently. The posi-
tion assigned to mv brigade extended from the beach to the small
rice, swamp, a front of about 700 yards.

"After the sharp skirmish on the second line of defence of the
Spaniards, and after Greene's brigade moved through Malate, meet-
ing a shuffling foe, the open space at the Luneta, just south of the
walled city, was reached about 1 p.m. A white flag was flying at the
southwest bastion, and I rode forward to meet it under a heavy fire
from out right and rear on the Paco Road.

KEPT THE INSURGENTS OUT.

" At the bastion I was informed that officers representing Gen-
eral Merritt and Admiral Dewey were on their way ashore to receive
the surrender, and I therefore turned back to the Paco Road. The
firing ceased at this time, and on reaching this road I found nearly
1 ,000 Spanish troops who had retreated from Santa Ana through
Paco, and coming up the Paco Road had been firing on our flank. I
held the commanding officers, but ordered these troops to march into
the walled city. At this point the California regiment a short time
before had met some insurgents who had fired at the Spaniards on
the walls, and the latter in returning the fire had caused a loss in the
California regiment of 1 killed and 2 wounded.

74 THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANILA

" My instructions were to march past the walled city on its sur-
render, cross the bridge, occupy the city on the north side of the
Pasig, and protect lives and property there. While the white flag
was flying on the walls yet, very sharp hring had just taken place out-
side, and there were from 5,000 to 6,000 men on the walls, with arms
in their hands, only a few yards from us. I did not feel justified in
leaving this force in my rear until the surrender was clearly estab-
lished, and I therefore halted and assembled my force, prepared to
force the gates if there was any more firing. The Eighteenth Infan-
try and First California were sent forward to hold the bridges, a few
yards ahead, but the Second Battalion, Third Artillery, First Ne-
braska, Tenth Pennsylvania and First Colorado were all assembled at
this point. While this was being done, I received a note from Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Whittier, of General Merritt's staff, written from the
Captain-General's office within the walls, asking me to stop the
firing outside, as negotiations for surrender were in progress.

" I then returned to the troops outside the walls and sent Cap-
tain Birkhimer's battalion of the Third Artillery down the Paco road
to prevent any insurgents from entering. Feeling satisfied that there
would be no attack from the Spanish troops lining the walls, I put
the regiments in motion toward the bridges, brushing aside a consid-
erable force of insurgents who had penetrated the city from the direc-
tion of Paco, and were in the main street with their flag, expecting to
march into the walled city and plant it on the walls. After crossing
the bridges the Eighteenth United States Infantry was posted to
patrol the principal streets near the bridge, the First California was
sent up the Pasig to occupy Ouiapo, San Miguel and Malacanan, and
with the First Nebraska I marched down the river to the captain of
the Port's office, where I ordered the Spanish flag hauled down and
the American flag raised in its place.

"The resistance encountered on the 13th was much less than
anticipated and planned for, but had the resistance been greater, the
result would have been the same, only the loss would have been
greater. Fortunately, the great result of capturing this city, the seat
of Spanish power in the East for more than three hundred years, war
accomplished with a loss of life comparatively insignificant."

McARTHUR PRAISES HIS MEN

General McArthur is strong in his expression of approval of heroic
work. In his report he says:

" The combat of Singalong can hardly be classified as a great mili-
tary event, but the involved terrene and the prolonged resistance
created a very trying situation, and afforded an unusual scope for the
display of military qualities by a large number of individuals.

" The invincible composure of Colonel Ovenshine, during an
exposure in dangerous space for more than an hour, was conspicuous
and very inspiring to the troops ; and the efficient manner in which
he took advantage of opportunities as they arose during the varying
aspects of the fight was of great practical value in determining the
result.

" The cool, determined and sustained efforts of Colonel Reeve,
of the Thirteenth Minnesota, contributed very materially to the
maintenance of the discipline and marked efficiency of his regi-
ment.

" The brilliant manner in which Lieutenant March accepted and
discharged the responsible and dangerous duties of the day, and the
pertinacity with which, assisted by his officers and men, he carried
his guns over all obstacles to the very front of the firing line, was an
exceptional display of warlike skill and judgment, indicating the
existence of many of the best qualifications for high command in
battle.

" The gallant manner in which Captain Sawtelle, brigade quar-
termaster, volunteered to join the advance party in the rush, volun-
teered to command a firing line, for a time without an officer, and
again volunteered to lead a scout to ascertain the presence or absence
of the enemy in the blockhouse, was a fine display of personal
intrepidity.

" The efficient, fearless, and intelligent manner in which Lieu-
tenant Kernan, Twenty-first United States Infantry, Acting Assist-
ant Adjutant-General of the brigade and Second Lieutenant Whit-
worth, Eighteenth United States Infantry, aid, executed a series of
dangerous and difficult orders, was a fine exemplification of stall work
under fire.

" The splendid bravery of Captains Bjornstad and Seebach, and
L;eutenant Lackore, of the Thirteenth Minnesota, all wounded, ands

76 THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANILA

finally, the work of the soldiers of the first firing line, too, all went to
make up a rapid succession of individual actions of unusual merit."

THE SPANIARDS HOIST THE WHITE FLAG.

At 1 1.30 a.m. the Spaniards hoisted the white flag. A conference
to arrange the terms of surrender was held at the palace of the Gov-
ernor-General at 4 p.m. General Jandenes agreed to surrender,
and the American flag was raised at 5.30 p.m. by Lieutenant Brumby,
of the Olympia. The total number of Spanish soldiers who surren-
dered exceeded 8,000, and there was an unlimited supply of arms and
ammunition. In the attack 5 were killed and 43 injured.

The terms of capitulation, as given in General Merritt's report,
were as follows :

" The undersigned having been appointed a commission to deter-
mine the details of the capitulation of the city and defences of Manila
.nd its suburbs and the Spanish forces stationed therein, in accord-
ance with the agreement entered into the previous day by General
Wesley Merritt, United States Army, American Commander-in-Chief
in the Philippines, and His Excellency Don Fermin Jandenes. acting
General-in-Chief of the Spanish Army in the Philippines, have agreed
upon the following :

" 1. The Spanish troops, European and native, capitulate with
the city and its defences, with all the honors of war, depositing their
arms in the places designed by the authorities of the United States,
and remaining in the quarters designated and under the orders of
their officers, and subject to the control of the aforesaid United States
authorities, until the conclusion ot a treaty of peace between the two
belligerent nations. All persons included in the capitulation remain
at liberty, the officers remaining in their respective homes, which
shall be respected as long as they observe the regulations prescribed
for their government and the laws in force.

" 2. Officers shall retain their side arms, horses and private prop-
erty. All public horses and public property of all kinds shall be turned
over to staff officers designated by the United States.

"3. Complete returns in duplicate of men by organization, and
full lists of public property and stores shall be rendered to the Unite..
States within ten days from this date.

peace n

"4. All questions relating to the repatriation of officers and men
of the Spanish forces and of their families, and of the expenses
which said repatriation may occasion, shall be referred to the Govern-
ment of the United States at Washington.

" Spanish families may leave Manila at any time convenient to
them.

"The return of the arms surrendered by the Spanish forces shall
take place when they evacuate the city, or when the American army
evacuates.

" 5. Officers and men included in the capitulation shall be sup-
plied by the United States, according to their rank, with rations and
necessary aid as though they were prisoners of war, until the conclu-
sion of a treaty of peace between the United States and Spain. Ah
the funds in the Spanish treasury and all other public funds shall be
turned over to the authorities of the United States.

"6. This city, its inhabitants, its churches and religious wor-
ship, its educational establishments, and its private property of all
descriptions are placed under the special safeguard of the faith and
honor of the American Army.

F. V. Greene, Nicholas De La Petra,

Brigadier-General of Volunteers, U. S. A. Auditor-General Excmo.

B. P. Lamberton, Carlos,

Captain, United States Navy. Coronel de Ingenieros.

Charles A. Whittier, Jose,

Lieut. -Colonel and Inspector-General. Coronel de Estado Major."

E. H. Crowder,

Lieut. -Colonel and Judge-Advocate.
1 PEACE.

While the battle was planned, overtures had been made through
the mediation of the French Ambassador at Washington, on behalf
of the Spanish Government for a cessat'on of hostilities, to culmi-
nate in a treaty of peace. The peace protocol was signed at 4.23 p.m.
on Friday, August 12th. The sixth article of the protocol was as
follows : " On the signing of the protocol hostilities will be sus-
pended, and notice to that effect will be given as soon as possible by
each government to the commander of its military and naval forces."

78 THE SECOND BATTLE OF MANILA

As the Manila cable had been cut and was not in use, it was
impossible to communicate the news of peace to Admiral Dewey or
General Merritt. Consequently they were ignorant of the fact that
peace had been declared when they assailed and took Manila. Allow-
ing for difference in time, the surrender of Manila took place a few
hours after the signing of the peace protocol. This proved the turn-
ing point of most of the arguments which took place later, when the
Peace Commissioners met together at Paris to discuss the conditions
of the, treaty.

In the meantime, however, General Merritt ruled supreme in the
captured city, keeping out insurgents and protecting people and
property.

GENERAL AGUINALDO

This is the Philippine chief as he appeared in military uniform in February, 1S99.

CHAPTER XIV
The Trouble With Aguinaldo

A. b'a.:i--to-Face View of the Insurgent Leader. — A Man of Craft and Cunning. — Sold
out His Own People. — Fought against Uncle Sam. — Insurgents Swept into the
Sea. — Immense Sacrifice of Life and Property.— The Flight of Agoncillo to
Canada. — The Oregon Sent for by Dewey "for Political Reasons." — Germany
Takes a Friendly Step. — Emperor William Removes All His Warships from Manih
Bay, and Places German Interests in American Hands.

THE fighting in the Philippines did not end with the downfall ol
Manila or the signing of the Peace treaty. The insurgents
had to be reckoned with. From the beginning they proved
even harder to handle than the Spanish. Inflated with victory, Gen-
eral Aguinaldo, the insurgent leader, proclaimed himself Dictator of
the islands, and it was with difficulty that his followers were held ii?
check by the American forces without open hostility. It became evi'
dent that we should have trouble with the insurgents. That it would*
be as serious as after-events proved, was not imagined.

On June 13th Aguinaldo issued a "declaration of indepen
dence," of which the following is a rough translation :

" To the district headmen and village headmen of the prov
ince of Bulacan, from the Political Military Governor of this prov-
ince, whose headquarters are now transferred to the town of San
Francisco de Malabon, and combined with the section under hia
orders at Bacoor, Binacayan, Imus, Novaleta, Salinas and Cavite
Viejo. They only require to bev combined with the other forces in
Indiang and Silang, near by, and then our troops will be sent for-
ward, and within a few days will be found in possession of almost
the whole province, which, being maritime, will be found in a position
to proclaim effectively our independence. This proclamation will not
be long deferred, because the ultimate object of this government will
thus be best attained notwithstanding the suggestions of some of our
principal associates. It is better and more convenient to select as

...'.._ 81

82 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

the place on account of its being near the sea, the township of Cavite
Viejo, which is an old port, originally the town of Cavite.

" Wherefore I decree as follows :

"The 1 2th day of this month is fixed for the declaration of the
independence of this our beloved country, in this township of Cavite.
Viejo, for the due and proper solemnization of which auspicious
event there should be on the day named an assemblage of all dis-
trict headmen and commanders of our forces, and through the proptr
representatives there should be a notification issued for the purpose
of inviting the attendance of all who have in anyway assisted in the
good work, such, for example, as the distinguished Admiral of the
American squadron and his commanders and officers, to all of whom,
as having- lent invaluable aid in the glorious work, a courteous invita-
tion will be sent. After the formal reading; of the declaration, the
same will be signed by all who wish to give support thereto.

'• Given under our hand and seal at Cavite this 9th day of June,
1898. Emilio Aguinaldo,

Dictator of the Philippines."

Various congresses were convened within the succeeding months,
and Aguinaldo thought it wiser to change his title from that of Die-
tator to President of the Revolutionary Government of the Filipinos.
He experienced some trouble in securing a suitable cabinet, and the
list was changed several times. The following is the latest make-up
of the Cabinet : President of the Cabinet and Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Mabini ; Minister of the Interior, Teodoro Sandica, civil
engineer, educated in England and Belgium, and taken to Manila
from Hong Kong by Admiral Dewey; Minister of War, General
Baldomero Aguinaldo, a cousin of Aguinaldo, the President of
the so-called Filipino Government, and a leader of the insurrection
from the beginning, said to be a large landowner of Cavite ; Minister
of Finance, General Trias, a close ally of Aguinaldo ; Minister of
Public Works, Gregorio Gonzaga, a lawyer, formerly the Filipino
Agent at Ho ig Kong, and formerly Spanish Attorney-General in
Visayas.

The following description of Aguinaldo by Joseph L. Stickney.
who was with Admiral Dewey during the battle of May 1st and

A PEN PICTURE OF AGUINALDG 83

landed later, gives a good view of the insurgent leader and his char-
acter. He says :

" Having been on terms of friendly association with General
Aguinaldo and his staff during the last half of May and the whole
of June, I had an opportunity to get some idea of the man who is
to-day one of the most important individual factors in our dealings
with the Filipinos.

" Emilio Aguinaldo, now about 29 years old, is a man of an
intelligence far beyond that of most of his people. He comes of a
good family in the province of Cavite, near Manila, where he was
educated and where he entered the bar. He joined the insurgents
immediately after the outbreak of the rebellion in the latter part of
1S96, but it was not until after the execution of Dr. Rizal that he
became one of the leaders of the revolt.

" The blockade maintained by the Spanish squadron in Philip-
pine waters against the importation of arms for the insurgents grad-
ually drove the Filipinos to the wall, and in December, 1897, the
celebrated ' pacification ' of the islands was negotiated, the go-between
being Senor Pedro Paterno, director of the Manila museum, a Fil-
ipino, who had remained at least passively loyal to the Spaniards.
The Filipino junta at this time was composed of Emilio Aguinaldo,
who exercised such executive powers as were possible to so feeble an
organization; Senor Artacho, Home Secretary; Senor Montenogro,
Foreign Secretary ; Vito Bilarmino, War Secretary ; and Baldomero
Aguinaldo, Secretary of the Treasury.

"The so-called 'pacification' consisted in a purchase of the
insurgent leaders for the sum of $800,000 (Mexican), equal to about
$400,000 in gold. Aguinaldo and his associates agreed to surrender
all the arms in the possession of the natives and to quit the archi-
pelago, remaining away at the pleasure of the Spanish government,
and to use their utmost influence to disband and disarm all the insur-
gent forces.

" Aguinaldo was to go to Hong Kong to receive the first install'
ment of the Spanish money, amounting to $400,000 (Mexican), and
he was then to cable to Artacho, who surrendered himself to the
Captain-General ns a hostage. On receiving Aguinaldo's cable mes-
sage that the money had been paid, Artacho was to dissolve the

84 TH& TROVJ&LM WITH AGVlNALDO

insurgent organization, disband the troops and give up their arms.
This part of the programme was carried out in December, 1897, or
the early part of January, 1898.

"The cash payment was divided among the junta and Aguinaldo
started for Paris. He had gone no farther than Singapore, however,
when the destruction of the Maine in Havana harbor brought on an
acute tension of the relations between the United Staves and Spa>"
and he remained in Singapore to see whether the Filipinos might not
profit by Spain's difficulties.

"General Aguinaldo sailed from Hong Kong for Manila Bay in
the dispatch boat McCullocli, May 17, 1898. He landed in Cavite on
the 19th. As I accompanied him from Hong Kong, and was able to
be of some service to him, I was received at his headquarters with
great cordiality until after the arrival of the first detachment of
troops. About that time Aguinaldo began to think he was a great
man, and as he was tiresome and often ridiculous when trying to live
up to his own estimate of himself, I saw less and less of him.

" He took possession of one cf the numerous abandoned houses
in Cavite, and at first he acted with good judgment and simplicity.
In a day or two the natives flocked into Cavite in droves, and as a
small steamer arrived from Hong Kong, laden with arms and ammu-
nition, in a week there were more than 1,000 men ready to take the
field against the Spaniards in Cavite Province.

" On the night of May 26th Aguinaldo sent 600 men across the
Bay of Bacoor in canoes. This force was attacked by 300 Spaniards
on the morning of the 28th, and all the latter were captured. Sharp
and continuous fighting- occurred for a week, during which — after
having succeeded in witnessing the fighting for two days without
Aguinaldo's consent or assistance — I obtained from him a guide an !
a passport which enabled me to go into battle with more comfort and
less risk.

" When Manila was fairly invested by the insurgents, Aguinaldo's
ideas of his own importance and power underwent a very apparent
expansion. He had been obliged to quit Cavite, as our troops needed
the town ; but he moved his headquarters to Bacoor, and there he
was as inaccessible to ordinarv mortals as if he had been the Emperor
of China.

BELIEVED TO BEAR A CHARMED LIFE S5

"Anyone who expects Aguinaldo to make gross blunders in
dealing with our people will probably be disappointed. He is an
exceptionally shrewd man. He is of the distinctly Japanese type in
appearance, having the broad, square forehead, which betokens intel-
lect, re-enforced by the bumps in the back of his head, which indicate
the endurance and persistence of a strong animalism.

" He has rather large eyes, set wide apart, and a straight but
sensual nose. His lips are full, and his chin round and not deter-
mined. His height is about 5 feet 4 inches, and he carries himself
very erect. His color is a light chocolate. He speaks and writes
Spanish and Tagalog, the native language of the island of Luzon.
He understands English fairly well, though he always made a pre-
tense of not being able to speak or comprehend it. I had reason for
believing that he could have held all his conversation with us in Eng-
lish without an interpreter if he had wished to do so."

BELIEVED TO BEAR A CHARMED LIFE.

One of Aguinaldo's great holds over the insurgents was through
their superstition. They believed that he bore a charmed life. The
Spaniards had often placed large sums on his head, at one time
$25,000 having been offered for him dead or alive. He managed,
however, to escape both capture from the Spanish and treachery from
his own men. At one time some of the insurgents, who were envi-
ous of his power, poisoned the food which was to have been given
him at dinner. In some lucky way, however, Aguinaldo happened
not to taste the meal, and he escaped what would have otherwise been
certain death.

The following- interesting: account of a visit to Aguinaldo's head-
quarters at Cavite, once the home of a rich native, is given: "The
house is broad, low, roomy, and typically Spanish. There is a paved
court at the street entrance, and, while Aguinaldo occupied it, a guard
of insurgents lined it on either side. They would come to present
arms as you passed by, and good form called for a salute in return. A
stairway leads from the court, and the landing at the top is large, and
makes a good ante-chamber.

Here stand guards in uniforms of blue. There is little delay,
*nd the summons to enter the reception-room comes quickly. Aguin-

86 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

aldo comes in, extends his hand, and then motions the visitor to a
seat. He wears a spotless suit of white linen, a white shirt with
well-polished front, a high collar and a black cravat tied in a bow,
and red velvet slippers embroidered in gold. At first sight you
would take him for a Japanese student. It takes a long stretch of
the imagination to believe that this youthful-looking man in white is
a leader of a large force of warlike people.

In his office he has a modern desk, backed with a beveled edge
mirror that came from Europe, a couple of large, strong iron boxes,
an abundance of easy chairs, an old grand piano, and a large hat-
rack of fanciful design. The only signs of war were the ends of
sword chains that peeped through holes in the coats of the officers
who were with him.

Such was the man with whom the American commanders had to
deal, — a man who sold out his own countrymen, and, because the full
price of their slavery had not been paid to him, he returned from his
voluntary exile and again placed himself at the head of the people he
had betrayed. There is little wonder that the American commanders
viewed him with suspicion and checked his onward march.

While the peace conference was being held at Paris to discuss
the terms of a treaty, General Merritt was present to consult with
the American members of the commissi 3n on the subject of the situa-
tion in the Philippines. General Otis was ordered to replace him in
control of the island. The situation which confronted General Otis
was not a pleasant one, but no serious outbreak occurred for some
time.

Toward the end of December, however, Affuinaldo assumed an
attitude of open defiance against American arms. He ensconsced
himself at Malloas, about twenty miles from Manila, and made that
the seat of the so-called Revolutionary Government. He began to
run things in a high-handed manner, and became even more despotic
and overbearing toward his own people than the Spaniards ever were.
In the interior cities, controlled by the insurgents, he levied taxes
upon the natives much more excessive than any exacted by the old
rulers of the islands.

It became evident to General Otis that something had to be
done. The insurgents were inflamed by reports sent to them from

THE ATTACK OF THE INSURGENTS 87

the United States by Agoncillo, who had been sent to this country
by the Junta of the Filipinos to keep an eye on the legislation here.
The behavior of this envoy of the Philippine insurgents was such
that it was deemed wise to place secret service agents on his track.
It was found that he and other Filipinos in this country were plotting
against our Government, consequently the watch kept upon him was
\made so keen that Agoncillo fled for Canada, fearing arrest.

THE ATTACK OF THE INSURGENTS.

About the same time that he fled, the news was cabled across the
sea that the Filipinos had attacked Manila, and that on the 5th of
February a desperate battle had been waged, in which the insurgents
were utterly routed and lost nearly 2,000 men.

The story of the battle, as briefly told in the official cablegram
of General Otis, is as follows: — "Adjutant-General: Insurgents in
large force opened attack on our outer lines at 8.45 last evening ;
renewed attack several times during night ; at 4 o'clock this morning
entire line engaged ; all attacks repulsed ; at daybreak advanced
against insurgents, and have driven them beyond the lines they
formerly occupied, capturing several villages and their defence works ;
insurgents' loss in dead and wounded large ; our own casualties thus
far estimated at 1 75 ; very few fatal. Troops enthusiastic and acting
fearlessly. Very splendid execution on flanks of enemy ; city held in
check, and absolute quiet prevails ; insurgents have secured a good
many Mauser rifles, a few field pieces, and quick-firing guns, with
ammunition, during last month."

In another dispatch General Otis states that our casualities
aggregate 250. He buried 500 of insurgent dead and held 500
prisoners. Their total loss was 4.000.

The fighting was not the result of the aggression on the part of
the Americans, but was precipitated by the action of two native
soldiers who refused to obey the order of a sentry who challenged
them as they attempted to pass his post. These two natives advanced
to the outpost of the First Nebraska Regiment, stationed to the
northeast of Manila. The sentry ordered them to halt, but they
insolently refused to do so. He called upon them again, and as they
paid no attention to his order, he leveled his rifle and fired upon them

S3 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

No sooner had the shot been fired than the Filipinos, who were
occupying block-house No. 7, fired a signal for a general attack upon
the Americans. Immediately the insurgents moved against the
American troops, the Nebraska Regiment being the first to meet the
attack. It was evident that the insurgents expected to take our
troops by surprise, consequently they were not prepared for the vig-
orous reception which they received. The Nebraska, Montana, and
North Dakota outposts replied briskly until reinforcements arrived.
The Filipinos concentrated at three points, Caloocan, Gagalangin,
and Santa Mesa. At about 1 o'clock the insurgents opened fire si-
multaneously from all threj places, supplementing the attack by the
fire of two seige guns at Balik-Balik, and advancing their skirmishes
at Paco. The Utah Light Artillery and the Third Artillery did
splendid work. The engagement lasted over an hour. The United
States cruiser Charleston and the gunboat Concord, stationed off
Malabon, opened fire, and did great damage to the insurgents.

At 2.45 a.m. there was a fusilade along the entire line, and the
monitor Monadnock opened fire from off Malate. With daylight
the Americans advanced. The California and Washington regiments
made a splendid charge and drove the Filipinos from the villages of
Paco and Santa Mesa. The Nebraska regdment also distinguished
itself, capturing a very strong position at the reservoir, which is con-
nected with the waterworks. The Kansas and Dakota regiments
compelled the enemy's right flank to retire to Caloocan.

FILIPINOS DROWNED LIKE RATS.

The brigade under General King charged upon a strong force of
the enemy, and, yelling wildly, drove them helter-skelter into the
Pasig River, where, in a frenzy of terror, they were drowned like rats.

The utter fearlessness of the American soldiers was never better
demonstrated than in this onward charge. The Ygorates, armed with
bows and arrows, made a very determined stand, in the face of the
fire of artillery, and left many dead upon the field. Evidently they
did not know what guns were, for they stood in the face of the fire
without realizing that they were at a disadvantage, and were mowed
down like wheat. One of the chiefs, who was captured, said he had
never seen a modern field piece before.

* Mm

1. '

GEN. ARTHUR MacARTHUR.

GEN". CHARLES KING

GEN. HENRY \V. LAWTON. GEN. FRED. FDNSTON.

POPULAR COMMANDERS IN THE FILIPINO WAR.

WARNING NON-COMBATANTS TO LEAVE ci

The next day General Hale's brigade advanced and took the
waterworks outside of the city. They had a sharp skirmish with the
eiiemy, which made no determined stand. The pumps were damaged,
but the missing parts were found later, and the works were soon
placed in good order.

The terrible loss of the rebels may be gained from the fact that
one hundred and sixty of them were buried in one field on one day,
and eighty-seven in another. The Americans worked hard to bring
hundreds of the suffering insurgents to the hospital for treatment.
The character of the insurgents may be judged from the fact that
they used the flag of truce as a defence for their own fire. All
through Manila white flags were shown from the houses of the
natives, and, as the soldiers passed by, they were shot at from these
very windows.

A Filipino Colonel went out from his line under a flag of
truce. Several American officers promptly went to meet him, but
when the parties met the concealed insurgents opened fire, where-
upon the Colonel apologized for the barbarous conduct of his troops
and returned to his lines.

On February ioth an advance was made upon Caloocan, the
stronghold of the insurgents. It was taken after some brisk fight-
ing, and with slight loss on our part ; but General Otis was not satis-
fied. He pushod on to Malabon, to which ^he insurgents Had
retreated, and soon was in possession of the town. Before leaving,
however, Aguinaldo's savage hordes set fire to the town, and much
damage was done to property.

The trouble was not confined to the Island of Luzon. Briga-
dier General M. D. Miller sent an ultimatum on February ioth to
the commander of the rebels at Iloilo, notifying him that it was his
intention to take the town by force, if necessary.

WARNING NON-COMBATANTS TO LEAVE.

The warships began to shell the town at eight o'clock the next
morning, and soon cleared the trenches of the insurgent force. A
detachment from the cruiser Boston and the Petrel were landed and
marched into the town, hoisting the Stars and Stripes over the fort.
Not a single man on the American side was injured.

92 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

After the taking of Caloocan, General Otis pressed the advan-
tage, and Haytay and Canita were taken by the American advance
guard without a shot having been fired. While this was going on>
the insurgents inside of Manila made determined efforts to burn
down the city. Buildings were fired in three different sections at the
same time, and the flames were controlled by the troops only after
severe labor. A considerable number of the incendiaries were shot,
and a few of our soldiers were wounded. The fire was most success-
ful at Tongo, the northernmost suburb of the city, which lies on the
shore of the bay. The rebels in hiding were very active while the
Americans were fighting the fire and caused a great deal of annoy-
ance. For a time business was suspended in this district, and many
suspects were placed under arrest. The Monadnock, of Dewey's fleet,
joined in the work of dispersing the Filipinos, effectively shelling the
rebel lines under the direction of the signal corps on shore. In the
skirmish a surprising discovery was made, that many of the insurgents
were armed with dummy rifles, there being about three of these to
one of the Mausers, which explained in part the secret of the appar-
ently good equipment of the Filipinos.

While the skirmishing was going on, Admiral Dewey telegraphed
the Naval Department as follows :

" Manila, February 24th.
For political reasons, the Oregon should be sent here at once.

Dewey."

This dispatch was made public by an accident. Secretary Long
inadvertently handed it with a number of others to some newspaper
men, and for a time the department was kept busy, trying to explain
exactly what Dewey meant. The general opinion was that the Ad-
miral wanted the famous vessel, not for any effect on the insurgents,
but as a notice to foreigners to keep hands off. The Oiegon was
promptly dispatched to Manila. Not long after this the German war
vessels at Manila were withdrawn, and the interests of German resi-
dents were placed in the hands of the American officials there. Ad-
miral von Diederichs, who had proved so offensive to Dewey, was
withdrawn by his Government, and in his place Prince Henry of Ger-
many was sent to take charge of the German squadron which had
been sent to Hong Kong. It was stated at the time of the change

CEBU IS TAKEN 93

that Admiral von Diederichs had shown a lack of tact in the manage-
ment of affairs at Manila Bay, and consequently the trouble which
had hampered Dewey at first disappeared, and the Germans appar-
ently assumed a friendly attitude toward our Government.

CEBU IS TAKEN.

The United States gunboat Petrel, commanded by C. Cornwell,
visited Cebu, the most important of the Visayas group, on February
22d. The Commander sent an ultimatum ashore declaring the inten-
tion of the Americans to take possession peaceably, if possible, by
force if necessary. The rebels immediately vacated, taking their
guns to the hills. A party of marines was landed, and the American
flag soon floated over the Government building there.

For some time the fighting was confined to the region around
Caloocan, and this was not aggressive, but defensive. The insurgents,
kept up a guerilla warfare at night, which proved rather troublesome,
but, as usual, not serious. On March 3d General Otis stated that he
had captured 1,500 insurgents since February 4th.

March 3d was a red-letter day among both the army and navy
people in the island. President McKinley sent to the Senate the
name of George Dewey to be an Admiral of the Navy under the act
approved the day before, and Brigadier-General Elwell S. Otis,
United States Army, to be Major-General by brevet to rank from
February 4th, and the Senate confirmed both nominations. Secre-
tary Long and Secretary Alger cabled congratulations for themselves
and for the President, and the news was received with great enthu-
siasm everywhere in the Philippines where American soldiers or sail-
ors were stationed. Admiral Dewey raised his four-starred flag on
the Olympia, and was saluted by the guns of the forts, the foreign
warships, the British cruiser Narcissus and the German cruiser Kai-
serin Augusta, and all the American ships in port.

On March 4th the United States cruiser Baltimore arrived at
Manila from Hong Kong, having on board Professor J. G. Shurman
and Professor Dean C. Worcester, the two of the civil members of
the United States Philippine Commission. The transport Senator
arrived on the same day with six companies of the Twenty-second
Infantry as reinforcements to Otis' command. Reinforcements, aggre-

94 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

gating 4,800 men, were hurried forward as fast as possible, bringing
the total number of officers and men up to 41,800. The force then
there consisted of twenty regiments of infantry, one engineer battal-
ion, seven troops of cavalry and eleven batteries of artillery. Nine-
teen vessels with an aggregate of 297 officers, 2,990 men and 253
marines made up the naval contingent, which did not include the
transport Solace with 162 officers and men which was constantly pass-
ing back and forth from Manila.

On March 10th the United States transport Grant arrived, having
on board Major-General Henry W. Lawton, who had so distinguished
himself in Cuba and was an old Indian fiahter, together with the
Fourth United States Infantry and a battalion of the Seventeenth
United States Infantry.

wheaton's flying column.

General Wheaton was put in charge of a new divisional brigade
and advanced on March 13th from San Pedro Macati for the purpose
of corralling the enemy. He moved on Pasig, meeting with slight
resistance, as the enemy was in full retreat. His Flying Column sought
to cut off communication between the south and north insurgents'
armies. Guadalupe and the city of Pasig were quickly captured.
The enemy fought furiously under a heavy fire and were caught in a
trap with the Flying Column on one side and the Pasig River on the
other. They made a stand for an hour and were finally forced into
the jungle in full retreat.

The American advance began at daybreak, the cavalry leading at
a sharp trot. A dash across the open brought the column to a clump
of timber commanding the rear of Guadalupe. The advance, sup-
ported by the Oregon troops, opened a heavy fire on the insurgents,
and then the column divided, the rieht swineing- towards the town of
Pasig, and the left advancing with a telling fire into the brush where
the insurgents were concealed.

At Guadalupe church a handful of the rebels made a sullen
stand, but finally broke and ran. The rebels who had taken refuge
in the jungle were discovered by river gunboats, which poured a dis-
astrous fire into them. Everywhere the followers of Aguinaldo fled
for safety, and for a time the troops were ordered to cease firing to

A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY 95

get some rest before attacking Pasig itself. When the attack was
finally begun, a heavy rain was falling. After a vigorous fight, the
Filipinos finding themselves outwitted and defeated fled to the north-
ward, and by 5 o'clock the whole American line bivouaced around the
city. The next day the column advanced beyond Pasig to the shore
of Laguna Bay, sweeping everything before it. The enemy made a
running fight and suffered severe loss. Their avenues of communi
cation north and south were effectively closed.

A BRUSH WITH THE ENEMY.

Between Pateros and Taguig General Wheaton with the Twen-
tieth and Twenty-second Infantry, the Oregon and Washington
troops, section six of the Sixth Artillery, and a squad of the Fourth
Cavalry came upon the enemy massed in such a force as to cause an
unusually heavy fight. The enemy was driven back with great loss.

On March 16th the First Battalion of the Twentieth United
States Infantry advanced from Pasig, clearing the country to Caintia,
a well-defended village of seven hundred inhabitants. The enemy
was dislodged after a half-hour's fighting, during which the American
troops advanced in splendid order under heavy fire, charging across
the rice fields against overwhelming- odds.

General Otis sent the following cablegram on March 15th :
"Three thousand insurgents moved down last night to the towns of

o o

Pasig and Pateros, on shore of Laguna Bay, fronting Wheaton's
troops on Pasig River line ; by heavy fighting Wheaton has dislodged
and driven them back, taking 400 prisoners and inflicting heavy loss
in killed and wounded ; he reports his loss as very moderate ; he now
occupies these towns with sufficient force to hold them."

Our troops found 106 dead Filipinos and 100 new graves near
Pasig. The prisoners were unarmed, and, it is presumed, they exe-
cuted their threat of throwing their arms into the river.

In the meantime a number of the Filipinos had grown tir^d of
the continuous victories of our troops, and some of the prominent
leaders among the insurgents advised surrender to the United States
and an acceptance of our terms of government. Twelve adherents
of the plan of independence were sentenced to death by Aguinaldo,
because they wrote, advising surrender, and General Leearda, who

96 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

visited Malolos for the purpose of advising Aguinaldo to give up the
unequal struggle, was executed on the spot by orders of the rebel
leader.

ON TOWARD MALOLOS.

It was decided to make a concentrated effort to capture Malolos,
the capital of the insurgent temporary government and the head-
quarters of the insurgent leader. Here the Filipinos had massed
their forces, and here, too, they had thrown out protection and
trenches, and had prepared themselves for a fierce fight. It was
hoped that, by taking this place, the backbone of the insurgent strug-
gles would be broken. In order to meet the American advance,
Ag-uinaldo's forces concentrated in large number about Malabon,
which lies to the north of Manila, on the railway and on the shore of
the bay. They had constructed several lines of trenches around
Malabon, and there they awaited the onward movement of our army.

The fighting began when, on March 25th, General MacArthurs'
division, consisting; of the brigades of General Harrison Grav Otis,
General Hale and General Hall, supplemented by General Wheaton's
brigade, advanced and captured the towns of Novaliches on the left,
and San Francisco del Monte and Mariquina on the right, clearing
the rebel trenches in front of the line north from the river to Caloo-
can. They also secured possession of the railroad, practically corner-
ing the flower of Aguinaldo's army at Malabon and in the foothills
of Singalon, twenty miles apart. The plan was to strike north of Polo.

The attack was besom at 6 o'clock in the morning;. The Nebraska
and Colorado Volunteer Regiments encountered the first strong- re-
sistance. This was at San Francisco del Monte, and in the surround-
ing trenches. The Cavalry outflanked the enemy, who broke and
ran, but later made a stubborn stand in the woods north of the Laloma
church.

The rebels adopted the American tactics of holding their fire
until the enemy were about 1,000 yards away, and they fired lower
than usual ; but the boys from the United States fired volleys with
terrible effect, and then rushed forward, cheering and sweeping every-
thing before them. The Twentieth Kansas and Tenth Pennsylvania,
with the Montana Volunteers on the left, protected by the Utah Bat-
tery, advanced over the open rice fields on the double-quick, yelling

BRA VERY OF THE KANSAS TROOPS 97

fiercely and occasionally dropping in the grass and firing by volley.
The enemy, strongly entrenched in the woods, kept up a steady fire
until the Americans were in close quarters, and then they broke and
fled. The bodies of 125 of their dead were found in the trenches
and many more in the woods.

Within ninety minutes after the advance was made, the whole
front, for a distance of three miles to the north, had been cleared.
General Hale's brigade had simultaneously swept in a northwesterly
direction, routing the enemy. Our advance was over open ground
for a mile and a half. The Third Artillery, under command of Major
William A. Kobbe, at the apex upon which the line was to turn, got
the hardest fighting and lost nine per cent, of its men.

BRAVERY OF THE KANSAS TROOPS.

As the line swung northwest, and came to the Tuliahan River,
General Wheaton's brigade moved out from Caloocan, where it had
been held in the trenches, and swept the insurgents directly in front,
making the American line stretch along six miles of the south bank
of the river. The bridge at Caloocan had been destroyed, and there
were solid lines of insurgents in trenches across the river. Bullets
were flying all around, but the Third Kansas Artillery boldly waded
across the stream, and fiercely stormed the blockhouse which com-
manded the approach. They were forced almost to swim owing to
the depth of the water, but, soaking wet, they charged the trenches
and the blockhouse with the wildest cheers, and the Filipinos, who
had never heard of such fighting, fled at their approach. It was a
most inspiring spectacle of heroism to all who saw it, — -a spectacle
that shall ever live in history.

In this fight General MacArthur and General Hale, with their
staffs, were frequently under heavy fire. The heat was terrific, and
at times all of the officers, except the two Generals, were forced to
dismount, overcome by the heat. The next day MacArthur dashed
beyond Polo and to the northeast, and captured Meycauavan, two
miles from Polo. It is at the base of the rough hills and the jungles,
and the whole way is lined with trenches. The fight here was a brisk
one, and among those who fell was Captain Krayenbuhl, who had
been promoted for individual bravery at the battle of Manila, as

98 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

described in another chapter. He was one of the most popular and
efficient young men of the campaign, and his death was deplored by
everybody who knew him.

General MacArthurs' plan was to cut off the 5,000 insurgents in
Malolos from the rest of the insurgents, but he was unable to carry
it out, owing to the roughness of the ground and the thickness of the
jungle, which prevented him from getting far enough around to the
north of Polo to shut the enemy in.

THE TRAGIC DEATH OF COLONEL EGBERT.

In this engagement Wheaton's brigade figured almost exclu-
sively. There were engaged the Fourth, Twenty-second, and
Twenty-third Infantry, the Utah Troop, the Third Artillery, and the
Oregon troops. These were stretched out along the railroad from
Caloocan to the Tuliahan River. The rebels had destroyed the
bridge over the river, and on the further side made their stand, while
the engineers were trying to replace the floor of the bridge on the
iron girders. The Second Oregon Regiment dashed across the
river, wading and swimming. The Twenty-second and four com-
panies of the Twenty-third gained the west bank of the river about
the same time. From the river the land rose steadily for half a mile
to Malinta, which stands at the summit of the hill. The crest was
torn up with intrenchments, but the Americans moved steadily for-
ward, yet no reply came from the hidden foe. They waited until our
troops were within 300 yards of them, and then the seemingly deserted
trenches belched forth a deadly fire.

The Twenty-second, which was in the advance, with gallant Colo-
nel Harry C. Egbert at their head, dashed at the entrenchments.
The Oregon and Kansas troops at the right and left were fighting
with great gallantry, but they were in the woods, while the men of
the Twenty-second were in the open, and as these heroes of Santiago
made that magnificent charge up the hill in the face of the deadly
fire of the insurgents, Colonel Egbert fell forward in his saddle mor-
tally wounded.

Close behind him struggling through the grass came General
Wheaton and his staff. The soldiers bore the litter with the dying
Colonel back, and, as they passed the General, he bared his head and

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CAFE AND CHOCOLATE FACTORY, MANILA

Chocolate and cocoa are the products of the cocoa tree, which was introduced early in the history of the
islands by missionaries from Mexico-

INTERIOR VIEW OF A CIGAR AND CIGARETTE FACTORY, MANILA

The chief manufacturing industry in Manila is that of making cigars and cigarettes. The Spanish

Government made this a State Monopoly during their ownership of the islands. The growth and

manufacture of tobacco is destined to be one of the greatest industries of the Philippines.

MALABON IS TAKEN ioi

gave a soldier's greeting to the dying officer. " It was done nobly,"
said the General. " I am done for, I am too old," gasped Egbert ;
and his words proved only too true, for the gallant hero of two wars
was dead before they got him to the rear. Thus ended a record of
continuous service as a line officer for nearly forty years.

Colonel Egbert was appointed a first lieutenant in the army from
civil life in 1861. He was taken prisoner at the Battle of Gettysburg,
but escaped and rejoined his command. He was severely wounded
in 1864 in the Battle of Bethesda Church, Va. In the Santiago
campaign he commanded the Sixth Infantry until shot through the
body on July 1, 1898, when he was disabled. For his distinguished
service in this battle he was appointed a Brigadier-General of volun-
teers, which grade he held until December 1, 1898, when, in the
reduction of volunteers, he was honorably discharged. He had been
promoted Colonel in the regular army on July 1, 1898, and was
assigned to the Twenty-second Infantry, whose Colonel, Charles A.
Wikoff, was killed at San Juan. The Twenty-second sailed for
Manila February 1st, and in this great charge, so similar to that up
the hill at Santiago, it again sacrificed its commanding officer to the
bullets of the foe.

The advance to Malinta was made over the Nivalichaes Rial.
The Filipinos fled along the railroad, burning rice mills, tearing up
the tracks and obstructing everywhere. They took refuge in the
church of Malinta and made a stand there, but the American troops
came on a run and took the place by assault.

MALABON IS TAKEN.

General MacArthur's division pressed on along the torn up rail-
roads toward Malabon, and at his near approach the insurgents set
fire to that place and fled back to Malolos as fast as they could. The
condition of the country was such that rapid progress was not pos-
sible, but with every step of the advance the Americans carried
victory with them. Try as they would, the American forces were
unable to carry out their plan of catching Aguinaldo and his whole
army between the two advancing lines. The Filipinos were able to
make more rapid progress than the American troops owing to their
familiarity with the country.

102 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

On March 27th, the American forces advanced from Meycauavan,
General Harrison Gray Otis leading his brigade on the left of the
railroad track and General Hale's brigade taking the ritrht of the
track. The resistance was small until the Americans approached the
Marilao River within sight of Marilao itself. Again the Filipinos
made a stand on the river bank, and when the Americans came near
they delivered an effective fire. The river was too deep to ford, and
the infranty consequently could not accomplish much. The fire of
the Filipinos was such as to lead to the opinion that they were well
trained soldiers, probably members of the Milita which the Spaniards
organized. The entrenchments of the Filipinos were a revelation to
our troops, and were found to have been designed by capable engi-
neers and constructed with care and thoroughness.

A BOLD CHARGE BY COLONEL FUNSTON.

Behind them the Filipinos did effective work, but when the
American field artillery came into action it put a dramatic end to the
battle. Approaching under cover of the bushes to a clear space not
more than sixty yards from the trenches, the artillerymen dashed into
plain view, shouting as though in full charge and prepared to fire.
Knowing the effect of our artillery the Filipinos were eager to quit
before they received a rain of shell. A hundred or more fled from
their trenches, while others remaining displayed a white flag and
shouted, "Amigos," (meaning friends). The infantry had been
chafing at not getting into action, and Colonel Funston with twenty
of his Kansas followers again jumped into the river and swam across
to the opposite side. They forthwith made a charge and captured
80 prisoners with all their arms. It was a foolhardy act according to
the books, but it made the name of Colonel Funston and his Kansas
Regiment famous all over the world. A lot of men from the Tenth
Pennsylvania also crossed the river and captured 40 prisoners.
Finally the town fell before the Americans. They were now but
eight miles away from Malolos, the insurgent capital, and everybody
was eager to press on to what they thought would be the final contest
of the war. But General MacArthur thought it best to give the
men a rest for a little while. Early on the 29th, he advanced rapidly
to Bocave, and at 11.45 he advanced toward Bigaa and at 3.15 in

ENTERING THE INSURGENT CAPITAL 103

ihe afternoon he turned toward Guiguinto, 3^ miles from Malolos.
There was some fierce fighting in the afternoon. Troops crossed
the river at Guiguinto by working artillery over the railroad bridge
by hand and swimming mules against fierce resistance.

AGUINALDO IN COMMAND.

During the fight Aguinaldo commanded his troops in person for
the first time since the war against our troops began. Prisoners who
were captured, say that officers stood behind the Filipino soldiers
with whips instead of swords and lashed the men to keep their posi-
tion. As the enemy fled they tore up the tracks of the railroad,
making the progress of our troops very slow.

During the approach to Malolos, General MacArthur and his
staff, while walking abreast of the line, ccme near losing their lives.
Everything was quiet when suddenly a shower of bullets came on all
sides from sharp shooters in trees and on house tops. These were
speedily dislodged. The march towards Malolos was rapidly accom-
plished.

ENTERING THE INSURGENT CAPITAL.

As the troops neared the outskirts of the city, General Hale's and1
H. G. Otis' brigades were stretched between the sea and the monn-
tains. The scene was a magnificent one ; the splendid line with its
waiving colors looked like a rainbow, and as it neared the outskirts
of the city a number of Filipinos bearing a flag of truce came out to
meet it. At the sight of the white signal of surrender, our troops
broke into cheers and song, but when our messengers approached,
the bearers of the flag of truce turned and ran back to their capital.
An instant pursuit was begun and our troops were received with
heavy volleys from the outskirts of the town. On the right the
jungle swarmed with little blue figures. It was the rear guard, pro-
tecting the retreat of the rebel army and destroying the railroad track
as they swept on.

The Americans camped all night outside the city. The Generals
held a council of war, for they believed that, on the morrow, they might
have to fight 20.000 men. The battle opened at daybreak with the
bombardment of the trenches in front, and for half an hour the shells
fell in a shower. From the huts natives threw knives at Kansas men,

104 THE TROUBLE WITH AGUINALDO

while showers of arrows flew on all sides. The right wing unbroken
advanced over fields and through streams, taking the main trenches
south of the city. They found them deserted. A few men came out
to meet the advancing line and informed the soldiers that the army
had gone by railway toward the interior.

The Kansas men led the left, and at the end of the main street
of the city they were met by a barricade of stones from which a hot
fire was poured by a few insurgents, but Colonel Funston leaping
from his horse and swincrino; his hat led the Kansas men over the
barricade and down the street with terrific yells, firing volleys as they
ran. But the town was deserted and there the victorious American
army rested and feasted, while the American flag flew over the
Government building of Aguinaldo's capital. The shattered army
had fled for its life into the interior, and Aguinaldo and his cabinet
had left two days before, and could not be found.

And for a time, at least, the backbone of the rebellion was
broken.

A FEW PROCLAMATIONS BY AGUINALDO.

It was evident, from later information, that Aguinaldo had
determined to stake all in an attack upon the American forces. He
issued several proclamations defining his position, on February 2d,
3rd and 5 th.

The first declares the Americans opened the fight, and calls upon
the Filipino Congress to sustain the Constitution. The second says:

"We have fought our ancient oppressors without arms, and we
now trust to God to defend us against the foreign invaders."

His proclamation of February 3rd says :

" I order and command :

" First — That peace and friendly relations with the Americans
be broken and that the latter be treated as enemies, within the limits
prescribed by the laws of the war.

" Second — That the Americans captured be held as prisoners of
war.

" Third — That this proclamation be communicated to the Consul,
and that Congress order and accord a suspension of the constitu-
tional guarantee, resulting from the declaration of war."

A few procLama tioNs sv ag uinaldo \ 05

Aguinaldo's proclamation of February 5th says the outbreak of
Hostilities was " unjustly and unexpectedly provoked by the Ameri-
cans," and refers to his manifesto of January 8th, publishing the
alleged grievances of the Filipinos at the hands of the army of occu-
pation, and the " constant outrages and taunts which have been caus-
ing misery to the Manilians," and refers to the "useless conference"
and "contempt shown for the Filipino Government " as proving a
" premeditated transgression of justice and liberty."

The rebel leader also refers to the former losses of the Fili-
pinos, but says " slavery is bitter," and calls upon them to " sacrifice
all upon the altar of honor and national integrity."

He insists that he tried to avoid, as far as possible, an armed
conflict, but claims that all his efforts were "useless before the
unmeasured pride of the American representatives" whom he
charges with having treated him as a rebel " because I defended the
interests of my country, and would not become the instrument of
their dastardly intentions."

Aguinaldo concludes with saying :

" Be not discouraged. Our independence was watered freely by
the blood of martyrs, and more will be shed in the future to
strengthen it. Remember, that efforts are not to be wasted that
ends may be gained. It is indispensable to adjust our actions to the
rules of law and right, and to learn to triumph over our enemies."

The attack upon Manila by the insurgents was made at a time
when the country was watching expectantly to see what the Senate
would do in the ratification of the Peace Treaty, which had been
framed in Paris. The day preceding the rebel uprising it looked as
though the treaty would not be ratified. The news of the slaughter
of our troops reached this country the day before the vote was to be
taken in the Senate. Immediately the whole nation was swept with
feeling. Everybody deplored the sacrifice of life, and everybody
looked to the Senate to see what the effect of the news would be.
When a vote was taken the Paris Peace Treaty was ratified by a
vote of 57 to 27, amid the greatest excitement.

The Peace Treaty was ratified by Spain, and, on April nth, the
last act in the Spanish-American drama was played. This formal and

final scene took place at the White House, and, curiously enough, it

io6 THE TROUBLE WITH AGU1NALD0

happened on the anniversary of the clay on which President McKin-
ley, in a Message to Congress, asked for authority to intervene in the
Cuban situation.

The final scene was the exchange of the ratifications of the
Peace Treaty. The French Ambassador, M. Cambon, handed Presi-
dent McKinley the Spanish copy of the treaty, handsomely engrossed
and bound in morocco. The President took from his desk and
handed to the Ambassador, who represented the Government of
Spain, the American copy of the treaty, also engrossed and bound
in dark blue morocco. Each bowed as the exchange took place, and
che ceremony so simple, yet so full of meaning, was over.

After the exchange of the ratifications, President McKinley
issued his proclamation, which reads : —

"Whereas, A Treaty of Peace between the United States of
America and Her Majesty, the Queen Regent of Spain, in the name
of her august son, Don Alfonso XIII., was concluded and signed by
their respective plenipotentiaries at Paris on the ioth day of Decem-
ber, 1898, the original of which convention being in the English and
Spanish languages, is word for word as follows :

(Here the full text of the treaty is given.)

And whereas, The said convention has been duly ratified on
both parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were
exchanged in the city of Washington, on the eleventh day of April,
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine.

" Now, therefore, Be it known that I, William McKinley,
President oi the United States of America, have caused the said
convention to be made public to the end that the same and every
article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good
faith by the United States and the citizens thereof.

" In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

" Done at the city of Washington this eleventh day of Apiil, in
the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine,
and of the Independence of the United States, the one hundred and
twenty-third. "William McKinley.

[seal] " By the President.

"John Hay, Secretary of State."

CHAPTER V

The Men Who Won Fame in Battle.

NOWHERE throughout the war was the valor of volunteers or
the heroism of regulars more strikingly shown, than in our
conquest of the Philippines. Far away from home, in a
strange land, among a strange people, cut off even from communica-
tion by any regular channel, these brave sons of the Stars and
Stripes faced heat and fever and finally the bullets of their foes to
bring victory to American arms both by land and sea. So striking
was their conduct in facing the rough chapters of a soldier's life, that
Major-General Merritt comments, in his report, of " the exemplary
spirit of patient, even cheerful endurance shown by the officers and
men, and this feeling of admiration for the manner in which the
American soldiers, volunteers and regulars alike, accept the necessary
hardships of the work they have undertaken to do, has grown and
increased with every phase of the difficult and trying campaign which
the troops of the Philippine expedition have brought to such a bril-
liant and successful conclusion."

He was particularly struck by the fortitude of General Greene's
command just after landing. It was encamped on a strip of sand
near the shore where " the greater portion of the force had sheltered
tents only and were suffering many discomforts, the camp being in a
low flat place, without shelter from the heat of the tropical sun, or
adequate protection during the terrific downpours of rain so frequent
at that season." As was usually the case, the hardships of inactivity
were much more trying than the dangers of battle. Men were willing

107

108 THE MEN WHO WON FAME IN BATTLE

to face bullets who found it difficult and irksome to bear up under the
routine work of camp in the hot tropical sun, with the food which a
soldier has to put up with, especially in a tropical land with the nearest
place of supply many miles away. But everywhere the gallant boys
of the United States showed their true metal, whether it was before
the raking fire of the Spanish, the treacherous bullets of the insur-
gents or the blazing heat and terrible storms of the Philippines.

The force which occupied Manila consisted of 470 officers and
10,464 men. These were drawn from all over the Union — the east,
north, south, and west joined hands and gave up the flower of their
men to champion the American corps. The troops were under
Major-General Wesley Merritt, and were made up in three expe-
ditions, the first of which left California on May 25, 1898, under con-
trol of General Thomas Anderson. It consisted of 115 officers and
2,386 men, the first United States troops to land. They arrived
sixty days after Dewey's famous victory of May 1st.

The second expedition left San Francisco on June 15th, and had
on board 158 officers and 3,428 men, in command of General Frank
V. Greene. The transports bearing this expedition arrived on
July 17th, and the wild shouts of those who had landed over two
weeks before, and those on board Admiral Dewey's fleet who were
impatiently waiting so that the decisive blow might be struck, greeted
the incoming vessels, and drove away any feelings of homesickness
which might have seized the boys on their way across the long
stretch of ocean.

The last of the transports to arrive was those leaving June 27th,
and reaching Manila on July 30th, in command of General Arthur
McArthur. He had with him 197 officers and 4,650 men. Five days
before this, General Merritt had reached Manila on the transport
Newport, which had on board the Astor Battery and others, and the
commander of all the forces had taken charge of affairs on the island.
Immediately upon his arrival, he was closeted with Admiral Dewey,
and the two went over the situation thoroughly and discussed plans
for the future. The landing of the troops was the first difficulty
encountered on the island, everything had to be taken in in cascoes
and dug-outs, and some of the boys had interesting experiences
wni'ie the operation was going <rx\

CONVENT AT MALATE SHOWING EFFECT OF SHELLS

This convent stands in front of Fori San Antcnio de Abad, and was wrecked by shells
in the battle of August 13th. The hottest fighting was dune around it.

THE PHILIPPINE PONY AND CART

Laige European and American horses are not found in the Philippines. Tne climate seems to be fatal to them
The small native pony, however, is remarkably strong for its size and has wonderful endurance.

THE LANDING OF THE TROOPS in

For instance, on the day the Astor Battery landed, it stormed
incessantly, and k> add to the gayety of the occasion, one of the cas-
coes containing the special ammunition for the handsome guns with
which Colonel Astor had equipped them, sunk before it reached land.
Consequently the battery was forced to remain out of action on the
first days' fight, and most of them had to swim in to reach shore.

Many were the deeds of daring done in the fighting which fol-
lowed the landing of the American troops, — deeds which called forth
commendations for special distinction from those in command. Many
more were the deeds which history will never record, and which
never will be known except among a few of those who witnessed
them. General Merritt, in his report of the attack upon Manila,
when the city was so easily taken, and the loss was so comparatively
small, comments especially upon the valuable work of his own staff
and his personal aids. He says : "Brigadier-General R. P. Hughes,
my Inspector-General at San Francisco, was especially noticeable in
accomplishing the instruction of green troops that came to the city,
many of them without arms, clothing or equipment of any kind.

" I desire especially to express my acknowledgments to Brigadier-
General Babcock, my Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff, for his most
valuable services from the inception of the campaign in San Francisco
to the close of the work at the present time. This officer is too well
known to require special mention of his services in any one direction.
He was at my right arm, not in the office, but in the field, and much
of the success that has attended the expedition is due to his individual
efforts.

" I desire especially to mention Major McClure and Major
Whipple of the pay department, who volunteered their services after
they had completed their legitimate duties, and performed excellent
service whenever called upon. Major McClure was especially im-
portant in his services immediately after the surrender, taking long
rides under my orders to the Spanish lines and bearing instructions to
them which resulted in effecting their withdrawal in such manner as to
prevent the insurgents from pillage in the northern part of the city.

"I especially call attention to the services of Captain Mott, as
mentioned in the report of Brigadier-General Greene. He was
cheerful, willing, intelligent and energetic in the discharge of the

H2 THE MEN WHO WON FAME IN BATTLE

multifarious duties imposed upon him in connection with our troops
and trenches during the rainy season, and in the final action showed
those rare characteristics which stamp him as a very superior
soldier." In speaking of the landing of reinforcements to General
Greene's troops, he says : " The landing was finally accomplished
after days of hard work and hardships, and I desire here to express
again my admiration for the fortitude and cheerful willingness of the
men of all commands engaged in this operation."

Too much cannot be said in praise of the bravery and skill as
commanders, of General Arthur McArthur, whose forces really bore
the great brunt of the battle upon the city, of General Greene and of
General Anderson. They in turn each commend those of their com-
mands who came under their individual notice for conspicuous
bravery. General Merritt tells of the work of the Colorado skir-
mishers who left the shelter of their breastworks on August 13th, and
advanced rapidly toward the Spanish line. They found that the
Spanish trenches were deserted, "but as they passed over the Spanish
works, they were met by a sharp fire from a second line situated in
the streets of Malate, by which a number of the men were killed and
wounded, among others the soldier who pulled down the Spanish
colors, still flying on the fort, and raised our own." Thus died a
hero, who is not even known by name in this report, and thus died
many others who faced the bullets of the Spanish guns for the sake
of the flaof which this man raised.

General Anderson pays this tribute to his men : " The opposi-
tion we met in battle was not sufficient to test the bravery of our
soldiers, but all showed bravery and dash. The losses show that the
leading regiments of the First Brigade — Thirteenth Minnesota,
Twenty-third Infantry, and the Astor Battery — met the most serious
opposition and deserve credit for their success. The Colorado,
California and Oregon regiments, the Regulars and all the batteries
of the Second Brigade showed such zeal that it seems a pity that they
did not meet foemen worthy of their steel."

Major-General Merritt pays particular tribute to the work of
General McArthur. He says, in his report : " The works of the second
line soon gave way before the determined advance of Greene's troops,
and that officer pushed his brigade rapidly through Malate and over

MA GNIFICENT EXHIBITION OF BRA VER V i r 3

the bridges to occupy Binondo and San Miguel, as contemplated in
his instructions. In the meantime the brigade of General Mc Arthur,
advancing simultaneously on the Pasay Road, encountered a very
sharp fire, coming from the blockhouses, trenches and works in his
front, positions which it was very difficult to carry, owing to the
swampy condition of the ground on both sides of the roads, and the
heavy undergrowth concealing the enemy. With much gallantry and
excellent judgment on the part of the brigade commander and the
troops engaged these difficulties were overcome with a minimum loss,
and McArthur advanced and held the bridges and the town of Malate,
as was contemplated in his instructions."

One of the instances, which has probably never before been
recorded, of individual bravery and sacrifice of life, is that of the
two sergeants of the Astor Battery, who met death in the splendid
and heroic charge upon the blockhouse just outside of Manila. Ser-
geant Holmes was charging up the hill, with Sergeant Crinnims at
his side. A bullet struck the latter, and he fell mortally wounded.
As Holmes bent over him to help him and was speaking to him, a
bullet entered Holmes' open mouth and with terrible force blew out
the back of his head completely. There was no mark at all where
the bullet entered, and the brave soldier fell dead at the feet of a
comrade whom he had stopped to assist.

On the night of July 31st, when the Spaniards, to the number of
3,000, made their first attack on the American troops, the Tenth
Pennsylvania Volunteers, Battery K, of the Third Artillery Regu-
lars, and Battery A, of Utah, displayed bravery that called forth the
highest plaudits of all who were in command. It was a magnificent
exhibition of what volunteers could do. The brave men from Penn-
sylvania and the First California Regiment never flinched under the
most glittering fire. The Utah Battery, under Captain Young, cov-
ered itself with glory. The men pulled their guns through mud, axle
deep. After the battle, General Greene issued this address to the
troops :

" The Brigadier-General commanding desires to thank the troops
engaged last night for gallantry and skill displayed by them in repel-
ling such a vigorous attack by largely superior forces of Spaniards.
Not an inch of ground was yielded by the Tenth Pennsylvania In-

H4 THE MEN WH0 W0N FAME IN BATTLE

fantry and Utah Artillery, stationed in the trenches. A battalion of
the Third Artillery and First Regiment California Infantry, moved
forward to their support through a galling fire with the utmost intre-
pidity. The courage and steadiness shown by all in their first
engagement is worthy of the highest commendation."

The attack of the insurgents upon our troops brought forth
more heroism and splendid behavior under fire. Captain Charles
King, who himself stands high on the rolls of valor, says, in describ-
ing the battle of his own men : " Let no man say the Filipinos can-
not fight ; they are brave and skillful. As for the California, Idaho
and Washington Regiments, and Dwyer's and Hawthorne's gunners,
words are inadequate." He also speaks of the gallantry of Captain
Otis, of Company A, First Washington, who " lost much of his
ear, but none of his nerve." In describing the death of one of the
gallant old heroes of the fight, he says : " General Anderson in per-
son led the attack in the direction of San Pedro, while the brigade
commander, with the Washington and Idaho Regiments, made
the dash on Santa Ana. It was about 8 o'clock. The fields toward
San Pedro were open and lightly held, but to the left of the road to
Santa Ana the insurgents had strono- redoubts, earthworks and
Krupp guns. They fought with obstinate courage and no little
skill, but their valor was of no avail against the determined rush of
the Washingtons and Idahos. Gallant old Major McConville, of the
Idaho, got his last order from the lips of the brigade commander as
together they rode across the bridge, and his death wound was
received leading his men into the attack. The fight was fierce in
front of the left win^. The insurgents held on to a redoubt in front
of Pandacan until our line had swept beyond the other flank. In the
dash upon this earthwork, Captain Fortman, First Washington, led
two companies across the stream, fording the Concordia, as almost
all the brigade had to, waist or breast deep. One of McConville's
companies attacked at the same moment from the right, and between
them the insurgents were driven into the Pasig, leaving forty dead
and many wounded."

The American troops seemed to enjoy the dangers of the con-
test. They drove the insurgents before them like a flock of sheep,
or as one burly Colorado fighter, who was discussing the capture of

A SERIES OF BRILLIANT COMBATS

the waterworks, put it: "It reminded me of a rabbit-drive on the
Colorado plains."

One of the things which caused the American troops to give no
quarter to their foes iri one of the fights, was the trip in which Dr.
Young, formerly Quartermaster-Sergeant of the Third Artillery, lost
his life. He was scouting and was captured by the insurgents, who
hacked his body to pieces and left it mutilated on the ground. The
sight of it aroused all of the fighting blood in the troops, and they
pressed forward to avenge his death with great zeal.

In the taking of Caloocan, a small town just north of Manila,
the Filipinos were routed with the most vigorous advance by the
American troops. One eyewitness of the fighting has this to say
about it : " Brigadier-General H. G. Otis holds the extreme left of the
American line from the bay near Cakiican. The regiments on the
line and in support are : the Twentieth Kansas, Colonel Funston,
eleven companies ; First Montana, Colonel Kerster, nine companies ;
Third Artillery, Major Kobbs, four batteries as infantry, and the
Tenth Pennsylvania, Colonel Hawkins, four companies. Two com-
panies oi the Tenth Pennsylvania are behind the walls of the De la
Loma churchyard. Across the ravine from the Montana regiment is
Captain Jensen's company, holding the stone fort supporting Grant's
Battery of four Utah guns ; a fifth gun is to the left and on the rail-
road, supporting the Kansas troops.

" To reach its present position the brigade has advanced four
times since Saturday in a series of brilliant combats on different parts
of the line of action, especially so on the 4th, 5th and 7th.

" Several bayonet charges were made on the 7th during the
advance of the ri^ht and centre. The taking- of the Chinese ceme-
tery on the 5th by the Montana and Pennsylvania regiments was a
superb piece of work. A brilliantly executed advance up the slope
in the open made a battle picture that would delight any veteran."

An individual exhibition of bravery has brought the name of
Major J. F. Bell, of the Volunteer Engineer Corps, to the front and
caused him to be particularly noticed in the report of General Greene
to the War Department. Just before the attack was made upon
Manila General Greene found it necessary to know the exact condi-
tion of the territory lying between the trenches of his troops and Fort
13

n6 THE MEN WHO WON FAME IN BATTLE

San Antonio cle Abad. The Americans, of course, were practically
unfamiliar with the ground around the city, and the only method of
finding out exactly the lay of the land was through the work of expert
scouts. Owing to the comparatively open nature of the land. Thic
work was more than usually dangerous, and every man who startec
out on it expected to sacrifice his life to the cause.

Major Bell, whose skill as an engineer, as well as his coolness
and bravery made him a valuable man in such an emergency, was
delegated to report to the General the exact condition of things
between the two opposing lines. Between our trenches and the forr
was a creek, the depth of which was a matter of doubt, and it was
debated whether it was necessary to build a bridge across the stream
or not. Under cover of the darkness, with Spanish sharp-shooters
lurking all about so that any false step might have caused the crack
of a rifle, Major Bell tested the creek right in front of the frowning
fort, and discovered that it was of such a depth that it could easily
be forded by the troops. He crossed the river, found out its exact
width, and then with audacity and bravery which showed the metal
of the man, he swam up the river to the bay and around in the very
rear of the Spanish troops, where he secured invaluable details which
led to an intelligent attack upon the stronghold of the Spanish.

This was but one of the numerous similar feats performed which
the demands of the situation called for. The low walls of the rice
fields, hardly more than a foot high, were sometimes the only things
that stood between the scout and discovery and certain death. Men
went for miles almost flat upon their stomachs, crawling like snakes
through the marshy rice fields, raising their heads just enough to note
the condition of things around them, ready for any emergency or any
danger.

One of the New York men, who was a member of the volunteers,
swam for miles around the forts of the enemy, facing what was almost
certain death, if discovered, with a zeal and cheerfulness that was
inspiring to all who heard of the deed.

The influence of the bravery of one man in command is illus-
trated by the following incident in which a captain turned what looked
like defeat into a splendid victory. While the first day's fight was
going on, Captain O'Hara, in command of the Battalion of the Third

A TIMELY BUGLE-CALL I1?

Artillery, was lying in his tent trying to get a little rest, lie was
unable to get to sleep, however, and he found himself involuntarily
keeping track of the firing of the men. He knew that they had but
fifty rounds of ammunition with them, and he realized that, at the
rate they were firing, this would soon be used up. He did not know
what the trouble was ; but he did know that if these men, who were
shooting from the trenches into the dark were attacked, they would
want help when their ammunition was gone, and they would want it
pretty badly, too.

As he lay in his tent, thinking over the situation, he counted the
volleys one by one, as they pealed on the night air, until they became
indiscriminate, and then he knew that the boys were getting rattled.
He had no orders, but he took a chance, and he took it just in time.
He sounded the assembly, and, as the bugle-call rang out over the
camp, the men of Battery H tumbled out of their tents and formed
into line, rifles in hand, and one hundred and fifty rounds of ammu-
nition at their belts. Down in the camp below, where the Third
Artillery was, a bugler heard the call and took it up. The\First
Colorado men heard it and swarmed out with their guns. Nebraska
followed suit, and soon half of the camp was in arms. Leaving Cap-
tain Hobbs in command of Battery H, with orders to be ready to
advance at the buele call and to brings ten thousand rounds of extra
ammunition, Captain O'Hara, with his orderly and his bugler, started
up the road toward the front. A little beyond the corner of the
camp he met another orderly coming on the dead run. The man
was blown and frig-htened. He had run through a rain of bullets
on his way back for help, and it had increased his excitement and
enlarged his notion of what had happened. " We are whipped," he
shouted to Captain O'Hara; "we're — ■" But O'Hara didn't care to
hear any more. His bugler was already blaring out the command,
" Forward I" Back in the camp the bugler of the waiting Captain
Hobbs answered the call, and all pressed up the road as hard as they
could go. All along the road the bugler sounded the cry of " For-
ward," and the men of Battery H, crawling up through the dreadful
mud, answered with a cheer and a fresh spurt.

Somewhere ahead O'Hara knew that his lieutenant, Krayen-
buhl, and his own battery were either waiting or already in action.

ttR the men who won fame in battle

He met men coming to the rear with the wounded, and some, too,
coming without wounded. " We're beaten," they shouted, but the
only response they got was the call of the bugler, " Forward." These
shame-faced stragglers fell in with the Captain, his orderly, and the
bugler, and little by little they gained in numbers as the)' went along.
Up the Camino Real they went with mud, ankle-deep, and the rain
pouring down in torrents, and all the time the bugle kept singing out
the single word, " Forward ", and every time it sounded the answer
came sharp and clear from Battery H, which was coming behind.

At the cross-roads and the first barricade, where Krayenbuhl had
been posted, there were only a few stragglers, and Captain O'Hara
knew that his lieutenant had swung into the rescue of his own
accord. Here they were overtaken by Battery H, and all together
lifted up their voices in a cheer that was carried down to the trenches.
There the hard-pressed Pennsylvanians heard it and it gave them
new strength. As the reinforcements were going along, Captain
Hobbs felt a sudden sharp sting on his right thigh. He put his hand
down and felt blood, and knew that he was hit, but he did not stop.

As the Captain surmised, Krayenbuhl, who had been keeping a
sharp watch out, had been impressed with the indiscriminate firing at
the front and knew that help was needed. So he piled in to give
them that help, sending a message over to Battery K, on his right, to
join in, in a hurry. They reached the Pennsylvania boys just in time,
for their ammunition had just about given out. Krayenbuhl, realiz-
ing that the boys were a little bit rattled, jumped among the excited
men, who were firing at will, and shouted to them to get together.
He threatened to shoot the first man who fired without orders. His
own men swung into action like clockwork, and this, with his personal
bravery, had the desired effect. The Pennsylvanians steadied down
as the first volley of these regulars, fired as though it was one charge,
rang out. That volley, too, reached the ears of O'Hara and Hobbs
as they were puffing along with their men. They recognized the
roar of the Krag-Jorgensen rifles, and they knew from the way they
were fired that the men behind them were regulars, and that they
were their own men in action. But O'Hara did not slack up, and his
men went risdit on, stimulated with the knowledge that thev would be
able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

THE CORDAGE FACTORY OF SANTA MESA

SUBURB OF MANILA.

One of the j^reat industries of the Philippines is hemp raisins, hut almost the entire product has been shipped to the United
Slates and England for manufacture. Many cordage lactones will no doubt be built in the islands under

America'* nroereccive rule.

THE FAMOUS SPANISH PRISON, MANILA.

What the Cubans suffered in Morro Prison, Havana, was fully equaled by the tortures of the Filipinos in the Rbove landmark

of Spanish cruelty in the East Indies .

DEFEAT TURNED TO VICTORY I2I

In the meantime the frightened courier had stumbled through
•the camp and finally, almost exhausted, cried out, "Somebody take
my gun ! Help me to General Greene ! We are whipped ! Oh ! its
awful ! " They almost dragged him over to General Greene's quarters
in a native hut just in front of the camp. The General was up ex-
pecting a message from the front. "General," said the wretched
courier, " send reinforcements, send every man, send every company.
We are whipped ; the whole battery is wiped off the earth, and we
are out of ammunition." General Greene put his hand on the
frightened messenger's shoulder and said steadily, "keep cool young
man ; it's all right ; we will send you help ; " and after a while he was
able to get a more explicit account of what had happened and sent
plenty of aid. But O'Hara's men had already turned defeat to
victory.

Here is how one fellow faced death. Private McIIrath, of
Battery H, who was acting Sergeant in command of 20 men, was a
first class soldier and had been in the army for fifteen years. There
was a good deal of confusion when his men jumped in the trenches to
help the Pennsylvanians, and so McIIrath stood up on a parapet and
said, " We have got them, now boys, get together and give it to them
in volleys," and while he was walking back and forth on top of the
parapet steadying the men in the trenches, and getting them to fire
together, he was hit in the head by a Mauser bullet, and fell back
among his comrades, to die in the hospital the next day.

Private J. F. Finlay, of Company C, First California, especially
distinguished himself. For such work as his, Englishmen get the
Victoria Cross. Finlay is detailed to Major Jones' transportation
department as interpreter. His mother was a Mexican, and he
learned Spanish before he did English. When ammunition was sent
forward Finlay was in charge of the train.' He had eight carromatta
loads of it, each carromatta with a native driver. He started when
the Spanish fire was hottest and went straight up through the open
fields. The bullets buzzed and whistled all about him. They ripped
through the tops of his carts, and one of them hit one of the drivers
in the leg. Finlay kept on as if he were going after corn on a pleasant
afternoon, until he reached the old insurgent trench. Then he halted
his train and went forward alontr to find some one from the Tenth

123 THE MEN WHO WON FAME IN BATTLE

Pennsylvania, to whom he could deliver the ammunition. That last
hundred yards into our trench was what Captain O'Hara, who has
seen plenty of hot work, called a " very hot place." It was swept
incessantly by Spanish bullets. But Finlay hunted around until he
found his man, went back and got his carromattas, and started for-
ward. One of his ponies was shot just in the rear of our trench.
Finlay took it out of the cart, and with a native driver, hauled the
cart along to its place, delivered his cartridges, and started back.

On the way he found Captain Richter lying in the field where
he had fallen. He jumped out of his carromatta, put the Captain in,
and started on. Pretty soon he found another wounded man. That
one was picked up too, and back he went to camp. Then he turned
the wounded over to the surgeons and grot orders to take ten carro-
mattas to the front and bring back the wounded. Back over that
bullet-swept field he went again, as cool and unconcerned as if on a
drive through Golden Gate Park, did his work, brought in the
wounded, and turned in to get what sleep he could before the hard
day's work began soon after daylight.

These are but a few of the heroic deeds which have reached the
ears of the public mainly through the reports of Commanders of the
Army. The list of dead and wounded upon the battlefields tells
its own story of the heroism of those who accepted death as pay-
ment for their loyalty to their country. That list is growing day by
day, so that the number of graves of the soldier dead is becoming so
large that their more fortunate companions have started a movement
for the erection of a monument to commemorate their valor. The
special burying grounds at Camp Dewey, and the portions of the
cemeteries in Manila which have been given over to the soldiers who
fell in battle are pathetic commentaries upon the courage with which
our men faced the Spanish and insurgent fire and disease. Even though
it is probable that the bodies of our dead will be removed to the
United States at some time, nevertheless, the movement for the erec-
tion of a monument in Manila to commemorate their deeds is being
vigorously pushed. It has been suggested that this monument be
erected on the Luneta, the great military parade ground. It is
hoped that the sum of $50,000 will eventually be raised.

CHAPTER VI

A Past History Written in Blood

Ever Since their Discovery the Philippines have been the Scene of Terrible Conflicts.
— They Began with Peace, but soon were Rife with War. — -Legaspi Fortified
Manila and made it a Stronghold. — The Raid of Limahong, the Chinese
Pirate. — Naval Battles with the Dutch for Half a Century. — England Takes
Manila, but Returns It to Spain.

THE history of the Philippine Islands is a history of bloodshed.
Their discovery followed close upon the discovery of America
by Columbus. The Spanish government, in order to stimu-
late the search for unknown lands, published a general concession to
all who wished to search for them. Many were the expeditions fitted
out, but few were successful.

The chief search was for rich spice islands which had hitherto
been undiscovered. A contract was made between King Charles of
Spain and Magalhaens, who is familiarly known as Magellan, by vir-
tue of which the latter started out on a voyage of discovery. On the
ioth of August, 15 19, the expedition started in the direction of the
Canary Islands. Magellan had many adventures, including mutiny
of his own men, before he finally reached and passed through the
seaway, which now bears his name, Strait of Magellan, dividing the
island of Tierra del Fueo;o from the mainland of Patagonia. This
notable event took place on the 28th day of October, 1520. The
expedition, which had formerly consisted of five vessels, dwindled
down to three, and these three, to their great satisfaction, found
themselves on the Pacific Ocean, the first mariners to find that the
Atlantic and the Pacific were joined together.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE PHILIPPINES.

Cheerfully they kept on their voyage of discovery. On the 16th
of March, 1521, the Ladrone Islands were reached. Here they had
trouble with the natives, who stole one of the ships' boats. — so

123

t24 A PAST HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD

Magellan named it " Robber Island," — and a bloody battle was neces-
sary before the boat could be regained. The fleet then continued its
course westward, and finally arrived at the mouth of the Buttean
River, on the island of Mindanao, and landed the first white man
upon the Philippines.

It was Easter week, and there, on the shore of this new land
which was to figure so largely in the history of their country, these
men of chance, who sailed in the hope of discovery without definite
knowledge as to what the day would bring forth, knelt down upon
the shore and celebrated the first mass of the land over which the
Church was thereafter to rule.

The natives were friendly, and did everything possible for
Magellan. He took formal possession of the territory in the name
of Charles the First, and then sought other islands nearby, to which
he was directed by the Chief of the tribes of Mindanao. So the
expedition arrived on the 7th of April at Cebu, where they were met
on the beach by 2, coo men in battle array. The reception, however,
was one of peace rather than that of war, and it was not long before
a compact had been made, in which the king of the island and all his
men swore fealty and obedience to the king of Spain.

The people of Cebu were at war with the tribes on the opposite
coast, so Magellan sided with his new allies, and went to war with
them. On the 25th of April, 152 1, he was shot by an arrow and
killed. Three monuments, one opposite the city of Manila, another
on the spot where he was killed, and the third at the city of Cebu,
where he landed, commemorate the three great events in his life in
the Philippines.

A MASSACRE OF SPANIARDS AT A BANQUET.

Thus the Philippines came under the rule of Spain. The com-
mand of the islands was assumed by Duarte de Barbosa, one of
Magellan's followers. Barbosa, with twenty-six of his companions,
was invited to a banquet by Hamabar, king of the island. At this
banquet the king killed all of his guests except one, and that one
was held for ransom from the other members of the expedition.
The exploring party, however, pulled up anchor and departed, leav-
ing him to his fate. They had been reduced to one hundred persons,

TO CONQUER AND CHRISTIANIZE fHEt ISLANDS 125

"ill told, and found that they were unable to manage all of the three
vessels, so one of them was burned at sea.

The expedition touched at Borneo, and finally reached the Island
of Tidor, which had already been discovered by the Portuguese, From
there the explorers returned home, where they were received with
great honor.

Several other expeditions were sent out by the king, but none
of them were successful, until 1543, when an expedition reached the
islands which they named Philippines, in honor of Philip, the son of
King Charles, heir apparent to the throne.

When, a few years later, King Charles abdicated in favor of his
son, that ruler determined to follow in his father's footsteps, and
annex territory by discovery, and inspired further by religious senti-
ment, he ordered an expedition to go to the Philippine Islands to
conquer and christianize its people.

TO CONQUER AND CHRISTIANIZE THE ISLANDS.

Urdaneta, one of the brave and fearless captains of a former
expedition, and a man who had fought under King Charles, but had
taken the habit of an Augustine monk, was entrusted with the
spiritual care of the races to be subdued. He was accompanied by
five priests of his order. The whole expedition, consisting of four
ships and one armed frigate, carried four hundred soldiers and sailors
under the command of General Miguel Lopez de Lagaspi. This
general was of noble birth, and had a reputation for piety, justice
and loyalty to the Crown.

The expedition reached the Philippines in the latter part of
January, 1565. It was resolved to land at Cebu, which was a safe
port. The vessels anchored off the port of Dapatan on Mindanao
Is'and, to the great astonishment of the ruler there. He sent one of
his subjects to investigate the vessels, and the man returned with such
an extraordinary account of how the men ate stones (hard biscuits),
drank fire and blew smoke out of their mouths, that the prince
thought it wise to be friendly.

From him Legaspi learned that Cebu was a powerful kingdom,
and considered rich by the neighboring states, consequently he re-
solved to take possession of it. He landed there on the 27th of
'7

i26 A PAST HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD

April, 1565, and, as the natives opposed his entrance, he took the
town by force and sacked it. It was no easy matter, however, to
continue there, for the surrounding tribes harrassed the newcomers
continuously, and finally a council was held to discuss the advisability
of leaving. General Legaspi decided to remain, and so the first days
of contest against the natives began, and from that time to this the
island has been a constant scene of trouble.

The work of pacification not only of Cebu, but of the islands
nearby, was steadily pushed forward by Legaspi. He was a man of
strength, and little by little he won the confidence of the natives, their
dethroned king accepted baptism, and his daughter married a
Spaniard.

AN ATTACK BY PORTUGUESE.

Then, in the midst of Legaspi's success, the rival Portuguese
sent an expedition to dispute possession of the territory. They
were compelled to retire, but Legaspi learned through that experi-
ence the necessity of being prepared for any emergency. He
accordingly built a fortress, marked out plots of land for Spanish
residences, and finally, in 1570, Cebu was declared a city, and
Legaspi was made Governor-General of all the lands that he could
conquer by royal grant from King Philip.

Legaspi sent his grandson, Captain Juan Salcedo, to the island
of Luzon to bring it under Spanish dominion. He went to the north
and was received with extraordinary friendliness by the chiefs of
Tondo and of Manila. They yielded up their territory, paid tribute
and became allies of the Spaniards, against their own people, and
apparently were not given anything at all in return. A treaty of
peace was signed and ratified by the exchange of drops of blood, as
was the custom in those lands.

Later on, one of these friendly young chiefs, whose name was
Soliman, ruler of Manila, repented of his bad bargain and led his
tribes in revolt. He set fire to his capital to prevent its falling into
the hands of the invaders, and was completely routed in battle by
the Spaniards. Salcedo pardoned him afterward, on his taking the
oath of allegiance to the King of Spain.

News of the trouble at Manila reached General Legaspi, and he
proceeded at once to that place. He took formal possession of the

THE INVASION OF THE CHINESE PIRATE -12J

whole territory, declared Manila to be the capital of the Philippine
Islands, and proclaimed the sovereignty of Spain over the whole
archipelago. He set the natives to work to fortify the place and to
build a large residence for himself and a church for the priests. He
also built one hundred and fifty smaller dwellings for the other Span-
iards who were with him. The City Council of Manila was organized
on the 24th of June, 1571, and on the 20th of August of the next
year, Legaspi died, leaving a name which will always live in Spanish
history. In the meantime Salcedo continued his task of subjugation,
and during the next few years most of the nearby tribes were made
subject to the domination of Spain. General Legaspi's formal suc-
cessor, as Governor, was Guido de Lavezares, who was appointed in
accordance with sealed instructions from the Supreme Court of
Mexico. During Lavezares' rule the Chinese pirate Limahong tried
to land upon the Philippines and conquer them. His acts against
traders caused him to be outlawed by the Chinese Emperor, and for
a long time he had been the terror of the Chinese coast. He hap-
pened to fall in with a trading junk, which had just returned from
Manila, and in his usual way he took possession of her, and forced
<he captain and his crew to take him back to the capital of Luzon.
Visions of wealth and pictures of how easily the islands might be
captured were before him. He got together a fleet of 62 armed junks,
having on board 2,000 sailors, 2,000 soldiers and 1,500 women and
sailed forth to capture and establish a new kingdom.

THE INVASION OF THE CHINESE PIRATE.

On the 29th of November, 1574 he arrived with his squadron
at the Bay of Manila, and sent a lieutenant at the head of 600
fighting men to demand the surrender of the place. But a strong gale,
•probably one of the terrible typhoons, sprang up and destroyed sev-
eral of his junks and about 200 of his men. He was forced by the
storm to Paranque, a village a few miles south of Manila. There he
landed and had no resistance until he came fairly to the gates of
the city. The marauders burned the residence of Martin de Goiti,
second in command to the Governor, and killed him, and the flames
and smoke which arose gave the first sign which the Governor had of
the approach of the enemy.

128 A PAST HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD

The Spaniards took refuge in the fort of Santiago, and just as
the Chinese were on the point of taking it by storm, some fresh troops
arrived, led by a Spanish sub-lieutenant. The Chinese, though they
were the vanguard of a large body of men, sounded a retreat. A
bloody hand-to-hand combat followed, and the Chinese fled to their
ships. In the meantime Limahong with reserve forces went off to
the capital by sea and attempted to take it. The city was set on fire
and a band of chosen men under Sioco, a lieutenant, advanced toward
the fort, and then a desperate contest began. Limahong supported
the attack with his vessels' cannons.

After prolonged fighting the Spaniards finally gained the vic-
tory, and the followers of the pirate fled, demoralized. Although
foiled in his attempt to take Manila, Limahong determined to set up
a capital for himself at the mouth of the Agono River, in the prov-
ince of Pangasinan. He announced to the natives that he had just
conquered the Spaniards, and they received him cordially, so that he
founded his new capital there and fortified it. The Spaniards soon
sought him out, however, and, as luck would have it, a force of Chi-
nese arrived, also seeking to discover the whereabouts of the pirate.
They united their forces, and Limahong, seeing that he was destined
to get himself into trouble, cleverly slipped away from his enemies
and fled. Thus ended the invasion of the Chinese pirate, and the
day of his flight is kept as a public holiday and gala day still.

The conquest of the natives was continued until the death of
Salcedo from the fever, on the iith of March, 1576.

THE BATTLES BY SEA WITH THE DUTCH.

Following upon some internal trouble as to the question of pres-
tige of Governor, Supreme Court, and Church in the civil affairs of
the colony, came the conflict with the Dutch. The latter sent vessels
which hovered about the waters of Moluccas Islands to take any
trading vessels which they could run across. In roving around, these
Dutch vessels were able to take many prizes, and the Philippine
colony lost large sums by the seizure of vessels sent to them by the
Mexican colony, upon which it was almost entirely dependent for
troops and European articles. So the Spaniards in the Philippines
began fitting out vessels to protect themselves against this naval

A MARKET MAN IN MANILA

This type of enterprising huckster marches up and down the streets and alleys of Philippine cities crying his

vegetables (very much as the familiar " Old iron, rags, copper, bones and bt ass! " collectors traverse

the streets of American cities) stopping at the doorways from which he may be hailed.

PHlL;Pr-ilNES.

This is the craft in which the country farmer conveys his product to market. The enormous size of the faithful watei
Buffalo may be judged by comparing it wil h the master who sits upon his back-

FIGHTING

.every native has his fighting cock, which lives and sleeps iu his house with hira, and is loved by the owner .j.s much as nis own
children. The Filipino will bet his last dollar on the issue of a battle between his own and another's game cock.

THE BATTLES BY SEA WITH THE DUTCH i.V

enemy. A fleet composed of several frigates, i ship, 6 galleys and
ioo smaller vessels, all well armed, was brought together. The fight-
ing men upon them numbered ioo Spaniards, 400 Arquebusiers, 1,000
Archers and Lancers, besides 100 Chinese to row the galleys. The
Chinese turned out to be a very important part of the expedition.
They formed a conspiracy to exterminate the Spaniards. They fell
upon them while they were asleep and massacred them. Eighteen
of the troops escaped by jumping into the sea. The Governor awoke,
and, hearing the noise, ran up on deck, where a Chinaman chopped
his head open with a cutlass, so that he died in a few hours. The
Chinese were afraid to venture below where the priests and armed
soldiers were, so they fastened up the hatches and escaped to Cochin
China, where the King and Mandarins seized the vessel and all that
she carried. This proved a crushing blow for the time, but other
expeditions against the Dutch were more successful, the most nota-
ble one being that under Juan de Silva, the Governor.

He sent out a fleet, comprising 6 ships carrying 70 guns and 2
galleys, and a number of smaller vessels, having on board over 1,000
Spaniards. They met the Dutch, and after a fierce struggle lasting
6 hours, they won a splendid victory, recovering plundered merchan-
dise to the value of $300,000.

In various years subsequently the Spanish of the Philippines and
these warlike Dutch vessels met on the seas and fought. The bat-
tles continued for over 50 years, during which time the Dutch did not
attempt to take possession of the islands themselves or their govern-
ment, but contented themselves with naval attacks, and with plunder-
ing the vessels which brought supplies to the Spaniards.

For some years the inhabitants of the Philippines were not
annoyed by foes from without, but the dissensions which arose be-
tween Church and State kept their history from being common-
place.

In the middle of the seventeenth century an event that proved of
importance to the Spanish in the archipelago occurred. The Tartars
invaded China and overthrew the Min Dynasty, the Chinese Empe-
ror being succeeded by the Tartar Emperor Kungchi, who had
brought nearly all the Chinese Empire under his control. There was
one Mandarin, however, who held out against him. His name was

1 32 A PAST HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD

Keuseng. He boldly asserted his independence, and flung- defiance
in the teeth of the victorious Tartar.

Me retired to the island of Kinmuen, where he fortified himself
as strongly as possible, and held out an offer of protection to any
Chinese who desired to help him in his fight against the Tartar rule.
So the Emperor issued an edict that no man should inhabit China within
4 leagues of the coast, except in those provinces which were knowr
to be loyal to him. This, of course, played havoc with the coast, and
all of the Chinese who had lived for generations by the sea anc
earned a living by fishing, etc., were forced to flee to the interior.

But the valiant Keusengr was not at all daunted. He turned his
attention to the Formosa Island, which was nearby, and at that time
in control of the Dutch. He had little trouble in taking the island,
which at that time had about 600 European settlers and a garrison of
2,200. The artillery stores and merchandise there were valued at
about $§,000,000. Keuseng had a force of 100,000, and after taking
the Dutch stronghold he announced himself as King of Formosa.
He sent Riccio, an Italian Dominican missionary, as an ambassador
to the Governor of the Philippines, ordering the latter to pay tribute
to, him or he would attack Manila.

The Spaniards, however, had no idea of yielding to the demands
of Keuseng. So they decided to concentrate all of their forces
in Manila, and in order to do that they demolished the forts on the
other islands and transferred their garrisons to the capital. That
brought the troops in Manila up to 100 cavalry and S,ooo infantry.

THE MASSACRE OF THE CHINESE OF MANILLA.

Everything was placed in readiness for the proposed attack, and
then the Spaniards began to suspect that the Chinese residents 0'
the city were getting up a rebellion, Therefore they did the besl
they could to incite them to some overt act, so that they might have
a pretext for their massacre.

The Chinese population prepared for self-defence, and finally one
of them killed a Spaniard in the market place, The Government
took this for an excuse, and suddenly opened up a terrible fire on the
people. Many of the peaceful Chinese traders hung themselves
through fear ; others were drowned in their attempt to escape by

ENGLAND'S FLEET REACHES THE PHILIPPINES 133

sea ; while still others fled and were able to reach Formosa, where
they joined Keuseng's army. About eight or nine thousand, how-
ever, remained in the city and held their ground. On these the
Spaniards turned their wrath, and for a time desperate fighting was
general.

It looked as though the Chinese were going to win the victory,
so the Governor sent ambassadors to offer terms. One of these
ambassadors came back to tell the Governor on what terms the Chi-
nese would return, leaving the other behind, who in his absence was
beheaded. This started a general extermination of the Chinese, and
the Spaniards swore they would kill every Chinaman on the island.
But as all the tradesmen and mechanics were of that race, the Span-
iards found that they were inconveniencing themselves, so finally they
desisted in their general slaughter and pardoned all who laid down
their arms.

While this was going on in the Philippines, Keuseng was pre-
paring himself to sweep down on Manila and capture it. He died,
however, before he could carry out his campaign. His successor was
more peacefully inclined, and he entered into a treaty with the Gov-
ernor of Manila by which they renewed their old commercial rela-
tions. Not long after, a rebellion arose among the former followers
of Keuseng, which resulted in the Tartar party obtaining possession
of the island and annexing it to China.

It was then that Riccio, the ambassador to the dead King, was
called upon to explain the result of his mission to the Philippines,
and he so presented things that the Chinese governmeat was satis-
fied, and did not take up the cause of their subjects, otherwise the
history of the Philippines might have been radically different.

England's fleet reaches the Philippines.

On the 1st of May, 1762, Spain agreed to unite her forces with
those of France against England, and war was declared shortly after.
England pushed her conquest of island territory with great strength
and rapidity, and among other things sent a fleet to the Philippine
Islands with orders to capture Manila.

The fleet arrived there on the 2 2d of September, and was made
up of thirteen ships in command of Captain-Admiral Cornish. They

131 A PA SI HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD

demanded the surrender of the city, which was refused, whereupon
Brigadier-General Draper disembarked his troops and a bombardment
and attack was begun. The whole force in Manila was about 600
men and eighty pieces of artillery, while the British forces consisted
of 1,500 men, 3,000 seamen, Soo Sepoy fusileers and 1,400 Sepoy
prisoners, a total of 6,700.

The office of Governor-General was being filled at the time by
Archbishop Manuel Antonio Rojo, who was temporarily acting in that
capacity. He was willing to yield the city, but a war party under the
leadership of a magistrate of the Supreme Court named Salazar
swept aside his authority and declined to surrender. Salazar, how-
ever, instead of bravely leading his men to battle, fled from the city,
leaving the war party to struggle along as best it could.

Two rich vessels which were about entering the port of Manila from
Mexico, laden with goods valued at $2,500,000, were captured by the
British. The fight began and was kept up in a lively way by artillery
for some time. The Archbishop's nephew was taken prisoner, and an
officer was sent by the British General with a small force to return
the young man to his uncle. Some of the natives fell upon the party
and murdered them all. The officer's head was cut off and the sav-
age natives refused to give it up. Consequently General Draper,
inflamed by this act, redoubled his efforts to prosecute a merciless
campaign against Manila.

BRITISH TAKE MANILA.

After a fierce struggle, in which defeat and victory alternately
perched upon the banners of the British, General Draper and his
troops entered the city on the 5th of October, demolished the forts
and overturned the artillery.

Terms of capitulation were offered and accepted. The fort was
delivered up to the British, and the British flag floated above the
walls. The natives, who had been imported by General Draper, were
plundering the city, so he had them all driven out, as it proved, so
that his own soldiers might pillage the place. He placed a guard at
the doors of the nunneries and convents to protect the inmates, and
then gave up the whole place to the victorious troops to plunder for
three hours.

GENERAL DRAPER ADOPTS A NEW POLICY :35

It was an awful scene, and the atrocities and bloodshed and mur-
der which took place then will forever blot the name of Draper in
history. The following day a similar scene was allowed, and it was
only when the Archbishop besought the General to have compassion
on the city that that officer restored order.

Draper then demanded the surrender of Cavite, which was
agreed to by the Archbishop and the magistrates, but the officer in
command of that place refused to comply. Later, however, he left
the garrison, and the natives plundered it.

When the city capitulated it was agreed that an indemnity of
$4,oco,ooo should be paid to the British, one-half in money and valu-
ables, the other half in treasury bills on Madrid. In order to raise
this amount heavy contributions were levied upon the inhabitants,
and, although the Archbishop gave up his rings and the cross which
he wore around his neck, and the Church gave up its silver plate and
ornaments, the amount raised only reached $546,000. The British
proposed to accept $1,000,000 in cash, and take the rest from the
cargo of an expected vessel, the Philipino, if she had not been seized
previous to the day of capitulation. Then every effort was made to
raise this million, but it proved unsuccessful. The day before the
city surrendered, a messenger had been sent away with $11 1,000 with
orders to hide it. An effort was made to get the money back, but it
had been placed in the hands of Franciscan friars, who refused to
give it up, and removed it from place to place. The British insisted
upon their claim, and sent troops to intercept the landing of the
cargo of the expected Philipino. These troops overran the country,
but were unable to secure the treasure.

GENERAL DRAPER ADOPTS A NEW POLICY.

Draper adopted a policy of kindness to secure himself in power.
He made a tool of the Archbishop, and issued a friendly proclamation
to the natives, saying that the King of England would not exact tribute
from them as the Spaniards had done. The Archbishop, at his instance,
convened a council of native headmen and of representative families,
and proposed the cession of all the islands to the King of England.

There was one man, however, Simon De Anda, who determined
to take up arms rather than yield to the British yoke. He declared

136 A PAST HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD

himself Governor-General of the island, and a number of his coun-
trymen upheld him, together with the Austin friars, who joined the
rebel party, and were a power in the land. A number of expeditions
were sent against Anda, but he managed to avoid any open contact
with them. It was decided to send an expedition out to Bulacan to
capture it. The convent there was fortified with three small can-
nons, and when the British vanguard came up it opened fire and
caused great havoc. When the British returned the fire, the natives
fled panic-stricken, and when an assault was made upon the convent
there was a terrible fight and great slaughter, and finally the invad-
ing troops proved victorious and took the place.

Occasionally the Lieutenant-General of Anda, whose name was
Bustos, appeared and manoeuvred about the convent, but did not dare
to make an attack. Finally, however, the British made a sally upon
him, and routed him completely.

A conspiracy was then organized among the Chinese in the
province of Pampanga against Anda, and the Chinese entrenched
themselves for slaughter. The clash finally came between the two,
with the result that Anda won the victory, and large numbers of the
Chinese were slain. Anda issued a general decree declaring all the
Chinese to be traitors to the Spanish flag, and ordered them to be
hanged wherever they were found. In consequence of this order
thousands were executed who had nothing at all to do with the war.

A PRICE PLACED ON AXDA's HEAD.

The British, harassed by Anda's troops without, were compelled
to take precautions against an uprising of the natives within the walls
of the city. Anda in the meantime, having obtained the treasure
from the long-expected Philipino was able to organize quite a respect-
able army. He harassed the British right and left, and a price was
placed upon his head by the British commander. In the meantime
Anda had been officially acknowledged by the King of Spain, and
therefore was given legal right to the position that he had usurped,
so that the British commander had to communicate with him officially
whenever occasion demanded.

The friars were busy inoculating the ignorant natives with the
idea that the British were infidels, and so persuaded the people that

TREA TY OF PEACE i \]

this was a holy war. They abandoned their mission of peace for
that of the sword, and once thereafter the British met with their
reverse in battle, having been caught in ambush.

TREATY OF PEACE.

While all this was going on news came from Europe that the
preliminaries of peace were going on, under the terms of which
Manila was to be evacuated by the British and given back to Spain.
Anda claimed that he was the proper person to assume control of
things, and one of his friends, named Villa Corta, sought the same
honor. The Archbishop who had surrendered the city died, and
Anda was acknowledged by the British as Governor. The other
rival factions, however, were not so easily set aside, and fierce quar-
rels ensued, which were happily ended by the arrival of a . newly
appointed Attorney-General from Spain, Don Francisco de la Torre.

After the signing of the treaty of peace in Paris the British
evacuated the city, and the Spanish flag was once more hoisted over
the fort of Santiago, and the day was made a day of general
rejoicing.

CHAPTER VI

Filipinos' Struggles for Freedom.

Periodically the Natives Turned under the Cruel Spanish Heel and Rose up in theh
Might. — Revolts against the Tyranny of the Church. — How a Flight of Sky-
rockets Tore Victory from the Hands of the Natives. — The Last Fight for
Freedom. — The Greatest of Insurgent Martyrs, Doctor Rizal. — His Dramatic
Execution a Few Years Ago. — Other Great Fighters for Freedom.

THE struggles for liberty of the natives form a most romantic
chapter in the history of the Philippines. Conquered by a
foreign foe whose civilization and power were such as to ena-
ble them to hold these barbarians in check, time and again they rose
up in their might to regain the liberty they had lost. Patriots, men
of finer mould than most of the natives, men who had a little learning
which enabled them to hold a place of influence among their own
people, inspired now and then ineffectual attempts to break the
shackles of subjection.

Philippine history is blotted with the blood of martyrs and
patriots who have sacrificed their lives in the feeble hope that their
country might be free. These uprisings began from the very first,
for although in the time of Legaspi the great chiefs of Manila and
Tondo submitted to the Spanish yoke, this did not imply a total
surrender of all of the islands of the archipelago — at least it did not
render them passive to the rule of the foreigners. Each separate
island, and each separate chief had to be brought into subjection, and
this kept the European forces busy from the moment they entered
into possession of the Philippines, up to the present day.

THE FIRST GREAT UPRISING.

In 1622, a great uprising and struggle for freedom took place on
Bojol Island. This was largely a struggle against the Church. The
Jesuit missionaries had taxed the islanders beyond their power to
pay, and had insisted upon their accepting forms of worship which

- - 141

142 FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM

they did not understand, and in which they did not believe. Their
own Pagan form of worship was more to their liking, and so one day
they rebelled and proclaimed their intention of regaining their liberty
of government, and especially of Church.

Then followed wild times of plunder, of fire and of battle.
Towns and churches became heaps of smouldering ashes, the images
within the sanctuary were defiled, destroyed and the remnants scat-
tered ; but the rebels could not win. The Governor of Cebu gathered
a large number of troops, who with superior arms and superior knowl-
edge of warfare, drove the insurgents like sheep into the interior of
the island, where they took refuge and fought in the manner of insur-
gents of later years.

BRUTALITY OF A PRIEST BRINGS REBELLION.

For over a century their attacks upon the Government were
spasmodic and disorganized, but in 1744 there was a more serious
rising of the natives, brought on by the high-handed acts of a Jesuit
priest named Morales. He was in the habit of arresting natives who
did not attend mass, and of punishing them as he saw fit. He also
exercised his functions as a priest as it pleased him, and once he left
the body of one of the natives to decompose, refusing to allow it to
be buried. In doing this he made an enemy of the dead man's
brother named Dagohoy, who organized a party for revenge. He
swore that he would pay the priest back in his own coin or lose his
life in the attempt, and what he swore to he did, for not long after-
ward Morales, the priest, was captured and executed, and for four
days his body was allowed to rot in the tropical sun.

Not satisfied with that, Dagohoy pushed forward his fight into
an organized strug-ale for freedom. Great numbers of the natives
Mocked to his standard, and for thirty-five years this army of insur-
gents harassed the government troops constantly, so that it was
necessary to always be on the alert against their incursions. The
expulsion of the Jesuits from the colony alone ended the uprisings,
and after that Dagohoy and his army submitted to the Spaniards,
and were pardoned.

Simultaneously with the uprising of the natives on Bojol Island
in 1622, there was an insurrection in Leyte, and the Governor oi

KILLED THE MOTHER OF THE REBEL LEADER 143

Cebu was forced to go to the assistance of the governor of that
island. The united armies forced the insurgent leader to the wall ;
he was captured and executed, and his head was placed at the top of
a high pole in the market place, as a warning to those who aspired to
break away from the Spanish rule. Some of the prisoners were gar-
roted, others were publicly executed with arrows, and still another
was horribly tortured by being burned to death.

Seven years later the province of Surigao in the East of Min-
danao Island turned against their conquerors. They burned churches,
killed priests and laid waste the territory for the space of three years
before they could be suppressed. Twenty years later, in 1649, an
attempt was made by the Spanish to secure troops for the arsenal at
Cavite, from the natives of Samar Island. This did not seem to
please the tribes there, so they rebelled, sacked and burned the
churches along the coast, and gradually increased in number and
power, until it was found necessary to send not only large forces of
troops, but armed vessels after them.

KILLED THE MOTHER OF THE REBEL LEADER.

The leader of the insurrection, a native headman named
Sumoroy, fled to the hills to escape capture. Not being able to lay
their hands upon him, the Spaniards captured his aged mother and
literally tore her to pieces in their fiendish desire to revenge them-
selves upon the insurgent chief. It sounds like the stories made so
familiar in later years in Cuba, where thousands of women and chil-
dren were sacrificed to awful atrocities, because members of their
families had dared to take up arms against the rule of Spain. But
Sumoroy reached his limit at last. He was able to withstand or
evade the attacks of his enemies, but like all such leaders he could
not avoid the treachery of his own people. He was betrayed and
captured, and in the manner of the Spanish at that time, was
beheaded, and his head placed upon a pole as a horrible example.

This, too, was the fate of another rebel chieftain ten years later,
who surrendered on promise of pardon, only to find himself a martyr.
These riots of 1649, as tne insurgents uprisings were then termed by
the Spanish, extended to other provinces. In Albay, in Masbate
Island, in Zamboanga, in Cebu, in Caraga and Butuan, many Euro-

144 FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM

peans fell victims of the fury of the insurgents. In the latter place
the Spanish method of dealing with the rebels was well illustrated.

The captain there offered pardon to all who would yield to the
rule of Spain, and the insurgent army, poor, half-starved and home
less, as most of such armies must naturally be, came in large num-
bers to accept the proffered friendship and pardon of the authorities.
The result is an old story in these days, when the Spanish idea of
honor is so well understood. Most of those who surrendered were
killed ; others were made slaves, and still others were sent to the
galleys for life.

In 1660 one of the most notable of all the native uprisings took
place. It seems that the people had been very much harassed by
the Spanish authorities, and placed in a condition which was little
better than slavery, though not actually such in name. They were
forced to do work without recompense, and finally they rebelled in
Pampanga. The revolt spread all through the country, and a cer-
tain Andres Malong declared himself King. Word was sent right
and left to the adjacent countries that the natives must revolt against
the Spanish, or incur the new King's displeasure. Consequently
three good-sized armies were formed — one of 6,000, another of
3,000, and another, commanded by King Malong himself, of 2,000
followers. As they moved on, they gradually increased in strength
and equipment, until finally they reached a total of 40,000 men.
But again history repeated itself, and a much smaller force of Span-
iards, better trained and better armed, routed them completely, and
the rebel leaders eventually suffered the same penalty of patriotism —
death. And so the roll of insurgent uprisings goes on from genera-
tion to generation, each decade furnishing- its new leaders and new
struggles for freedom, all ending in the same way, in annihilation
and death.

FIREWORKS MISTAKEN FOR SIGNAL.

Coming down to the end of the present century, we find daring
efforts still eoing on to win back freedom to the natives. The near-
est approach to success probably the insurgents ever had was in 1872.
Cavite, the stronghold guarding the city of Manila, was the centre of
the plot. Some of the native soldiers in the arsenal there were in
the conspiracy, and it was arranged that when everything was ready

T//M EXECtffioU OP M. RIZAL 145.

for them to strike the decisive blow on which they had staked their
all, a flight of rockets at night should announce the fact to all of the
tribes. But fate played a strong hand against the fighting people.
Nearby the arsenal of Cavite a throng of people gathered on that
day to celebrate one of the many feasts which mark the life of the
people. At this feast, as a sort of parting entertainment, fireworks
were sent off. The waiting tribes in and near Cavite, mistook these
fireworks for a signal that the time was ready to strike, and so they
unwittingly began the revolt without the support of their comrades
across the bay. They succeeded in taking possession of the arsenal,
and made an attack upon many of the influential Spaniards in the
city ; but before they could get any further, and before the other
troops could reach them, the government army had been called out
and soon retook the arsenal and made the struggling insurgents pri-
soners.

This ended the best organized and the most successful strugrg-le
ever made by the Filipinos, up to the time of the latest struggle,
begun in 1896. It was due, as indeed was all of the other uprisings,
largely to the oppressions of the friars, and to the taxes which were
laid upon the people by the Spanish.

THE EXECUTION OF DR. RIZAL.

This final struggle for liberty left a pathetic record of martyr-
dom, heroism and sacrifice. One of the central figures of its mar-
tyrs was Dr. Jose Rizal.

Dr. Rizal was perhaps the greatest man that the native uprisings
have ever known. Had he lived, he would to-day be the man of
power among the insurgents ; and had he lived, it is quite probable
that the natives would never have fought against the United States
and taken up arms against the people who offered them a new lease
of life, under new and free institutions, and, at the same time, the
protection of the greatest nation in the world.

The story of Dr. Rizal is, in the main, the story of every Fili-
pino patriot, and yet there is an added pathos in his romance, because
here was a man educated far above the rank and file of any nation ;
a poet, whose works will live forever in Philippine literature ; a man
of personal force and magnetism; an orator, an essayist, a historian

I46 FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM

of no ordinary ability; a man, whose crime was patriotism, whose
only offence; was the outpouring of a pent-up soul against the cruel
wrongs and the barbaric indignities which were inflicted, not espe-
cially upon himself, but upon his countrymen, who were dearer to
him than self.

This talented man, who is known among the Filipinos as "the
Talego Martyr," belonged to the tribe of that name. While still
young, he showed extraordinary gifts, and it was decided to send him
to Europe to receive his education. He went to Spain and to
France, and for some years studied hard and trained himself up, not
only as a physician, but for the position which he afterwards took as
the leader of his people and the foremost literary man that his island
has given to the world.

Burning beneath the treatment which his people received, he
turned his keen pen to writing essays against Spanish oppression.
He did not spare either priests, or officials, and for this he was exiled
to the island of Dapitan. But even in exile he did not cease his
writings in behalf of his countrymen. While there he met a woman
of Irish parentage, a Miss Taufer, with whom he fell desperately in
love. She, in turn, reciprocated the affection of this brilliant young
Filipino, and they were engaged to be married. Before the cere-
mony took place, however, Dr. Rizal was re-arrested and brought
back to Manila. From then on he was a prisoner, never knowing
liberty again. He was sent to Madrid and then brought back to
Manila, where he was sentenced to death, He was charged with
conspiracy against the government of Spain.

When it was announced that this brave young patriot was to
give up his life, Miss Taufer went to the Spanish officials and begged
that she might be allowed to wed Dr. Rizal, even though he had but
a few days to live. The officials granted her request, perhaps think-
ing that it would be little comfort to the man, and might add to the
terrors of death.

What a tragic scene was there, as the two young lovers stood
together and were wedded in the little cell, the barred windows of
which barely admitted light enough to show the features of the priest
who performed the ceremony ! The solemn words of the rites, which
seemed more like those of a funeral than of a wedding, almost stuck

THE EXECUTION OF DR. RIZAL 147

in the throat of the priest as he proceeded. Together the bride and
groom waited for the summons to come. It came all too soon. Dr.
Rizal was led away to the execution, which was to take place on the
Luneta, the chief promenade of the city. Like all of the execu-
tions, it was a great public event — almost a festival. Thousands of
people gathered around to see this frail young man, whose courage
was great and whose conviction and patriotism were strong, stand
up before his executioners and give his life, a martyr to his cause
and to his people.

Rizal displayed great fortitude to the end. He dressed with
care, and walked composedly between two priests to the place where
he was to be shot. Upon his arrival in the centre of the plaza, he
recognized several of his friends in the vast crowd of people and
spoke to them cheerfully. Eight native soldiers made up the firing
party. Rizal looked at them carefully, and seemed to take a fare-
well gaze at the sky and the familiar scenes around him, before he
knelt down, about ten feet from the muzzles of the rifles. He kissed
the crucifix, and, with his eyes fixed upon the rippling, sunlit waters
of the bay, he received the volley of eight bullets in his back,
dying instantly.

Another bullet was put into his body, to make sure that life was
extinct, and then the band struck up a lively air, and the crowd, some
with curiosity, others with veneration and sadness, passed by the
prostrate figure, and the romance of the life of Jose Rizal was
ended.

His widow, fired with revenge, set off on foot to the rebel camp
at Imus, where she was hailed as a modern Joan of Arc. She
assumed command of a company of insurgents and took the field,
winning more than one splendid victory. Later she determined that
she could be of more assistance to the cause by personally appealing
for financial aid among sympathizers. She came to this country, and
appeared in leading circles at Philadelphia, New York, Chicago and
other places.

The farewell thoughts of this hero and martyr, Dr. Rizal, are
interesting. The night before his execution he wrote them down in
a poem on Spain, which is still preserved in the insurgent archives.
The translation i<j as follows •

148 FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM

Farewei,, adored fatherland ! Our Eden lost, farewell !
Farewell, O sun-lov'd region, pearl of the Eastern sea !
Gladly I die for thy dear sake ; yea, thou knowest well
Were my sad life more radiant far than mortal tongue could tell
Yet would I give it gladly, joyously for thee.

On blood-stained fields of battle, fast locked in madd'ning strife,
Thy sons have dying blest thee, untouched by doubt or fear.
No matter wreaths of laurel ; no matter where our life
Ebbs out, on scaffold, or in combat, or under torturer's knife,
We welcome Death, if for our hearths, or for our country dear.

I die while dawn's rich Iris-hues are staining yet the sky,
Heralds of the freer day still hidden from our view
Behind the night's dark mantle. And should the morning nigh
Need crimson, shed my heart's blood quickly, freely, let it dye
The new-born light with th' glory of its ensanguined hue.

My dreams when yet were ling' ring my childhood's careless years,
My dreams, my hopes, when vigor pulsed in my youthful heart,
Were that one day, gem of the East, thine eyes, undimmed with tears,
Might darkly glow, that I might see unwrinkled, free from fears
Thy lofty brow wherefrom for aye all blushes should depart.

Hail unto thee, dreams of my life ! My dying soul doth cry
All hail to thee ! And ye I hail, my aspirations deep
And ardent ! Oh, how sweet it is to fall beneath thy sky,
To die that thou mayst live, and, for thy welfare high,
In thine enchanted bosom eternally to sleep!

If on my grave, midst the thick grass, thou shouldst see spring one day

A simple, humble flow' ret, Life victor over Death,

Sweet symbol of my loving soul, ah, kiss the dew away.

Approach to it thy gentle lips, that in my tomb I may

Feel on my brow thy tender sigh, the soft warmth of thy breath.

Let o'er my grave the placid moon shed its soft tranquil light ;
Let cool dawn's fleeting splendor shine on my resting place ;
Let the deep murmur of the wind caress it in the night ;
And if above my lonely cross it stay its restless flight,
'Twill breathe a prayer of peace and chant a canticle of grace.

THE FAREWELL THOUGHTS OF DR. RIZAL x49

Oh, let the rain rise pure to Heav'n beneath the sun's hot rays
And carry to the throne of God my loving, lasting request.
Let friendly soul's weep for my end, and in the after days,
On evenings clear, when o'er my tomb some gentle being prays,
Pray also thou, O Fatherland, for my eternal rest.

Pray for all those who died alone, betrayed, in wretchedness,
For those who suffered for thy sake torments and misery,
For our poor, loving mothers' hearts, who weep in bitternes,
For widows, tortured captives and orphans in distress,
And pray for thy dear self that thou may'st finally be free.

And when dark night enshrouds in gloom the silent cemetery,
When but the lonely dead are left watching by the sea,
Disturb not their repose, nor dispel the mystery,
Perchance then shalt thou hear cither or psaltery
Well tuned, 'tis I, my country dear, 'tis I singing to thee.

And when the memory of my grave has faded from the mind,
When my tomb bears no cross nor stone to mark where I lie dead,
Plough o'er the spot, turn up the earth, and scatter to the wind
My ashes ere they turn to naught ; let them go unconfined
To form thy rolling meadows and flower-covered glade.

No matter, then, if all forget; still, still shall I be near;
Still shall I breathe thy od'rous air, still wander in thy ways,
And dwell in space, a thrilling note loud-sounding in thine ear ;
I shall be perfume, light and shade, sound, color, refrain clear,
Telling forever of my faith and singing thy dear praise.

Farewell, adored country ! I leave my all with thee,
Beloved Filipinos, whose soil my feet have trod,
I leave with thee my life' s loves deep. I go where all are free ;
I go where are no tortures, where th' oppressor's power shall be
Destroyed, where faith kills not, where He who reigns is God.

Farewell, my parents, brothers, all friends of my infancy,
Dear fragments of my heart, once to my bosom pressed
Round our lost hearth. Give thanks to God in glad tranquillity
That after day's long, weary hours I sleep eternally;
Farewell lov' d beings, stranger sweet ; to die is but to rest.

Jose Rizal.

I50 FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM

Another insurgent leader, who was executed in Manila for the
part he took in this same uprising, was Francesco Venezuela. He
was a mestizo (half-caste) by birth, but educated himself far beyond
the others of his class. He became one of the great factors in the
struggle, and in his house the great uprising was planned. He made
one fatal error, however. He wrote to the Premier of Japan, know-
ing that that nation had long coveted the Philippines, and asked for
aid against the Spanish, at the same time disclosing the plans of
organization, and promising rich spoils in the division of territory.
This communication somehow or other found its way back to the
Spanish Governor, and it is said that the aid of the Church was
sought, and that Venezuela's wife was so influenced by the priests at
confessional that she finally told the secrets of the insurgents and
betrayed her own husband.

Venezuela was taken prisoner with three others, who were with
him in his home. They were tried, condemned, and executed. Just
before the fatal volley was fired, the secretary of one of the officers
of Spain approached Venezuela, and, holding a paper before his eyes
so that he might read it, said : " Sign this and your life shall be
spared, with safe conduct to any foreign country you may wish." The
paper was a promise to disclose the names of the leaders who were
associated with him in the uprising, their source of supplies and
their plans. Venezuela drew himself up and said, " Was it for this
that you have postponed your holiday ? You need not have done so ;
you may kill me now, for you will have many more to deal with. This
is but just the beginning," and so he and his three silent comrades, to
each of whom this offer of life was made, turned to death like brave
men.

The first volley did not kill Venezuela, and so volley after volley
was ordered, until all of the bodies were filled with bullets. Then, as
if to clinch the horrors of the whole spectacle, one of the soldiers ad-
vanced, and placing the muzzle of his gun against Venezuela's head,
literally blew his brains over the ground.

HORRIBLE ATROCITIES OF THE SPANISH.

The atrocities of the Spanish during this last terrible struggle
for independence are too horrible to contemplate. The instruments

THE TERRIBLE " BLACK HOLE" OF MANILA 151

of torture used during the Spanish Inquisition three centuries ago,
which had been kept in the monasteries of Manila, were brought out
and used to extort confession from insurgent prisoners. More than
3,000 suspects were maltreated or hurled into the famous " Black
Hole" of Manila.

An eyewitness described the treatment of prisoners, as follows :
" The prisoner is taken before the military court, bound with cords
that cut into the flesh, and subjected to examination. If his answers
are not satisfactory — and they ordinarily are not, unless guilt is con-
fessed— he is taken to the torture chamber. After being stripped, he
is first subjected to whipping with rattans, two hundred blows or more
if the victim is especially obstinate. If this is not successful, thumb-
screws are brought into play, and the poor wretch, already half dead
from the beating, is obliged to undergo the exquisite pain of these
little instruments. These torturing machines are the same as actually
used in the days of the Inquisition. This programme of torture is
well known to be a fact ; the natives add more tortures to it. They
say prisoners are placed against a board wall and small nails are
driven through each finger, holding the arms out as in a crucifixion,
until the sufferino- man cries out a "confession." In other cases the
suspects are so bound as to be unable to move from one position.
Water is so arranged above them that drop after drop falls on their
heads, causing great torture."

THE TERRIBLE " BLACK HOLE " OF MANILA.

Another of the leaders of the insurrection tells of the awful
" Black Hole" of Manila, which was a small dungeon under the bas-
tions of San Sebastian Intra Muros. The room was forty feet square,
sloping steeply towards the sea. At the time he was in it there were
one hundred and sixty-nine prisoners in that little place, huddled
together like rats. In the roof was a grated hole three feet square ;
on the floor, on the lowest side next to the sea, there was another
hole. These were the only means of ventilation. The prisoners
nearest the grating could barely breathe, and the others panted like
dogs and tore their clothes in the effort to keep from falling dead
under the smothering heat. Every once in a while the grating in
the ceiling above would be opened and a man, more dead than alive,

152

FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FRI.'^OM

would be hurled in upon the living mass below. The Spaniards
seemed to enjoy watching these human rats sway and crush each
other beneath the grating, and they came, now and then, to watch
them, laughing at their death strurrcrles.

During the day one of the men was taken out, only to be thrust
back sometime afterward with his eyes gouged out and his feet
gashed and burned with fire. His brother, who was also a prisoner
there, looked at him in frenzy, and the next time the grating was
opened he sprang up on the backs of the other prisoners and grabbed
the neck of a Spanish lieutenant who was peering in. Several Span-
ish soldiers came running to the help of their comrade. They used
their swords freely, but the man hung to the officer like a demon, and
then finally they thrust their swords deep into the prisoner's chest
and, as he fell back on his horror-stricken fellows below, the lieutenant
whom he had seized, groaned and expired. He had been choked to
death. As the day wore on, the men became crazed and trampled on
each other in their effort to °fet air. When nisjht fell, the tide of the
ocean rose inch by inch until it reached the grating down at the end
of the room. The sea-water beean comincr in, and those who had
not been suffocated now faced the terrors of drow "<ig. It was a
night of awful torture. In the morning it was found that fifty-four
men had been smothered to death or drowned ; twenty others were
so far gone that they could not recover. The prisoner who tells this
story of horror feigned death and was taken out with the others, and
managed eventually to make his escape.

But still the revolution went on, under the leadership of Emilio
Aguinaldo. The method of fighting which the insurgents adopted
was such that it was possible for the contest to be continued indefi-
nitely and at great cost to the Spaniards. The insurgents had no
money and needed little. They had sympathizers all over the coun-
try and lived from hand to mouth, half starved, half clothed and
almost without ammunition, but in their guerilla warfare they were able
to keep the Spaniards constantly harassed. Several important bat-
tles were fought, and many of the insurgents met the fate of Dr.
Rizal through execution. Finally, the Governor-General of the
islands decided that it was cheaper to buy out the insurgents than
to fight against them, and so Aguinaldo and his fellow leaders of the

OTHER INSURGENT LEADERS

153

insurrection sold out their countrymen for $800,000, $400,000 of
which was deposited in a bank in Hong Kong in cash, and the
remainder was to be given to Aguinaldo later.

This ended the war — not a very creditable or honorable ending
to a struggle for liberty, but one which shows some of the insurgent
leaders in their true light as men who are willing to barter away any-
thing for gold, and men who are in insurrection for business purposes.
'Aguinaldo and his fellow, under the terms of the sale of their coutry-
men's freedom, promised to leave the country and return no more.
They went to China and there got into a wrangle about the division
of the spoils, which almost got into court, but was finally settled
outside.

The remaining $400,000 was not paid up at the time of the
advance of Admiral Dewey upon Manila, so Aguinaldo, notwith-
standing the fact that he had already received half of the amount
specified, thought he was absolved from the terms of the contract
calling for his staying out of the country, and, hoping that by follow-
ing in the wake of Dewey's guns he might profit in some way, he
returned to Manila, was placed at the head of the insurgent army
once more, and to-day is a great figure in the insurgent life of the
Philippines, a traitor to his own. countrymen, a traitor to the Ameri-
cans, who befriended him, a soldier of fortune without honor.

OTHER INSURGENT LEADERS.

The insurgents of to-day have among their rank a number of
young natives who have had the benefit of a good education and who,
consequently, are able to handle their ignorant brethren with much
skill. Tedoro Sandica, who has been made the Minister of Interior
of the so-called Revolutionary Government, is a civil engineer, who
learned his profession in England and studied for some time in Bel-
gium. He was staying in Hong Kong, an exile from his country,
when Dewey landed there, and he was allowed to return to Manila
on one of Dewey's vessels. A cousin of Aguinaldo, by the name of
Baldomero Aguinaldo, is one of the prominent leaders of the insur-
rection, and has been since its beginning. He has the rank of gen-
eral, and has recently been made Minister of War in the new govern-
ment. He is said to be a large landowner at Cavite. Gregorico

I54 FILIPINOS' STRUGGLES FOR FREEDOM

Gonzaga is another well-known patriot, a lawyer of some ability, who

used to have charge of Filipino affairs at Hong Kong, and beloie
that occupied a position of trust under the Spanish government, hav-
ing been Attorney-General for the Spanish in Yisayas. Other leaders
among the insurgents are Leanclro Ibarra, who is Secretary of the
Interior, and Mariano Trias, who is Secretary of Agriculture, under
Asruinaldo.

Senor Felipe Agoncillo, whose unsavory career in the United
States brought him into much prominence, is another of the leading
lights connected with the last uprising and now influential in the new
government. He, too, has a good European education, was in con-
trol of the Junta at Hong Kong for some time, and then was given
the important mission of coming to America and trying to look after
the affairs of the Filipinos in this country. He is a man of strong
individuality and much ability in many ways.

Such, briefly, are some of the men who have been closely identi-
fied with the efforts of the Filipinos to regain the liberty which they
lost so lonof aeo, and which will never be theirs as a self-ruling, inde-
pendent nation. To them has come a new liberty, a liberty of which
they know nothing, a liberty that is personal freedom under staole
government without oppression and without disgrace, a libcixv wmcr.
America alone could <dv(i.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Great Value of the Philippines

Why all Nations Yearn for what the United States has Won. — Importance from the
Strategic Standpoint. — Immense Wealth and Resources. — Exports amounting to
over $20,000,000. — Rich in Sugar, Rice, Hemp, Coffee, and Cocoa, Spices,
and a Host of other Things. — Untold and Untried Mineral Resources.

EVERY nation in the world envies the United States its posses-
sion of the Philippines. There is no power in the eastern hemi-
sphere, which would not jump at the opportunity to possess
this land of wealth, which, besides its intrinsic value, is tenfold more
precious because of its situation. It is the key to the great commerce
of the far East, which is slowly opening up, year by year, and which,
in the future of the new China, will become a great factor in the
commercial life of every country of the globe.

A's a station in time of war it is unsurpassed — perhaps the best
in the Pacific Ocean — and fortified and guarded, it will be invaluable
to the United States as long as she possess it.

The islands themselves are filled to overflowing with riches, the
full extent of which is little dreamed of to-day.

Spain has always kept her colonies from improving their natural
resources and turning them into gold, except inasmuch as they hap-
pened to personally enrich the Governor-General and other Spanish
officials. There was little chance for energetic foreigners who were
willing to put capital into business to gain a foothold there. Spain
met them at the gate, and when it found what th_ir intentions were
it slammed the "-ate in their face. However some large firms raan-
aged to establish places of business at Manila and in some of the other
larger towns, and these, mostly Englishmen, are a great power in the
city.

THE TRADE OF THE ISLANDS EXCEEDED $44,000,000.

Notwithstanding the embargo placed upon the trade of the
Philippines with other nations, the statistics show that at high-

i55

I56 THE GREAT VALUE OF THE PHILIPPINES

water mark, which was in 1880, their exports and imports amounted
to $44,042,815. Official statistics in regard to the foreign commerce
of the islands are not available for the years subsequent to 1S94, and
estimates since that time are based on reports of other countries in
Bata, procured by consular officers and merchants of Manila.

In 1S94 the total trade was worth $30,792,559, of which $14,-
250,717 were imports and $16,541,842 exports. These figures are
unusually small compared with the official values of preceding years.
In the period between 18S0 and 1894 the average annual value of
commerce was as high as $37,566,005. Many fluctuations occurred
within this time, but taken as a whole there was a noticeable decline
in trade. It is probable, however, that this decline was not a decrease
in the quantity of the merchandise handled, but in the price, which fell
off considerably.

The distribution of the Philippine commerce among the various
foreign countries of the world is a matter of great interest. Taking;
the year 1893, which is the last year in which there are official statis-
tics available, it is shown that nearly 85 per cent, of the entire import
and export trade of the islands was divided among four countries,
England, China, Spain and the United States. Out of a total of
$38,073,725 England had $14,207,832, or 37.32 per cent, of the
total ; China is credited with 1S.66 per cent., the value being $7,104,-
iii, most of which went to Hong Kong; Spain had $7,024, 128, or
1S.45 Per cent., while the United States had $5,951,603, or 10.38 per
cent. ; Germany only had 3.32 per cent, and France 1.89 per cent.

Manila is rich in agricultural products. Hemp and sugar form
the leading staples of the island, and these are the principal factors in
their trade ; in fact together they make up 75 per cent, of the total
export valuation. After these are leaf tobacco, cigars and cigarettes.
At one time coffee was also one of the leading exports, but there has
been a great decline in its production, because of the ravages of an
insect which laid waste the coffee groves. But these are not all.
Rich woods, oils, rice, cocoa, spices, indigo and many other things
flourish on the island, and if properly encouraged would yield rich
returns to the investor.

Recognizing what a splendid field the Philippines offer in the
line of agriculture, the Secretary of Agriculture, James W. Wilson,

UNCLE SAM EXAMINES HIS NEW POSSESSIONS 157

on behalf of the Government of the United States, sent commis-
sioners over there to see what the future promised for the agriculture
of the islands. The commissioners returned enthusiastic for the new
land and talked of it as though it were a veritable Klondike, as yet
undeveloped, but having hidden in it fortunes for those who know how
to bringr them forth.

In the years before so many colonies were opened up in all
parts of the world, there were a few who went to the Philippines
and made large fortunes out of sugar and hemp, but more recently
there were hundreds of people who started out to make money with
only one-tenth of the capital necessary to run the places which they
had. Consequently they soon fell into the hands of money lenders,
so that they barely were able to earn an honest living from large
estates which were mortgaged up to the hilt, and were really owned
by the men who advanced money on them.

The value of sugar cane land depends largely on its nearness to
a port, on the condition of the sugar market, on the quality of the
soil, on its situation in the island, and on a thousand and one other
things. For instance, in the province of Bulacan, which is near
Manila, land which yields on an average of twenty-one tons an acre is
worth $115, because of its nearness to the capital. In Pampanja
province, which is not very much farther away, better land, yielding
about thirty tons an acre, is worth only $75 ; still further north, in
the province of Neuva Ecija, where it is difficult to get the sugar to
market, land which will yield thirty-five tons of sugar to the acre can
be bought for about $30. This gives an indication of how money
might be made by the introduction of railroad and other facilities for
transportation.

The finest sugar cane producing island in the Philippines is Ne-
gros, in the Visaya district. In size it is equal to Porto Rico, but
only half of it is opened up, simply for want of capital. Some appre-
ciation may be had of exactly what that means, when it is known that
this island, handicapped as it is, produced in 1889 about 80,000 tons
of raw sugar. The yield of sugar cane may be estimated roughly at
from thirty to forty tons an acre, and the price varies from $35 to $70
an acre. The sugar from Iloilo is chiefly exported to the United
States, where there is demand for raw material only, while from

158 THE GREAT VALUE OF THE PHILIPPINES

Manila a certain quantity of refined sugar ready for consumption is
sent to Spain. Consequently they have some high-class European
machinery in the latter place, while in the former many rough mills,
such as were introduced by the Chinese, are still in use.

According to those who have carefully looked into the matter,
the output of sugar could be very largely increased if intelligent care
were directed to the seasons. A great deal of sugar is lost by delay
in various branches of cutting and milling and planting. An estate
turning out five hundred tons of sugrar is considered a lar^e one. In
the northern Philippines the plantations are worked on the co-opera-
tive principle. The landowner divides up his estate and sublets it to
a tenant on shares ; in the southern plantations the system is different
— men are paid by the day for their work. The total export of sugar
between 1886 and 1890 averaged 381,068,699 pounds a year. The top-
notch was 444,626,218 pounds in 1889.

Next to sugar, rice is most generally cultivated, although not so
largely exported. It is the staple article of diet of the native, and is
grown everywhere. Notwithstanding this fact, however, the supply
is very much smaller than the demand, and large quantities have to
be imported to supply the natives with sufficient for food. This is
due partly to the fact that it pays better to use the land for sugar
cane than for raising rice, and many of the owners of plantations have
converted their property, formerly used for rice, into the raising of
sugar. There are very few machines for successfully cleaning the
rice, owing to the fact that any machinery which is good for one
variety of rice would not be suitable for another, and there are so
many different varieties, that the loss in the end would be greater
than the gain.

The number of different kinds of rice paddy is estimated at
twenty. The Macan or low land rice is much finer in quality than
the others, and usually very white. There is rarely more than one
crop a year obtained of this rice, while of the poorer qualities as many
as three crops can be secured. The seed of the lowland rice is
planted in June on what is called the "seeding plot." It is allowed
to grow for about six weeks and reaches the height of about a foot.
1 hen it is pulled up by the roots and transplanted in flooded fields.
Little banks of earth are placed all around the fields, so that the

THE TERRIBLE PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS 159

water cannot run off, and just before the plants are placed in them
the fields are plowed up. Then the planters go along with their bun-
dles of plants, and, picking them out one by one, stick them into the
mud. This to the ordinary mind seems like a veiy long and laborious
operation, but the natives are experts in the transplanting, and it does
not take them as long as one would think to get over a large field.

It takes about four months for the rice to ripen. Harvest is
usually begun at the end of November. The paddy is made into
stacks at the end of January, and about the middle of April the rice
is separated from the straw. This is done in a good many ways.
Some flail it, others beat it out with their feet, while still others, par-
ticularly around Cavite, spread the sheaves out and trot a number ol
ponies around over it. There is not much money in rice-raising, as
it is carried on at present, but it is probable with the introduction of
new ideas and machinery instead of human hands, a rice farm might
be made to pay a good dividend.

THE TERRIBLE PLAGUES OF LOCUSTS.

One of the great troubles with which planters both of rice and
of sugar have to contend is the plague of locusts. They come in
swarms of millions at a time, and travellers state that they are so
thick that while the locusts are passing by, the trees on the other side
are not visible. Mr. Foreman, one of the most intelligent observers
wbo has ever written about the Philippines, describes one experience
that he had, as follows : " Sailing along the antique coast one evening,
I observed on the fertile shore a large, brown colored plateau. For
the moment I thought it was a tract of land which had been cleared
by fire, but on nearing it I perceived that countless numbers of locusts
had settled on several fields. We put in quite close to them, and I
fired off a revolver, the noise of which caused them to move off
slowly in a column."

These locusts increase and multiply rapidly. The new-born
insects are not able to fly until they are about ten days old, so they
devastate the fields and practically clean them of their crop. A large
mass of locusts will destroy the crop for miles and miles in a single
night. The way to get rid of them is a problem. The method
employed for the young locusts is to build a barrier at one side of the

IGO THE GREAT VALUE OE THE PHILIPPINES

held, dig a pit in front of it, and then put a small army of men around
the other three sides and let them beat around until they scare the
young locusts into jumping in heaps in the pit. Sometimes twenty
tons of locusts are destroyed on one plantation in one season. Noise
is the great aid in ridding a place of the winged pests ; the natives
take tin cans and drums and anything else that makes a sound and
scare the locusts so that they fly away. Other natives light fires to
smoke them out. Some of the natives use the locusts as food, frying
them into what they call a very delicious dish.

A GREAT TRADE IN MANILA HEMP.

Next to the trade in sugar, the most money has been made up to
the present time in hemp, which is a wild species of plantain found
"in many parts of the island. It is something like the banana plant,
and only experts can tell the difference. The hemp grows best on
sloping land. The tree in the islands reaches an average height of
ten feet, from which the fine fibre is drawn out by hand with a knife,
and without killing the tree Many attempts have been made to do
this by machinery, but so far nothing satisfactory has been produced.
The plant requires three years to arrive to a state in which the fibre
can be taken out. One of the advantages in the raising of hemp is
that the clearing of other trees from the plantations is not necessary,
inasmuch as the plants thrive best in the shade. The great drawback
in hemp plantation is the fact that the planter has to wait three years
at least before he can get his money back or reap any profit from it.
The risk after that period is comparatively small.

One of the great difficulties in the handling of a hemp planta-
tion by the European is due to the laziness of the native. If left to
himself he cuts the plant at any period during its maturity, although
he is perfectly aware that there are certain periods at which, if cut,
the fibre is much more valuable than at others. The native, when he
is hard up, strips a few of the trees, leaving them exposed to the rain
and air to soften, as the fibre may be more easily withdrawn then. It
is no loss to him that the fibre discolors, and is therefore not so valu-
able. He has tricks of the trade, which the European soon becomes
used to. He delivers this colored fibre at night instead of in day-
time, first to conceal the fact that it is colored, and secondly so that

ON A COFFEE PLANTATION 161

the fibre may absorb the dew at night, and consequently weigh
more. One advantage which the Manila hemp has is that it is a
monopoly, for no other place produces it, consequently there is no
competition in the trade except with other fibres of a somewhat similar
nature. Statistics show that the average annual export of Manila
hemp was 66,508 tons between 1886 and 1890, the highest being in
1888, when 80,400 tons were exported. Measured in value, the
Manila hemp imported into the United States between 1888 and 1897
formed about 55 per cent, of our total imports from the Philippine
Islands. During 1897 the hemp brought from Manila was valued at
$2,701,* 51 ; and in 1889, owing to the high value of the product, the
imount imported was worth $6,436,750.

ON A COFFEE PLANTATION.

Corfee is another industry which may be developed greatly in
the future. The chief value of a coffee plantation is that the trees
bear profitably for twenty-five years before they become practically
useless, and some even longer than that. The best coffee comes from
the provinces of Batangas, Cavite, and La Laguna. The report of
the United States Government shows that the average annual export
of coffee from the islands between 1886 and 1890 amounted to 12,752,-
228 pounds. The price of a good plantation is about $180 per acre.
Four years after the trees are planted they begin to give coffee that is
salable. The trees flourish best on high land and in hilly districts, and
care is needed to keep the trees shaded from the hot rays of the sun.
In Batangas great pains are taken in this matter, and consequently
the coffee is very good. The cost to the owner of having the planta-
tion looked after is about one-half of the produce, so supposing the
selling price is up to the average, the grower makes about 18 per
cent, upon his invested capital. One year out of every five is sure to
give a short crop, consequently it pays better to buy from the small
growers than to envolve a great deal of capital in one large estate.

The berries from the tree are picked by the women and children,
and then washed ; afterward they are dried and pounded until they
are perfectly clean. The plantations give only one crop a year.

The tobacco industry was introduced into the islands from Mexico,
and has grown so large that it has become one of the great industries
9

i62 THE GREAT VALUE OF THE PHILIPPINES

of the place. The tobacco trade was in charge of the government
for a long time, until it led to so many dishonorable acts on the part
of officials that the monopoly was abolished. In 1890, 20,102,387
pounds of leaf tobacco and 3,027,384 pounds of cigars and cigarettes
were exported. The quality of the tobacco grown there cannot com-
pare with that of the best Cuban plant according to experts, but is
still of such a high grade as to make it capable of becoming a large
factor in the export trade. The best quality is produced in the north-
ern parts uf Luzon, the choicest being from Cagayan and La Isabella.
Some of the southern districts raise maize or Indian-corn in
place of rice. It is pulverized between stone or hard wood slabs, and
then eaten. Cocoa trees are plentiful, growing readily in damp or hot
districts. The quality is very good, but the occupation is decidedly
risky, as a single storm will throw down almost ripen fruit and ruin a
man in a day, and disease attacks the plants. If it were not for this
a cocoa planter would make handsome profits.

VALUABLE TRACTS OF TIMBER TREES.

The Philippines are remarkably rich in valuable timber trees.
Sapan wood is found in most of the islands. It is crocked and hard,
and so heavy that it sinks in water, but is susceptible of a very fine
polish. The heart of the branches is used to make a dye known in the
trade as "false crimson." There were 15,438,072 pounds of sapan
wood exported in 1 888. Many other fine woods are produced and offer
a good field for exports. Among them is what is called " narra," the
mahogany of the Philippines. It is always employed in Manila in
the manufacture of furniture. It runs in a variety of shades from
straw colored to blood red. The former is more common, but a Hare
equally valuable. The Filipinos presented Consul Williams, who
took such a great interest in their welfare, with a splendid piece of
this mahogany as a gift.

The fruits of the island are not very fine, compared with those
of America. The mango is most abundant, and is very good. Peo-
ple eat as many as a dozen a day without harm, and they are very
cheap. The banana is plentiful all the year round. It grows wild,
but is also largely cultivated. The islands also yield oranges, lemons,
and plenty of pineapple.

FORTUNES IN GOLD WAITING FOR DISCOVERY 163

The Philippines contain vast tracts of mineral land, filled with
gold, copper and iron, which some day will yield untold wealth to the
world. It is confidently predicted, by many who have looked into the
matter, that the gold fields of the archipelago will some day yield an
output greater even than that of the Klondike, and we all may live
to see a wild rush to the Philippines similar to that to Australia
years ago, to California in '59, and to the Klondike in the last few
years. All of the streams on the eastern side of Luzon carry gold
down from the mountains, and there is no little brook which does
not pan at least a little yellow color.

FORTUNES IN GOLD WAITING FOR DISCOVERY.

The overgrowth of the islands is so dense that ordinary pro-
specting for gold is out of the question, but as the country becomes
opened up, there is no doubt but that fortunes will be found waiting
for discovery. When the Dons first landed in the Philippines they
found gold an article of traffic among the natives, and to-day, outside
of the large towns, uncoined gold is used extensively as a medium of
exchange. It is weighed on small scales, and its value is estimated
at about $11 per ounce, owing to its impurities. It is known that
there is a good deal of gold in the province of Benguet, central
Luzon, and also in the northeastern part of the Island of Mindanao,
the streams there are particularly rich.

The people of this island carry gold around and use it as money.
Their method of obtaining the precious metal is, of course, very
primitive. They wash the sand and gravel of the streams in wooden
bowls, seeking the golden specks which fall to the bottom. In other
places they crush the rock to powder and then treat that in the same
way. The gold occurs about three feet from the surface of the
ground, and increases in quantity to a depth of eighteen feet. The
pieces of rock are carried out of the pits in baskets, up ladders of
bamboo. They are crushed by what is known as the "errastra," an
apparatus consisting of a block of rock, which is moved like a mill-
stone on another rock by means of buffalo power. Water is added,
and the result is a fine mud, which is washed by the women, who
kneel before a wooden gutter filled with water. Each woman has a
washing board, over which water from the gutter flows through a

1 64 THE GREAT VALUE OF THE PHILIPPINES

small outlet. The water washes away most of the light sand and
other matter, and what is left is treated in a wooden bowl and finally
in a cocoanut shell. A small quantity of slimy juice of the gogo is
mixed in with the water to keep the sand suspended. Of course,
most of the gold is lost during this process, but that which is secured
in the shape of dust is put into a small shell and covered with a
little charcoal. This is placed in a fragment of a broken pot and the
charcoal is lighted. Then a woman blows gently through a little
bamboo tube upon it, melting the gold into a small lump. One of
the nuggets thus secured was tested and was found to contain yj per
cent, of gold, 19 per cent, of silver, 3 per. cent, of earth and 1 per
cent, of iron.

COAL BARONS LOOK TO THE PHILIPPINES.

There is plenty of coal in the archipelago, and yet a large part
of the mineral in use there is imported from other countries. This
is due largely to the fact that the mining of coal is extremely diffi-
cult and expensive. The only means of transport are buffalo carts,
and these are neither efficient, quick or cheap. The island of Cebu
contains large beds of coal, and the mines of Compostella are said to
be very rich, the lodes averaging a thickness of two miles ; but they
have never been fully opened for want of capital. The coal is of
medium clr.ss, still the Spanish naval authorities were willing to
contract for large quantities of it ; but it was impossible to make it
pay under the present method of cart transportation.

In Aplaco Mountain, in Cebu, the coal is said to be of good
quality; but not to contain much heating power. In the province of
Albay, collieries were begun, and after awhile were abandoned, han-
dicapped as usual by failure of transportation. It is calculated that,
up to the year 1876, $1,300,000 was spent on the mines in the Philip-
pines without any apparent return.

IRON IS PLENTIFUL AND ALMOST PURE.

There is plenty of iron, in which the ore is said to yield 75 per
cent, of pure metal, yet it is impossible to mine it at a profit, owing
to the lack of railways. It has frequently been tried, but never with
success.

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IRON IS PLENTIFUL AND ALMOST PURE 167

There are rich mines near Manila, and others at Angat, in Bula-
can province, the latter giving undoubtedly a very rich ore. The
mines there are still being worked, though on a very small scale.

One of the important items of wealth in the Philippines is cop-
per, of which there are great deposits. The natives use copper uten-
sils, and the Igorrotes have carried on copper mining for centuries.
The ore found at Mancayan contains 16 per cent, of copper. In the
interior of the island of Luzon, copper occurs in large masses, and
as yet the great extent of the commercial value of that deosit is
unknown. The natives get the copper by placing fragments of rock
in a round hollow in clayed ground, with which a conical funnel of
stone is connected ; a fire is lighted, and blowers with bamboo are
worked with plungers to make a draft.

These, with the deposits of sulphur, marble and gypsum, and
with the addition of the valuable pearl fisheries of Sulu, make the
man who yearns for fields where wealth can be had for the finding,
turn his eyes towards these our new possessions, which hold in their
hearts fortunes that, if uncovered, would show riches beyond the
wildest imagination.

CHAPTER IX

The People of the Islands

More than Eighty Different Tribes on the Islands. — Interesting Traits of Charactei
of the Natives, both Half-Civilized and Barbarous. — Cannibalism and its Hor-
rors.— Something about the Curious Peoples — The Aetas, Negritos, Gadanes,
Itavis, Igorrotes, Tinguianes and many others.

BUT what of these people, whom we have placed beneath the
Stars and Stripes, both by the right of capture and purchase
of their land ? Who are they? What are they? How do
they live ? Th se are questions which everybody asks, when the
thought of the Philippines is presented. Most persons know very
little of them, except that they are a half-civilized lot of people, at
best, and the lowest order of barbarians, at worst.

And this general impression is almost correct ; civilization is at
a very low ebb in the Philippines. Of course, the Spaniards who
have settled there, the Europeans who carry on business dealings on
the islands, some of the Chinese merchants, and even some of the
high-caste natives, are people of culture ; but the great overwhelm-
ing mass of residents on the island are in low stages of savagery.

Let us look for a minute at some of the tribes outside of the
capital of Manila and the region round about. The recent attack
by insurgent forces upon the American troops has made most people
familiar with the name at least of the Igorrotes, whose chief was
captured in the fight, and whose tribesmen stood before the awful
fire of our guns, wondering what on earth they were and why their
ranks were thinned out, as if by some mysterious force.

The chief admitted, as has been stated, that he never saw fire-
arms before, and this may well be believed, for he himself and all
his men went into the conflict armed with bows and arrows. These
Igorrotes occupy a very considerable portion of the island of Luzon,
of which Manila is the capital. From a physical standpoint, they are
about as fine a race of people as one would wish to see. They wear

169

I7o THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS

their hair long, almost down to their shoulders ; they have flat noses
and high cheek bones, and are broad-shouldered and strong of limb.

Like most of the people of this sub-tropical isle, they are ex-
ceedingly lazy, and do very little except prey upon nearby tribes.
Murder is so common as to be almost a pastime, and they have a way
of avenging murders on the murderer's family, if they cannot lay hands
upon the culprit himself.

They have given the government of Spain as much trouble as
any of the tribes on the island. The task of civilizing them has been
absolutely abandoned by the Spanish, and the occasional expeditions
to place them under subjection have been so weak as to encourage
these native sons of the isle in the belief that the power of Spain
is not very much of a thing to dread. The expeditions, moreover,
seem to have given the Spanish officers an opportunity for license,
which so prejudiced these savages against Europeans, that all over-
tures, either of Church or State, were scorned as being beneath con-
tempt by these islanders. They refused absolutely to receive baptism
or accept Christianity, basing their feelings in the matter upon the
actions of the only representatives of Christian races which they
knew, and who proved themselves immoral and untrustworthy.

DESCENDED FROM THE FOLLOWERS OF THE PIRATE.

There is a half-caste tribe, called the Igorrote-Chinese, which is
supposed to have come down through the generations from the Chi-
nese followers of the terrible pirate, Limahong. They have inter-
married with the original tribe, and the result is a very individual
class of islanders, who combine the fierceness and strength of the
["•orrotes and the cunning- and cleverness of the Chinamen.

Among the best known of the wilder tribes are the Aetas, of
Negritos, who are found here and there in almost all of the islands.
They are supposed to be the original inhabitants. In color they are
almost as black as African negroes ; they have short, curly hair, some-
thing like Astrakhan fur. They are, perhaps, the most cowardly
people extant, and have no idea of facing the Spaniards in a fair
fight. They are not habitually overburdened with clothing, and are
usually armed with a lance and with bow and arrow, the latter of
which is tipped with poison. Their agility is their chief character-

A WEDDING CEREMONY AMONG THE SAVAGES 17 r

istic. They run with great speed and climb trees almost as easily as
monkeys. They have, apparently, no mentality or stability, and even
those brought under the influences of civilization have lapses, during
which they go back to their native customs and native haunts.

Their religion is a religion of superstition. They are too lazy
to work, and live principally on fish, roots and the rice common to
the mountains. Spasmodically they rush down upon nearby tribes
and settlements which have made some progress under civilization,
and carry off anything they lay their hands on. The government
was kept busy protecting property against such raids for some years,
but recently this people have been driven so far into the interior that
their visitations for plunder are becoming less and less frequent.
Their idea of plowing the earth and making it yield forth fruit in its
season, seems to be to scratch up the surface of the ground slightly,
without clearing it of shrubs or trees, and then sprinkling it with
seed and trusting to luck for something to grow.

A WEDDING CEREMONY AMONG THE SAVAGES.

Mr. John Foreman, who traveled through their country, describes
an interesting and typical wedding ceremony which he witnessed there,
as follows : " The young bride, who might have been thirteen years
of age, was being pursued by her future spouse, as she pretended to
run away, and it need hardly be said that he succeeded in bringing
,ier in by feigned force. She struggled and again got away, but a
second time she was caught. Then an old man with gray hair came
forward and dragged the young man up a bamboo ladder. An old
woman grasped the bride, and both followed the bridegroom. The
aged sire then gave them a ducking with a cocoanut shell full of
water, and they all descended. The happy pair knelt down, and the
elder, having placed their heads together, they were man and wife.
We endeavored to find out which hut was alotted to the newly mar-
ried couple, but we were given to understand that, until the sun had
reappeared five times, they would spend their honeymoon in the
mountains. After the ceremony was concluded, several present began
to make their usual mountain call. In the lowlands, the same pecu-
liar cry serves to bring home straggling domestic animals to their
nocturnal resting place,"
W

172 THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS

The Gadanes occupy the extreme northwest of Luzon, and
have so far removed from the centre of civilization that compara-
tively little is known about them. They possess many of the attri-
butes of the other tribes, are very dark in color and live chiefly on
fish and vegetables. Their chief pride is their warlike record, so
much so, in fact, that when a young man makes up his mind to assume
the bonds of matrimony, he usually starts out on the warpath, in
order to dangle before his prospective father-in-law enough scalps to
make himself worthy of notice. If one or two young warriors hap-
pen to be paying attention to the same dusky maider, the hunt for
scalps becomes a contest, and the man who kills the most people is
likely to win the prize.

THE FIRE-TREE STIRS THE NATIVES TO WAR.

This practice of proving courage at the expense of their ene-
mies, breaks out in a marked degree when the flowers of what the
Spaniards call the fire-tree are in bloom. The fire-tree is covered
with brilliant red blossoms, and their appearance is regarded as a
signal to the members of this race to count up scalps and celebrate
victory with weird rites.

The Gadanes go about armed in such a way that they can get
a breakfast or kill a man with equal ease. Their lances are long,
with tridented tips with which they both fish and kill, and their
arrows carry at the point two rows of teeth made out of flint or sea-
shells.

To the south of them live the Itavas, who are much similar to
them, but neither as fierce or as brave. They are ready to protect
themselves against assault, but are not very eager to go into war for
the savage love of the sport. Their skin is lighter and their hair is
shorter than their neiehbors'.

The Tinguianes, who occupy the district of Elabra, are pretty
well under control of the Spanish government ; physically they are
fine specimens. They wear their hair in a tuft on the top of the
head, like the Japanese, and their nose is aquiline, but the rest of
their features are much like that of the ordinary lowland native.

They are not very warlike, and have been kept pretty well in
hand by the government troops. The Spaniards appoint their petty

QUEER OATHS AMONG THE PEOPLE 173

governors, as they do in all of the subdued districts, and when that
governor assumes his office, it is related that he takes the following
picturesque oath: "May a pernicious wind touch me, may a flash of
lightning kill me, and may the alligator catch me asleep, if I fail to
fulfill my duties."

Picturesqueness seems to be the vogue in oaths. When a man
is brought up to the bar of justice on any accusation, he has the right
to plead guilty or not guilty. If he denies the accusation, a handful
of straw is burnt in his presence, and he is made to hold up an
earthen-ware vessel and say : " May my belly be converted into a pot
like this, if I have committed the deed attributed to me." If the
transformation does not take place immediately, that is considered
proof positive that he is innocent, and he is allowed to go free.

They have no temples, but they worship gods who are hidden in
mountain cavities. They have priests, supposed to be in touch with
these gods, and they are appealed to on all occasions. For instance,
when a child is to be named it is carried into the woods and the pagan
priest is sought. He stands over the new-born babe with a knife in
his hand. He pronounces a name and, at the same time, sticks the
knife into a tree nearby. If sap runs out of the tree, the name
is adopted ; if not, he tries another name, changing it each time until
the sap oozing out of the wound in the tree tells the waiting people
that the deity has decided upon that name.

These people build their houses in trees or on posts, sixty or
seventy feet from the ground. In these houses they keep a goodly
supply of large rocks, so that when their enemies come around and
try to climb up to their dwellings, they drop a stone on their heads.
They hang skulls of horses and buffaloes out of their windows for
luck. Some of the families of El Abra and Ilocos, which are descended
from the Tinguianes, have become so civilized that they are consid-
ered valua^--^ as workmen and servants and are sought in preference
to any of the others. There is another race of people supposed to
have descended from Hindoo soldiers who formed part of the British
troops which occupied Manila in 1763. These people are very
decidedly different from the ordinary native. They occupy the
Morong district. They are Christians, hard working and law abid-
ing. They are the only people who voluntarily pay their taxes.

i74 THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS

There are in the Philippines a few types of that tropical curiosity
known as albinos, who have pure white skin and light, sometimes
red hair, with pink eyes. They become almost blind in the daytime,
owing to the glare of the tropical sun.

SIXTY LANGUAGES AMONG EIGHTY TRIBES.

There are sixty distinct languages spoken in the eighty tribes of
the islands, and out of 9,000,000 people not more than a quarter of a
million can read and write Spanish, the only language whereby, up to
this time, they could be instructed. Almost all of the education seems
to have been among the Tagalos, not because they are mentally
superior to the other races, but because they happen to occupy the
region round about Manila. The Tagolos form about one-sixth of
the population of Luzon, yet the casual visitor to the Philippines, or
even those who reside in Manila, naturally know more about this
race than any other. The other races have been rather jealous of
the Tagalos, and dislike them, which made the prospects of civiliza-
tion through these nations even harder than by direct education of
the other tribes.

Long and careful study of the Filipino shows that in many re-
spects his character is a mystery. A native may run along for years
in a normal way, exhibiting fairly good sense and obeying the law,
and then, all of a sudden, he will break out into theft or murder or
some other crime, just because, as he puts it, " his head is hot." For
instance, there was a native who served with one of the members of
the Spanish colony for forty years without getting himself into any
very great trouble. One day a son of his master came back from a
trip bringing with him a $1,000. The old servant got hold of the
bag containing the money, ripped it open, and took out about $30,
leaving the rest untouched. He was charged with the crime and
calmly admitted it, although he could not offer any reason for not
taking the whole sum while he was about it.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FILIPINO.

The ordinary native is fond of gambling and passionately
devoted to cockfighting. He is ready to make all kinds of
promises, but is rarely ready to carry them out. If he commits a

YOUNG MAN OF THE UPPER CLASS

White duck or Trash troupers and a silk or piDa shirt
make n fa- hionable suit.

AGUINALDO AT THE AGE OF 22

Pressed in fine Tina cloth shirt.

pr — : <* >y

DOING THE FAMILY WASH

The glory of all Philippine women is iheir lonji aini
beautiful heir.

NATIVE WOMAN FRUIT SELLER

And customers, Manila.

GRA TITUDE A THING VNKNO WN l??

fault, or breaks anything by accident, he rarely comes forward and
admits it, but tries to hide it until it is found out. The natives are
quick to pounce upon any sign of leniency on the part of their
European employers. If a foreigner tries to do them a good turn,
they will impose upon him ever afterward, thinking that it is the
sign of weakness on his part, which, as might be imagined, has
resulted in the European residents of the place adopting an atmos-
phere of authority and harshness more pronounced than might have
been the case under different circumstances. If a man pays a native
twenty cents for something that he has done, and that is the regular
price, he takes it and is glad to get it, but if he gives him thirty cents,
the native will raise a storm of protest and grumble, because he didn't
get fifty cents.

The American troops are responsible for a great deal of trouble
among the native servants and tradespeople from this very mistaken
kindness. When the troops first landed, and there was any work to
be done which had to be done by the natives, they paid them a dollar
a day for what they were ordinarily receiving twenty-five cents, and
thought they were getting off cheaply, according to American prices.
And so, after a while, there was a pronounced exodus of native ser-
vants from the houses of the residents of Manila and Cavite, because
they could get four times as much pay from the Americans as from
the residents. After a while the Americans became aware of the
fact that they had been too generous and tried to reduce prices for
work, but then the natives showed that singular characteristic referred
to, and declined to take less than the Americans had originally paid.
For sometime there was a good deal of disorder and discomfort
resulting from this, but recently things have quieted down, but wages
and prices have gone up all over the civilized parts of the islands.

GRATITUDE A THING UNKNOWN.

Gratitude is a thing almost unknown to the native Filipino ; he
does not seem to understand the feeling which prompts one person to
give another a gift of any kind. It is a remarkable fact that in the
southern islands of the Philippines there is no word or phrase to
express thanks for a gift. This would tend to show that the idea of
gratitude was wanting, and consequently there was no need of words

178 THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS

to express that idea. The native has a funny way of asking for any-
thing. He never comes straight out with his request, but starts a
long tale of woe, probably beginning with an elaborate lie, which you
can see through at a glance, and finally coming to the point, with a
very beseeching voice, and a face as innocent as though he had never
told a lie in his life.

He never voluntarily returns anything that he borrows. If you
speak to him about it, he calmly tells you that he did not return your
loan because you never asked him for it. When a European does
make a loan of money to a native, it behooves him to parley a little
with the borrower, and finally compromise by lending him a little less
than he asks, otherwise he would be a target for requests for the
next six months.

The natives are, like most Orientals, good imitators, but not
inventors. No matter what you give them, they will sit down and
make a copy of it. A native has no idea of sticking to one trade ;
he will be a servant one week, go out as a sailor the next, and proba-
bly wind up as a lawyer or a bandit the week following. He regards
the European as an awful being, and the farther away from the cen-
ters of civilization that one goes in the islands the more awful one
finds the conception of Europeans. The name is much like that of
our " Bogy-man," who will "ketch you if you don't look out !" The
women scare their children into submission with the awful word
"Castila" (European). If a baby cries, it is hushed by this magic
word ; if a white man comes near a hut in the less civilized parts of
the islands, the same word is used as a cry of caution to all who may
be within.

These people are a people of superstition and without humor.
A joke is taken with the utmost seriousness, and is sometimes
enlarged upon by the natives until its consequences are serious.
They rarely show anger, and receive everything without a change of
a muscle of the face ; but they store up their wrath for future use,
and patiently wait until the opportunity comes for them to plunge a
knife into their enemy. A native never can keep a secret, but he is
silent in service, with sometimes the most extraordinary results. He
will let your horse die for want of food, and tell you afterward it is
because the animal had nothing to eat.

A SUPERSTITION ABOUT SLEEP 179

He never comes when first called, and, sometimes, when one
native wants another, he has to call him five or six times before the
other responds, although he has heard the summons from the very
first. The native does not hesitate to steal, but he usually confines
himself to things he wants, and does not take things merely because
they are valuable.

One of the peculiar traits of the Filipinos is that they will never
step over a person who is asleep on the floor, and they will not wake
anybody, except on the utmost provocation. Their argument in the
matter is that the soul is- absent from the body while one is asleep,
and if it went very far away, it would not have time to get back, if the
man were suddenly awakened. If you go to call on a native and are
told he is asleep, you might as well turn around and go away again
until he wakes up.

The average Filipino is a good father and a good husband in
many ways, although he thinks more of his game cock than his
family. In cases of fire, natives have been known to pick up their
fighting birds and flee, leaving their wives and children to take care
of themselves, and get out as best they could.

If you put a question suddenly to a native he apparently loses
his presence of mind, and gives any reply that happens to come to
him, no matter whether it is true or not. Then, as you ply him with
questions, he will amend his statement little by little, until finally the
truth comes out. He is not ashamed of lying, but is chagrined if
his lie fails in its purpose.

The Tagalog is quite sociable, and if you visit him, he receives
you very hospitably. The Visaya, who lives in the south of the
island, and is as much civilized as the Tagalog, is not so friendly. He
seldom smiles before a stranger, has as little conversation with them
as possible, and puts on a great deal of airs.

There is one thing about these half-civilized islanders that gives
hope that some day they may be governed successfully, and that is
their sense of justice. Once convinced that they are being justly
treated, they are perfectly satisfied. If you beat a man when he
knows he has done wrong, he will never say a word ; but if he thinks
he is being unjustly chastised, he will carry a grudge against you for
years.

l8o THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS

The colleges at Manila have done much to educate the brighter
natives. The people have very little idea of art, but all of them are
musicians of more or less ability. Native orchestras can be procured
for almost nothing, and they will play the most difficult music at a
moment's notice. The American soldiers used to hire an orchestra
to play during meals and all evening for twenty-five cents.

When I asked a prominent army man, who had just returned
from Manila, what struck him as the most remarkable thing that he
came across during his visit to the island, he replied without hesita-
tion, " A native orchestra playing Sousa's ' Stars and Stripes For-
ever', and 'A Hot Time in the Old Town To-night'. Since the
advent of the American soldiers the musical repertoire of the native
musicians has undergone a decided change. They have adopted
almost all of the popular songs of this country, and play them appar-
ently in preference to anything else. One American officer, who
received a large roll of music from friends in the United States,
untied the package, called the leader of the native orchestra which
was to play at a little dinner that he was giving, and, sitting down at
the piano, played a dozen of the selections. That evening the whole
orchestra rendered these selections one after the other, without notes,
to the amazement of the assembled guests.

These musicians think nothing of trying the most difficult Ger-
man and Italian operas, and almost any native orchestra in Manila
can give you the overture to " Tannhaeuser " in first-rate style, or
anything else that you wish of a similar nature. There is little native
music of any sweetness or value, and the natives seem to avoid play-
ing what they have. They never get tired of music, and they will
play for hours at a time practically for nothing.

THE NATIVE DANCE.

Their dancing is interesting, and, if well executed, is very grace-
ful. One of their typical dances, known as the Comitan, is that of a
girl rising and dancing a pas seul with a glass of water on her head.
Another popular dance is accompanied by a song which is an alter-
nate diminishing and raising of the voice, with slow movement sug-
gesting sorrow and then coy, and rapid and energetic steps to show
elation.

What the visaya women wear ^

The native costumes are very interesting. In a city like Manila,
dnd in its surroundings many varieties of attire may be seen upon
the streets at the same time. The Spaniards wear the ordinary Euro-
pean costumes, the British generally dress in white, and the Chinese
have their peculiar national dress. The pure natives and many half-
breeds wear a shirt which falls outside of the trousers. It is usually
white, with a long, stiff front, cut after the European fashion, but
some of the well-to-do natives wear the beautiful pina cloth, an
extremely fine, yellow-tinted material, woven from fibres of the
pineapple-tree.

A native woman wears a flowing skirt of bright colors — red and
green and white, the length of her train and the material depending
entirely upon her pocket-book. They wear chemisettes, and cover
their shoulders and neck with a starched neckcloth of pina. To the
chemisette are added wide, short sleeves. The hair is brushed up
from the forehead without a part, and coiled tightly. The native
woman is very fond of jewelry. She always carries a fan, without
which she would feel ill at ease. She wears no stockings, and the
feet are covered with a kind of slipper which has no heel, and just
enough upper in front to put two or three toes in. She holds herself
badly, and is not prepossessing. The ordinary peasant woman is
very much more picturesque. She wears a short skirt, which is made
up of a rectangular piece of stuff, folded around her,and tucked in at
the waist. She is very erect in her walk, due probably to the fact
that she has balanced jars of water or baskets of fruit on her head
since infancy. Sometimes the better class natives wear shirt skirts of
silk or satin, with gold lace or embroidery, which is very becoming.

WHAT THE VISAYA WOMEN WEAR.

The Visaya woman wears a robe like that of the Javanese, which
is kept in place by being drawn tightly around the body, reaches to
the feet, and is tucked in at the waist. Sometimes she will put
another piece of cloth over this.

The costume of the native men, who have attended the colleges
in the city, are amusingly like those of the college student of Europe.
They dress their hair fantastically, wear patent leather shoes, and felt
hats carefully tilted to one side.

1 82 THE PEOPLE OF THE ISLANDS

The native has a decided dislike of being pressed into military
service. He is brave if led by his superiors, or if fighting against his
equals; but when he becomes convinced that his antagonist is his
superior, it has a depressing effect upon him. He admires bravery,
and has a great contempt for cowardice. Whenever he is in service
he is a good soldier until his leader is shot. After that he simply
becomes demoralized.

The Filipinos delight in pillage and destruction, and whenever
they are victors in a battle there is no holding them in. They resort
to all sorts of tricks to escape military service. For instance, a deed
of property showed the names of two brothers on it exactly alike.
Inquiry disclosed the fact that it was not a mistake, but that the two
brothers were given the same name for the purpose of evading mili-
tary service. One of them had to serve, but the other escaped
because the Spaniards never suspected that there were two brothers
of the same name in the same family. This was quite a common
trick among the poor natives.

Such are Uncle Sam's new people. Little is known of most of
them; a large proportion of them have never been seen, and perhaps
will never be for many years. In some of the smaller islands the
natives are so uncivilized that cannibalism in all its horrors is still
rife ; and in all of the islands brigandage and piracy are common.
What to do with these people is a serious question. Shall we suffer
the fate which Kipling so vigorously expresses —

"And when your goal is nearest

(The end for others sought),
Watch sloth and heathen folly

Bring all your hope to naught."

CHAPTER X

Fascinations and Terrors of a New Land.

THE Philippines would be a delightful place to live in, were it not
for two things — the terrible typhoons, which sweep the coun-
try from time to time, and the equally terrible though less fre-
quent earthquakes, which carry death and destruction to the people
of the islands. One can get used to the heat in the Philippines, and
live a fairly comfortable and peaceful existence, if that were all, but
the typhoons and the earthquakes are not pleasant to even think of.

As might be imagined, the temperature on the islands is not very
low, but then it has the advantage of not being very variable, and
consequently when one gets used to the heat and accustomed to the
method of living there, he begins to think that after all the Philippines
are a prett" pleasant place to live in. The climate is very healthy,
and aside from the diseases which are common in all tropical places,
and which to a great extent can be prevented by personal carefulness,
the residents there are able to keep in very good physical condition
and enjoy life thoroughly.

FOUR PERIODS OF WEATHER IN THE PHILIPPINES.

The maximum temperature is about 98, and the minimum 75
degrees, both records being based on calculations made at noon in
the shade. There are four periods in Manila weather, with which
everybody is probably familiar. Spring begins in December and con
tinues in January and February, and these three months form about
as delightful a period of existence as it is possible to contemplate.
March and April and May are months of intense heat, in which the
people work only in the early morning and in the evening, all of the
central portion of the day being devoted to the difficult task of keep-

183

-A.

rS4 FASCINATIONS AND TERRORS OF A NEW LAND

ing cool and taking life easy. Then begins the period of heavy rain,
which continues for four months, June, July, August and September.
The remaining two months, October and November, are doubtful.
Sometimes they are quite as wet as the preceding months, and at
other times they are dry and delightful.

Very low temperature, or sudden change of temperature, is prac-
tically unknown, and one is able to calculate pretty well what kind of
weather he may expect, barring the typhoons. These terrible storms
which lay waste the country far and wide are expected at least once a
year. Sometimes they are not as severe as others, and sometimes
they carry in their wake death and destruction incredible to the peo-
ple of the United States. The typhoons come in the rainy season,
between April and the middle of December. Houses are made roof-
less, and some of them are blown down, ships are torn from their
anchorage in the harbor and sometimes blown for miles to be dashed
upon the shore and destroyed.

THOUSANDS KILLED BY TERRIBLE TYPHOONS.

In 1882 a great typhoon swept Manila accompanied with tor-
rents of rain, which added to the damag •. A number of houses were
unroofed, and two Chinamen who went out in the storm for the pur-
pose of helping themselves to a new corrugated iron roof with the
assistance of the storm, were found on the streets the next day with
their heads almost cut off, On the 6th of October, 1897, one OI the
most disastrous typhoons ever reported visited the Philippines.
Thousands of lives were lost, including many Europeans, and damage
to property was something appalling. The typhoon struck first at the
Bay of Santa Paula, in the province of Samar. Fully four hundred
Europeans were drowned, and it is estimated that six thousand natives
perished. The entire southern part of the island was devastated.

The typhoon reached Leyte and struck the capital of Taclobam
with great fury. In less than half an hour the town was filled
with ruins, the natives were panic-stricken and fled to reach clear
ground so they could lie down and let the storm pass over them.
Four hundred were buried beneath the debris of wrecked buildings
and one hundred and twenty-six bodies of Europeans were picked up
by the authorities when the search for the dead was made.

EARTHQUAKES WORK HA VOC TO LIFE AND PROPERTY 1S7

During these typhoons rivers often overflow their banks and
extensive areas are submerged. The approach of the wind is usually-
known through the sudden effect which its proximity has on the
barometer. Hours before its arrival there will be a sudden fall, while
if the center of the storm is near the barometer varies quickly up and
down, so that the observer knows what to expect. The terrible
,winds of the typhoon are usually accompanied by tidal waves, which
are quite as destructive. They sweep over the land in the most un-
expected fashion, and a vessel which before the approach of a tidal
wave was calmly moored in the harbor will, after it subsides, find itself
resting upon the top of a building some distance away.

EARTHQUAKES WORK HAVOC TO LIFE AND PROPERTY.

But even more terrible in its effects than the typhoon is the
earthquake, which is not at all a stranger to the Philippines. One of
the greatest curiosities to the American soldiers who visited Manila
was the ruins of a building which had been rent and destroyed by the
force of an earthquake.

The most serious shock, next to the war, which occurred in this
century, was in June, 1863. It lasted half a minute, and yet in that
little space of time over $8,000,000 worth of property was wrecked
beyond recovery, and the falling buildings rolled up a death list of
four hundred, while over two thousand people were injured. This
was in Manila alone, for Manila has, so to speak, a corner on earth-
quakes.

The official records made at that time show that forty-six public
edifices were thrown down, twenty-eight were nearly destroyed, five
hundred and seventy private buildings were wrecked and five hun-
dred and twenty-eight were so badly damaged as to be almost a total
loss. In 1880 there was an earthquake which did a great deal of
damage, but which caused no loss of life, and in 1881 the records show
twenty-three slight quakes, but the natives and even foreigners get
so used to these little shocks that they hardly notice them.

This upheaval of 1880 had a permanent effect upon the architec-
ture of the city of Manila. Up to that time the larger and more
extensive buildings had heavy tiled roofs which caused great damage
and were easily destroyed. After that galvanized corrugated iron

1 88 FASCINATIONS AND TERRORS OF A NEW LAND

came into general use for roofing, and now none of the larger build-
ings in the civilized parts of the Philippines are covered with anything
else. Owing to the combination of heavy winds and earthquake shocks
the poorer natives cover their houses with " nipa," a long, broad, flat
leaf of the nipa-tree, a gigantic fern found almost everywhere in the
Philippines. The thick, pithy texture of its leaves yields sufficient
protection against the sun and also sheds the rain. Its drawback is
its liability to catch fire, and sometimes the destruction of entire towns
is due to the fact that the houses are roofed in nipa.

In getting possession of the Philippines the United States secured
the finest volcano from the standpoint of beauty in the world, as well
as the most active one. The former is the Mayon Volcano, in the prov-
ince of Albay, in the extreme east of Luzon Island ; the latter is the
Taal Volcano, in the center of Bombon Lake, only thirty-four miles
due south from Manila.

THE ERUPTION OF A VOLCANO.

Clustered around the bottom of the Mayon Volcano are several
towns and villages, including the capital of the province Albay. In
1814, on February 1st, this volcano burst forth in all its power. Five
towns were totally demolished, and the inhabitants fled into caves to
shelter themselves, but many were overtaken by the stones ejected
from the bowels of the earth, and some even by the lava which
flowed down the side of the mountain. Father Francisco Aracro-
neses, who was in charge of the church there, estimated that twenty-
Two hundred people were killed, to say nothing of the large number
who were injured in this eruption.

There were other eruptions in 1887 at which only a small quan-
tity of volcanic matter was thrown out, doing little damage. On the
9th of July, 1888, there was one which was much more destructive.
Two towns were damaged greatly, several nearby plantations were
destroyed, many cattle were killed and fifteen of the natives lost
their lives.

This beautiful mountain forms almost a perfect cone and rises in
the air to a distance of 8,200 feet. But the best known volcano in
the Philippines is the Taal, which stretches its snowy peak into the
air quite near to the City of Manila. It is on a little island in the

DRAMATIC SCENE AT THE UPHEAVAL OF THE EARTH r8g

centre of Bombon Lake, and it has been in an active condition since
the mind of man runneth not to the contrary. This, too, was in the
shape of a beautiful cone, up to the year 1749, when there was a great
outburst, which rent it in two, leaving the crater exposed to sight, as
it remains to-day.

In 1754 one of the most notable of the terrible eruptions of this
volcano took place, destroying the towns of Taal, Tanauan, Sala and
Lipa, and seriously damaging Balayan, fifteen miles distant.

The cinders from this eruption are said to have reached Manila,
thirty-four miles distant, as a bird flies, and one writer, in speaking
of this eruption thirty-six years after its occurrence, said that the peo-
ple in Manila were forced to light their candles at midday, and walked
around the streets thunderstruck for eight days during which the bap-
tism of fire was visible. The smell of the sulphur lasted for six
months after it was all over, and the lake waters gave up thousands
of dead fish and alligators.

DRAMATIC SCENE AT THE UPHEAVAL OF THE EARTH.

There is still extant a description of the priest, Francisco Ven-
cuchillo, preserved in the archives of the corporation of St. Augustine
in Manila. He tells, in detail, all about the great calamity of 1749,
as well as that of 1754. He noticed a strong light on the top of
Volcano Island about 1 1 o'clock at night on the 1 ith of August, 1749,
but paid little attention to it. While he was asleep, however, a noise
like that of artillery firing awoke him. He thought it come from the
guns of a vessel expected from Mexico, but when the shots continued
rapidly, one after the other until he counted a hundred or more, he
became alarmed and imagined that some naval engagement was tak-
ing place off the coast. Some of the natives ran to him and begged
him to flee, telling him that the island had burst, and when daylight
came an immense volume of smoke could be seen coming from the
top of the volcano, and here and there smaller streams of smoke rose
like plumes. It was a magnificent sight to see great mountains of
sand hurled from the lake, in the form of pyramids, and then fall back
again like the water from a fountain, and while he was watching this
spellbound, a tremor of the earth shook the convent, in which he was
standing, to its very foundations.

190 FASCINATIONS AND TERRORS OF A NEW LAND

Pillars of sand rose out of the water near to the shore, and then
a second shock caught them before they had fallen and they, with
the trees on the island, were thrown down and submerged into the
lake. The land shifted, so that houses which were formerly on an
elevation were placed in a valley, and vice versa. The activity con-
tinued for three weeks, and for the first three days ashes fell like
rain. The eruption of 1754, as this same priest chronicles it, was even
more terrifying to witness. It began between 9 and 10 o'clock at
night on May 15th. Lava poured forth from the volcano in such
quantities that only the water of the lake kept the people from being
burned to death. Soon stones were hurled as far as the shore and
fell upon the villages there. The eruptions continued incessantly,
until the 10th of July, when a heavy shower of mud, black as ink,
fell on the country round about. A suburb of Sala was swamped
with mud. During this phenomenon a constant noise was kept up,
which lasted only for a short time, but the fire still continued to belch
forth from the mouth of the volcano until the 25th of September.
On that night stones fell, and the people of Taal left their houses,
fearing lest the weight of these stones would crush them in.

PANIC AND RUIN FOLLOW IN THE WAKE.

On the 29th of November, beginning at 7 o'clock in the evening,
the eruption was at its worst and the volcano threw up more fire than
during all the preceding seven months put together. The whole of
the island seemed to be a mass of molten metal, and the lava hurled
up seemed to reach to the very clouds. A strong wind was blowing,
and with the terrible noise which appeared to come from the bowels
of the earth, a huge mass of stones was thrown up with great violence,
and nearly all of the people fell prostrate and began to pray. The
waters of the lake rose and crept toward the houses, and the fright-
ened inhabitants, laying hands upon whatever property they could,
fled for their lives, terror-stricken. Panic ruled everywhere ; people
wept and prayed and confessed their sins ; shouting and lamentations
were heard on all sides ; and then when the night was spent, and the
next day began, no one could tell whether the sun shone or not, for
darkness ruled for forty-eight hours. When light reappeared the
whole village of Taal had been abandoned. In some of the villages

TERRORS OF PHILIPPINE JUNGLES 1 9 :

nearby the people climbed upon the house tops to throw down the
cinders which were threatening to crush the structure under their
weight.

On the 30th of November the smoke and noise seemed greater
than ever. The lightning flashed, and the end of the world seemed
to have arrived. For a day afterward there was a period of compara-
tive calm, and then followed a hurricane which lasted for two days.
The government house and stores, the prison, the state warehouses
and the royal rope wharf, together with the church and the convent
at Taal and many private houses, were completely destroyed in this
upheaval.

The road from Taal to Balayan was impassable for some time,
because of the lava. This ended the life of Taal, once the capital
and the greatest city of that province, and forever after it was
deserted, and Batangas on the coast took its place as the chief town
of importance and became the capital.

This volcano of Taal can be reached easily, the ascent occupying
about half an hour. The crater is 4,500 feet wide, and in it are three
separate lakes of boiling liquid, which change color from time to time.
At periods there appears also a lava chimney from which smoke is
emitted. All of the islands are of more or less volcanic origin. In
Negros Island, the Canlauan Volcano sometimes can be seen to be
in a state of eruption, and on the island of Camiguin the inhabitants
awoke one morning to find that the territory which was the previous
day a plain had become a volcanic mountain.

TERRORS OF PHILIPPINE JUNGLES.

Ordinarily, when one thinks of tropical lands, he pictures to him-
self visions of poisonous reptiles and beasts of prey which render life
unsafe. The Philippines offer little to fear from either beast or rep-
tile. The only beast of prey, known in the islands, is the wild cat,
and the only wild animal which is greatly to be feared is the buffalo.
The jungles and swamp' .it filled with snakes and lizards, centipedes,
spiders and tarantulas, but deaths resulting from poisonous contact
with any of these are comparatively few.

The natives cure the bite of a centipede with a plaster of garlic
crushed until the juice flows, which is renewed every hour. Rarely

192

FASCINATIONS AND TERRORS OF A NEW LAND

one comes across boa constrictors, which sound very terrible, but
which really are the most harmless of all the snakes on the islands.
The most fatal of the snakes are called by the natives alupong and
dagJwng palay. Their bite is fatal if not cauterized at once. The
latter is found in the deep mud of the rice fields and among the tall
rice plants. Everywhere the stagnant waters are infested with
leeches, and there is a small specimen of the same family which
jumps into one's face in the dense forest, which, to say the least, is
very annoying. Perhaps the greatest nuisances on the islands
are the ants. They overrun everything, and are all shapes and sizes,
consequently most of the furniture in one's house in Manila has to
be protected by bowls of water to keep the ants from climbing up.
The ant eats its way through most of the wood, and sometimes
renders it necessary to pulldown and rebuild great warehouses, owing
to their inroads. Mosquitoes are troublesome, and rats and mice are
very plentiful. There are plenty of bats, which afford a variety of
sport, which is much indulged in by those who enjoy shooting. Deer
and wild boar are also plentiful, and monkeys can be found in the
forests. The great plague of locusts has already been referred to.
In the mud of stagnant waters there is a kind of beetle called the
Tanga, which the natives relish greatly as an article of food, and they
bring as high as fifty cents a dozen.

The wild buffalo enables those who are anxious to look for dan-
gerous sport to enjoy a buffalo hunt. The tame buffalo, however, is
the great beast of burden of the Philippines. Everywhere one goes
he sees this plodding and awkward beast, and the native regards him
with the same affection that a man has in America for a horse.
When a tame buffalo is six years old he is considered in the prime of
life for hard work, and for another six years, if he is well taken care
of, he will be able to continue doing just as hard labor. Then for
five years after that, providing that he has always been very well
treated, he will be able to do light labor and earn his keep.

It is a common sight to see the natives in Manila down at the
riverside letting their buffaloes take a bath. It is an amphibious
animal, and if it had its own way would pass one-third of its time in
water or mud, and it is impossible to keep them healthy without
bathing them at least once a day. The buffaloes are very strong and

TERRORS OF PHILIPPINE JUNGLES 193

slow, but very easy to train. The people ride them without a
saddle, and a child is able to guide them by means of a piece of split
rattan attached to a string in the nostrils of the animal. They recog-
nize the voices of different members of the families to which they
belong, and will obey the command to come or stand still when
spoken to.

Singularly enough the Europeans do not seem to be able to
manage these buffaloes, as they have neither the patience, the voice
or the peculiar movement which the natives use to handle them.
The buffalo has not much endurance, and is unable to work more than
a couple of hours during the hot part of the day without rest and a
bath. If it receives a strain of any kind, or a broken leg, it rarely
recovers, and it is subject to an affection of the throat and diseases
of the blood which are sometimes epidemic and kill them off in great
numbers. These buffaloes are worth from $10 to $30, according to
the province, and to the use to which they are put.

The Philippines also have a small pony which is not indigenous,
and which is a fairly good little animal. Pony races take place near
Manila every spring, and while the meet lasts, it is a great occasion,
being attended by the Governor-General and all of the better-class
Spaniards of the city. The Philippines are filled with birds of beau-
tiful plumage and rare coloring. Pheasants, snipe, wild ducks, wild
pigeons and water fowl are common ; parroquets, parrots, humming
birds and dozens of others abound everywhere.

NATIVE RESIDENCE IN THE SUBURBS OF MANILA.

Every cottage, however humble, is surrounded by tropical trees and flowers. The interiors are remarkably clean and cheerful.
Bamboo enters largely into the construction of all native houses and they are generally covered with thatch.

THE STRANGE WAGONS OF ALBAY.

The eighty-odd different tribes who inhabit the Philippines have varying dialects, manners, and customs,
house-roofed wagons, shown in the above illustration, are found in only one locality.

The peculiar

CHAPTER XI

Manila, the Metropolis of the Philippines

A Delightful City which may become a Resort under the Stars and Stripes. — High and
Low Life. — Foreigners kept out by the Spanish as much as Possible. — The
Chinese Class. — The Splendid Big Convent. — Shops that Delight the Eye. — Rare
Fabrics Woven from Plants and Embroidered by Nuns. — A New York Officer's
Big Purchase. — A Dress that it took Months to Weave. — Inside of the English
Club. — Americans have Started a Splendid Club for the Army and Navy. — The
Famous Mestiza Girls.

WHEN, after valiant battle, the American troops entered the
City of Manila, they found a curious but delightful old place
without any sign of having been in touch with advanced
civilization as it exists to-day, and bearing the ear marks of a land
that had come down the years holding fast to the traditions of cen-
turies ago, and not yielding to the touch of progress.

But there is something decidedly interesting in this capital city
of Luzon, and a visit to it is well worth while, for the old city and the
new, the odd people, the curious little houses, the estates of the rich,
the hovels of the poor, and the customs, which are such a remarkable
blending of Spanish and native, all contribute to make Manila an
attractive temporary, if not permanent residence.

Coming up the muddy Pasig River and wending one's way
through cascoes and dug-outs, the traveller comes to this old fortified
city with its bastioned and battlement walls built way back in 1598.
These walls are about two miles and a quarter long, and make the
city a stronghold. All around the outer wall is water — on one side
of it the Pasig River, on the other the sea, and around the rest
the remnants, of an old moat, which has long ago gone into disuse,
and which is now filled with stagnant slime and offensive water.

There are eight drawbridge entrances to the city proper, which
up to 1852, were always raised at night closing the city effectually.
But the earthquake in that year caused a change, and thereafter these

197

I93 MANILA. THE METROPOLIS OP THE PHILIPPINES

ancient drawbridges were kept down. On the south side of the
river, which is the city proper, are situated some government offices,
branch post and telegraph offices, the colleges, convents, meteoro-
logical observatory, and artillery depot, a cathedral and eleven
churches ; on the other side of the river or rather on the island of
Binondo, all of the business houses are situated, and this is the lively
part of the city.

As you enter the bay you find two passages by the little island
of Correoqdor, on which is a li^ht house, a signal station and the fort
which sent the first shot to announce the fact that Dewey's vessels
had entered the harbor.

ON THE STREETS OF MANILA.

The streets of the city are badly paved and badly lighted ;
petroleum lamps and cocoanut oil are largely used, although in later
years electricity has been introduced in the more favored avenues
and along the docks. The first thing which impresses one on enter-
ing the city is the lowness of the buildings. Hardly any of the resi-
dences are more than two stories in height and even in these the
lower story is not used for living purposes, and is either uninhabited
or used as servants' quarters on account of the dampness. The
upper story usually has a very large hall, dining and reception rooms
and sleeping rooms adjoining. The kitchen is often separate from
the rest of the house being connected by a roofed passage. The
ground floor is usually of stone or brick but the upper story is almost
entirely made of wood, with sliding windows all around. These
windows are filled with opaque oyster shells, instead of glass, as they
admit the light but not the heat of the sun's rays.

There are no very high buildings in the city owing to the earth-
quakes. One of the interesting places is the great cathedral which
is probably its most imposing building, although most of the churches
stand out prominently because of the low structures which prevail on
all sides. The City Hall, a number of government buildings, the
palace of the Archbishop, and the Jesuit and Dominican colleges
are also prominent features of the city's architecture.

The city has two lines of street ca:s, one of which runs through
the Escolta which is the principal high-class business street and on

ON THE LUNETA— THE GREAT DRIVEWAY *99

through that portion of the city which is devoted to the residences
of the Spanish ; the other crosses the bridge and goes on up the
Rosario, and out to the suburbs. It is funny in this out of the way
land beyond the sea to come across street cars made in Philadelphia.
They are very small and are drawn by single ponies of the diminu-
tive Philippine pattern. The approach of the car is announced by
the tooting of the horn of the driver.

ON THE LUNETA THE GREAT DRIVE AND PROMENADE.

Old Manila is a very quiet happy-go-lucky sort of a place, without
many attractions. The theatres do not amount to anything and
rarely have performances worth going to. Were it not for occasional
cockfights and for the numerous religious processions which bring
out large crowds, and for the drives in the afternoon, the place would
be very dull indeed. The great drive and promenade of the city is
the Luneta, which is an oval piece of ground on which have been
placed one or two stands for bands and chairs and benches for the
crowd to sit around and listen to the music. In the evening the
place is constantly thronged and the native bands, which are splendid
organizations with skilled musicians, render programmes which
delight the listener, and round and round this place in an apparently
endless stream drive the carriages of the well-to-do people of the
city, and the social rulers, going all the time in the same direction,
for it is forbidden for anybody, except the Governor or Archbishop,
to dm e in the opposite direction.

Here, on the Luneta, many a tragic scene has been enacted, for
this ground of pleasure was also the execution place of the Spanish.
Here they mowed down, before the gaze of a motley crowd of on-
lookers, the insurgents who had been condemned to death, and here,
on the «ea-wall, hundreds of poor unfortunates gave up their lives
for their country.

On the Escolta, the chief business street, are the high-class stores
of the city, that is the stores which keep European and American
goods, which are very expensive owing to the high tax that is put on
them when they are brought in. In these, very tempting things are
displayed more for the Spanish residents and other foreigners, than
for the natives.

200 MANILA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE PHILIP1TNE&

The latter deal almost entirely with Chinese merchants, who
occupy the nearby streets and especially the Rosario across the river
which is lined from one end to the other with Chinese stores. They
sell everything on earth that could be desired by the native and
here the common people jostle each other and shop and enjoy them-
selves.

The sights in this quarter of the city are very interesting. The
gay colors of the native costumes, mixing with those of the China-
men, here and there the uniform of a Spanish soldier, occasionally a
fair senorita driving by in her carriage, now and then some man
wearing the garb of a religious order, and at the present time the
ever-present uniform of the American soldier who has found in this
quarter of the city the most attractive place for buying and for
mingling with the natives and learning their curious habits.

The whole of Binondo across the river is usually pretty active.
It is there that the British merchants have their import and export
headquarters and a large part of the trade passes through their
hands. It is a funny experience to go through these Chinese Bazaars
or stores to buy. One proprietor probably owns three or four stores
and sometimes ten or twelve, consequently if a customer does not like
the price asked for an article he goes on to the next place and does
no better, because the first man has run around the back way and told
the other man how much he has asked for the article and so, being
under one management, this one charges the same, so finally the
customer pays the price asked.

The Chinese control such things as bootmakiiiir, furniture mak-
ing casting, painting, dyeing, while the natives are the silversmiths,
the furniture polishers, the bookbinders, etc. The Germans had a
monopoly of the drug stores not long ago, but the educated natives
and half-castes have entered the field and are now largely controlling
the business.

HACKMEN WHO DO NO'. IMPOSE ON TRAVELERS.

When one wants to go around the city, he hires a carriage and
Filipino pony, at a very moderate rate, and wonderful to relate, the
driver will not try to cheat you. He charges you so much a mile,
and very rarely overcharges.

HOLIDAYS ARE PLENTIFUL 2QI

During Holy Thursday and Good Friday of Easter week, the
whole business of the town is absolutely suspended. Carriages, or
any other vehicles are not allowed on the streets ; the shops are
closed and the whole city is still. Even the soldiers who are on duty
are forced to point the muzzles of their guns to the ground as they
walk along. All of the people who appear on the streets wear
black, even the natives. There is an imposing religious procession
on Good Friday afternoon, which winds through the city and out
into the suburbs. All the church-bells are tolled with muffled ham-
mers until after the following Saturday morning's mass. It is a
curious sight to see the expectant throng of people waiting for the
signal of unmuffled bells to announce that the feast is over. In all
the alleys and by-ways, public and private vehicles are ready, and the
minute the bells are rung, the streets become an active, shouting,
jumbled mass of humanity, trying to make up for lost time in their
business.

WHERE HOLIDAYS ARE PLENTIFUL.

The religious feasts and processions are so common that I have
heard it stated that out of the 365 days in the year, 160 are holidays
of some sort or other, chiefly Saints' days. Each village and each
suburb, both in the capital and outside of it, is supposed to be looked
after by some patron Saint, which has his special day, and every
annual feast is taken as an excuse for a big procession.

IN A MANILA HOTEL A MANILA BED.

There are in Manila two hotels, which are considered very good

as hotels go. It takes a European some time to get used to the

cooking of native dishes, and it takes him still longer to get used to

the Philippine idea of comfort while asleep. It is no small task to

wrestle with a Philippine bed, which is springless, unyielding and

anything but comfortable. It has four high posts covered with lace

curtains, and usually a mosquito bar. Where an American bed

boasts springs, it has a rattan surface, similar to that of a rattan

chair, which is extremely hard, and the thin mat which is placed over

it and the hard pillow and almost as hard bolster which are given one

to sleep on are not conducive to rest. It is rather a serious task to

get into one of these beds without allowing the mosquitoes to pre-
11

203 MANILA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE PHILIPPINES

cede you, but one gets the hang of it after awhile and manages to
get to sleep. From i to 3 o'clock in the afternoon most people are
asleep. Lunch hour all over the colony is noon, and the visiting
hours are from 5 till 7 in the evening. Dinner is served at about
8 o'clock, and after that the more formal functions take place.

The social class distinction is not as rigidly carried out in Manila
as it is in some of the British Colonies, India for example. The
Spaniards exchange visits with some of the Mestiza class, and even
with some of the wealthier of the natives. Everybody is hospitable
as a rule to visitors. The government officials, however, have never
encouraged the visits of foreigners to Manila ; in fact, they have
done their best to discourage them. Nevertheless there is quite a
large colony of foreigners, all of them representatives of business
firms, who do heavy trade with the islands.

Everywhere you go in Manila (or at least this was true during the
Spanish regime), one would have a lottery ticket poked in his face.
The lotteries were in control of the Spanish government, and they
made a revenue amounting to half a million dollars annually from
the sale of tickets.

COCKFIGHTING IN MANILA.

The Filipinos have a great passion for cockfighting, and this
too was in control of the government, which received from it a very
large return. Cockfighting is allowed only on Sundays and feast
days, and, by special permission in Manila alone, on Thursdays. The
tax for a pit is rented out to the highest bidder for a fixed sum. The
laws in regard to this sport are very strict. The maximum amount
which may be staked by any one person in one contest is $50, and it
is regulated that the bird shall wear but one metal spur. The sport
causes the same enthusiasm among- the natives as horse racing does
in England, and they will spend years training a bird which perhaps
might be killed in the very first fight.

Much has been written about bullfights, which always took place
at Placo. They were very mild affairs, at worst, andv attracted a verj'
inferior quality of the natives. Most of the fights were ludicrous
instead of interesting, in which the fighters would go up and twist
the tail of the bull or vault over his head as he came toward them in
a mad rush, amid the hoots of the crowd.

WEAVING PINA CLOTH IN THE CONVENTS 203

There are five daily papers in Manila, three of which are con.
sidered good. This does not include the new paper which has just
been founded by the army boys from the United States, which is a
lively little sheet devoted to American interests.

One of the places which the American officers found open to
them, and in which they have enjoyed many a pleasant evening, was
the European Club, which occupies a very handsome place on the
right bank of the Pasig River, about twenty minutes' drive from
Manila. The controlling spirits in this organization are the English-
speaking people employed in the big commercial houses, but a num-
ber of the prominent Spanish residents are also members of the
club. As soon as the American troops landed on the island and took
possession of Manila, the first thing the army men decided to do was
to establish an American club, and negotiations were entered into for
a splendid property in the residence section of the city, which doubt-
less by this time have been completed and the first steps taken for
the introduction of American club life into the Philippines.

WEAVING PINA CLOTH IN THE CONVENTS.

There is more curiosity on the part of American soldiers in the
weaving of the Filipinos than in anything else. The beautiful pina
cloth, which is woven from the pineapple fibre, is a fabric which
arouses the envy of every man who has a wife, sister or sweetheart in
America. The weaving is done in the convents, and there hundreds
of the natives, guarded by the nuns, work from morn until dewy eve,
turning out the finest fabric and the most beautiful embroidery pos-
sible.

They embroider birds in natural plumage, flowers so natural that
one thinks the odor will come from them, and fanciful designs that
would cause the average American girl to catch her breath and break
the commandment which forbids covetousness. One rich New York
man, who is a volunteer officer, ordered a magnificently embroidered
gown for his daughter. It cost a fortune, and people came from far
and near to look at the material while it was being made, and for the
two months during which these convent workers toiled over that
beautiful fabric, it was the show piece of the whole city and one of
the great attractions to all who were there.

204 MANILA, THE METROPOLIS OF THE PHILIPPINES

The dainty handkerchiefs, embroidered with a skill that is won-
derful ; the magnificent screens of sandalwood, carved by native
artists and containing fabric woven with the hands of experts ; the
equally dainty fans of sandalwood, covered with cloth and embroi-
dered true to nature ; the curious spoons wrought by the native
workers, the magnificent silks offered at low prices by the Chinese
merchants, all were tempting inducements to the army boys, and
thousands of dollars were oqven in exchanee for these gnfts to be sent
home.

Perhaps more is known of the Mestiza girls than of any other
inhabitants of the island. They are the half-caste people, who are
really the prettiest types of women on the island. They have long flow-
ing hair which reaches almost to the ground, and its shiny blackness
makes it beautiful to see. They too are the most graceful and noted
of the dancers of the island, and there is scarcely a social function in
which they do not figure conspicuously.

Such is the life in this, the leading city of our new possession.
It is the abiding place of about 300,000 people, of which 200,000 are
natives, 90,000 are Chinese and Chinese half-castes, 5,000 are Span-
ish and 3,000 white foreigners other than Spaniards.

It is the nearest mart to the civilized world outside. From it
run the monthly Spanish mail steamers and the smaller boats which
go to Hong Kong. Who knows what the future may bring forth for
this, the chief town of the Philippines, in its ripe old age ? Who
knows how many ships will come and go under the policy of the open
door ? Who can tell what wealth will sail from out her ports now that
above the arsenal, there flies the Stars and Stripes ?

CHAPTER XII.

Other Important Cities of the Islands

\ Sight-seeing Trip to Iloilo, Second in Commercial Importance to Manila — Cebu,
which once Outranked it, Leyte and other Places of Importance. — Scenes and
Incidents among the Strange Population. — The Terrible Sultan of Sulu. — Super-
stitions of the Moros. — Funny Episodes of a very Lively Trip.

A VISIT to Iloilo, the second city of importance in the Philippines
is extremely disappointing after one has been to Manila. The
little mail steamer that takes you to the island of Panay, of
which Iloilo is the capital, is a dingy little affair, but even it seems out
of place as it comes to anchor in front of the shabby-looking creek on
which Iloilo is situated. The shore is almost as nature made it,
except for slight embankments of soil which have been thrown up to
protect some of the produce houses against the water.

There is neither wharf nor improvements, and the steamers get
as near the shore as it is possible for them to go, and then land their
passengers over a plank which extends from the deck to the shore
itself. It is a low, forbidding-looking place, this Iloilo. It is hot
all of the time, and in addition to this it is dirty and badly cared
for. From the point where the creek enters into the sea up to the
square in the centre of the city there is a series of sheds, used to
store sugar in, punctuated here and there by offices of commercial
firms. The largest buildings in the place are the headquarters of the
various tradespeople who have made Iloilo what it is. Not many
years ago this town was unknown to the commercial world, and the
annual crop of sugar which it drew from the island was practically
allowed to go to waste because the expense of carrying it up to
Manila left little profit for the owners of plantations, and did not
encourage them to engage largely in business.

Then came the change. A number of English and Gtrman
business men saw the opportunity for reaping a rich harvest from
this very fruitful little isle, and they established headquarters there 9~A

305

2oj OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OF THE ISLANDS

had direct communication with foreign ports. The result was that the
unknown village of Iloilo soon surpassed Cebu in trade and became
a town second only to Manila in size and in business importance.

IN THE ILL-KEPT SQUARE OF ILOILO.

In the square, which is, like most of the city, in a perpetually
bad condition, are the church, the tribunal, the convent and a few
small houses. At one side of this square is a new block of buildings
made of brick, stone and wood, with iron roof, really the most
respectable part of the city in appearance. The main street is the
Calle Real, which does not run in a straight line, but winds its way
out into the country. The houses make no pretence to beauty.
They are of all shapes and sizes, and as for a building line on the
streets such a thing is comparatively unknown, and in some places
one has to walk off the pavement out into the middle of the road to
pass a house.

All around are rows of dirty-looking little houses which are
inhabited by the poorer class. Perhaps the most striking building in
the place is the Government house, which is made of stone and wood.
In front of it is a little garden in the shape of a semicircle, and in
front of this is a little round fenced-in piece of ground, in the middle
of which is a flag-pole. About one-third of the business quarter of
the town is built on land which some years before was nothing but a
swamp, and has been reclaimed by being filled up with earth.

All during the wet season the place is a mass of shallow pools
and mud. It is a pretty expensive place to live in, and there is little
to do after one gets there. One cannot hire any conveyance of any
kind, and there are no theatres or places of amusement, unless a
bowling alley may be classed under the latter head. The streets are
practically deserted, except for bullock-carts filled with sugar cane.

Sugar is the chief stimulus to the life of the city. One can guess
that readily, because the odor of it pervades the whole place. After
the insurgents obtained possession of Iloilo, ruin and devastation
played havoc with the town. It became more unkempt and uninvit-
ing than before, and when the American troops captured it, it was
reeking with filth. At the other end of the island is the town of
Concepcion, near which there are many exceedingly fertile sugar

THE FAMOUS "HOLY CHILD OF CFBU" 207

plantations. It is even a more despondent-looking place than the
capital city. The whole place is dilapidated, the people are poverty-
stricken, and, altogether, it is neither convenient nor pleasant to live
in. From Concepcion it is but a short journey to Cebu, on the east
coast of the island of the same name. Years ago this was a flourish-
ing and important commercial center. It possesses considerable
interests, inasmuch as it was the first place upon which the Spanish
settled in the Philippines, and from 1565 to 157 1 it was the capital of
the whole colony.

Now it has a population of about 10,000. It forms quite a con-
trast to its rival, Iloilo, in that it is clean and well kept, and the roads
which lead from it are in a very good condition for some miles. The
city has a customhouse and is open to trade with the foreign coun-
tries. It has a cathedral, the Church of St. Nicholas, the chapels of
the Paulist Fathers and the Jesuits and the Church of the Santo
Nino, "the Holy Child of Cebu."

THE FAMOUS "HOLY CHILD OF CEBU."

This church is perhaps the most famous of all the religious
places in the whole archipelago. It was on this spot that an image
of the Christ Child was alleged to have been found in July, 1565, by
a soldier named Juan de Camus. This image was venerated and kept
by the Austin friars as though it were a sacred gift direct from Heaven.
A fire occurred in the church in which the image stood in 1627, but
the imare itself was saved, and has been ever since considered the
most wonderful of all the sacred relics of the island.

It is made of wood, is black, and is about fifteen inches in height.
As it exists to-day, it is almost covered with valuable trinkets v/hich
have been presented to it. When it is shown to the public the occa-
sion is always one of great festivity, and the image is worshiped with
a fervor that is almost incredible. In fact, during the feasts held in
its honor, natives come from all parts of the island to prostrate them-
selves before it.

In this city, too, is the spot where the first cross was erected
upon the island on the day when Legaspi landed. This sacred relic
also has the reputation of having been miraculously preserved. It
is made of bamboo, and although the edifice in which it was placed

2o8 OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OF THE ISLANDS

was once burned to the ground, this cross rose unscathed from the
flames, according to tradition, and is still worshiped second only to
the wonderful image.

The channel which leads up to the city is marked by buoys, and
there are four lighthouses which show the entrance to the port.
Right in front of the city is Magtan Island, on which has been erected
a monument to show the spot where Magellan, the discoverer of the
Philippines, met his death by being mixed up with a conflict between
two of the native chiefs.

Not far back of the city is a range of hills, from the top of
which the view is extremely beautiful. In the ward of Pampango
there still remains the old fortress of San Yidal, which was built
when the Spanish first formed a settlement there. The Chinese shops
are in the Lutao district, and the half-caste shops are chiefly grouped
in the Parian, which was at one time the most important part of the
city, but which has lately fallen in decay.

At Guadaloupe and Mabolo are the big cemeteries of the city,
and at the end of the road leading to the former is the place where
shooting contests and the annual pony races take place. On the way
to Mabolo there is the hospital for lepers, those poor unfortunates,
who sent over, sarcastically no doubt, as a gift from the Emperor of
China, are still to be found both in Manila and in this, the original
settlement of the Spanish, living out their loathsome lives, confined
rigorously under the law, and a public charge until death comes to
their relief.

The city has vice-consulates representing America, Great Britain,
Italy and Germany, and there is quite a little colony of foreign resi-
dents there who are eneaeed in commerce. It is the residence of
the Brigadier-Governor of the Visayas and of the Governor of the
island.

The climate of the island is very healthy, and altogether it is a
delightful place to live in. The whole population of the island is
about 600,000.

But by far the most interesting, and, it may be added, the most
troublesome of the residents of the archipelago, are those in the
domain of the Sultan of Sulu. Since the Spaniards first landed on
the Philippine Islands there has been more slaughter and more

AN AGREEMENT WITH THE SULTAN OF SULU

209

trouble from this little group of islands than from any of the larger
islands, excepting perhaps Luzon. The very first overtures made to
the ruler of the region round about Sulu resulted in the decapitation
of the General who was sent to make the overtures, and the return
of his body to the Governor at Manila, and that seemed to be the
fate of all the first emissaries of the Spanish Government to this ter-
rible. Sultan.

And not only was he a terror to the Spanish, but he ruled over
a people famous far and near as brigands and pirates. These natives,
who call themselves Moros, but whom the Spanish call Mussulmans,
are still as wild as they were in the old days, for civilization has had
apparently no effect on them.

For over two centuries and a half their war junks visited every
part of the adjoining islands and laid waste the territory. Thousands
of the colonists were murdered, and others suffered a fate worse than
death by being kept as slaves and made to serve the caprices of their
captors. Villages and churches were destroyed, and for many years
nothing was safe in the archipelago. They did not even stop at
Luzon ; and it is still in the minds of some who are alive how the
approach of the pirates in the Bay of Manila struck terror into the
hearts of the people. It was not until i860 that any check at all
could be put upon this reign of terror, but in that year eighteen
steam gunboats, which cruised around the waters in the neighborhood,
brought some degree of safety to the colonists, and piracy, as a
wholesale business, became a thing of the past.

AN AGREEMENT WITH THE SULTAN OF SULU.

Many years before this occurred, the Sultan of Sulu entered into
a compact with the Spanish authorities by which he acknowledged
the sovereignty of the King of Spain, but this amounted only to as
much as the parchment it was written on, for the Sultan of Sulu did
as he pleased ; and even if he personally were disposed to be friendly
to the Spaniards, there was always a rival willing to take up the lance
aorainst him and oust him from his throne.

And so things went on until 1876, when the uprisings of the
people attained such proportions that an expedition was necessary to
enforce submission. A large body of troops, headed by Vice-Admiral

2io OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OE THE ISLANDS

Malcampo, went to the islands, marched into the interior and inciden-
tally into ambush, so that sacrifice of life was great. It, however,
accomplished a little, and the Spanish flag was raised in several places,
where it was still flying, before the United States came into posses-
sion of the islands.

RULER OVER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY ISLANDS.

The domain under the rule of the Sultan comprises Sulu Island,
which is about thirty-four miles long and twelve miles wide, and one
hundred and forty smaller islands, half or more of which are not
inhabited. The number of people embraced in the Sultan's dominion
is about 107,000. Besides these, there is a half-caste branch of Mus-
sulmans, nominally under this Sultan's rule, who inhabit the southern
half of Palauan Island.

The present Sultan did not inherit the throne, but was practi-
cally elected by his own people. In 1885, when the rightful heir to
the Sultanate was sent for to come to Manila to receive his investi-
ture, he declined to comply, probably having in mind the fate of his
predecessors who went to Manila for the same purpose and were
made prisoners, and finally lost their lives. So the Spanish authori-
ties announced that they would confer the Sultanate upon anybody
the people elected.

An election was held, and when the throne was offered to the
man chosen, he accepted and took the oath of allegiance to the King
of Spain on the 24th of September, 1886. He was then given the
title of His Excellency Paduca Majasari Malauna Amiril Maumi-
nin Sultan Harun Narrasid. In addition to this he was given
the [rank and grade of a Spanish Lieutenant-General. The Sultan
had hardly become settled in his new office before the leaders of what
is called the National party, which is a party opposed to the acknow-
ledgment of the dominion of Spain over the islands, rose up in arms
against him. The insurrection spread to the adjoining islands of
Siassi and Boncrao. The chief of the latter island, whose name was
Pandan, was arrested, and the garrison of Sulu was greatly reinforced
and strengthened in the great expectation of a general uprising. In
the meantime one of the most cruel of the Mussulman chiefs named
Utto openly defied Spanish authority. Consequently an expedition

A FORTUNE SPENT IN SUBJUGATION 211

was sent out against him, and after two months of vigorous fighting,
peace was declared between the two, and the event was the sign for
a great celebration at Manila, the feast lasting for some days.

Yet, notwithstanding the fact that, whatever expedition is sent
against these savage tribes is successful, as far as victory in conflict is
concerned, it is still true that little effect has been made upon the
Mussulmans from the standpoint of civilization. They decline to learn
either civilized religion or civilized ways, and, although kept down in
places by force of arms, nevertheless, the moment the back of
authority is turned, they instinctively turn to their weapons and sav-
agery wins the day.

A FORTUNE SPENT IN SUBJUGATION.

It has cost a fortune for the Spaniards to gain the little foothold
which they have had ; and yet, even then, it was not safe for Spanish
officers to wander very far out of town without a strong body-guard.

Under the present state of things, that is, the state of things
that existed before the possession of the islands by the United States,
the Sultan of Sulu received a salary of $2,400 from the Government
of Spain. He was practically the lord and master of all his subjects
and all that they owned. He was supported by three ministers, a
Minister of War, a Minister of Justice, and another one who acts in
his capacity when he leaves.

John Foreman tells of a very interesting trip which he made in
1SS1 to the Sultan of Sulu. The danger of such a trip may be
imagined when it is stated that a young officer had been sent on
some mission just outside of the town accompanied by two guards,
and had returned with one of his hands cut off as a souvenir of a
brush with the Mussulmans ; a number of military officers were sitting
in a cafe in the town when a number of Mussulmans came up behind
them and cut their throats. Both of these events took place a day
or two before Mr. Foreman's trip. Describing his visit, Mr. Fore-
man said :

" On our arrival at Maybun, we went first to the bungalow of a
Chinaman — the Sultan's brother-in-law — where we refreshed ourselves
with our own provisions and learned the gossip of the place. On
inquiry, we were told that the Sultan was sleeping, so we waited at

.212 OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OF THE ISLANDS

the Chinaman's. I understood this man was a trader, but there were
no visible signs of his doing any business. Most of our party slept the
siesta, and at about 4 o'clock we called at the palace. It was a very
large building, well constructed, and appeared to be built almost
entirely of materials of his country. A deal of bamboo and wood
were used in it, and even the roof was made of split bamboo, although
I am told that this was replaced by sheet iron when the young Sultan
came to the throne. The vestibule was very spacious, and all
around pleasantly decorated with lovely shrubs and plants peculiar
to most mid-tropical regions. The entrance to the palace is always
open, and we were received by three Dattos, who saluted us in a
formal way, and, without needing to ask us any question, invited us,
with a wave of the hand, to follow into the throne-room.

IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SULTAN.

" The Sultan was seated, on our entering, but when the bearer
of the despatches approached with the official interpreter by his side,
and with us following, he rose in his place to greet us.

" His Excellency was dressed in very tight silk trousers, fastened
partly up the sides with showy chased gold or gilt buttons, a short
Eton-cut olive green jacket, with an infinity of buttons, white socks,
ornamented slippers, a red sash around his waist, a kind of turban,
and a kris at his side. One could almost have imagined him to be a
Spanish bullfighter with an Oriental finish-off.

" We all bowed low, and the Sultan, surrounded by his Sultanas,
put his hands to his temples, and, on lowering them, he bowed at the
same time. We remained standing, whilst some papers were handed
to him. He looked at them— a few words were said in Spanish, to
the effect that the bearers saluted His Excellency in the name of the
Governor of Sulu. The Sultan passed the documents to the official
interpreter, who read or explained them in Sulu language ; then a
brief conversation ensued, through the interpreter, and the business
was really over. There was a pause, and the Sultan motioned to us
to repose on cushions on the floor, and we did so. The cushions,
covered with rich silks, were very comfortable. Servants, in fantastic
costumes, were constantly in attendance, serving betel nut to those
who cared to chew it.

A GLIMPSE OF MS SULTANAS 213

" One Sultana was fairly pretty, or had been so, but the remain
der were heavy, languid and lazy in their movements ; and their
teeth, dyed black, did not embellish their personal appearance. The
Sultan made various inquiries, and passed many compliments on us,
the Governor, Governor-General and others, which were conveyed
to us through the interpreter. Meanwhile, the Sultanas chatted
amongst themselves, and I guessed they must have been criticizing
us as much as we were observing their guise, features, attire, etc.
They all wore light colored " dual garments " of great width and
tight bodices. Their coiffure was carefully finished, but unfortu-
nately a part of the forehead was hidden by an ugly fringe of hair — a
disfigurement which, however, is common among Hongkong Eura-
sians and some European ladies.

" We had so little in common to converse on, and that little
had to be said through an interpeter, that we were rather glad when
we were asked to take refreshments. They at least served to relieve
the awkward feeling- of looking at each other in silence. Chocolate and
ornamental sweetmeats were brought to us, but what frightful mix-
ture the chocolate was, I could not tell, I believe it was made with
cocoanut oil, and to avoid a scene consequent on an indisposition, I
elected to leave it.

"We were about to take our departure, when the Sultan invited
us to remain all night in the palace. The leader of our party caused
to be explained to him that we were thankful for his gracious offer,
but that being so numerous, we feared to disturb His Excellency by
intruding so far on his hospitality. Still the Sultan politely insisted,
and whilst the interpretation was being transmitted, I found an
opportunity to let our chief know that I had a burning anxiety to
stay at the palace for the curiosity. In any case, we were a large
number to go anywhere, so our leader, in reply to the Sultan, said,
that he and four of his accompaniment would take advantage of His
Excellency's kindness.

" We withdrew from the Sultan's presence, and walked
through the town in company with some functionaries of the Royal
household. There was nothing very striking in the town ; it was
like most others. There were some good bungalows of bamboo and
thatching. I noticed that men, women and children were smoking

2I4 OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OF THE ISLANDS

tobacco or chewing and had no visible occupation. Many of the
smaller dwellings were built on piles out to the sea. We saw a
number of divers preparing to go off to get pearls, mother-of-pearl,
etc. They are very expert in the occupation, and dive as deep as
one hundred feet. Prior to the plunge, they go to a grotesque per-
formance of waving their arms in the air and twisting their bodies in
order — as they say — to frighten away the sharks ; then with a whoop,
they leap over the edge of the prahu, and continue to throw their
arms and legs about for the purpose mentioned. They often dive
for the shark and rip it up with a kris.

A NIGHT IN THE SULTAN'S PALACE.

" Five of us retired to the palace that night, and were at once
conducted to our rooms. There was no door to my room ; it was, strictly
speaking, an alcove. During the night, at intervals of about every
hour, as it seemed to me, a palace servant or guard came to inquire
how the senor was sleeping, and if I were comfortable, ' duerme el
senor?'(does the gentleman sleep ?) was apparently the limit of his
knowledge of Spanish. I did not clearly understand more than the
fact that the man was a nuisance, and I regretted there was no door
with which to shut him out. The next morning we paid our respects
to His Highness, who furnished us with an escort — more as a com-
pliment than a necessity — and we reached Sulu town again, after a
very enjoyable ride through a superb country."

" These Sulu Islanders have no compunctions of conscience
about killing people, and the habit seems to be so deeply rooted in
them, that it cannot be eradicated. Mr. Foreman illustrates this as
follows : ' In 18S4. a Mussulman was found on a desolate isle lying
off the Antigue coast (Panay Island), and of course, had no docu-
ments of identity, so he was arrested and confined in the jail of San
Jose de Buenavista. It was rather a rough way of treating any
unfortunate castaway. From prison he was eventually taken to the
residence of the Spanish Governor, a very humane gentleman, and a
personal friend of mine. There he worked for some little time
among the other domestics.

" In the study of Don Manuel, the Governor, there was a collec-
\\r- ">{ native arms, which took the fancv of the Mussulman. One

A GOVERNOR'S FIGHT FOR LIFE

215

morning he seized a kris and lance, and, bounding into the breakfast
room, capered about, gesticulated and brandished the lance in the air
much to the amusement of the Governor, and his quests. But in an
instant the fellow (hitherto a mystery, but undoubtedly a juramen-
tado), hurled the lance with great force towards the public prosecutor,
and the missile, after severing his watch-chain, lodged in the side of the
table. The Governor and the public prosecutor at once closed with
rhe would-be assassin, whilst the Governor's wife, with great presence
of mind, thrust a table knife into the culprit's body between the
shoulder blade and the collar bone. The man fell as if dead, and,
when all supposed that he was so, he suddenly jumped up. No one
had thought of taking the kris out of his grasp, and he rushed around
the apartment, severely cut two of the servants, but was ultimately
despatched by the bayonets of the guards who arrived on hearing the
scuffle. The Governor showed me his wounds, which were slight,
but his life was saved by the valor of his wife — Dona Justa."

" The costumes worn by the Sulu Islanders are very original and
striking. The women wear gay colors, with a preference for green
and scarlet. Their skirt, if such it may be called, or double lower
garment, is very loose, and their upper clothing is extremely tight.
Their hair is worn in a coil on the top of the head, and they are very
much better looking than most of the people of the Philippines.
They are extremely fond of jewelry, and their hands and ears are
filled with rings, sometimes of metal, but more often of sea-shells.

The men wear costumes which are equally as bright as those of
the women, but the fit of the costume is reversed, that is, their upper
garment is very loose, while their lower ones are as tight as a gymnast's.
Their whole attire is plentifully sprinkled with buttons, and to crown
it all, they add a turban, which is very picturesque, and which tells
their rank by the way in which it is tied. They are strong, agile,
and rather attractive looking savages, and extremely brave. For
weapons they have daggers, lance-heads, and so on, manufactured on
the anvil, showing a certain knowledge of the arts, and an expertness
of workmanship. The most curious thing they use, is a coat of mail,
made of buffalo horn and wire, the latter probably obtained from
Singapore. It protects splendidly against arrows or sword thrusts
but not bullets. They are great pearl fishers, and the Sultan claims a

2i6 OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OE THE ISLANDS

right to all of the pearls which are of an unusually large size. They
are very devout according to their own ideas of religion, and their
priests are usually the most influential men in the various tribes.
They have one day in the week devoted absolutely to worship, in
which they all go to their temples and listen to the prayers and recita-
tions of their priests.

A NATIVE FUNERAL.

On the birth or death of a child or some other important event
they have a very solemn ceremonial. They keep a New Year's feast
and during the year they have several days of fasting. All of the
young men above fifteen years of age are supposed to be enrolled in
the service of the Sultan, and are forced to carry arms. The priests
are the doctors as well. Whenever a chief dies they chant a funeral
hymn, and the bereaved family goes about lamenting, accompanied by
the noise of symbals and gongs. The neighbors rush in and join in
the general lament, and as soon as that is over, they all sit down to a
feast. The body is sprinkled with salt and camphor, but is buried
with very little ceremony. The grave is marked by a stone or
wooden tablet, and a slip of board of bamboo is placed around it, and
a piece of wood carved like the bows of a canoe is stuck in the earth
nearby, with a cocoanut shell full of water in front of it.

The town of Sulu proper is built on the plain not very much
above sea level. Its barracks are as fine as those in Manila. There
are some houses of stone and brick, and others of wood, with corru-
gated iron roofs. The church is unpretentious. There are tasteful
gardens and squares around, and the whole city is well laid out and
well drained.

" It is supplied with water conducted in pipes from a spring
about a mile and a quarter away. By this, and the excellent drain-
age, the place has become very healthful, although once it was a hot
bed of fever. Around the town is a wall, constructed for defence,
with two forts outside and three inside. It is a lively, interesting
town, and a nice place to live in as long as one remains inside of the
fortifications.

The inhabitants of the Sulu Islands are exceedingly supersti-
tious. They are naturally afraid of anything they do not know all
about, and consequently all travelers in that country report that it

A NATIVE WEDDING Z17

is exceedingly difficult to get photographs of them, as they turn
and flee whenever the camera is pointed at them. They think,
according to some of the travelers, that they would die in a short
time if photographed.

A NATIVE WEDDING.

Dean C. Worcester, in his excellent work on the Philippine
Islands, describes a native wedding, which is exceedingly interesting.
He says :

" By exercising considerable diplomacy we contrived to get
admission. We were shown into a large, poorly-lighted room, which
had a good floor of hewn timber. The well-to-do Moros of the whole
region round were assembled. Such gaudy costumes we had never
seen. They were silk, for the most part, and the pinks, purples,
scarlets, blues and greens were simply gorgeous. At one side of the
room was an 'orchestra.' The chief musical instrument consisted of
a wooden frame over which were strung cords that supported nine
small kettledrums, tuned to the notes of the scale. A woman, kneel-
ing before this affair, beat out rude airs on it with a pair of sticks.
Large kettledrums were suspended from the ceiling, and on the floor
were several double-ended wooden drums with heads of python skin.

" The kettledrums were made of bell metal, and the combination
of sounds produced by the various instruments was by no means
unpleasant at first, though its monotony wearied one in time.

" On one side of the room the floor was strewn with mattresses
and cushions, among which lounged the prospective bridegroom sur-
rounded by friends. The centre of the floor was cleared for dancing ;
in fact, dancing was going on when we entered. The performers
came out one at a time, and their movements were critically watched
and freely commented on by the spectators. Moro dancing consists
chiefly of contortions of the body above the waist, and movements of
the arms, wrists, and hands. The feet are used comparatively little.

"Some of the attitudes assumed bythe dancers were very grace-
ful ; others were decidedly grotesque, and interesting only as they
showed into what remarkable shapes human forms could be twisted.
Tiny children executed timid steps, and an old woman, white-haired,
toothless, and nearly bent double, took her turn with the rest, winning
great applause.

2i8 OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OF THE ISLANDS

" The bride, meanwhile, was in a small side room making her
toilet. We inferred from the sounds we heard that she had plenty of
help. The bridegroom donned his costume in public, putting it on
over the handsome Moro suit that he already wore. First came a
pair of gauze trousers several sizes too large, then a shirt of similar
material, quite too small ; next his companions produced a skirt of
rich silk, into which he climbed with great difficulty. He evidently
was not accustomed to skirts. Finally they brought out two long
ribbons, one embroidered with gold and one with silver. These were
so arranged that they crossed on his back and breast while both
encircled his waist. The costume was apparently public property,
intended for use on such occasions.

" Two panditas now came in. The groom squatted on the floor
and the panditas squatted before him. A saucer of live coals was
set between them, and incense burned in it. One of the priests took
five large rings and put them on the fingers and thumb of the groom's
right hand ; then, holding the hand in a peculiar way he recited a
long rigmarole, which was, unfortunately, lost on us. At its end the
groom and his friends made some sudden exclamation.

" The other pandita now began to sing, very softly at first, then
louder and louder. At this signal six young ladies, whom we may
as well call bridesmaids, entered the room and seated themselves
among*- the cushions at some distance from the srroom. One of them
had false finger-nails of silver, two inches long;. Their faces were
painted white with rich paste. Their eyebrows were artificially
broadened, and brought together between the eyes. " Beaucatchers,''
pasted flat to their cheeks, ran around their ears. Their front hair
was banged, and their back hair — but only a woman could describe
that. They sat down with great deliberation, and, with one excep-
tion, kept still as statues until the ceremony was over.

THE ENTRANCE OF THE BRIDE.

" The bride entered, but people crowded around her so that we
could not at first see her. She was dressed like her maids, but rather
more elegantly. She took position near the groom, turned her back
on him in a very pointed manner, and sat down. He and his friends
now rose, formed in line, and made a slow and circuitous pilgrimage

OTHER ISLANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO 2ig

to where she was sitting. After many pauses and much marking
time they reached their destination, and the groom made some
advances which the bride promptly repulsed. He then sat down and
gazed disconsolately at her back.

" The crowd extended their sympathy to him, and urged the
bride to relent, but she refused. One of the bridesmaids at last arose
and favored the audience with a long solo which we could not well
understand, but she seemed to be giving the groom a very bad repu-
tation. She finally finished and resumed her place. After more
entreaties from the crowd the bride arose, turned toward the groom,
and sat down again. This ended the ceremony, but when we went
to supper the newly wedded man and wife were still sitting there and
staring stupidly at each other."

OTHER ISLANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO.

The island of Samar, which is about 5,300 square miles in area,
has as its capital Catbalogan. It is a small town, much more clean
than most of these towns on the smaller islands, and lies on the north
shore of a picturesque bay on the west coast. There are several
shops in the town, but very little else to attract one's attention. The
main business of the place is dealing in abaca, that is, buying, curing,
and balling it. Plenty of fish can be obtained there, but poultry,
eggs, and even fruit are scarce, and very expensive.

The island itself is much overgrown with vegetation, and is,
practically, a series of jungles. To travel there means to run the
risk of scorpions and centipedes, which are liable to give one much
annoyance, if not proving even more serious. There are ants, too,
in extraordinary quantities, consequently the enjoyment of explora-
tion in Samar is limited. All through the hills are a number of clear-
ings made by natives who take this method of avoiding the payment
of taxes or escaping from the oppression of priests and public
officials. Besides its large crop of abaca, the island also produces
quantities of valuable timber. Several of its rivers are quite large,
but the mountains, for the most part, are low and unimportant. The
climate is favorable and fairly healthful.

Palawan has an area of about 4,150 square miles. Its chief
city is Puerto Princesa. This island is known to the Spaniards as

220 OTHER IMPORTANT CITIES OF THE ISLANDS

Paraqua. It was formerly part of the territory of the Sultan of
Borneo. The northern end was fortified by the Spaniards in the
eighteenth century in order to protect themselves from the Moros.
Some years afterward the Sultan of Borneo gave up the whole island
to Spain, and another garrison was established, in order to hold it, at
Tay-Tay. The capital of the island, which is situated on the bay, is a
fairly prosperous place, without the defences. It is called a naval
station because it has a place for repairing vessels, and two gunboats
are usually quartered there. It is a very unusual thing for any
vessels, except the regular mail steamers, to touch at this place, so
when a man lands there, he is practically shut off from the rest of the
world until the next steamer is due.

Palawan is the most western of all the more important islands
of the Philippine group. It is about 300 miles long, and has an
average breadth of about twenty miles. It is well watered by many
streams, and has a high range of mountains, as a sort of backbone, in
the interior. It is rich in splendid timber lands, which contain valu-
able hard woods, such as ebony. As to mineral wealth there is very
little known. Puerto Princesa is, perhaps, better known as a penal
settlement than anything else. Convicts and prisoners are sent there
from other places, and they usually settle there after their term of
imprisonment expires, as they have no money to pay their passage
home. The natives are divided into three classes. The Moros, who
are the most warlike of the inhabitants, live in the southern part ; the
Tagbanuas live along the northern coast, and the Battaks live in the
northern mountain region. The Tagbanuas are the most peaceful of
the residents. All through the island there are plenty of large-sized
pythons, some of which measure twenty-three or twenty-four feet in
length, and weigh about 350 pounds.

Mindora has an area of about 4,500 square miles. It is directly
south of Manila Bay. Its capital is Calapan, and the whole island is
very much avoided by all white men, owing to its deadly fevers.
There was a time when it was very prosperous and produced large
quantities of rice, but to-day the once rich fields are overgrown with
trees and shrubbery, and have become haunted by escaped criminals,
who know that no possible inducement could persuade the Spanish to
follow them. The island is chiefly inhabited by a tribe called Mang-

A POPULAR STREET CONVEYANCE.

As elsewhere, carriages and streetcars are used in Manila, but there are hundreds of the above " native:cabs," for carryine
single persons short distances, and tney are liberally patronized.

DRYING SUGAR.

Large pans containing the sugar arc set in ihe sun to evaporate the moisture. No refining or clarifying machinery has

been introduced into the Philippine Islands.

- o

= a

OTHER ISLANDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO

223

yans, who have a very bad reputation ; but, according to more recent
travelers, this is undeserved. They are, for the most part, friendly
natives.

Negros is nearby Cebu, and has an area of 2,300 square miles.
Its capital is Dumaguete, a much better class of town than one
usually finds. The Chinese are the merchants of the place, and the
population is made up almost entirely of natives of the island. In
this town are public buildings of unusual size, together with a church
and convent. On the island is an active volcano called Malaspina or
Canlooan, which is over 8,000 feet high. This is, probably, the rich-
est island of its size in the archipelago, and much of the land near
the coast is cultivated. Its chief product is sugar, although there is
some fine tobacco in the Escalante region, So great is the sugar
crop that a number of modern sugar mills have been established
upon the larger estates.

Cebu contains about 1,650 square miles. It has a capital of the
same name, which has already been spoken of. Masbate is another
island ot importance, with an area of 1,315 square miles. The chief
town is Palanog, which is built on high ground quite near the bay.
It is very small, and the only buildings of importance are the church
and the schoolhouse. The natives of the island are, for the most
part, quite civilized. Rice is raised in parts of the island, and live
stock forms the chief industry. Bohol, the next island in size, has
an area of 925 square miles. Catanduanes has an area of 450
square miles, and there are a dozen or more islands which vary in
size from 100 to 250 square miles.

Little is known of these smaller places, and, indeed, the whole
series of islands in the archipelago offer a fruitful field to the
explorer. They will probably be of little use to Uncle Sam, and
may be a source of great annoyance, inasmuch as the natives on many
of them are still followers of piratical leaders, and given to tak»ng
the law in their own hands.

CHAPTER XIII

The Future of the Islands

How they will Develop under the Care of the United States. — The Treaty of Peact
at Paris and its Effect. — What President McKinley says about the Situation.
— Extracts from his Famous Speeches on the Subject. — Views of Anti-Expansion-
ists.— Extracts from Speeches made by Senators and others. — Freedom and
Prosperity in Sight for the Long Misgoverned Islands.

SUCH are the islands of the past and present, but what of the
future ? The wings of peace, hovering over the two battling
nations, brought a. cessation of hostilities. The war was over,
practically, and there lay before both Spain and America the task of
formally agreeing to terms of peace and the adoption of a peace
treaty. The President appointed a commission consisting of Ex-
Secretary of State W. R. Day, Senator Cushman K. Davis, Senator
George E. Gray, Senator William P. Frye, and Hon. Whitelaw Reid
to go to Paris and meet a similar body appointed to represent Spain
in the negotiations. There was a lonp- struesfle between the two
before any agreement could be reached ; but finally, after two months
of debate, a treaty embracing seventeen articles was signed by the
representatives of both countries.

TERMS OF THE TREATY OF PEACE.

Under the terms of the treaty Spain agreed to renounce all sov-
ereignty over Cuba, and when the island was evacuated it should be
occupied temporarily by the United States until a stable government
could be established by the Cubans. Spain ceded to the United States
Porto Rico and her other islands in the West Indies, and the Isle of
Guam, in the Ladrones, and, most important of all, the whole of the
Philippines, the United States agreeing to pay $20,000,000 within
three months after the ratification of the treaty. Spanish ships are to
oe admitted to the ports of the Archipelago under the same conditiens
as ships from the United States during a term of ten years. All

225

226

THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

prisoners of war are to be liberated under the treaty. Both cou i-
tries renounce all claims for national or private indemnity resulting
from the war.

These, in a nutshell, are the main terms of the treaty. The
greatest stumbling block to the agreement of the commissioners was

o o o

the disposal of the Philippines. Spain gave them up with the great-
est reluctance, and for a time it looked as though, on account of the
islands, all of the negotiations would come to naught and that hos-
tilities would again be resumed. And not only was this question of the
possession of the Philippines warmly debated by these commissioners.
Immediately people of prominence in the United States arrayed them-
selves on one side or the other as to the advisability of our keeping the
islands. Every speech by the leaders of politics for months rang
with sentiments bearing upon this important national issue, the most
important that has faced the country for many years. Arguments of
expansionists clashed with those of the anti-expansionists. The ad-
ministration and its closest allies favored expansion, and most of the
prominent Republicans of the country espoused this side of the cause.
The Democrats for the most part were against expansion, led by Ex-
President Grover Cleveland and William J. Bryan.

There was a warm debate over the treaty in the Senate, and just
as its passage seemed to be in jeopardy news came from Manila of the
savage attack of the insurgents, led by Aguinaldo, upon the Ameri-
can troops, and the fierce fighting that followed turned the tide of
feeling. The next day the treaty of peace was ratified, and the
Philippines became ours by the double right of conquest and
purchase.

But the great question of the future of these beautiful and
rich islands remains unsolved. The treaty of peace leaves the matter
of their government to be regulated later, and the great issue of the
coming presidential campaign will probably swing around this pivot.
The ablest minds of our nation seem to differ on the question of
territorial expansion. Their arguments are interesting. Without
comment pro or con the opinions of the most distinguished men of
the day on this question are given herewith. These opinions are
chosen with a view to giving the ablest representatives both for and
against expansion.

PRESIDENT Mc KIN LEY'S VIEWS

227

President McKinley gave his views on this vital question in a
speech made at the Atlanta Peace Jubilee. He said :

"The flag has been planted in two hemispheres, and there it
remains, the symbol of liberty and law, of peace and progress. Who
will withdraw from the people over whom it floats its protecting
folds ? Who will haul it down ?

" The peace we have won is not a selfish truce of arms, but one
whose conditions presage good to humanity. The domain secured
under the treaty yet to be acted upon by the Senate came to us not
as the result of a crusade of conquest, but as the reward of temperate,
faithful, and fearless response to the call of conscience which could
not be disregarded by a liberty-loving and Christian people.

" We have so borne ourselves in the conflict and in our inter-
course with the powers of the world as to escape complaint or com-
plication, and give universal confidence of our high purpose and
unselfish sacrifices for struggling peoples.

" The task is not fulfilled. Indeed, it is only just begun. The
most serious work is still before us, and energy of heart and mind
,nust be bent, and the impulses of partisanship subordinated to its
faithful execution. This is the time for earnest, not faint, hearts.

" New occasions teach new duties. To this nation and every
nation there come formative periods in its life and history. New
conditions can be met only by new methods. Meeting these condi-
tions hopefully and facing them bravely and wisely is to be the might-
jest test of American virtue and capacity. Without abandoning past
'imitations, traditions and principles, but by meeting present oppor-
tunities and obligations we shall show ourselves worthy of the great
trust which civilization has imposed upon us.

"At Bunker Hill liberty was at stake ; at Gettysburg the Union
was the issue ; before Manila and Santiago our armies fought, not for
gain or revenge, but for human rights. They contended for the
freedom of the oppressed, for whose welfare the United States has
never failed to lend a helping hand to establish and uphold, and I
believe never will.

" The glories of the war cannot be dimmed, but the result will
be incomplete and unworthy of us unless supplemented by civil vic-
tories harder, possibly, to win, in their way no less indispensable
10

328 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

"We will have our difficulties and embarrassments. They follow
all victories and accompany all great responsibilities. They are in-
separable from every great movement or reform. But American
capacity has triumphed over all in the past. Doubts have in the end
vanished.

"Thus far we have done our supreme duty. Shall we now,
when the victory won in war is written in the treaty of peace, and the
civilized world applauds and waits in expectation, turn timidly away
from the duties imposed upon the country by its own great deeds ?
And when the mists fade, and we see with clearer vision, may we not
go forth rejoicing in a strength which has been employed solely for
humanity and always been tempered with justice and mercy, confident
of our ability to meet the exigencies which await, because confident
that our course is one of duty and our cause that of right."

POSTMASTER GENERAL SMITH'S VIEWS.

One of the most vigorous orations in behalf of the new policy
was made by the Postmast-Gereneral, Charles Emory Smith, at
Omaha, during the Exposition. He said :

"This war has opened a new career, and we joyfully turn from
its thrilling drama to the grandeur of the peaceful mission which it
ushers in. We turn to the contemplation of peace and its duties with
the consciousness of a new position and a new power. We have
stepped out on the broad stage of the world's action ; we have
advanced from continental dominion to world influence; we have
moved out of the isolation of a great but still limited and self-circum-
scribed sphere into the large arena of the world's activities ; and if in
this departure there are the risks and possibilities which attend all
human progressive enterprise there are also necessities and obliga-
tions from which we cannot shrink and opportunities and glories
which beckon us onward.

" The world's acknowledged tribute is the measure of its estimate
of the potency of our new position. Our use of that position will be
the measure of our wisdom and rulership. Equal to every crisis in
the past, we shall deal with this new emergency in the true American
spirit. It makes us responsible for Cuba. It gives us Porto Rico.
It plants our outposts on the farther side of the globe. Whatever we

POSTMASTER-GENERAL SMITH'S VIEWS 229

hold, whether it be more or less, will be held not for territorial aggran-
dizement, but solely in acceptance of responsibilities which Provi-
dence has laid upon us.

" Men lightly talk of ' imperialism.' Our imperialism is not ter-
ritorial lust, but benignant trade expansion and civilizing influence,
and our flag is at Manila, not in a spirit of spoliation, not in either
the greed or the glory of conquest, but, let it be reverently said,
under the controlling force of a providential guidance, at the ripe hour
in the development and requirements of our national growth.

" For the coincidences are clear and unmistakable. This has
come juat at the time when we needed broader commercial scope and
new outlets. It came just at the time when all the great powers are
engaging in a keen, vigilant and aggressive rivalry of trade opportu-
nity and extension. It came just at the time when the ancient and
colossal eiapire of China, with a quarter of the world's population, is
opening htr doors. It came just at the time when we were turning
our longing eyes across the Pacific for a share of the trade and when
we needed a base of commercial enterprise in the Orient. And the
thunder of our cannon at Manila, under the sudden uplifting of a
veil which no vision could have penetrated, gave us in a day the pres-
tige, the position and the opportunity which years of ordinary history
and endeavor would never have brought.

" It is treated in many quarters simply as a question of territorial
expansion, but that is a secondary and incidental consideration. The
great and overshadowing question is one of commercial openings.
The heart of the issue is not mere territory, but trade necessities and
facilities. Beyond and behind and beneath this departure lies the
broad problem of America's destiny in the commerce and civilization
of the world.

" Others speak, and rightly speak, of what is due to those dark-
ened people to whom our starry flag has brought the radiant sunshine
of hope and life. Let me suggest what is due to ourselves and our
future in the steady march of our development ? Our growth has
been so marvelous that we need new opportunities ; and our fate is
so happy that the opportunities are here for our taking.

" The imperial Louisiana acquisition, in the heart of which we
now stand, and which has become the seat of twelve mighty States

2$j THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

and fifteen millions of happy people, was dictated by the demand for
the commercial outlet of the Mississippi; and under the stress of that
necessity Thomas Jefferson broke away from old ideas and rose to a
larger statesmanship. Our need to-day, like that of a hundred years
ago, is for commercial outlets, and it is for the descendants of our
fathers to rise to our occasion and duty as our fathers rose to theirs.

" Our past policy has established our industrial independence. It
has enabled us to outstrip all other nations, and has endowed us with
a present attainment and a potential force which almost baffle the
imagination. We are immeasurably the greatest consumers among
men, but our productive capacity has grown beyond our wants, and
now looks to the markets of the world. We make one-half as much
iron and steel, the basic fabrics of civilization, as all other countries
put together. We produce one-half as much coal. We use one-half
as much wool. Our motive power, our railroad operations, our gen-
eral business are in the same or greater ratio. The savings out of
our earnings in the last thirty years amounted to one-sixth of all that
the world has saved and handed down since the dawn of the Christian
era. We are the only great commercial nation which sells more than
it buys. We are the only nation which is absolutely independent,
untrammeled and self-supporting within itself. While we were grow-
ing up we sent abroad food and brought home equipment. But now
that our American policy has realized its ultimate aim and its full
fruition in our unchallenged industrial supremacy we are sending not
only the products of our farms, but the products of our forges and
factories.

" We place our pipes in the streets of London ; we land our
tubing at Singapore ; we sell our paper in Japan ; we send our
machinery all over the world. The hour when our manufactured
exports passed our manufactured imports marked the turning point
of commercial mastery and opened new vistas before us. Having
gained the undisputed control of our vast domestic market, we boldly
enter into the world's trade competition.

" Yet, with all this achievement, we have in many fields but just
begun the development of our enormous resources. We grow seven^
eighths of the world's cotton, but we manufacture only a fourth of it.
We consume more of some leading products of the tropics than al)

BRIDGE OVER THE PASIG RIVER

This bridge connects the old walled city on one side of the river with the new uuwalled city on the other. Sea-going vessels

ascend the river as far as the bridge.

A WEDDING PROCESSION.

As in Asiatic countries, weddings in the Philippines are occasions of great ceremony. This engraving shows a wedding

procession in the Philippine Islands as photographed by an enterprising American. The bride and groom are

inside the chairs born on the shoulders of the men.

POSTMASTER-GENERAL SMITH'S VIEWS

23.1

other nations ; but we have had no proportionate share of their trade.
While the amazing multiplication of our productive capacity, there is
no limit to our possible development but the world's needs. In
twenty-five years we shall be a nation of a hundred millions, equalling
all Europe in energy of creation, and to contemplate the dazzling
splendor of that beneficent destiny, if only the growth of the past
twenty-five years shall be maintained, seems like the rhapsody of a
dream.

" If we are to fulfill that destiny we must have commercial
expansion ; and it is a profoundly significant fact which shows a guid-
ing hand that overrules the will of man that this war should have
come just as this great necessity begins to be realized. This oppor-
tunity matches the need. The elevation of the United States to a
new rank among the nations ; the universal acceptance of its obliga-
tion to stretch forth its civilizing hand where the fate of war has car-
ried it ; the fortunate possession of an established emporium on the
verj theatre of the world's seeking have brought the occasion and
the duty together. Is it not for enlightened American statesmanship,
watchful of American interests, to use the opportunity, not in terri-
torial avarice, but for commercial extension and civilizing influence in
the Orient with the base and the bulwark that are needed for its
support ?

" Trade follows the flag. Around the waters of the Orient dwell
more than a quarter of the human race. Among these ancient peo-
ples there is agitation and awakening. The old walls of isolation
and seclusion will be broken down, and in throwing off the thraldom
of ancient prescription and primitive life, there will be the invitation
and the inroad of civilizing instruments and influences. We shall
enter into no struggle of imperial division ; but why should we not
share the opening traffic of that vast region ? Why should not our
mills use our own cotton, now sent abroad, and multiply our spindles
in clothing China? Why should we not furnish her electric power
and materials ? Why should we not join in laying the rails of the
new lines of communication that are to set her sluggish life in motion ?
Why should we not find in the requirements of a vast people, arous-
ing from their ages of torpor, one of the openings that are needed
for our surplus manufactures ?

234 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

" The Pacific is rightfully within our commercial sphere. We
hold one shore, and we are nearest t#he other. Europe must cross
two oceans to the Orient, and we but one. Why should we not
peacefully and providently avail ourselves of the commercial advan-
tages within our grasp? We have, besides, learned the value and the
needs of a navy. Dewey, respecting the neutrality of Hong Kong,
had nowhere on the broad Pacific to rest his foot save on his own
deck, and under the signal from Washington he steamed straight to
Manila, defiant of mine and of fort, because the Spanish fleet was
there, and because he needed and proposed to make an American
harbor ! And we have come to understand that under modern neces-
sities our Olympias and Oregons and our commercial fleets bearing
our flag over the world must have harbors where they can ride in
safety in their own unchallenged right.

" And so, as we move forward to the new duties before us, let us
try to realize the majesty of our position and the grandeur of our
destiny. Picture the strength and the promise of the commanding
place our mighty Republic now holds in the realms of nations. A
continental domain washed by the two great oceans ; midway and
overarching the Orient and Occident, and impregnable because but-
tressed by the seas; the home of the only civilized people on earth
who are economically independent and self-sustaining and boundless
in their resources ; along the granary and now fast becoming the
workshop of the world ; gaining in its new acquisitions the gates of
the Caribbean, the mastery of the Isthmus and the key of Asia,
embracing within its own wide territory, as no other nation does, the
varied and exchangeable products of the temperate and tropic zones,
and all the necessities of complete and self-centered national exist-
ence ; and thus fronting the coming time of world-wide rivalry with
a rounded development beyond any other nation, with the new need
of commercial extension which springs from those unlimited capabili-
ties, and with the stepping-stones and facilities brought within our
possession by providential events which the imagination had not
dreamed six months ago. Surely, as we contemplate this vision, we
can justly feel that the mistress of the future is the noble figure of
the Republic, whose torch of liberty, enlightening the world, is no
less the beacon of commerce and humanity."

PEACE COMMISSIONER REID'S VIEWS 235

Hon. Whitelaw Reid, of New York, just before he was appointed
one of the Peace Commissioners, said in an article in the Century
Magazine :

"The question of the Philippines is different and difficult. They
are not within what the diplomatists of the world would recognize as
the legitimate sphere of American influence. Our relation to them
is purely the accident of recent war. We are not in honor bound to
hold them, if we can honorably dispose of them. But we know that
their grievances differ only in kind, not in degree, from those of Cuba ;
and having once freed them from the Spanish yoke we cannot honor-
ably require them to go back under it again. That would be to put
us in an attitude of nauseating national hypocrisy, to give the lie to
all our professions of humanity in our interference in Cuba, and to
prove that our real motive was conquest. What humanity forbade
us to tolerate in the West Indies it would not justify us in re-estab-
lishing in the Philippines.

" The chief aversion to the vast accessions of territory with
which we are threatened springs from the fact that ultimately they
must be admitted into the Union as States. No public duty is more
urgent at this moment than to resist from the very outset the conces-
sion of such a possibility. In no circumstances likely to exist within
a century, should they be admitted as States of the Union.

" With slight modifications, the territorial form of government
which we have tried so successfully from the beginning of the Union,
is admirably adapted to such communities. It secures local self-
government, equality before the law, upright courts, ample power
for order and defence, a voice in Congress for the presentation
of local wants and such control by Congress as gives security
against the mistakes or excesses of people new to the exercise of
rights.

"The power of the government to deal with territory, foreign
or domestic, precisely as it chooses, was understood from the begin-
ning to be absolute, and at no stage in our whole history have we
hesitated to exercise it. The question of permanently holding the
Philippines or any other conquered territory as territory is not and
cannot be made one of constitutional right ; it is one solely of
national duty and of national policy. "

236 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

One of the most striking speeches made in the United States
Senate during the debate on the treaty, was that of Senator Lodge,
of Massachusetts. He said :

"In connection with these resolutions and others which have
been introduced, two questions have been raised, one of Constitutional
law and one of public policy. It is not my purpose to enter at length
into the former discussion. The Constitutional questions are many,
and the hypothetical situations which have been imagined with much
ingenuity as tests of the Constitution, are almost countless. It is an
inviting field, rich in casuistry and subtle distinctions, but I do not
think that I could add much to the sum of human information or
misinformation by attempting its elaborate cultivation.

" My own views as to our Constitutional rights and powers are
simple and well defined, and have not been formed without some
study, both of our Constitution and our history. I shall content
myself with stating them. I believe that the United States has the
undoubted power, which it has frequently exercised to acquire terri-
tory, and to hold and govern it. I am ready to admit, if necessary,
that action in these directions must be taken for Constitutional pur-
poses, but the constitutionality of the purposes must be determined
by Congress itself through its majority. I believe that the power of
the United States in any territory or possession outside the limits of
the States themselves is absolute, with the single exception of the
limitation placed on such outside possessions by the XIII Amend-
ment. Such, at all events, has been the policy of the United States
and its course of action in practice.

"Constitutions do not make a people; people make insti-
tutions. Our Constitution is great and admirable, because the men
who made it were so, and the people who ratified it and have lived
under it were and are brave, intelligent and lovers of liberty. There
is a higher sanction and a surer protection to life and liberty, to the
right of speech and trial by jury, to justice and humanity, in the
traditions and beliefs, the habits of mind, and the character of the
American people than any which can be afforded by any constitution,
no matter how wisely drawn. If the American people were disposed
to tyranny, injustice and oppression, a constitution would offer but a
temporary barrier to their ambition and the reverence for the con-

SENATOR LODGE'S ARGUMENTS ^2>1

stltution and for law and justice grows out of the fact that the
American people believe in freedom and humanity, in equal justice
to all men, and in equal rights before the law, and while they so
believe the great doctrines of the Declaration of Independence and
of the Constitution will never be in peril.

" Holding these views as to our Constitutional powers, the great
question now before the American people resolves itself, in my mind,
to one policy, surely.

" In our war with Spain we conquered the Philippines, or, to put
it more exactly, we destroyed the power of Spain in those islands and
took possession of their capital. The treaty cedes the Philippines
to us. It is wisely and skilfully drawn. It commits us to no policy,
to no course of action whatever in regard to the Philippines. When
that treaty is ratified we have full power, and are absolutely free
to do with those islands as we please ; and the opposition to its
ratification may be summed up in a single sentence, that the Ameri-
can people and the American Congress are not to be trusted with
that power and with that freedom of action in regard to the inhabit-
ants of those distant islands.

" What bur precise policy shall be I do not know, because I for
one am not sufficiently informed as to the conditions there to be able
to say what it will be best to do ; nor, I may add, do I think any one
is. But I believe that we shall have the wisdom not to attempt to
incorporate those islands with our body politic, or make their inhabit-
ants part of our citizenship, or set their laborers alongside of ours
and within our tariff to compete in any industry with American
workmen.

" I believe that we shall have the courage not to depart from
those islands fearfully, timidly and unworthily, and leave them to
anarchy among themselves, to the brief and bloody domination of
some self-constituted dictator and to the quick conquest of other
powers, who will have no such hesitation as we would feel in crushing
them into subjection by harsh and repressive methods. It is for us
to decide the destiny of the Philippines, not for Europe, and we can
do it alone and without assistance. I believe that we shall have the
wisdom, the self-restraint and the ability to restore peace and order
in those islands and give to their people an opportunity for self-gov-

238 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

ernment and for freedom under the protecting shield of the United
States until the time shall come when they are able to stand alone, if
such a thing be possible, and if they do not themselves desire to
remain under our protection.

"To the American people and their Government I am ready to
intrust my life, my liberty, my honor ; and, what is far dearer to me
than anything personal to myself, the lives and liberty of my children
and my children's children. If I am ready thus to trust my children
to the Government which the American people create and sustain,
am I to shrink from intrusting to that same people the fate and for-
tunes of the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands?

" I can look at this question in only one way. A great respon-
sibility has come to us. If we are unfit for it and unequal to it, then
we should shirk it and fly from it. But I believe that we are both fit
and capable, and that therefore we should meet it and take it up.
There is much else involved here, vast commercial interests which I
believe we have a right to guard and a duty to foster. "

SENATOR PLATT'S ARGUMENTS.

During the debate on the Peace Treaty, the following was part
of the notable speech made by Senator Piatt, of Connecticut :

" I do not propose to discuss the policy of expansion," said Mr.
Piatt in the preface to his argument. " I do not propose either to
discuss the features of the government we might establish in any
foreign territory we might acquire. Expansion has been a law of our
national growth, the mainspring of our national development. I
shall maintain that the United States has shown a great capacity for
government in all trying times and under many trying conditions,
and that it is capable to meet any emergency likely to arise.

" I shall contend that the United States is a nation, and that as
such it possesses every sovereign power not reserved by the Consti-
tution to the States or to the people themselves ; that the right to
acquire territory was not reserved, and that, therefore, that right is an
inherent right — a sovereign right, a right to which there is no limita-
tion. I shall show, also, that in certain instances this inherent sov-
ereign right is to be inferred from specific clauses of the Constitution
itself."

SENATOR CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW'S POSITION 239

Mr. Piatt then made a constitutional argument, quoting exten-
sively from authorities treating of the question. In maintenance of
his position of the right of the United States to acquire foreign terri-
tory he quoted from the opinion of Justice Gray in the Chinese
exclusion case. He declared that, in the discussion of the annexa-
tion of the Hawaiian Islands, the entire question of this Govern-
ment's right to acquire foreign territory was considered thoroughly,
and that the Senate had settled it satisfactorily and rightly. " We
did not annex the Hawaiian Islands as a State," he said, " or with
any declaration that the territory should become a State. We took
it by cession. Our title to the territory is perfect and complete and
constitutional."

Mr. Piatt maintained that the right to Florida did not rest alone
on the quitclaim from Spain, but on a deeper and broader right. He
held that the United States "have the right to acquire territory in
all ways that are used by other sovereign nations of the world."

"Yes; the right to acquire territory is an element of nationality;
and I do not believe that there is any obligation to give to the people of
acquired territory the right of self-government until such time as they
are fit to exercise that right. If we believe the people of a country
acquired are not fitted for the government of themselves, it is our
duty to give them the most liberal government they are capable of
accepting, and to educate them up, as best it may be, to the point
where they will be capable of self-government. The Constitution
does not confer the right of suffrage."

SENATOR CHAUNCEY M. DEPEw's POSITION.

Senator-elect Chauncey M. Depew, when he was the guest of
the Independent Club of Buffalo, speaking for expansion, said :

" In the closing hours of 1898 we are at the highest development
of American prosperity and power. By a marvelous series of provi-
dences we are in the possession of vast territories, peopled by alien
races in various degrees of civilization, in regard to which there have
been thrust upon us the gravest responsibilities. Our success in their
government depends upon the faithful application of the same oft-
tried and ever-successful principles which have been worked out in
such a marvelous way in our own history.

24o THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

" The evolution of its administration of the affairs of the Ameri-
can Republic has been for one hundred years toward national supre-
macy. Now, in 1898, at the close of the Spanish War, the President
of the United States possesses and exercises an authority beyond
that of any ruler in the world, except the Czar of Russia, and with-
out question from any source.

" We face at this time questions as vital to the future of our
country as any which in the past have been met and successfully
answered. The Federation of Washington, in 1798, has developed
into the United States of 1898, with that inherent power which is
always attached to national sovereignty — of acquiring territory by
conquest or power. No constitutional lawyer will doubt this power.
I do not think any body of constitutional lawyers will doubt that
among the reserved powers of sovereignty which belong to us as a
nation is the right to administer the affairs of territories acquired by
conquest or by cession, under such form of government as Congress
and the Executive may prescribe.

" To maintain order in Cuba, until the people shall be able to
reach a stable government of liberty and law, is humanity. To
incorporate Porto Rico in our domain, relieve its citizens from
oppression, and give them good government, is humanity. To per-
mit the bloody hand of Spain to again grasp the throat of ten
millions of Filipinos, or to pass them over to the tender mercies of
European governments, would be inhuman and cowardly ; it would
be refusing the mission which Providence has distinctly forced upon
us. We must judge of the future of these possessions, not by the
oppressions, which they have suffered, but by the liberty which they
will enjoy. The Philippines to the United States, like Java to Hol-
land, under the inspiring influences of American opportunity, of
American schools and American hope, will be an immense market,
and a large source of revenue over and above the cost of administra-
tion for the United States. Our Government, firmly planted, will
not only enter the 'open door' of the Orient for the products of our
fields and our factories, but when the great boot of Uncle Sam is put
in the crack of the door which continental nations would close, there
will be no musket jammed upon that boot to compel its with-
drawal,"

WILLIAM J. BRYAN'S VIEWS 243

William J. Bryan, of course, emphatically disapproved of the
stand taken by the Government. He said :

" Spain,, under compulsion, gives us a quitclaim to the Philip-
pines in return for $20,000,000, but she does not agree to warrant
and defend our title as against the Filipinos. To buy land is one
thing, to buy people is another. Land is inanimate, and makes no
resistance to a transfer of title ; the people are animate, and some-
times desire a voice in their own affairs. But, even if measured by
dollars and cents, the conquest of the Philippines should prove profit-
able or expensive, it will certainly prove embarrassing to those who
still hold to the doctrine which underlies a republic. Military rule is
antagonistic to our theory of government. The armaments which
are used to defend it in the Philippines may be used to excuse it in
the United States. Under military rule much must be left to the
discretion of the Military Governor ; and this can only be justified
in the theory that the Military Governor knows more than the peo-
ple whom he governs, is better acquainted with their needs than they
are themselves, is entirely in sympathy with them, and is thoroughly
honest and unselfish in his desire to do them good. Such a combina-
tion of wisdom, integrity, and love is difficult to find ; and the Repub-
lican party will enter upon a hard task when it starts out to select
suitable Military Governors for our remote possessions.

" We cannot afford to destroy the Declaration of Independence ;
we cannot afford to erase from our Constitutions, State and National,
the Bill of Rights ; we have not time to examine the libraries of the
nation and purge them of the essays, the speeches, and the books
that defend the doctrine that law is the crystallization of public
opinion, rather than an emanation from physical power.

" But even if we could destroy every vestige of the laws which
are the outgrowth of the immortal law penned by Jefferson ; if we
could obliterate every written word that has been inspired by the
idea that this is ' a government of the people, by the people, and for
the people', we could not tear from the heart of the human race the
hope which the American Republic has planted there. The impas-
sioned appeal, ' Give me liberty, or give me death', still echoes around
the world. In the future, as in the past, the desire to be free will be
stronger than the desire to enjoy a mere physical existence. The

244 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

conflict between might and right will continue here and everywhere
until a clay is reached when the love of money will no longer sear
the national conscience, and hypocrisy no longer hide the hideous
features of avarice behind the mask of philanthropy."

WHAT EX-PRESIDENT CLEVELAND THINKS.

Ex-President Grover Cleveland, lent the weight of his influence
against expansion. On one occasion he gave the following sarcastic
interview :

" Assuming that my ideas on the subject are antiquated and un-
suited to these progressive days, it is a matter of surprise to me that
the refusal of certain natives of our new possessions to acquiesce in
the beneficence of subjecting them to our control and management
should, in the least, disturb our expansionists. This phase of the
situation ought not to have been unanticipated, nor the incidents
naturally growing out of it overlooked.

" The remedy is obvious and simple. The misguided inhabitants
of our annexed territory who prefer something different from the
plan for their control which we propose, or who oppose our designs
in their behalf, should be slaughtered. The killing of natives has
been a feature of expansion since expansion began, and our imperial-
istic enthusiasm should not be checked by the prospective necessity
of destroying a few thousand or a few hundred thousand Filipinos.
This should only be regarded as one stage in a transcendentally
great movement a mere incident in its progress. Of course, some
unprepared souls would then be lost before we had the oppor-
tunity of christianizing them, but surely those of our clergymen who
have done so much to encourage expansion could manage that
difficulty."

SENATOR HOAR'S ARGUMENTS.

Senator Hoar, of Massachusetts, calls it a spasm of folly. In his
speech before the Senate, he said :

" The persons who favor the ratification of this treaty without
conditions and without amendment differ among themselves certainly
in their views, purposes and opinions, and as they are so many of them
honest and well-meaning persons, we have the right to say, in their
actual and real opinions. In general, the state of mind and the

SENATOR HOAL S ARGUMENTS 245

utterance of the lips are in accord. If you ask them what they want,
you are answered with a shout : ' Three cheers for the Flag ! Who
will dare to haul it down ? Hold on to everything you can get. The
United States is strong enough to do what it likes. The Declaration
of Independence and the counsel at Washington and the Constitution
of the United States have grown rusty and musty. They are for
little countries and not for great ones. There is no moral law for
strong nations. America has outgrown Americanism.'

" In general, the friends of what is called imperialism or expan-
sion content themselves with declaring that the flag which is taken
down every night and put up again every morning over the roof of
this Senate Chamber, where it is in its rightful place, must never be
taken down where it once floated, whether that be its rightful place
or not — a doctrine which I shall have occasion to say before I get
through is not only without justification in international law; but if it
were implanted there would make of every war between civilized and
powerful nations a war of extermination or a war of dishonor to one
party or the other.

" The power to conquer alien peoples and hold them in subjuga-
tion is nowhere expressly granted.

" The power to conquer alien peoples and hold them in subjuga-
tion is nowhere implied as necessary for the accomplishment of the
purposes declared by the Constitution.

" It is clearly shown to be one that ought not to be exercised by
anybody — one that the framers of the Constitution thought ought
not to be exercised by anybody —

" 1. Because it is immoral and wicked in itself.

" 2. Because it is expressly denied in the Declaration of
Independence, the great interpreter and expounder of the meaning of
the Constitution, which owes its origin to the same generation and
largely to the same men.

" 3. It is affirmed that it is immoral and unfit to be exercised
by anybody — in numerous instances by contemporary State Con-
stitutions and the contemporary writers and authorities on public
law, who expressed the opinion of the American people in that
generation who adopted the Constitution as well as of the men who
framed it.

246 THE FUTURE OF HIE ISLANDS

" The power to hold property is implied whether that property
be land or chattels. And, Mr. President, you are not now proposing
to acquire or own property in the Philippines with dominion as a
necessary incident, you are not to own a foot of land there. You
propose now to acquire dominion and legislative power and nothing
else. Where in the Constitution is the grant of power to exercise
sovereignty where you have no property.

" Now, there are Senators here, yet hesitating as to what their
action may be in the future, who will tell you that they loathe and
hate this doctrine that we may buy nations at wholesale ; that we
may acquire imperial powers or imperial regions by conquest ; that
we may make vassal states and subject peoples without constitutional
restraint, and against their will and without any restraint but our
own discretion.

" The one great lesson which sums up the teachings of American
history during our century of constitutional life is the dignity of
labor. It is an unquestionable truth that no tropical colony was ever
settled by men not born in tropical climes, for the purpose of finding
work. There was scarcely ever a tropical colony successful at all.
There was never a tropical colony successful except under the system
of contract labor. That is to be set up, enforced and administered
by the agencies of the Republic of the United States, if we are to
succeed in such administration at all.

" The Senator from Connecticut seems to contemplate that we
shall embark on a permanent system of national expenditure which
will put this nation under an obligation, the equivalent of which will
be a national debt greater than that of any other nation on the face
of the earth. Our civil list, already so enormous, must be enormously
increased. Instead of taking from the people by fair competition, or
even by fair selection, men to take their share in self-government, we
must have in the future, as they have in England, a trained class whose
lives are to be spent not in self-government, but in the government of
other men."

SENATOR VEST'S VIEWS.

Senator Vest's speech, in starting the opposition to the Peace
Treaty, stated that our forefathers had fought for years against tax-
ation without representation, The Declaration of Independence

SENATOR VEST'S VIEWS 247

had been drawn up with the idea that all governments derived their
just powers from the governed. It was incredible that the founders
of the Government could have looked forward to the time when
millions of human beings could be held without their consent, merely
as chattels, to be disposed of as the sovereign powers of the mother
country might choose. It seemed to him the historic argument that
the just powers of the Government were derived from the consent of
the governed fully covered his position, inasmuch as it had been
fully maintained by the courts.

Mr. Vest thought it was the purpose of the expansionists to
adopt the European system of colonization. He pointed out that
Great Britain had in the mother country 120,979 square miles of
territory, and in her colonies 16,667,071 square miles. The dispro-
portion of population was about the same. He maintained that the
fundamental principle of this Government was the granting of citi-
zenship to all within the jurisdiction of the Government, except
alone the Indians. The question, Mr. Vest thought, was the result
of the efforts of desperate disputants who appear in the public press
day by day and attack public men because they adhere to the Con-
stitution and resist this new evano-el.

"To say," declared Mr. Vest, "that citizens of a territory are
excluded from the privileges guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and
are merely subjects of the arbitrary will of Congress, is a monstrous
proposition ; but fortunately the Supreme Court had determined
that question in many cases.

" I do not deny the power of the Federal Government to
acquire territory, but I do deny its power to acquire territory peo-
pled with millions without their consent and with no intention of
conferring upon them citizenship. I may be answered that the point
is not good ; that it may be evaded by the taking in of vast tracts of
lands peopled with barbarians, to be held merely for commercial
advantages. When the Congress of the United States shall become
so degraded as this, it is only a question of time when the end shaV
come."

"We are a great people," concluded Mr. Vest. "We are told
that this country can do anything, Constitution or no Constitution.
We are a great people, it is true, but we cannot do more than another
20

248 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLANDS

great people did — a people that conquered the world, not with steel
ships and modern cannon, but with bare swords and primitive galleys.
The colonial system destroyed all hope of republicism in the old
time. It is an appendage of monarchy. It can exist in no free
country, because it uproots and eliminates the bases of all republican
institutions — that governments derive their just powers from the
consent of the governed. I know not what may be done with the
glamour of foreign conquest and greed of the money-making classes
of this country. For myself, I would rather quit public life this
minute — nay, I would be willing to yield life itself — rather than give
my consent to this fantastic and wicked attempt to revolutionize our
Government and to substitute the p.inciples of our hereditary enemy
for the teachings of Washington and his associates."

HON. CARL SCHURZ'S VIEWS.

Perhaps none of the anti-expansionists received as much criti-
cism as Hon. Carl Schurz, the noted New Yorker. In an address, he
said:

" If we take these new regions, we shall be well entangled in
that contest for territorial aeerandizement, which distracts other
nations and drives them far beyond their original design. So it will
be inevitably with us. We shall want new conquests to protect that
which we already possess. The greed of speculators working upon
our Government will push us from one point to another, and we shall
have new conflicts on our hands, almost without knowing how we
got into them. It has always been so under such circumstances, and
always will be. This means more and more soldiers, ships and guns.

" We are already told that we shall need a regular army of at
least 100,000, three-fourths of whom are to serve in our 'new pos-
sessions.' The question is, whether this necessity is to be only tem-
porary or permanent. Look at the cost. Last year the support of
the army proper required about $23,000,000. It is computed that,
taking the increased costliness of the service in the tropics into
account, the army under the new dispensation will require about
$150,000,000; that is, $127,000,000 a year more.

" It is also officially admitted that the possession of the Philip-
pines would render indispensable a much larger increase of the navy

HON. CARL SCHURZ'S VIEWS 249

than would otherwise be necessary, costing untold millions for the
building and equipment of ships, and untold millions every year for
their maintenance and for the increased number of officers and men.
What we shall have to spend for fortifications and the like cannot
now be computed.

" But there is a burden upon us which, in like weight, no other
nation has to bear. To-day, thirty-three years after the Civil War,
we have a pension roll of very nearly 1,000,000 names. And still
they come. We paid to pensioners over $145,000,000 last year, a
sum larger than the annual cost of the whole military peace estab-
lishment of the German empire, including its pension roll. Our
recent Spanish war will, according to a moderate estimate, add at
least $20,000,000 to our annual pension payments. But if we send
troops to the tropics and keep them there, we must look for a steady
stream of pensioners from that quarter, for in the tropics soldiers are
" used up " very fast, even if they have no campaigning to do.

" The cry suddenly raised that this great country has become
too small for us is too ridiculous to demand an answer, in view of the
fact that our present population may be tripled and still have ample
elbow-room, with resources to support many more. But we are told
that our industries are gasping for breath ; that we are suffering from
over-production ; that our products must have new outlets, and that
we need new colonies and dependencies the world over to give us
more markets. More markets ? Certainly. But do we, civilized
beings, indulge in the absurd and barbarous notion that we must own
the countries with which we wish to trade? Here are our official
reports before us, telling us that of late years our export trade has
grown enormously, not only of farm products, but of the products of
our manufacturing industries ; in fact, that ' our sales of manufactured
goods have continued to extend with a facility and promptitude of
results which have excited the serious concern of countries that, for
generations, had not only controlled their home markets, but practi-
cally monopolized certain lines of trade in other lands.'

" That our victories have evolved upon us certain duties as to the
people of the conquered islands, I readily admit. But are they the
only duties we have to perform, or have they suddenly become para-
mount to all other duties ? I deny it. I deny that the duties we

250 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND.

owe to the Cubans and the Porto Ricans and the Filipinos and the
Tagals of the Asiatic islands absolve us from our duties to the
75,000,000 of our own people and to their posterity. I deny that
they oblige us to destroy the moral credit of our own Republic by
turning this loudly heralded war of liberation and humanity into a
land-grabbing game, and an act of criminal aggression. I deny that
they compel us to aggravate our race troubles, to bring upon us the
constant clanger of war and to subject our people to the galling bur-
den of increasing' armaments. If we have rescued those unfortunate
daughters of Spain, the colonies, from the tyranny of their cruel
father, I deny that we are therefore in honor bound to marry any of
the girls, or to take them all into our household, where they may
disturb and demoralize our whole family. I deny that the liberation
of those Spanish dependencies morally constrains us to do anything
that would put our highest mission to solve the great problem of
Democratic government in jeopardy, or that would otherwise endan-
ger the vital interests of the Republic. Whate\ er our duties to them
may be, our duties to our own country and people stand first ; and
from this standpoint we have as sane men and patriotic citizens to
regard our obligation to take care of the future of those islands and
their people.

"They fought for deliverance from Spanish oppression, and we
helped them to obtain that deliverance. That deliverance they
understand to mean independence. I repeat the question whether
anybody can tell me why the declaration of Congress that the Cubans
of right ought to be free and independent, should not apply to all of
them? Their independence, therefore, would be the natural and
rightful outcome. This is the solution of the problem first to be
taken in view. It is objected that they are not capable of inde-
pendent government. They may answer that this is their affair, and
that they are at least entitled to a trial."

VIEW IN BANCA SHOWING DUTCH FORTIFICATIONS.

For many years Ihe East India Islands were a bone of contention between the Dutch and the Spaniards. The Dutch owned
Java, Sumatra, and oiher islands ; but the Spaniards finally drove them entirely from every point in the Philippines.

THE NATIVE FARMER AND HIS FAITHFUL SERVANT.

The Carabao, or large Water Buffalo cf the Philippine Islands is the chief domestic animal of the natives,
raotured wild when young'. It is large and as strong as two horses.

It is generally

SENOR MONTERO RIOS

President of the Spanish Peace Commission whose painful

duty required him to sign away his country's

colonial possessions.

GENERAL RAMON BLANCO

Who succeeded Weyler as Captain-General of Cuba in 1897

He was formerly Governor-Genera* of the

Philippine Islands.

ADMIRAL CERVERA
Commander of Spanish Fleet at Santiago.

SAGASTA

Premier of Spain during the Spanish-American Wat

nOMINFNT CipfllUIRRnC IN 1RQQ

CHAPTER XIV
The Ladrone Islands.

The Blcodless Battle of Guam. — When the Charleston Opened Fire on the Little Citj
of Agafia, the Governor Thought we were Saluting Him. — A Population which
has Twice Disappeared. — Poverty and Laziness on all Sides. — The Value of the
Island as a Military Station.

ON July 4, 1898, the United States steamship Charleston had
a little celebration all by itself in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean, during which it captured an island and hoisted the
American flag in a new land. It was an incident of war which was
unexpected. The inhabitants of the island did not even know that
war existed between the United States and Spain. The country was
so far removed from the seat of Spanish government and so out of
touch with the things that were going on in the world, that when the
war vessel of Uncle Sam came near to this Spanish possession and
fired her shot upon the frowning forts that guarded the little city of
Agafia, there was no reply, and when troops were landed to take
possession of the city, and the Governor of the island was asked to
surrender, he expressed his great surprise at the demand and was
startled to learn that his country had become involved in a struggle
with the United States.

He had heard the roar of the guns of the Charleston, but he thought
"the noble Americans were saluting him, and he was deeply humili-
ated because he had no powder to return their salute." It followed
that he had no powder with which to fight, so he immediately surren-
dered the island of Guam to the American officers, and soon the flag
of Spain was lowered over the little isle where it had fluttered for
so many years, and in its stead waved a new flag, a symbol unknown
to the people of that place, a symbol that is to bring them peace and
prosperity greater than any they have ever known, guaranteed by the
Stars and Stripes of the United States.

253

254 THE LADRONE ISLANDS

The Governor of the island and all his soldiers were taken on
board the Charleston as prisoners of war. Then the vessel continued
her voyage to Manila, leaving a handful of men to garrison the
fort of Guam. Later on, when the Treaty of Peace was signed, this
little island of Guam was ceded to the United States as a coaling
station. Its situation makes it valuable to the United States from a
naval standpoint, for it is in a direct line across the Pacific, giving us
Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines as keys to practically the whole
commerce of the Pacific Ocean, which if the prophecies of the present
are fulfilled will be the great highway of commerce in the years to
come.

This little Island of Guam is not intrinsically a valuable posses-
sion. As a coaling station, however, it will more than repay for its
keep, for this only of all the islands possessed by the United States
is not self-supporting, and has not been for years.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE LADRONES.

It was a welcome sight to Magellan and his crew when, one day
in March, nearly four hundred years ago they beheld the verdant and
beautifully sloping hills of the Ladrone Islands. Eighteen weary
months before they had sailed from the coast of Spain, and all that
time, first to the southwest and then to the northwest, they had fol-
lowed the setting sun. Theirs were the first vessels manned by
white men that had ever plowed the trackless Pacific ; and this was
the first land ever seen by white men within that unknown ocean.

It was a pitiable crew on these small, weather-beaten ships, who
drew, that March morning, toward the coast of the present island of
Guam. Hunger and thirst had driven them to the verge of mad-
ness. They had eaten even the leather thongs from their sail fasten-
ings, and only a small mug of water per day was the portion of drink
for a man. " Land ! Land !" It was a glad cry from the watch aloft.
There were palm trees, cocoanuts, green grass, tropical fruits, an
abundance of fresh water, and — though naked — a curious and friendly
people. No wonder Magellan paused to rest himself and his sailors.
But the welcome he got on this 16th day of March, 1521, was such
that his stay was not a very long one. The sight of these strange
ships from a foreign land aroused the curiosity of the natives to such

IT WAS CALLED THE ISLE OF ROBBERS 255

an extent that they swarmed around in their native canoes, and some
even swam out to meet the newcomers. They climbed over their
ships' sides, and overran them so that they had to be expelled by
force. As a farewell token these natives took one of the ships' boats,
and nearly a hundred men had to be sent on shore to recover it.
There was a bloody combat, in which many lives were sacrificed,
but the Spaniards eventually recovered their lost possession.

IT WAS CALLED THE ISLE OF ROBBERS.

Magellan named the place Islas de las Velas Latinas, or islands
of the Lateen Sails, but Legaspi called them Ladrones, which is the
Spanish word for "robbers," and by that name they have been known
ever after.

Since that time they have been visited by many explorers. In
1662 one of these roving vessels, the San Damian, while on a voyage
from Mexico to Manila, anchored on the Island of Guam. It had on
board a missionary, Fray Diego Luis Desan Victores, who was very
much struck by the wretched poverty of the natives and their terrible
condition, both physically and spiritually. When he reached Manila
he tried to get prominent members of his Church interested in these
natives, and so much did he plea for them to his superiors that they
had to order him to drop the subject. Finally, however, he secured
a good word on behalf of his project from the Archbishop, who
brought the matter to the attention of King Philip the Fourth.
Other pressure was also brought on that monarch so that in 1 666 a royal
decree was received sanctioning' the establishing' of a mission in the
Ladrones, so Fray Diego, finally successful in the scheme that had
taken possession of his whole life, set sail from Spain for the islands,
intending to stop in Mexico on the way. But the owners of the
vessel in which he sailed wished to change her destination to Peru, so
that they might carry a full cargo. All of the pleas of the priest
could do nothing, and finally when the cargo was put on it shifted to
one side, so that the vessel leaned and was not able to right herself.
This decided the owners to lighten her, and they dispatched the
vessel to Mexico, as was desired by the priest. So Fray Diego finally
arrived safely in that city, but there he encountered more trouble.
The Viceroy declared that he had no orders to send an expedition *o

256 THE LADRONE ISLANDS

the Ladrones, and remained inflexible to all entreaty. Even his wife
begged him on her bended knees to yield to the call for help from
these far-away islands, and it is said that while she besought him an
earthquake shook the city. The friar called it a manifestation of the
disapproval of Heaven, and so superstition accomplished what entrea-
ties could not accomplish, and the expedition started in March, 1668,
in charge of a Jesuit mission.

THE NAME OF THE ISLANDS IS CHANGED.

Subsequently Queen Maria Anna, who had succeeded King Philip
IV. to the throne, gave the mission a pension of $3,000 per year, to
commemorate which liberality the Spaniards formally named the islands
the Islas Marianas, by which name they are known in Spain up to this
day, although the older name Ladrones is better known elsewhere.

As soon as the mission of Fray Diego became fairly established
on the island, a small body of troops, consisting of 12 Spaniards and
19 Filipinos was sent there, with 2 pieces of artillery. For a time
the natives accepted the dominion of the invaders, but as they
became more and more trodden under the feet of these foreigners,
they arose in rebellion. But here, again, Fray Diego was lucky, for
once more Nature came to him as a powerful ally working upon the
superstition of the ignorant islanders. While the rebellion was going
on, a severe storm came up and swept all of the huts of the natives
before it. Thereupon the priests told them that Heaven was angered
at their uprising, and finally peace was declared. Fray Diego went
over to Visayas shortly after, where he was killed. Xo sooner had
he gone than the natives again revolted against the oppression of
these foreign priests, who wished to force them to adopt a religion
of which they knew nothing, and rites which were mysterious to
them. From time to time they sacrificed the priests, either in war-
fare or in massacre. In 1778 a Governor of the islands was
appointed. He came from Mexico with thirty soldiers, but, after
two years' service, resigned, finding the field unfruitful and the honor
barren ; for so great is the poverty there that, during the first cen-
tury of Spanish rule, the Government was never able to collect a
cent of tribute from the natives, and, even at the present time, the
revenue from the islands is not nearly sufficient to pay expenses.

THE EXTENT OF THE ARCHIPELAGO 257

There are two groups of islands in the Ladrones, divided by a
broad channel. Altogether they have an area of about 417 square
miles. The northern group consists of ten islands, which are unin-
habited. The southern group comprises five islands, one of which
is not inhabited, — Guahan or Guam, as it is known, Rota, Aguigan,
Tinian, and Saypan. The chief one of these is Guam, which is the
largest, the most settled, and the most southern of the islands. It
contains the only city in the colony, San Ignacio de Agana, and the
fortified harbor of Umata.

The former is situated on a creek called the Port of Apra.
Vessels are not able to get up to Agana, and they come at anchor
about two miles off Punta Piti, where passengers and cargo, as
well as the mails, are taken over to a very little wooden landing place.
Not far from there, at a distance of about 500 yards, is the office of
the harbor master. The road from there to the capital is a hard one to
travel, and extends for a distance of five miles. So difficult is com-
munication between the harbor and the capital of the islands that it
has been a mooted question for many years as to whether it would not
be better to change the location of the chief city of the colony, but,
as yet, nothing has been done.

In the capital there are some fairly good-sized buildings, includ-
ing a government house, a military hospital and pharmacy, an artil-
lery depot, infantry barracks, a prison, a tribunal and administra-
tor's office, as well as some ruins which mark the spot where once
stood what was known as the Public Buildings. There are also a Col-
lege of San Juan de Letran for boys and a school for girls there.

In the city there are eight so-called stores, besides small wretched
huts, where native aguardiente is sold. It is made out of fermented
cocoanut milk. The stores are classed as follows : First, Manila ;
second, Japanese ; third, Chinese ; fourth, Chamarro (native) ; and
fifth, American. There are three of the Manila stores where ready-
made articles of apparel, notions in general demand, and high-priced
canned goods of poor quality are sold ; also poor cigars made of
native tobacco. The Japanese store is one of the best, carrying the
same class of goods with some additions. It has eggs and bread, the
latter baked every other day, and of a poor quality. The Chinese
store is very poor. The native store has a supply of native coffee of

258 THE LADRONE ISLANDS

fair quality and excellent chocolate, also cotton goods. The Ameri-
can store is more pretentious, but inferior to the Japanese. It carries
a large supply of canned goods, clothes, notions, shoes, and furniture.
Flour is difficult to obtain. Butter and lard are not good, owing to
the warm climate. Chickens and eggs are plentiful. The beef is
poor, and no sheep are raised inland. There are plenty of pigs.
Yams, sweet potatoes and corn are abundant. Bananas, cocoanuts,
and breadfruit are the chief sources of food of the natives. There
is little fishing. The clams are fairly good, and the oysters are very
small and have a sweet taste. There are plenty of deer, goats, wild
turkey, plover, ducks and other game birds.

Nine other towns exist on the island, which boast parish priests
and churches built of stone and roofed with reed patching. All of
these towns have tribunals, six made of bamboo and reed, one built
of wood, and another of stone. In seven of these towns there are
schools, four for boys, five for girls and nine for both sexes, under
the direction of twenty-six teachers.

The islands themselves are of little value. The general surface
of the southern group is low, while that of the northern is moun-
tainous, although the mountains are not very high. Volcanic forma-
tions occur, and on two of the islands there are smoking craters. All
of the archipelago practically is densely wooded, and the vegetation
is much like that of the Philippines.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF POPULATION.

When first visited by Europeans, the archipelago contained from
40,000 to 60,000 souls, represented by two distinct classes, the nobles
and the people, between whom marriage and even contact was for-
bidden. But the Spanish conquest soon ended this distinction by
reducing all alike to servitude. For a long time after Spanish occu-
pation, the natives complained and finally rebelled against the oppres-
sive measures of their rulers ; but by the end of the seventeenth cen-
tury they ceased their resistance, and it was found by a census that
fully half of them had perished or escaped in their canoes to the
Caroline Islands, and that two-thirds of their 180 villages had fallen
to ruins. Then came an epidemic which swept away nearly all the
natives of Guam, and the island of Tinian (one of the group) was

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF POPULATION 259

depopulated and its inhabitants brought to Guam. Nearly all the
new arrivals soon died. In the year 1760, a census showed a total of
only 10,654 inhabitants left in all the islands, and the Spaniards
repopulated them by bringing Tagals from the Philippines.

The population of the islands in 1899 was estimated at about
9,000. The people are generally lacking in energy, loose in morals
and miserably poor. Their education has been seriously neglected.
The natives of the islands are about as much domesticated as the
Philippine islanders, and their features are much more regular. The
introduction of Spanish language has practically driven out their own
language, which is called Chamorro, and which much resembles the
dialect of the Visayas. Some of the natives also speak English, as
these islands used to be the resort of some English speaking whalers.
The Spaniards have taught the natives the use of firearms, and all
are pressed into service and trained in the arts of war.

The climate of the islands is damp but salubrious, and the heat
is so tempered by trade winds that it is very much milder in tem-
perature than the Philippines. The yearly mean temperature at
Guam is about 8i° F. August and September are the warmest
months, but they do not differ greatly from the rest of the year.

There is a wet and a dry season, although in the latter there is
considerable rain at times. From October to May the winds are
usually northeasterly, while during the rest of the year they are
northwesterly and southwesterly as a rule, the latter being accom-
panied by much rain.

The islands are full of rivers, although in Guam the clearing
away of the woods has caused many of the largest streams to dwindle
down to mere brooks. Cocoanut and other palms, the bread tree
and other tropical trees and plants generally thrive. The large fruit
bat which abounds in the Philippines is indigenous to the Ladrones,
and, despite its objectionable odor, is a popular article of food.
Swine and oxen are allowed to run wild, and are hunted when
needed. There are only a few species of birds; even insects are rare;
and the reptiles are represented by several kinds of lizards and a
single species of serpent. No domestic animals were known in the
islands until introduced by the Spaniards.

CHAPTER XV

The Hawaiian Islands, "The Paradise of the

Pacific."

Annexed to the United States by Act of Congress, July 7, 1898. — Truly a Paradise in
Climate, Fertility and Healthfulness. — Discovery by Captain Cook. — Something
about the Inhabitants. — Old times in Hawaii. — A Pen Sketch of Queen Lilioukalani,
the Last of the Royal Line. — The Revolution of 1893. — The Plea for Admission
to the United States. — -The Mission of Senator Blount. — The Work of American
Missionaries. — Some Hawaiian Superstitions and Amusements. — Products and
Commerce. — Sugar is to the Islands what Wheat is to our Northwest. — Honolulu,
the Capital City. — A Beautiful and Delightful Resort. — On the Threshold of a
Great Industrial Era.

RIGHT in the pathway which leads across the sea, to the shores
of our new possessions gained by war, appears another pos-
session, obtained through peace, the Hawaiian Islands. Five
years ago the American flag which had been hoisted above the build-
ings of Honolulu, taking the "Paradise of the Pacific" under the
protection of its folds, was lowered, and now by a joint vote of Con-
gress, the flag has again been hoisted over the islands, and they have
been formally annexed to the United States.

When the flae was raised for the second time on August 12,
1898, in obedience to the act of Congress of July 7th, some of the
richest, most fertile and most valuable of all of the islands of the globe,
became the property of our Government. In climate, fertility, and
healthfulness, they are truly the " Paradise of the Pacific." There are
eight inhabited islands in the Sandwich archipelago, including Hawaii,
Maui, Kahoolawe, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kaui, Niihau. Alto-
gether they have an area of 6,700 square miles, a little less than that
of the State of New Jersey, and about 500 square miles greater than
the combined areas of Rhode Island and Connecticut. They extend
from northwest to southeast over a distance of about 380 miles, the
several islands being separated by channels varying in width from 6

26 *

262 THE HA WAIIAN ISLANDS

to 60 miles. They lie entirely within the tropics, not far from a
direct line from San Francisco and Japan, 2,089 miles from San
Francisco.

CAPTAIN COOK DISCOVERS THE ISLANDS.

The islands were first discovered in January, 1778, by Captain
Cook, who named them the Sandwich Islands after Lord Sandwich,
but the native name Hawaii, is more generally used. There is good
evidence that Juan Gaetano, in the year 1555, that is 223 years
before Captain Cook's visit, landed upon their shores. Old Spanish
charts and the traditions of the native bear out this theory, but they
were not made known to the world until Cook visited them. The
original inhabitants came from New Zealand, according to popular
belief, although that island is some 4,000 miles southwest of them.
The physical appearance of the people is very similar and their lan-
guage is so much alike that a native Hawaiian and a native New
Zealander, meeting for the first time can carry on a conversation. Their
ideas of the Deity and some of their religious customs are nearly the
•same. That the islands have been peopled for a long time is proven
by the fact that human bones are found under lava beds and coral
reefs where geologists declare they have lain for at least 1,300 years.

Captain Cook's visit to the islands was a notable event, according
to an old historian. The captain was worshiped as a god ; the
people declined to charge him for anything, but loaded up his ship
freely with the best productions of the islands. " The priests ap-
proached him in a crouching attitude, offering prayers and exhibiting
all the formalities of worship. After approaching him with prostra-
tions, the priests cast their red capas over his shoulders and then
receding a little they presented hogs and a variety of other offerings,
with long addresses rapidly enunciated which were a repetition of
their prayers and religious homage.

" When he went on shore most of the people fled for fear of him,
and others bowed down before him with solemn reverence. He was
conducted to the house of the gods, and into the sacred enclosure,
and receive there the highest homage. Kalaniopuu, the King, arrived
from Maui, on the twenty-fourth of January, and treated Captain
Cook with much kindness, giving him feather coats, and fly brushes
and paid him divine honors.

THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK 263

Describing the death of Captain Cook, this historian says that
Cook had established a blockade to stop thieving in canoes. He
continues : "A canoe came from an adjoining district bound within
the bay. In the canoe were two chiefs of some rank, Kekuhaupio
and Kalimu, The canoe was fired upon from one of the boats and
Kalimu was killed. Kekuhaupio made the greatest speed till he
reached the palace of the King, where Captain Cook also was, and
communicated the intelligence of the death of the chief. The
attendants of the King were enraged and showed signs of hostility,
but were restrained by the thought that Captain Cook was a god.
At that instant a warrior with a spear in his hand approached the Cap-
tain, and was heard to say, that the boats in the harbor had killed
his brother and he would be revenged. Cook, from the warrior's
enraged appearance and that of the multitude, was suspicious of him
and fired upon him with his pistol. Then followed a scene of con-
fusion and in the midst Captain Cook, being hit with a stone and
perceiving the man who threw it, shot him dead. He also struck a
certain chief with his sword. The chief instantly siezed Captain
Cook with a strong hand designing merely to hold him, and not to
take his life, for he supposed him to be a god, and that he could not
die. Captain Cook struggled to free himself from the grasp and, as
he was about to fall, uttered a groan. The people immediately ex-
claimed, " He groans, — he is not a god," and instantly slew him.
Such was the melancholy death of Captain Cook.

" Immediately the men in the boat commenced a deliberate fire
upon the crowd. They had refrained in a measure before for fear of
killing their captain. Many of the natives were killed. The body of
Captain Cook was carried into the interior of the island by the
natives, the bones secured according to their customs, and the flesh
burned in the fire.

" The heart and liver of Captain Cook were stolen and eaten by
some hungry children, who mistook them in the night for the inwards
of a dog. Some of his bones were sent on board his ship in compli-
ance with the urgent demands of the officers, and some were kept by
the priests as objects of worship."

The people of that period were about as wild and ignorant and
superstitious as people well could be. They numbered at the time

264 THE HA WAIIAN ISLANDS

of discovery about 400,000. Forty years after, when a census was
taken, there were 142,000. These diminished one-half during the
next fifty years ; and the native population of the islands in 1897 was
only 31,019. The total population by the last census, when the
islands became a part of the United States, was 109,020, made up,
in addition to the natives mentioned, of 24,407 Japanese, 21,616
Chinese, 12,191 Portuguese, and 3,086 Americans. The remainder
were half-castes from foreign intermarriage with the natives, together
with a small representation from England, Germany, and other
European countries.

A RACE BECOMING EXTINCT.

That the original Hawaiians must soon become extinct as a pure
race is evident, though they have never been persecuted or mal-
treated. They are a handsome, strong-looking people, with a rich,
dark complexion, jet black eyes, wavy hair, full voluptuous lips, and
teeth of snowy whiteness ; but they are constitutionally weak, easily
contract and quickly succumb to disease, and the only hope of per-
petuating their blood seems to lie in mixing it by intermarriage with
other races.

Prior to 1795 all the islands had separate kings, but in that and
the following year the Great King of Hawaii, Kamehameha, with
cannon that he procured from Vancouver's ships, assaulted and sub-
jugated all the surrounding kings, and since that time the islands
have been under one government. Previous to this the natives had
been at war, according to their traditions, for three hundred years.
The fierceness of their hand-to-hand conflicts, as described by their
historians, has probably not been surpassed by those of any other
people in the world.

Kamehameha I. was succeeded by Kamehameha II., who made
for himself a record as reformer. He broke through the sacred
priestly law which prevented a man from eating at the same table
with his female relatives, and finally succeeded in breaking up, to a
great extent, but not completely, the old barbaric rites and customs.
It was during his reign that the missionaries from this country first
succeeded in making headway. The last Kamehameha died in 1872,
leaving one child. He was the fourth of his race, and is perhaps

A RACE BECOMING EXTINCT

265

best remembered by the reputation of his Queen, Emma, who became
a great favorite with Oueen Victoria when she visited Eno-land. She
was a woman of lovely character, and attracted much attention to
herself and her people.

On the King's death the succession lay between Prince Lur-
alilo, a grandson of the original Kamehameha and David Kalakaua,
who was the son of a chief of royal blood. Luralilo was given the
throne by a popular election, but lived only two years. He died in
1874, without naming a successor, and Queen Dowager Emma
announced her readiness to rule over Hawaii, but there arose, as an
aspirant to the throne, this Kalakaua, who was a boatman in the har-
bor of Honolulu, and who, if rumor is to be believed, used to pick
up extra money at night by playing the banjo in one of the water-
front dives. He was a descendant of the old Hawaiian chiefs, and
had a strain of Kamehameha blood in his veins. He cast eager
eyes on the throne, and, by using American influence, he was able to
secure thirty-nine out of forty-five votes of the Legislature, which
had been convened in extra session to decide the matter, and, conse-
quently, was declared King of the islands, much to the disgust of the
people who were in sympathy with Queen Emma.

During: his reign the Government of Hawaii entered into vari-
ous negotiations with the Government of the United States which
resulted in a treaty of reciprocity being established in 1876. By this
treaty rice and the lower grades of sugar were admitted duty free
into the United States. This was of an immense advantage to
Hawaii during the period in which the tax on sugar was unusually
high in this country, and she was able to realize $45 or $50 per ton
more than any other on her sugar. This was instrumental in draw-
ing American capital and American people to the colony, and they
began immediately to take a controlling position in the political and
social affairs of the islands.

In 1887, under President Cleveland's first administration, addi-
tional provisions were made to the treaty and its time lengthened, in
return for which the King, ceded to the United States the exclusive
rieht to establish and fortify a naval station on the Hawaiian Islands.
Pearl Harbor was designated as the station; but in 1889 Secretary
of the State, James G. Blaine, dissatisfied with the imperfect cessions

266 THE HA W All AN ISLANDS

of this harbor, as well as with the general status of affairs between
our country and Hawaii, urged upon the Hawaiian Minister at Wash-
ington, H. A. P. Carter, an enlargement of the treaty provisions. It
was proposed to make the treaty permanent, to create absolute free
trade between the two countries in all articles except intoxicants, to
make the cessation of a naval station permanent as well as exclusive,
and to pledge to Hawaii full participation in any bounties to be given
American producers of sugar. In short, Hawaii, in all its commer-
cial and productive interests, was to enjoy all the privileges of one
of the United States. In return, besides the cession of Pearl Har-
bor, Mr. Blaine asked a pledge of Hawaii to enter into no treaty
engagement with other poweis without the full consent of the
United States.

Canada, however, put its finger in the pie, and so worked upon
King Kalakaua that he rejected the treaty, and before another could
be made, he died. Queen Liliuokalani, his sister, ascended the throne,
and made immediate provision for her succesor. As she had no chil-
dren of her own, there was, of course, no direct heir to the crown,
but she announced that the heir to the crown would be Princess
Kaiulani, one of the most beautiful, cultured, and fascinating of the
children of the islands. She was the daughter of Honorable Archi-
bald Cleghorn, an Englishman, who was the Governor of the Island of
Oahu, and Princess Likelike. But, as fate would have it, this beauti-
ful Hawaiian never ruled in Hawaii ; she died early in March, 1899.

Queen Liliuokalani had not only inherited a throne, but she had
inherited the discontent of a people who had been imposed upon
by Kalakaua. He had shown himself a great champion of his own
people, but a great foe to foreigners, and, as the latter were the most
powerful and richest of the dwellers upon the islands, he laid up
trouble, not only for himself, but for his successor. He was a great
seeker after personal power, and used every means possible to sur-
round himself with subservient officeholders. Through his follies, in
the seven years up to 18S7, the national debt grew from $389,000 to
$1,936,000. Finally matters went from bad to worse, until an open
revolt was precipitated by his accepting two bribes, one of $80,000.
the other of $75,000, for which he gave the same exclusive privileges
in the opium traffic to each of two rival bidders.

A RACE BECOMING EXTINCT 267

Immediately there was an uprising of such magnitude that it
took the King's breath. The foreigners organized a united move-
ment for reform, and they secured concessions which took all the real
power away from the King and placed it in the hands of a cabinet,
subject only to the Legislature.

In 1889 Robert W. Wilcox headed a revolution against the
methods employed by the King. He was a full-blooded Hawaiian,
and he protested not only against the King's extravagance, but the
way in which in his later years he allowed the Government affairs to
be dictated practically by the business men of other countries. His
uprising was not a success. He seized the military school, the palace
yard and the Government house, but the movement was suppressed
within a few hours.

When the Queen took her seat she insisted on her right to
appoint a Cabinet of her own. This right was granted her, and for
some time she lived up to the Constitution which the previous King
had signed.

Later, however, she made up her mind to take matters into her
own hands and again turn the Government into a personal one. In
1892 there was a Legislative session which was protracted over a
space of eight months,- chiefly through her desire to get matters into
her own control. Opium and lottery bills were championed by her,
which were of such a nature as to arouse violent opposition. But the
final crash came later. The Queen had a Constitution drawn up
which would have had the effect of making her absolute monarch of
the islands, and would have disfranchised a class of citizens who paid
a large proportion of the taxes to the Government. She attempted to
promulgate this new Constitution on January 14th. The matter had
been ready for two weeks previous to that, and in expectation of it a
large crowd of Hawaiians had assembled around the palace gates
and in the grounds. Natives were also gathered in large groups in
the Government building yard and elsewhere in the neighborhood.

The Queen retired to the blue room and summoned her minis-
ters. She was seated at a table dressed in a magnificent costume
with a sparkling coronet of diamonds. She presented the ministers
upon their arrival with a draft of the new Constitution, demanding
their signatures, and declaring her intention of promulgating the

268 THE HA WAIIAN ISLANDS

document immediately. Two of the ministers refused to accede to
her wishes, and somewhat hesitatingly the others joined in the
refusal. They urged Her Majesty not to violate the law, but she
was not to be dissuaded from her revolutionary course.

Bringing her clenched hand down upon the table, the Queen
said : " Gentlemen, I do not wish to hear any more advice. I intend
to promulgate this Constitution, and to do it now." Then she told
her Cabinet that unless they abandoned their resistance at once she
would go out upon the steps of the palace and tell the excited crowd
that she wished to give them a new Constitution, but the ministers
were preventing her from doing it. Remembering a previous riot,
and the fate of the unlucky men who fell into the hands of the insur-
gents, and knowing that the Queen had prepared just such a trap for
them, the ministers fled before her threat could be put into execution.

From the Government building they sent word all around town
asking citizens what support could be expected to resist the revolu-
tionary movement begun by the Queen. There was but one opinion,
and all joined together to support the law and the liberties of the
people. When this was learned, great pressure was brought upon the
Queen to retrace the steps she had already taken. While her troops
stood drawn up before the palace waiting for the final word of com-
mand, the Queen hesitated. There was another conference which
lasted for a long time, and finally, although she could not be per-
suaded to give up her plan, the Queen consented with bitter reluc-
tance to a postponement. She was a very angry woman when later
she entered the throne room where were assembled the leading men
of her rule, but she announced publicly that the new Government
would not yet be declared.

A PROCLAMATION.

Knowing that the Queen would eventually carry out her plans,
the foreign element in the community called a mass meeting and
appointed a committee of public safety, which issued a proclamation
stating that : " It is firmly believed that the culminating, revolutionary-
attempt of last Saturday will, unless radical measures are taken,
wreck our already damaged credit abroad and precipitate to final
ruin our already overstrained financial condition, and guarantees of

A PROCLAMATION 269

protection to life, liberty and property will steadily decrease. The
political situation is rapidly growing worse. In this belief, and also
in the belief that the action hereby taken is and will be for the best
personal, political and property interests of every citizen of the land,
we, citizens and residents of the Hawaiian Islands, organized and act-
ing for public safety and common good, hereby proclaim as follows :

"The Hawaiian monarchical system of Government is hereby
abrogated. Provisional Government for the control and management
of public affairs and the protection of public peace is hereby estab-
lished, to exist until terms of union with the United States of America
have been negotiated and agreed upon. Such Provisional Govern-
ment shall consist of an Executive Council of four members, who are
hereby declared to be S. B. Dole, J. A. King, P. C. Jones, and W.
O. Smith, who shall administer the Government of the islands, the
first named acting as President and Chairman of su*ch Council,
administering the Department of Foreign Affairs, and the others sev-
erally administering the Departments of Interior, Finance and Attor-
ney-General, respectively, in the order in which enumerated, accord-
ing to the existing Hawaiian law, as far as may be consistent with
this proclamation and also of an Advisory Council, which shall con-
sist of fourteen members, who are hereby declared to be S. D. Damon,
A. Brown, L. A. Thurston, J. F. Morgan, E. Emmelsmith, H. Water-
house, J. A. McCandless, E. D. Tenny, F. W. McChesney, F. Wil-
helm, W. R. Castle, W. G. Ashley, W. C. Wilder, and C. Bolte.
Such Advisory Council shall also have general legislative authority.
Such Executive and Advisory Councils shall, acting jointly, have
power to remove any member of either Council, and to fill such or
any other vacancy.

" All officers under the existing Government are hereby requested
to continue to exercise their functions and perform the duties of their
respective offices excepting the following named persons : Queen
Liliuokalani, Charles B. Wilson, Marshal ; Samuel Parker, Minister
of Foreign Affairs ; W. H. Cornwell, Minister of Finance; John F.
Colburn, Minister of Interior; Arthur P. Peterson, Attorney-General,
who are hereby removed from office. All Hawaiian laws and con-
stitutional principles not inconsistent herewith shall continue in

270 THE HA WA11AN ISLANDS

force until further order of the Executive and Advisory Councils,

Henry E. Cooper, J. A. McCandless,

Andrew Brown, Theodore F. Lansing,

John Emmelsmith, C. Bolte,

Edward Suhr, Henry Waterhouse,

W. C. Wilder, F. W. McChesney,

William O. Smith."
The following day, the Provisional Government was organized,
and at once issued a proclamation reciting the arrogance of the
Queen, enumerating the broken promises of Her Majesty and detail-
ing the wrongs inflicted on the residents and property.

The new Government called on volunteers, who assembled,
armed, to the number of 500. The old Government surrendered
without striking a blow, although it had about 400 men under arms
and a battery of Gatling guns. The Provisional Government then
notified the representatives of foreign Governments of the change,
and asked recognition. It was at once granted by all the powers
except England.

The Government assumed formal control of the palace and
barracks. The Ex-Queen retired to her private residence at Wash-
ington Place, and the Government granted her an honorary guard of
16 men. The household guards were paid off to February 1st, and
disbanded. A strong force of volunteers took possession, and is now
in charge of the palace, the barracks, the police headquarters and
other Government buildings.

At the headquarters the work of military organization was
pushed rapidly forward, and volunteers continued to pour in steadily
from all quarters. The Provisional Government spent a large part
of the night in perfecting its organization and adjusting the wheels
of Government to changed order. In the meantime the ordinary
routine work of the Government was groins ahead with but little break.
The Hawaiian steamer Claudine was chartered, and left Honolulu on
the morning of Wednesday, January 19th, four days after the revolt,
with five commissioners aboard instructed to proceed to Washington,
and negotiate a treaty of annexation. The commissioners were Lorrin
A. Thurston, William C. Wilder, William R. Caset, Charles L.
Carter and Joseph Marsden.

PROTEST OF THE QUEEN 271

During the critical time, just as the reformers were about to
sieze the throne, the United States warship Boston arrived unex-
pectedly and landed marines to protect the lives and property of
Americans on the island. This turned out to be an important event
in the subsequent history of the islands, for President Cleveland used
it against the new Government. The deposed Queen openly charged
that these troops were part of a conspiracy against her. In the pro-
clamation issued when she was deposed, she said : '

" I, Liliuokalani, by grace of God, and under the Constitution of
the Hawaiian Kingdom Queen, do hereby solemnly protest any and
all acts done against myself and the Constitutional Government of
the Hawaiian Kingdom, by certain persons claiming to have estab-
lished a Provisional Government of and for this Kingdom ; that I
yield to the superior force of the United States of America, whose
Minister Plenipotentiary, His Excellency John L. Stevens, has caused
United States troops to be landed at Honolulu, and declared that
he would support the said Government.

" Now, to avoid any collision of armed forces and perhaps loss
of life, I do under this protest and impelled by said force, yield my
authority until such time as the Government of the United States
shall, upon facts being presented to it, under the action of its repre-
sentative reinstate me in the authority which I claim as constitu-
tional sovereign of the Hawaiian Islands.

Done at Honolulu, this 17th day of January, A.D., 1893.
(Signed) Liliuokalani."

United States Minister Stevens immediately recognized the
new Government in the following communication :

" To S. B. Dole, Esq., and others, composing the Provisional
Government of the Hawaiian Islands : A Provisional Government
having been duly constituted in place of the recent Government of
Queen Liliuokalani, and the said Provisional Government being in
full possession of the Government buildings, archives and treasury,
and in control of the capital of the Hawaiian Islands, I hereby recog-
nize said Provisional Government as the de facto Government of the
Hawaiian Islands. JOHN L. STEVENS,

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
of the United States,"

272 THE HA W All AN ISLANDS

When the matter officially reached our Government, a treaty of
annexation was negotiated by President Harrison, and was sent to
the Senate for confirmation, but was not passed before that body
adjourned.

The election of President Cleveland put a new phase on the
subject for he did not take the same view of the question as did his
predecessor. It seemed to him that the protectorate established on
the islands, and the control of the reform Government had been the
result of conspiracy in which our own consul and the captain of the
Boston had played a conspicuous part. Even before his inauguration
he started an investigation into the matter, and one of the first things
he did after he entered the White House was to withdraw the treaty
which was in the hands of the Senate, and to send the Hon.
James H. Blount, of Georgia, to the islands with instructions to
investigate the whole affair. Such were Mr. Blount's powers that he
was ever known afterward as " Paramount " Blount. He had been
in Honolulu but two days, when he ordered the American flag hauled
down from the Government building where it was flying and
ordered the marines, which were doing duty there to return on
board the Boston, and other ships to which they belonged. He
immediately took a position which was higher in authority than
either the naval officers there, or the American Minister. He started
to take a testimony, but according to the unprejudiced mind it seems
to have been testimony chiefly of the people allied to the deposed
Queen, and was filled with perversions of facts which are well known,
and was not at all convincing.

His report, however, was accepted by President Cleveland with-
out more ado, and the latter sought to restore the Queen to her
throne. Here, however, he met with an unexpected difficulty. One
of the conditions which he laid before the Queen was that, when the
throne should be restored to her, she should not punish the officers
of the Provisional Government and the leaders of the revolution.
This she bitterly refused to accede to, demanding that it was her right
not only to confiscate the property of the people who sought her
crown, but to behead them as well. This crave Mr. Cleveland a bet-
ter idea than he had had before of the blood-thirstiness of Queen
" Lil", and, even though she agreed finally to forego the pleasure of

THE BIRTH OF A NEW REPUBLIC 273

chopping off the heads of her foes, it was done in such a way that
the United States, through its Minister, merely went through the
formality of requesting the Provisional Government to vacate, and,
when the latter declined to do so, the whole matter was dropped, and
the incident was declared closed.

Owing to President Cleveland's feeling on the subject, no efforts
1 were made during his Administration to push the annexation of the
islands, and, consequently, the Provisional Government began to
strengthen itself, and to look forward to becoming a permanent one.
For that purpose a constitutional convention was called, which met
on May 20th, and it continued in session until July 3d. On July 4,
1894, the Constitution of the new Republic of Hawaii was pro-
claimed, and Sanford B. Dole was elected the first President of the
Republic, the same position which he occupied in the Provisional
Government. And so, on the anniversary of the birthday of the
greatest of all republics, there was born on this island, in the midst
of the Pacific Ocean, a new republic, which was destined to become
a territorial part of the United States.

But, although the islands and their throne had passed from
beneath the sway of the dusky Queen " Lil" and the beautiful Kaiulani,
they were not content to allow themselves to be deposed without at
least a protest ; so both the Queen and her niece visited this country
with a view to enlisting the sympathies of President Cleveland and
of the Senators and Representatives, who were to pass upon the sub-
ject of what was to become of the islands in the future.

The Princess Kaiulani was received everywhere with open arms.
Her beauty, her culture, her grace and tact won for her hosts of
friends wherever she appeared. Her journey was a series of social
ovations. Not so with the Queen. She created but little stir, and
outside of the newspaper cartoons which ridiculed her, and. the frigid
reception accorded her by Mr. Cleveland, she had but little attention
paid her during her visit. Her reputation had preceded her, and
though she stayed for a long time lobbying against the annexation of
the islands to the United States, she finally left, unsuccessful and dis-
consolate.

On June 15, 1898, by a vote of 209 to 91, the bill providing for the
annexation of Hawaii passed the House; and July 7th, the Senate

2;4 THE HA WAIIAN ISLANDS

passed the same resolution by a vote of 42 to 21, and President Mc-
Kinley immediately signed it. The measure brought forth one of the
most spirited debates ever known in the halls of the Legislature, inas-
much as it was the first step of our Government, outside of the domain
which it had set down for itself, the first Congressional act of expan-
sion. These resolutions declared that the islands were thereby
annexed to the United States, and provided for five Commissioners,
two at least of whom are to be residents of Hawaii, who should
recommend such legislation to Congress as they thought advisable.
The United States assumed the Hawaiian debt up to $4,ooo,cxdo ;
Chinese immigration was prohibited ; the treaties existing between
Hawaii and the other powers were declared void ; all civil, judicial,
and military powers exercised by the officers of the Hawaiian Repub-
lic were to be exercised according to the directions of the President,
and that officer was given power to appoint those who are to put in
effect the Provisional Government of the islands. And so, on August
12, 1898, the flag of Hawaii was hauled down forever, and the new
Republic began its life under the Stars and Stripes.

The American flag was raised above the Government Building
with due solemnity, at which American marines and sailors from the
United States vessels Philadelphia and Mohican attended. Shortly
before 12 o'clock President Dole, attended by his Cabinet and Chief
Justice Judd, arrived, and was joined by Minister Sewall, Admiral
Miller and members of the Legislature and the Diplomatic Corps.
There, on behalf of the Government of Hawaii, President Dole
transferred the islands to the care of the United States, and, as the
last salute to the old Government died away, and the flag that had
floated for years over the islands was hauled down, the Hawaiian
national anthem gave way to the " Star Spangled Banner," and the
American flag was raised, while salute after salute greeted it.

Thus ended the hopes of Queen Liliuokalani, and the still greater
hopes for the far future of the beautiful Princess Kaiulani for the
crown which she was never to wear; but that the good of Hawaii
was conserved, cannot be doubted. Neither of them attended the
ceremony ; the latter, with her eyes filled with tears, sat alone at her
own home and passed through the bitterest moments of her life,
denying herself friends and comforters.

HAWAIIAN BANQUET 275

President McKinley, under the terms of the resolution which
annexed Hawaii, appointed as Commissioners to visit the islands Sena-
tor Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; Senator John T. Morgan, of
Alabama; Representative Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois; President
Sanford B. Dole, of Hawaii ; and Justice W. F. Frear, of the
Hawaiian Supreme Court. They visited the islands in August in
order to formulate a plan for the Government. The bill which they
formulated and presented to Congress provided for the government
of Hawaii as a territory. Provision was made for a legislature of
two houses, and the people were practically allowed to govern them-
selves according to the rules of the other territories of the United
States. And so this possession of peace, which came to the United
States in time of war, begins a new era of prosperity.

All of the American troops who have gone to Manila are enthu-
siastic about Hawaii. It was the first stop which they had on their
long voyage halfway around the world, and when they reached it
the weather was as delightful and the islands as beautiful as anyone
could wish. The men stopped for a little breathing time there, and
it proved a time of delight to those who visited these shores for
the first time. The beauties of Honolulu, its civilization, the culture
and refinement of many of the people, the richness of the coloring of
flowers and foliage, and the novelty of everything that met their
sight shattered all their former belief that Hawaii was an unknown,
uncivilized land.

The Astor Battery boys were particularly enthusiastic about the
reception they received. Everywhere they met with an ovation, as
indeed did all the troops of Uncle Sam, and they were entertained
by some of the residents of the place at a native dinner. This func-
tion is one that will long live in the minds of those who enjoyed it
for the first time. A member of the Astor Battery tells of such a
dinner which he attended, and at which Princess Kaiulani was present.
He says: "The guests sat on the floor facing each other, and the
good things, from a Hawaiian point of view, were placed on the floor
before them. There were no courses, but in eating one helped him-
self, and then passed the dish on to the next neighbor, who in turn
helped it circulate around the company. One of the dishes was the
favorite Honolulu dish called " Poi," which was served in a bowl, and

276 THE HA W AH AN ISLANDS

each guest helped himself with his fingers. This was all right for
the first one, but when one was seated at the other end, unless he
was used to the habit, or had a soldier's appetite, or had had assur-
ances that the others had washed their hands, he was likely not to
relish this dainty of the Sandwich Islands.

" I was very much surprised with the appearance of Princess
Kaiulani. I had read of her in the papers, but was not prepared to
find a woman of such rare intelligence and refinement as she proved
to be. She is extremely fascinating, and came dressed in the fashion
peculiar to the high class members of Hawaiian royalty. Around her
throat she wore a necklace which might more strictly be called a boa.
It was a magnificent piece of art and had been in her family for gen-
erations. It was made entirely of feathers, each feather of which had
been separately plucked from beneath the wing of one bird of a rare
native species, after which the bird was killed. It took years to com-
plete this necklace, and thousands of birds were sacrificed in its
making.

" The Princess spoke English fluently, also French, and, in fact,
any of the languages which her guests were able to speak. She was
very bright and vivacious, and gave no symptom of not being in the
best of health."

This last remark was apropos of the sad news that recently came
from Honolulu that the lovely Princess passed away in the early part
of March, 1899, and was buried with all possible ceremonies on the
1 2th of the same month.

The manners and customs of the native Hawaiians are most
interesting, but space forbids a description of them here. Their
religion was a gross form of idolatry, with many gods. Human sac-
rifice was freely practiced. They deified dead chiefs and worshiped
their bones. The great king, Kamehameha I., though an idolater,
was a most progressive monarch, and invited Vancouver, who went
there in 1 794, taking swine, cattle, sheep, and horses, together with
oranges and other valuable plants, to bring over teachers and mission-
aries to teach his people "the white man's religion."

But it was not until i8iO, after the death of the great King, that
the first missionaries arrived, and they came from America. The
year previous, in 1819, Kamehameha II. had destroyed many of the

CHURCH IN HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

Built of lava stone. Seating capacity about 3000.

SUGAR CANE PLANTATION, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.

About one-fifth of the entire population is engaged in sugar culture. The average product is about three tons per acre

THE WORK OF AMERICAN MISSIONARIES 279

temples and idols and forbidden idol worship in the islands ; conse-
quently, when the missionaries arrived, they beheld the unprecedented
spectacle of a nation without a religion. The natives were rapidly
converted to Christianity. It was these American missionaries who
first reduced the Hawaiian language to writing, established schools
and taught the natives. As a result of their work, the Hawaiians are
among the most generally educated people, in the elementary sense, in
the world. There is hardly a person in the islands, above the age of
eight years, who cannot read and write. In spite of education, how-
ever, many of the ancient superstitions still exist, and some of the old
stone temples are yet standing. What the United States will do with
these heathen temples remains to be seen. The natives revere them
as relics of their savage history, and as such they may be preserved.
Aside from the horrors of superstitions, the Hawaiians lead a
happy life, full of amusements of various kinds on the land and water
— for Hawaiian men, women and children live much of their time in
the water. Infants are often taught the art of swimming before they
can walk. The surf riding or swimming of the natives astonished
Captain Cook more than any of their remarkable performances. The
time selected was when a storm was tossing the waves high and the
surf was furious. Then the men and women would dive through the
surf, with narrow boards about nine inches wide and eight feet long,
and, swimming a mile or more out to sea, mount on the crest of a
huge billow, and sitting, kneeling or standing, with wild gesticulations
ride over the waves and breakers like gods or demons of the storm.
This practice is less indulged now than formerly. But the swimming
of the Kanaka boys, who flock around incoming steamers, and dive
after and catch coins which tourists throw into the water, like so
many ducks diving after corn, shows what a degree of perfection the
natatorial art has attained among the native Hawaiians. Sledging
down the mountain sides, boxing and tournament riding are other
popular amusements ; and, with the exception of boxing, the women
compete with the men in the amusements.

PRODUCTS AND COMMERCE.

Sugar is king in Hawaii as wheat is in the Northwest. In 1S90
there were 19,000 laborers — nearly one-fifth of the total population—

;8o THE HA WAIIAN ISLANDS

engaged on sugar plantations. Ten tons to the acre have been
raised on the richest lands. The average is over three tons per acre,
but it requires from eighteen to twenty months for a crop to mature.
Rice growing is also an important industry. It is raised in marsh
lands, and nearly all the labor is done by Chinese, though they do
not own the land. Coffee is happily well suited to the soil that is un-
fitted for sugar and rice, and the Hawaiian coffee is particularly fine,
combining the strength of the Java with a delicate flavor of its own.

Diversified farming is coming more into vogue. Fruit raising
will undoubtedly become one of the most important branches when
fast steamers are provided for its transportation. Sheep and cattle
raising must also prove profitable, since the animals require little
feeding and need no housing.

Almost all kinds of vegetables and fruits can be raised, many
of those belonging to the temperate zones thriving on the elevated
mountain slopes. Fruit is abundant ; the guava grows wild in all the
islands, and were the manufacture of jelly made from it carried on
on a large scale the product could doubtless be exported with profit.
Both bananas and pineapples are prolific, and there are many fruits
and vegetables, which as yet have been raised only for local trade,
which would, if cultivated for export, bring in rich returns.

Of the total exports from the Hawaiian Islands in 1895, the
United States received 99.04 per cent., and in the same year 79.04
per cent, of the imports to the islands were from the United States.
The total value of the sugar sent to the United States in 1896, was
$14,932,010; of rice, $194,903; of coffee, $45,444; and of bananas,
$121,273.

THE CHIEF CITY.

Honolulu, the capital city, is to Hawaii what Havana is to
Cuba, or better, what Manila is to the Philippine Islands. Here are
concentrated the business, political and social forces that control the
life and progress of the entire archipelago. This city of 30,000 in-
habitants is situated on the south coast of Oahu, and extends up the
Nuuanu Valley. It is well provided with street-car lines — which also
run to a bathing resort four miles outside the city — a telephone sys-
tem, electric lights, numerous stores, churches and schools, a library
f over 10,000 volumes, and frequent steam communication with San

THE CHIEF CITY 281

Francisco. There are papers published in the English, Hawaiian.
Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese languages, and a railroad is being
built, of which thirty miles along the coast are already completed.
Honolulu has also a well-equipped fire department and public water-
works. The residence portions of the city are well laid out, the
houses, many of which are very handsome, being surrounded by
gardens kept green throughout the year. The climate is mild and
even, and the city is a delightful and a beautiful place of residence.
Hawaii is peculiarly an agricultural country, and Honolulu gains its
importance solely as a distributing centre or depot of supplies.
Warehouses, lumber yards and commercial houses abound, but there
is a singular absence of mills and factories and productive establish-
ments. There are no metals or minerals, or, as yet, textile plants or
food plants, whose manufacture is undertaken in this unique city.

The Hawaiian Islands are, without question, on the threshold of
a great industrial era, fraught with most potent results to the pros-
perity and development of that land. Its climate is delightful and
healthful, and its soil so fertile that it will easily support 5,000,000
people.

CHAPTER XVI

Cuba. c*The Child of Our Adoption."

.'he Island whose Cry to Humanity Brought the War of Relief. — How It Received it»
Name. — The Founding of the Capital, Havana. — A Terrible History of Spanish
Cruelty. — The Extermination of a Great People, Beginning in the Time of the
Son of Columbus, before 1560 the Whole of the Population had Disappeared
from the Island. — The First Cuban Revolt. — The Capture of Havana by the
English. — Its Restoration to Spain. — A Long Series of Insurrections. — The
Seven Years' War. — The Last and Final Uprising. — The Advent of Weyler, "the
Butcher." — Atrocities before which the whole World Stood Aghast.. — His Motto
was "Subjugation or Death." — American Filibusters Lend a Helping Hand. —
The Death of General Maceo, through Treachery, a great Blow to the Insurgents.
— Weyler and the Reconcentrados. — Two Hundred Thousand Men, Women and
Children Die of Disease and Starvation. — Insurgents the Masters of almost the
whole Island. — The Fearful Cost of the War. — The Cuban Debt Reached
Nearly $300,000,000.

ALTHOUGH Cuba is not a part or a possession of the United
States, it has since the war with Spain, in 1898, come under the
protection of this government, and is, therefore, entitled to a
place in this volume. In the hand of Providence, this island became the
doorway to America. It was here that Columbus landed, October 28,
1492. True, he touched earlier at one of the smaller islands to the
north ; but it was merely a halting before pushing on to Cuba.
"Juana" Columbus called the island, in honor of Isabella's infant
son. Afterward it was successively known as Fernandina, Santiago,
and Ave Maria ; but the simple natives, who were there to the num-
ber of 350,000, called it Cooba, and this name prevailed over the
Spanish titles, as the island has finally prevailed over Spanish domina-
tion, and it has come under the protection of America with its Indian
name, slightly changed to Cuba, remaining as the sole and only herit-
age we have of the simple aborigines, who have utterly perished from
the face of the earth under Spanish cruelty.

In 1494 Columbus visited Cuba a second time, and once again
in 1502. In 151 1 Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer,

283

284 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION'1

with a colony of between three and four hundred Spaniards, came,
and, in 15 14, he founded the towns of Santiago and Trinidad. Five
years later, in 1519, the present capital Havana, or Habana, was
founded. The French reduced the city in 153S, practically demolish-
ing the whole town. Under the governor De Soto, it was rebuilt
and fortified, the famous Morro Castle and the Punta, which are still
standing, being built at that early date.

THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS.

The natives, whom Columbus found in Cuba, were agreeable in
feature, and so amiable in disposition that they welcomed the white
man with open arms, and, besides contributing food, readily gave up
their treasurers to please the Spaniards. Unlike the warlike cannibal
tribes of the Lesser Antilles, known as the Caribs, they lived in com-
parative peace with one another, and had a religion which recognized
the Supreme Being. Columbus held several conferences with these
simple natives, who numbered, according to his estimate, from 350,-
000 to half a million souls, and his associations and dealings with them
on his first visit were always friendly and of a mutually pleasing
nature. But when he returned to Spain he left soldiers, who brutally
maltreated them, until the natives rose in revolt and exterminated
every white man. Even Columbus himself, in 1494, had to fight the
Indians at the landing-place.

A salubrious climate, a fertile soil, and simple wants rendered it
unnecessary for the native to do hard work ; and although it is well
proven that he did mine copper and traded in it with the mound
builders of Florida, yet the native was not accustomed to arduous
toil, and rebelled against it. This, perhaps, was unfortunate, for the
perpetuity of his race at that time depended upon this very quality.
The Spanish " friend " who came to the island was incapable of work.
He neither would nor could, under his ethics of self-respect, abase
himself to labor, so he proceeded to enslave the native to labor for
him. The Cuban rebelled, and fled before the superior Spanish
weapons from the coasts to the mountain fastnesses of the interior.

Then begran that cruel and lone-continued war of extermination, of
which history has recorded the most shocking details. The conquest
was begun under Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer.

A PERIOD OF REST 285

The merciless Velasquez was his general, and the frightful cruelties
which he inaugurated upon the simple natives have been continued
for nearly four hundred years by his successors in the island, though
the annihilation of the aboriginal tribes themselves was a brief and
bloody work. Velasquez rode them down and trampled them — re
gardless of age or sex — under the iron hoofs of his war-horses,
slashed them with swords, devastated their villages, and bore them
away into slavery. The Cuban had no weapons ; the mountain fast-
nesses could not hide him from his relentless pursuer. African slaves,
who were brought to the island in Spanish ships, were armed and
forced by their masters to chase the natives, and not a forest or
mountain top was a place of refuge for these doomed children of the
soil. One historian declares : " There is a little doubt that before
1560 the whole of this native population had dissapeared from the
island. They were so completely exterminated that it is doubtful if
the blood of their race was even remotely preserved in the mixed
classes who followed African and Chinese introduction."

A PERIOD OF REST.

For nearly two hundred years after the extermination of the
natives, Cuba rested without a struggle in the arms of Spain The
early settlers engaged almost wholly in pastoral pursuits. Tobacco
was indigenous to the soil, and in 1580 the Cuban planters began its
culture. Later, sugar-cane was imported from the Canaries, and
found to be a fruitful and profitable crop. The beginning of the
culture of sugar demanded more laborers, and the importation of
additional slaves was the result. In 1 7 1 7, Spain attempted to make
a monopoly of the tobacco culture, and the first Cuban revolt occurred.
In 1723 a second uprising took place, because of an oppressive gov-
ernment ; but these early revolts against tyranny were insignificant
as compared with those of the last half-century.

In 1762, the city of Havana was captured by the English, with
an expedition commanded by Lord Albemarle, but his fighting troops
were principally Americans under the immediate command of Generals
Phineas Lyman and Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. The
story of Putnam's command in this war is thrilling and sad. After
first suffering shipwreck and many hardships in reaching the island.

286 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION"

they lay before Havana, where Spanish bullets and fever almost an-
nihilated the whole command. Scarcely more than one in fifty lived
to return to America. By the Treaty of Paris, 1763, Cuba was un-
fortunately restored to Spain, and it was afterward that her troubles
with the " Mother Country," as Spain affectionately called herself to
all her provinces, began. The hand of oppression for one and a
quarter centuries relaxed not its grasp, and year by year grew heavier
and more galling.

DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTIONS.

Some of the most prolific seeds of modern revolutions may be
said to have been sown when the African slave trade assumed impor-
tant proportions, in 1 791. About the same time began a large impor-
tation of Chinese coolies, for which Cuba paid a bounty of $400
apiece to the importer. These coolies bound themselves to the
Spaniards for eight years, for which they received $4.00 per month as
wages. The new influx of labor and the coming of Las Casas as
Captain-General to Cuba, in 1790, mark the beginning of Cuba's
great period of prosperity. This enterprising ruler introduced numer-
ous public improvements, established botanical gardens and schools
of agriculture, with a view to developing and increasing Cuba's re-
sources and commercial importance. Owing to his wise administra-
tion, Cuba prospered and remained undisturbed for a long while. An
insurrection occurred among the slaves in 181 2, which was promptly
put down with characteristic cruelty, and the blacks remained "good
niggers" for a third of a century. By the year 1844, the slave trade
with Cuba had grown to enormous proportions. In that year alone,
statistics tell us, 10,000 slaves were landed from Africa upon the
island. Another wild and fanatical insurrection occurred the same
year among them, in which thousands of their lives Avere sacrificed,
but, as before, they failed. By 1850, the slaves had so multiplied
and the importation had been so large that the census showed there
were nearly 500,000 on the island.

Meantime, in 1830, a revolution on the part of the Creoles
(descendants of Spanish and French settlers) and other free Cubans
had broken out. It was put down, but the blood of the martyrs
was seed in the ground. Revolutionist and enslaved insurrectionist

MAGNIFICENT INDIAN STATUE IN THE PRADO, HAVANA, CUBA.

_ — .

^■tth

ANTONIO MACEO.

Lieutenant-General in the Cuban Army. Killed De-
cember 4, 1896. Eight of his brothers had pre-
viously given their lives for Cuban freedom

GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA.

Hero of three wars for Cuba's freedom. Died of pneu-
monia in Washington, D. C, December, 1898.

~"h

: - !

GENERAL MAXIMO GOMEZ

The Washington of Cuba is the title applied to

this hero, who, as Commander-in-Chief of the

patriot army, made Cuban liberty possible.

JOSE MARTI

President of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Led into

ambush and killed by the Spaniards,

May 19, 1895.

CUBAN HEROES AND MARTYRS.

THE TEN YEARS' WAR 289

gradually drifted together. They had a common cause — to struggle
for freedom against oppression. The bondsman was little or no
worse off than the Creoles, Chinese coolies, and free negroes — all
native-born Cubans were shut out from the enjoyment of true citizen-
ship. They must do the work and pay the tribute, but Spaniards(
born in Spain, were alone allowed to hold office of profit or trust
, under the government ; and they looked with inexpressible contempt
upon the rest of the population, and, with the backing of the army,
preserved their domination in spite of their inferior numbers. The
Governor-General was appointed from Spain and held office from three
to five years, and was expected to steel or extort himself rich in that
time. It is said that not one Governor-General ever failed to do so.

THE TEN YEARS' WAR.

The first long and determined struggle of the oppressed people
of Cuba for liberty began in 1868. In that year a revolution broke
out in Spain, and the patriots seized the opportunity, while the
mother country was occupied at home, for an heroic effort to liberate
themselves. They rose first at Yara, in the district of Bayamo, and
on October 10th of that year made a declaration of independence
Eight days later the city of Bayamo was taken by the patriots, and
early in November they defeated a force sent against them from
Santiago. The majority of the South American republics hastened
to recognize the Cubans as belligerents ; but — though they held the
entire interior of the island throughout a period of ten years, contin-
ually winning battles, and it was evident to all the world that Spain
could not subdue them — there was not one great power in the world
willing to extend to the patriots the recognition of belligerent rights.
The cruelty of the Spaniards toward the soldiers they captured, and
to all inhabitants who sympathized with the patriots' cause, was
equaled only by the courage, fortitude, and exalted patriotism which
animated their victims. The following instances, selected from
scores that might be cited, are given in the Spaniards' own words
translated, verbatim, into English :

Jacob Rivocoba, under date of September 4, 1896, writes :
"We captured seventeen, thirteen of whom were shot outright ;
on dying they shouted, ' Hurrah for free Cuba ! hurrah for independ-

29o CUBA, >'THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION"

ence !' A mulatto said, ' Hurrah for Cespedes !' On the following
day we killed a Cuban officer and another man. Among the thirteen
that we shot the first day were found three sons and their father;
the father witnessed the execution of his sons without even changing
color, and when his turn came he said he died for the independence
of his country. On coming back we brought along with us three
carts filled with women and children, the families of those we had
shot ; and they asked us to shoot them, because they would rather
die than live among Spaniards."

Pedro Fardon, another officer, who entered entirely into the
spirit of the service he honored, writes on September 22, 1869:

" Not a single Cuban will remain in this island, because we
shoot all those we find in the fields, on the farms, and in every
hovel."

And, again, on the same day, the same officer sends the follow-
ing good news to his old father :

" We do not leave a creature alive where we pass, be it man or
animal. If we find cows, we kill them; if horses, ditto; if hogs,
ditto ; men, women, or children, ditto ; as to the houses, we burn
them : so every one receives his due — the men in balls, the animals
in bayonet-thrusts. The island will remain a desert."

These atrocities were perpetrated not alone by the common
soldier. In fact, the above reports come from men who were officers
in the Spanish army, and they show that such actions were approved
by the highest authority. A well-authenticated account assures us
that General Count Balmaceda himself went on one occasion to the
home of a patriot family, Mora by name, to arrest or kill the patriots
he had heard were stopping there ; but, finding the men all absent,
he wreaked his vengeance and thirst for blood by butchering the two
Mora sisters and burning the house over their bodies.

PEACE AND FAIR PROMISES.

At last, Spain, seeing that she could neither induce the Cubans
to surrender nor draw them into a decisive battle ; and finding,
furthermore, that her army of 200,000 men was likely to be annihi-
lated by death, disease, and patriot bullets, made overtures, which, by
promising many privileges to the people that they had not before

THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM 291

enjoyed, effected a peace. As a result of this war, slavery was abol-
ished in the island ; but Spain's promises for fair and equitable
government were repudiated, and the civil powers became more ex-
tortionate and severe than ever. This war laid a heavy debt upon
Spain, and Cuba was taxed inordinately. The people soon saw that
they had been duped. The world looked upon Cuba and Spain as at
■rpeace. To the outsider the surface was placid, but underneath "the
waters were troubled." Such heroic spirits as Generals Calixto
Garcia, Jose Marti, Antonio Maceo, and Maximo Gomez, leaders in
the ten years' struggle, still lived, though scattered far apart, and in
their hearts bore a load of rio-hteous wrath against their treacherous
foe. While such men lived and such conditions existed another con-
flict was inevitable.

THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM.

It was on February 24, 1895, tnat the last revolution of the
Cuban patriots began. Spain had heard the mutterings of the com-
ing storm, and hoped to stay it by visiting with severe punishment
every Cuban suspected of patriotic affiliations. Antonio Maceo, a
mulatto, but a man of fortune and education, a veteran of the Ten
Years' War, and a Cuban by birth, was banished to San Domingo.
There were other exiles in Key West, New York, and elsewhere.
Jose Marti was the leading spirit in forming the Cuban Junta in New
York and organizing revolutionary clubs among Cubans everywhere.
Antonio Maceo was selected to lead the patriot army. He went
secretly to Cuba and began organizing an army, and when war was
declared the flag of the new republic, bearing a red lone star in a red
field, was flung to the breeze in three of the six provinces. Captain-
General Campos declared martial law in the insurgents' vicinity, and
troops were hastily summoned and sent from Spain. The revolu-
tionists from the start fought by guerrilla methods of warfare, dash-
ing upon the unsuspecting Spanish towns and forces, and escaping to
the mountains before the organized Spaniards could retaliate.

Jose Marti and Jose Maceo — brother of the General — were
prompt to join the active forces, and on April 13, 1895, General
Maximo Gomez, a native of San Domingo, came over and was made
commander of the insurgent forces. This grizzled old hero, with

292 CUBA, " THE CHILD cE OUR ADOPTION"

nearly seventy years behind him, was at once an inspiration and a
host within himself. An army of 6,000 men was ready for his com-
mand, and the revolution took on new life and began in all its fury.
On May 19th the insurgents met their first great disaster, when Jose
Marti was led into an ambush and killed. But his blood was like a
seed planted, from which thousands of patriots sprang up for the
ranks. Within a few days there were 10,000 ill-armed but deter-
mined men in the field. They had no artillery, nearly half were
without guns, and there was little ammunition for those who were
armed.

THE PLANS OF CAMPOS THWARTED.

Captain-General Campos formed a plan to march with the
Spanish troops from end to end of the island, and drive the insur-
gents into the sea if they refused to surrender. Information of tliii
plan was carried to Gomez, who proved so wily that Campos coulc1
neither capture him nor force him into an engagement. Everywhere
Gomez marched he gathered new patriots into his army, and captured
many carloads of Spanish stores and arms. Near the city of Bayamo,
Maceo attacked Campos, and the Spanish commander barely escaped
with his life. He was besieged in Bayamo, and had to stay there
until 10,000 soldiers were sent to escort him home. That was the
last of Campos' fighting. By August, Spain had spent $21,300,000
and lost 20,000 men by death, and 39,000 additional soldiers had been
brought into the island, 25,000 of them the flower of the Spanish
army, and she was also forced to issue $120,000,000 bonds which she
sold at a great sacrifice, to carry on the war.

The patriots met in September 13, 1895, at Camaguey and
formed their government by adopting a constitution and electing a
president and other state officers. This body formally conferred
upon Gomez the commission of Commander-in-Chief of the army.
Before the close of the month, there were 30,000 rebels in the field.
Spanish warships patroled the coast, but the insurgents held the
whole interior of Santiago province, and the government forces dared
not venture away from the sea. The same was true of Santa Clara
and Puerto Principe. Matanzas was debatable ground ; but Gomez
made bold raids into the very vicinity of Havana. Spain soon had
an army of 200,000 and the insurgents 50,000.

THE DEATH OF GENERAL MA CEO 293

As if the cup of Cuba's sorrow were not sufficiently bitter, or her
long-suffering patriots had not drunk deep enough of its gall, General
Campos was recalled, and General Valeriano Weyler (nicknamed
"The Butcher") arrived in February, 1896. He promptly inaugu-
rated the most bitter and inhuman policy in the annals of modern
warfare. It began with a campaign of intimidation, in which his
motto was " Subjugation or Death." He established a system of
espionage that was perfect, and the testimony of the spy was all the
evidence he required. He heeded no prayer and knew no mercy.
His prisons overflowed with suspected patriots, and his sunrise execu-
tions, every morning, made room for others. It was thus that
General Weyler carried on the war from his palace against the un-
armed natives, his 200,000 soldiers seldom securing a shot at the in-
surgents, who were continually bushwhacking them with deadly effect,
while yellow fever carried them off by the thousands. How many
lives Weyler sacrificed in that dreadful year will never be known.
How many suspects he frightened into giving him all their gold for
mercy and then coldly shot for treason, no record will disclose ; but
the crowded, unmarked graves on the hillside outside Havana are
mute but eloquent witnesses of his infamy.

Under these conditions Gomez declared that all Cubans must
take sides. They must be for or against. It was no time for neutrals
and there could be no neutral ground, so he boldly levied forced
contributions upon planters who were unfavorable to his cause, and
who extended protection to those who befriended the patriots.

THE DEATH OF GENERAL MACEO.

On the night of December 4, 1896, the insurgents suffered an
irreparable loss in the death of General Maceo, who was led into an
ambush and killed, it is believed, through the treachery of his staff
physician. Eight brothers of Maceo had previously given their lives
for Cuban freedom.

At the close of 1S96, the island was desolate to an extreme per-
haps unprecedented in modern times. The country was laid waste and
die cities were starving. Under the pretext of protecting them,
Weyler gathered the non-combatants into towns and stockades, and

it is authoritatively stated that 200,000 men, women, and children of
16

294 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION"

the "reconcentrados," as they were called, died of disease and starva-
tion. The insurgents remained masters of the island except along
the coasts. The only important incident of actual warfare was the
capture of Victoria de las Tunas, in Santiago province, by General
Garcia at the head of 3,000 men, after three days' fighting. In this
battle the Spanish commander lost his life and forty per cent, of his
troops were killed or wounded ; the rest surrendered to Garcia, and tin
rebels secured by their victory 1,000 rifles, 1,000,000 rounds of am-
munition, and two Krupp guns.

In the spring of 1S98, the United States intervened. The story
of our war with Spain for Cuba's freedom is elsewhere related,

Spain has paid dearly for her supremacy in Cuba during the last
third of the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding the fact that the
revenue from Cuba for several years prior to the Ten Years' War of
1868-78 amounted to $26,000,000 annually — about $18 for every man,
woman, and child in the island — $20,000,000 of it was absorbed in
Spain's official circles at Havana, and "the other $6,000,000 that the
Spanish government received," says one historian, " was hardly enough
to pay transportation rates on the help that the mother country had
to send to her army of occupation." Consequently, despite this
enormous tax, a heavy debt accumulated on account of the island,
even before the Ten Years' War began.

FEARFUL COST OF THE WAR.

At the close of the Ten Years' War (1S7S) Spain had laid upon
the island a public debt of $200,000,000, and required her to raise
$39,000,000 of revenue annually, an average at that time of nearly $30
per inhabitant. But Spain's own debt had also increased to nearly
$2,000,000,000, and during this Ten Years' War she had sent 200.000
soldiers and her favorite commanders to the island, only about 50,000
of whom ever returned. According to our Consular Report of July,
1898, when the last revolution began, 1895, the Cuban debt had
reached $295,707,264. The interest on this alone imposed a burden
of $9.79 per annum upon each inhabitant. During the war, Spain
had 200,000 troops in the island, and the three and one-half years'
conflict cost her the loss of nearly 100,000 lives, mostly from sick-
ness, and, as yet, unknown millions of dollars.

CHAPTER XVII
Possibilities of the Island

its Possibilities, its Hopes. — The Extent of the Island, its Soil and its vast Products.
— Rich in Sugar, in Timber and in Minerals, it is a Place Promising Wealth,
Rivaling that of the Klondike. — Its Commerce and its Climate. — Havana, the
Capital City, and other Ports.

WHAT the future of Cuba may be under new conditions of
government remains to be seen. Certainly, in all the
world's history few sadder or more devastated lands have
gathered their remnants of population upon the ashes of their ruins
and turned a hopeful face to the future. So far as the people them-
selves are concerned, a more hunted, starved, wasted, and wretched
mass of humanity never lay upon the bosom of their desolated land.

But the soil, the mineral and the timber, not even Spanish
tyranny could destroy ; and in these lie the hope, we may say the sure
guarantee, of Cuba's future. In wealth of resources and fertility of
soil, Cuba is superior to all other tropical countries, and these fully
justify its right to the title, " Pearl of the Antilles," first given it by
Columbus.

Under a wise and secure government its possibilities are almost
limitless. Owing- to its location at the entrance of the Gulf of
Mexico, which it divides into the Yucatan and Florida channels, on
the south and north, the island has been termed the " Key to the
Gulf of Mexico," and on its coat of arms is emblazoned a key, as if
to imply its ability to open or close this great sea to the commerce
of the world.

Cuba extends from east to west 760 miles, is 21 miles wide in its
narrowest part and 11 1 miles in the widest, with an average width of
60 miles. It has numerous harbors, which afford excellent anchor-
age. The area of the island proper is 41,655 square miles (a little
larger than the State of Ohio), and including the Isle of Pines and

-95

296 CUBA, " THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION"

other small points around its entire length, numbering in all some
1,200, there are 47,278 square miles altogether in Cuba and belong-
ing to it. The island is intersected by broken ranges of mountains,
which gradually increase in height from west to east, where they
reach an elevation of nearly 8,000 feet. The central and western
portions of the island are the most fertile, while the principal mineral
deposits are in the mountains of the eastern end. In Matanzas ani;
other central provinces, the well-drained, gently sloping plains, diver-
sified by low, forest-clad hills, are especially adapted to sugar cul-
ture, and the country under normal conditions presents the appear-
ance of vast fields of cane. The western portion of the island is
also mountainous, but the elevations are not great, and in the valleys
and along the fertile slopes of this district is produced the greater
part of the tobacco for which the island is famous.

FERTILITY OF SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS.

The soil of the whole island is well-nigh inexhaustible. Except
in tobacco culture, fertilizers are never used. In the sugar districts
are found old cane-fields that have produced annual crops for a hun-
dred years without perceptible impoverishment of the soil. Besides
sugar and tobacco, the island yields Indian corn, rice, manioc (the plant
from which tapioca is prepared), oranges, bananas, pineapples, man-
goes, guava and all other tropical fruits, with many of those belong-
ing to the temperate zone. Raw sugar, molasses and tobacco are
the chief products, and, with fruits, nuts and unmanufactured woods,
form the bulk of exports, though coffee culture is rapidly coming to
the front, and its fine quality indicates that it must in time become
one of the most important products of the island.

As a sugar country, Cuba takes first rank in the world. Mr.
Gallon, the English Consul, in his report to his government in 1S97
upon this Cuban crop, declared: "Of the other cane-sugar countries
of the world, Java is the only one which comes within 50 per cent,
of the amount of sugar produced annually in Cuba in normal times,
and Java and the Hawaiian Islands are the only ones which are so
generally advanced in the process of manufacture." Our own Con-
sul, Hyatt, in his report of February, 1S97, expresses the belief that
Cuba is equal to supplying the entire demands of the whole western

MINERAL AND TIMBER RESOURCES 297

hemisphere with sugar — a market for 4,000,000 tons or more, and
requiring a crop four times as large as the island has ever yet pro-
duced. Those who regard this statement as extravagant should
remember that Cuba, although founded and settled more than fifty
years before the United States, has nearly 14,000,000 acres of
uncleared primeval forest-land, and is capable of easily supporting
a population more than ten times that of the present. In fact,
the Island of Java, not so rich as Cuba, and of very nearly the same
area, with less tillable land, has over 22,000,000 inhabitants as against
Cuba's — perhaps at this time — not more than 1,200,000 souls.

MINERAL AND TIMBER RESOURCES.

The mineral resources of Cuba are second in importance to its
agricultural products. Gold and silver are not believed to exist in
paying quantities ; but its most valuable mineral, copper, seems to
be almost inexhaustible. The iron and manganese mines, in the
vicinity of Santiago, are of great importance, the ores being rated
among the finest in the world. Deposits of asphalt and mineral oils
are also found.

The third resource of Cuba in importance is its forest product.
Its millions of acres of unbroken woodlands are rich in valuable hard
woods, suitable for the finest cabinet-work and shipbuilding, and also
furnish many excellent dye woods. Mahogany, cedar, rosewood and
ebony abound. The palm, of which there are thirty-odd species
found in the island, is one of the most characteristic and valuable of
Cuban trees.

CITIES AND COMMERCE.

The commerce of Cuba has been great in the past, but Spanish
laws made it expensive and oppressive to the Cubans. Its location
and resources, with wise government, assure to the island an enor-
mous trade in the future. There are already four cities of marked
importance to the commercial world : Havana with a population of
250,000, Santiago with 71,000, Matanzas with 29,000, and Cien-
fuegos with 30,000, are all seaport cities with excellent harbors, and
all do a large exporting business. Add to these Cardenas with
25 000, Trinidad with 18,000, Manzanillo with 10,000, and Guan-
tai amo and Baracoa, each with 7,000 inhabitants, we have an array

298 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION"

of ten cities such as few strictly farming countries of like size possess
Aside from cigar and cigarette making, there is little manufacturing
in Cuba ; but fruit canneries, sugar refineries, and various manufac-
turing industries for the consumption of native products will rapidly
follow in the steps of good government. Hence, in the field of
manufacturing, this island offers excellent inducements to capital.

SEASONS AND CLIMATE.

Like all tropical countries, Cuba has but two seasons — the wet
and the dry. The former extends from May to October, June, July
and August being the most rainy months. The dry season lasts from
November to May. This fact must go far toward making the island
more and more popular as a winter health resort. The interior of
the island is mountainous, and always pleasantly cool at night, while
on the highlands the heat in the day is less oppressive than in New
York and Pennsylvania during the hottest summer weather ; conse-
quently, when once yellow fever, which now ravages the coasts of the
island on account of its defective sanitation, is extirpated, as it
doubtless will be under the new order of things, Cuba will become
the seat of many winter homes for wealthy residents of the United
States. Even in the summer, the temperature seldom rises above
8o°, while the average for the year is 770. At no place, except in the
extreme mountainous altitude, is it ever cold enough for frost.

THE EVACUATION OF HAVANA.

The complete transfer of authority in the island of Cuba from
Spain to the United States took place on Sunday, January 1, 1899.
At noon on that day Captain-General Castellanos and staff met the
representatives of the United States in the hall of his palace, and
with due formality and marked Spanish courtesy, in the name of the
King and Queen Regent of Spain, delivered possession of Cuba to
General Wade, head of the American Evacuation Committee, and he
in turn transferred the same to General Brooke, who had been ap-
pointed by President McKinley as Military Governor of the Division
of Cuba. No unpleasant incident marred the occasion. General
Castellanos spoke with evident, yet becoming emotion on so important
an occasion. Three Cuban generals were present, who, at General

THE STARS AND STRIPES HOISTED 299

Castellanos' request, were presented to him, and the Spaniard said,
with marked grace and evident sincerity " I am sorry, gentlemen,
that we are enemies, being of the same blood ; " to which one of the
Cuban patriots courteously responded, with commendable charity,
" We fought only for Cuba, and now that she is free, we are no
longer enemies."

THE STARS. AND STRIPES HOISTED.

The formal transfer had scarcely taken place within the palace
hall, when the flag of Spain was lowered from Morro Castle, Cabanas
Fortress, and all the public buildings, and the Stars and Stripes
instantly arose in its place on the flagpoles of these old and historic
buildings. As its graceful folds floated gently out upon the breeze,
the crowds from the streets cheered, the band played the most appro-
priate of all airs, while voices in many places in the throng, catching
up the tune, sang the inspiring words of the "Star-Spangled Banner."

HAVANA, THE BEAUTIFUL CAPITAL.

When one mentions Cuba, the first thought that enters the
minds is of Havana, the beautiful capital of this beautiful Isle. For
many years it has been the Mecca of social pilgrims who journey
south during the winter to escape the cold. It is supposed to have
been founded by Diego Velasquez, the conqueror of Cuba in 1508,
who, being so delighted with the harbor and its general position,
called it La Have del Nuevo Mondo, which means the key to the
new world. In 1528, it was burned to the ground, but it was soon
built anew, and protected by a chain of fortifications, which made it
a great stronghold. In 1802, it was again largely destroyed by fire
and instead of wood, it was rebuilt in stone and masonry.

GRIM MORRO CASTLE

The first thing that impresses the traveler as he enters Havana
by the sea, is Morro Castle, which stands at the mouth of the harbor(
cold, gloomy, but powerful, and one naturally shudders a little at its
sight, because around it cluster tales of the most horrible brutality
and savagery ever known in this continent. Here all the prisoners
were kept to be led out later to pay the penalty of patriotism, for

joo POSSIBILITIES OF THE ISLAND

crimes real or imaginary against the Spanish Government. Her*
in its dungeons, prisoners were starved and tortured to madness,
and here too men, women and children whose only crimes were that
they had relatives in the ranks of the insurgents, were huddled to-
gether like rats in a cage, and made to surfer atrocities which have
shocked the whole civilized world.

The harbor of Havana is a beautiful one, and from a military
point of view, is practically impregnable. The city proper is quite as
beautiful. The commercial quarter consists of a labyrinth of narrow-
lanes, traversed by one or two streets, which are wider and more
striking, the principal of which is the Calle Oreilly, which runs from
the Governor's palace out to the very walls of the City. Few of the
houses which line the little streets are more than one storv in height.
but a Spanish one-story is almost equal to three stories of an average
house. The lower half of every house is painted either a dark blue,
deep red, or vivid yellow, while the upper part is always a dazzling
white. The columns of the buildings, which are plentiful, are usually
treated in the same way, one-half being one color, and the other half
another. The lower windows are protected for the most part by
heavy iron bars, which would make the place look like a prison,
especially as in passing one sees the fair face of some senorita look-
ing from between them, were it not for their bright colors. Some of
the finer houses of the city &re very handsome indeed, but there is
little variety in their architecture ; they are all built in the style
which reminds one of Rome, with an inner courtyard surrounded by
handsome marble or stucco columns.

THE BEAUTY OF THE COURTYARDS.

In this inner courtyard is usually to be found a garden, with a
fountain in the centre, or perhaps some statues, and here the women
of the house entertain in the evening or enjoy themselves quietly
beneath the blazing glare of the lights, and as one passes up the
street outside, he cannot resist the temptation to glance in through
the doorway and see this brilliant scene, which adds so much to the
beauty of the city at night.

The Cerro is the handsomest residence street in Havana. I*
runs up the hill at the back of the town, and has on either side

THE SPLENDID CHURCHES OF HAVANA 301

large old "villas, which are surrounded by magnificient gardens.
Upon this street is the former summer villa of the Bishops of
Havana, in the midst of a forest of cocoa palms. It is now used as a
private residence. One hears a great deal of the old time volante,
which was to Cuba what the gondola is to Venice. It is not as com-
mon in Havana nowadays as it used to be, but occasionally one sees
this remarkable vehicle with its wheels so thin that one wonders why
they do not break, its long shafts and the driver perched upon the
animal which draws it. Sometimes the characteristic volantes are
magnificently decorated with silver and costly cloths. In these later
days the usual vehicles of America are much more common in the
city proper than this famous old Cuban equipage, although it is still
to be generally seen in other parts of the island.

As one walks along he notices that the lamp-posts are painted
various colors to tell the district — red for the central district, blue for
the second, and green for the outside district. This enables even a
stranger to compute the carriage hire of public conveyances. The
laws are very strict in the matter of charges, and one is able to keep
from being imposed upon by the hack drivers, owing to the fact that
he can tell exactly how far he is going.

THE SPLENDID CHURCHES OF HAVANA.

There are one or two very fihe churches in this city, the
largest of which is the Mercede. Here the fashionable people wend
their way on Sundays and holidays, the young men lining up in rows
outside the church door after services as they do in this country.
The most magnificent edifice, however, is the great Cathedral of
Havana, which was erected in 1724. It has one big dome and two
little towers on either side of the centre much like the other churches
of Spanish-American architecture, and both inside and outside it is
beautiful and effective.

The columns of the church are of mahogany so highly polished
that they look like deep-red marble. They are strikingly relieved by
great gilt bronze capitals. The choir place is the most striking of
its kind probably on this continent ; and in it is the tomb of Columbus,
from which the body of the great discoverer was recently taken and
sent to Spain. The stalls are of mahogany, magnificently carved,

302 POSSIBILITIES OF THE ISLAND

and highly polished. The ceiling, too, is very artistic, and is made
almost entirely of mosaic work in rare woods.

Another prominent building of Havana is the Jesuit College for
boys, which has connected with it one of the best observatories out-
side of the United States. It also has a museum and a library, in
which are relics and manuscripts illustrating Cuban affairs from the
sixteenth century down to the present day. Throughout the city
there are a number of large charitable institutions, which are, for the
most part, very clean and well carried on.

One of the things that the traveler first notices in Havana is
the great number of beggars. They appear everywhere, and from
them there is little escape, as their boldness is something amazing.

SHOPS AND THEATRES.

The shops in Havana are numerous, but most of them are built
on the principle of the bazaars in the far East, without windows and
with all the wares exposed to the passer-by.

As for amusements, the chief opera house of the city, the Tacon,
is considered a very fine place, and the attractions there are nearly
always of the best. It seats about 5,000 persons, and the boxes are
arranged in tiers, which are separated by gilded lattices. The top-
most gallery is given over to colored people entirely. The first two
rows of boxes are usually filled up with the aristocracy of the city
and the wealthy merchants, and on a gala night the display of jewelry
and costumes may be said to quite rival that of the large cities of the
United States. In the lower part of the house are a pit and orchestra
stalls. The stag^e is lar^e and well managed according to the most
approved American ideas. The orchestra is largely made up of col-
ored people, some of them full-blooded negroes, but the music they
give is such that the most captious critic could not find fault with it.

Salvini, Duse, and Bernhardt have appeared here, and the audi-
ences which greeted them would compare favorably with the audiences
which cheer them in any other country.

A GLIMPSE AT CUBAN SOCIETY.

In an article recently published in the Fortnightly Review, Rich-
ard Davey gives the following very interesting account of Cuban
society :

A GLIMPSE AT CUBAN SOCIETY 303

" Of society, in our sense of the word, there is little or none
in Havana, and one may count upon the fingers of one hand the
houses where balls and parties are given. Conversation soon flags
in a country where education is so backward, especially among the
women, whose intellectual pabulum consists generally of the very
worst French novels and their prayer-books — a singular combination.
The education of the males is a little better. The wealthier families
send their sons either to the Jesuits at Havana, to Europe, or the
United States. So far so good ; but when they come home for their
holidays, or their education is finished, the home influence is dis-
astrous. Waited on hand and foot by the negroes, and pampered by
their parents, they soon fall victims to the relaxing climate and to
every sort of vicious influence. Lack of energy is the result of this
lamentable system, which fosters most unhealthy love of ease ana
sensual indulgence.

" The usual way of spending the evening in a Cuban house is to
place a long, double row of rocking-chairs opposite each other, and
sit there chattering, everybody meanwhile smoking the inevitable
cigarette. In some houses music of a high order may be heard, and
some of the ladies sing charmingly — otherwise the place is socially dull.

"The Cuban lady is a very fascinating creature. She is elegant,
walks gracefully, has pretty features, beautiful eyes, admirable teeth,
and splendid hair, but spoils herself by her insane fashion of coating
face, neck, shoulders and arms with rice powder to such a thickness
as to give her a most ghastly appearance, not unlike that of a Pier-
rette. Coquettish as a young girl, she is generally both devoted and
blameless as a wife and mother. On the other hand she is capable,
on provocation, of displaying fiendishly vindictive and cruel traits, a
fact only too well known by many a poor ex-slave.

" Religion occupies a great deal of the time of the Cubans of
both sexes, but I am afraid it is considered rather a pastime than a
moral factor. Among the men of the better class, who have been
educated in Paris, it is never allowed to interfere with their passions,
pleasures, or caprices. In the days of slavery they considered their
duty to their dependents ended with the wholesale administration of
baptism, which was obligatory by law, but it never entered their head
to teach them any duties beyond those of implicit obedience to their

304 POSSIBILITIES OF THE ISLAND

own will, even the rudiments of the catechism being absolutely
neglected. That there are many admirable men among the Cubans
cannot be gainsaid, but unfortunately the mass of them is corrupt, as
must ever be the case with a people whose slaves have for generations
been only too eager to pander to their worst vices.

" Much more sincere than the Spaniards, they have always been
distinguished for their hospitality and for the grace and dignity of
their manners. If they offer you a thing they wish you to accept it,
and do not say so for the mere form. They welcome you heartily,
and regret your departure.

BRUTAL TREATMENT OF SLAVES.

" In former times their treatment of their slaves was notoriously
cruel, and I shall never forget the contrast between the splendid hos-
pitality which I myself enjoyed on a Cuban plantation, and the horrid
sights which I witnessed in its coffee-fields, where the negroes were
whipped by the overseers for the most trivial offences. An appalling
incident occurred, too, during my stay, which can never be effaced'
from my mind, and which I discovered by the merest chance, for I
was to have been kept in total ignorance of its occurrence. A strik-
ingly handsome young mulatto had escaped into the woods and had
been recaptured. For nearly a week he was tortured every day regu-
larly for two hours, and in the presence of all the other hands, and,
needless to say, in that of his master. I chanced one afternoon to go
for a walk, accompanied by one of the children of the family, a lad of
twelve ^ears, who thoughtlessly asked me to come and see what they
were 'doing to Pedro.' They were flaying him alive with pincers,
burning him with hot wires, and rubbing his wounds with saltpetre !
The poor wretch, who was shrieking desperately and writhing in
agony, was tied hand and foot to the stump of a tree. The strangest
part of it all was that the negroes for whose intimidation this dia-
bolical torture, which eventually ended in slow death, had been
devised, did not seem to be particularly impressed by its horror, for
they were laughing and shouting like so many fiends. Needless to
say, I left that hacienda somewhat hurriedly.

"The house slaves, however, were treated with extreme indul-
gence, petted and spoiled to their heart's content, and a more idle,

A CITY FILLED WITH ODORS 305

/icious, happy-go-lucky lot I never came across in all my life. The
house on this plantation was a very fair specimen of its class. It was
enormous, built of stone with spacious verandas, and, although but
one-story high, the rooms were so prodigiously lofty that the external
appearance was quite majestic. Its wide, inner courtyard, numerous
saloons, billiard-room and corridors were luxuriously furnished in
excellent taste, and were cool and delightful. The garden was a
veritable paradise. I wish I had the space to describe the many
pleasant days I passed there, marred alone by the dreadful incident
above alluded to."

A CITY FILLED WITH ODORS.

Notwithstanding the fact that Havana is a pleasant city, taken
as a whole, yet there are many things which cause it to be a place to
be avoided at certain seasons of the year. The odor which comes up
from the harbor is such that one can scarcely enjoy life while it exists.
So offensive was it that as soon as the United States came into pos-
session of the city under the terms of the protocol, Colonel George
E. Waring, of New York, was sent to Cuba by the Government to
look into the matter of cleaning up Havana and making it as sanitary
as possible. The trip proved a fatal one for Colonel Waring. While
in Havana he contracted yellow fever, and came home to die from
this terrible scourge. However, the work he did in Havana was of
such a nature that the Government was able immediately after tak-
ing possession of the city to start in its task of cleaning the Cuban
capital.

Vigorous action was also begun to improve the moral sanitation
of Havana. Vans now go around the city after midnight and pick up
the vagrant and homeless persons who fill the porticos everywhere.
Those who are able to labor are turned over to the public work of
the city, such as sweeping the streets and cleaning up the gutters.
For this they are paid ninety cents a day. Those who are not able
to work, and these form by far . the larger class, are provided for
either at the San Isidro Asylum or the hospitals. It is hoped to
clear the streets entirely of these people.

The children, too, are being looked after, and provided with
home in the San Jose Asylum. This formerly had a manual training

306 POSSIBILITIES OF THE ISLAND

school in connection with it, which will be revived, and the children
taught to do some trade.

RECON'CENTRADOS DIE BY THOUSANDS.

Another attractive part of Cuba is Matanzas, near which, during
the recent uprising, the Cuban insurgents had their headquarters.
Here under the edict of General YVeyler. 11,000 Reconcentrados
gathered together, and here, too, 9,000 of them died of starvation
and want. The whole of the province is about as large as the State
of Delaware.

The city, although smaller than Havana, is better built, and the
streets are very much more regular. It is perhaps the most delight-
ful place to live in on the island, and is in the midst of a wonderfully
fertile district. Near it is the valley of the Yumurri, the " happy
valley," which is so pleasant in temperature, even in the hottest days
in summer, that it is the most charming of places to spend either
summer or winter.

But perhaps the best known city of the island, after Havana, a
city which has been brought into the greatest prominence by the war,
is Santiago de Cuba. Here the American forces gathered both bv
land and sea, and after an attack more brilliant perhaps than any
other of which we have known, captured this stronghold against fear-
ful odds. And when they marched into it, they found this little town,
nestling at the base of the hills, in an awful state of filth and decay.
Fever, more terrible even than Spanish bullets, began towage war in
the ranks of our army, and after the city had completely yielded itself
into our hands the first great work of those appointed to take care of
it was to cleanse it and remove as far as possible the danger of
plague. This work was placed in charge of Doctor Leonard Wood.
the famous Colonel and commander of the Rough Riders, who after
winning- the most notable laurels as a fiVhter, added to them laurels
equally notable, through his remarkable work in ridding the city of
filth and disease.-

THE CLEAXINXr OF SANTIAGO.

Perhaps the best idea of what was accomplished may be gained
from the report of Robert P. Porter, Special Commissioner for the

THE CLEANING OF SANTIAGO 3°7

United States to Cuba and Porto Rico. " The disagreeable smells of
the typical Cuban city," his report says, "are less pronounced in Sant-
iago, while whitewash, limewash, fresh paint and all sorts of disin-
fectants have deodorized the surrounding atmosphere and made the
old town quite habitable. The streets are no longer used as sewers,
and the unhappy individual who violates the law and escapes the
lash of the Sanitary Commissioner's whip is compelled to work on the
streets for thirty days. This official, Major Barbour, with 126 men
dressed in spotless white, and 32 good United States mule teams and
carts, having dug out from the streets of Santiago the filth of acres,
is now able to keep them absolutely clean. Every day, by the aid of
petroleum, the garbage of the city is burned.

" The work of sanitation is not confined to the streets, but extends
to the dwelling houses, shops and buildings of all kinds. To accom-
plish this, however, the doors of houses had to be smashed in, and
people making sewers of the thoroughfares were publicly horsewhipped
in the streets. Eminently respectable citizens were forcibly brought
before the commanding general and sentenced to aid in cleaning the
streets they were in the habit of defiling.

" The campaign has ended in a complete surrender to the sanitary
authorities, and the inhabitants of Santiago, regardless of class, have
had their first object lesson in the new order of things inaugurated by
the war. Several important streets have been repaved ; all the public
buildings have been thoroughly cleaned, the work even extending to
the Opera House."

Continuing in his report, Mr. Porter says, — in speaking of the
general condition of the island :

" The rural districts of Santiago have been so depleted that it
would be impossible to collect taxes over and above those needed for
the bare necessities of schools for the poor, and possibly small sums
to improve sanitary conditions.

"The dawn of prosperity, however, should be the signal for in-
augurating systematic work on the country roads. The British
Government spends annually for the roads in Jamaica about $500,000,
where there are now 2000 miles already constructed. The money
expended on roads, whether from the general funds of the island or
from the local budgets, would come back a hundred fold, it is stated,

3o8 POSSIBILITIES OF THE ISLAND

and make Santiago one of the richest sugar, coffee and fruit growing
districts in the West Indies. Bananas can be grown at a profit, and,
as it takes only fourteen months to grow, unlike coffee and oranges,
the poorer classes could undertake its cultivation to their great
advantage. The internal, industrial, professional, licensing and
other miscellaneous taxes have so far been remitted in this part of
Cuba, but the authorities are now preparing to enforce them."

Now that the customs tariff has been disposed of, Mr. Porter
recommends that an immediate scheme be prepared for levying and
collecting internal revenue for the entire island. The question of
separating these taxes from purely municipal taxes should also be
considered. The large total of delinquencies during the last three
years, which amounted to about $6,000,000, was, of course, due to
the war. In normal times we have here $4,000,000 or $5,000,000 of
revenue that must not be overlooked, revenue which, if properly and
economically employed, would aid in the industrial rehabilitation of
Cuba.

WHERE SUGAR AND TOBACCO GROW.

The other divisions of the island are Pinar del Rio, Santa Clara
and Puerto Principe. Each has a capital of the same name, which is
more or less a copy of Havana. One of the most notable ports of
the island is Baracoa, which formerly was a place much visited by
American traders dealings in bananas, cocoanuts and chocolate. In
one year this port did a business amounting to 2,000,000 bunches of
bananas and 4,000,000 cocoanuts, together with large quantities of
other fruit. But since the war, importations from Baracoa practically
amounted to nothing. The great tobacco district of the island is in
the Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba Provinces, the former giving
what is thought to be the finest tobacco in Cuba. The export from
this Province reached about 250,000 bales and 175,000,000 cigars, but
like all the other industries of the island, it was laid waste during the
war of the insurgents, and almost all of the tobacco plantations were
destroyed.

The great sugar belt comprises the Provinces of Havana, Santa
Clara and Matanzas, while Santiago de Cuba also has a share of the
big plantations. Some idea may be had of the enormous production

WHERE SUGAR AND TOBACCO GROW 3°9

of sugar in Cuba, when it is known that the yield of 1894 was 1,040,-
000 tons. As soon as the regions which usually were productive of
large harvests of sugar came into the hands of the insurgents, they
either burned the mills and the houses on the plantations, or kept the
planters from working, with the result that in one year after the
beginning of the war the production of sugar fell from over a million
to 225,000 tons, and, as the war proceeded, this was greatly reduced
until it amounted to practically nothing.

But such is the remarkable fertility of this island, and such are
its wonderful resources that the future seems promising, although
there is little left of the land but ruins since the march of the devast-
ing insurgent troops. Under the conditions which are promised to
the beautiful isle, when a staple government has been assured by the
United States, and when the people will be free to carry on their
work without fear of molestation, there seems to be no limit to the
financial success of this country, which has so long been held down
and kept from progressing by the iron hand and the bloody rule
of Spain.

CHAPTER XVIII

The Explosion of the "Maine," and War

A.wful Catastrophe to the Big Battleship in the Harbor of Havana. Firm Belief that
the Vessel was Blown up by Spaniards. — A Naval Board of Inquiry. — A Wave of
Feeling Sweeps the Whole Nation. — McKinley Places the Matter Before Congress.
— War is Entered upon for the Sake of Humanity. — The First Call for Troops. —
All the States of the Union Respond Immediately with their Quota of Men. —
The Mobilization of the American Army.

DIPLOMATIC relations between the United States and Spain
became somewhat strained in the latter part of 1897, through
the dissatisfaction of Spanish political leaders, with the sym-
pathy manifested by the American public toward the struggle of the
Cubans for independence. A number of prominent Americans had
made tours of Cuba, and others had seen for themselves the situation
in Havana and its immediate vicinity, and the facts thus ascertained
were laid before the Congress of the United States in the form of
reports or petitions, so vigorously presented and so eloquently sup-
ported, that many debates occurred in the National Legislature over
resolutions that had been introduced for the recognition of the
Cubans as bellicrerents, and more than one effort was also made to
secure American recognition of the insurgents.

the " maine" sent to Havana.

The newspapers of both countries were full of pointed and semi-
sarcastic editorials on the opposing national attitudes, and the air was
full of the possibilities of war, though the hope ran high in the hearts
of thoughtful people that such a serious consequence might be
avoided. In the last week in January, however, the battleship Maine,
which had been lying at Key West with the rest of the South Atlan-
tic Squadron, was ordered to proceed to Havana at once. The vessel
left Key West on January 25, 1898. The order for her departure
had not been heralded in advance, and there was no time for specula-

31*

3 1 2 THE EX PL OS I ON OE THE ' ' MAINE ' ' — I VAR

tion as to the why and wherefore of her journey until she was already
at the Cuban port.

The Secretary of the Navy and other important officials at
Washington declared that the visit of the warship to Havana meant
only the friendly relations with Spain were now formally resumed in
that particular, since for some time previously there had been no
American war vessels in that port. Nevertheless, the feeling was
strong that the Maine would not have been sent there unless Consul-
General Fitzhugh Lee had believed there was special need for a pro-
tector of Americans and American interests.

Officials of the M cKinley Administration were quoted as having
said that a mistake was made by the Cleveland Administration in
deciding, at the very beginning of the Cuban insurrection, not to
send any warships to Havana or to permit any of the naval vessels
to stop at that port as they had occasionally been in the habit of
doing. It was always maintained in these utterances that the deci-
sion to keep our war vessels away from Havana was uncalled for, and
was a wholly unnecessary concession to the sensibilities of the
Spanish public. If that decision had not been reached by the Cleve-
land Administration our warships could have visited Havana in 1896
and 1897 just as they had done previously, and then there would have
been no thought that the sending of the Maine to Havana in 1898
was an indication of trouble with Spain.

It was ascertained that Consul-General Lee had reported to the
State Department that he feared serious disturbances might take
place in Havana at any moment, and that, while he would not him-
self take the responsibility of asking for a warship, he wished the
Administration to understand that the conditions of affairs in Havana
was such as might lead to disturbances almost any day, which would
involve the lives of American citizens.

THE VIEWS OF SENOR DE LOME.

The Spanish Minister, De Lome, called at the White House on
the day that the battleship went to Havana, was shown the orders
that had been issued for the departure of the Maine, and publicly
expressed himself to the effect that, so far as his advice was con-
cerned, the Spanish Government would not regard the sending of the

MAJOR-GENERAL NELSON APPLETON MILES.

MAJOR-GENERAL FITZHUGH LEE

MAJOR-GENERAL WESLEY MERRITT. MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM R. SHAFTER.

LEADING COMMANDERS OF OUR ARMY IN THE SPAN I S H - A M ER IC AN WAR

DE L OME RESIGNS 3 1 5

Maine to Havana as a hostile act, or a threat against the friendly
relations that were in existence between the two countries. Still,
there was a decidedly uneasy feeling throughout the country, not
because a war with Spain was feared, but because the people seemed
not to have been taken into the confidence of those who had the
power to prevent war or to bring it about.

Naval and army officers were particularly interested in the mat-
ter, and promptly expressed themselves as confident that the time
was near at hand when the chance for active service in front of an
enemy, which is the height of every officer's ambition, would not be
much longer delayed. The fact that there was a large fleet assembled
at Key West, within a few hours' run from the port to which the
Maine had been sent, and the further fact that unusual activity was
being manifested in the navy yards and arsenals throughout the
country, gave color to much of the war talk, and turned all eyes in
the direction of the Maine, though no one seemed to expect the fate
that was about to befall her.

The situation was rendered very much more serious by the publi-
cation in American newspapers, on February 9, 1898, of a remark-
able letter said to have been written by the Spanish Minister in
Washington. It was addressed to a Spanish editor who was stop-
ping at a hotel in Havana, and contained, among other comments on
the American attitude toward the Cubans, a characterization of Presi-
dent McKinley as "weak, and catering to the rabble ; and, besides, a
low politician, who desires to leave a door open to me and to stand
well with the jingoes of his party."

DE LOME RESIGNS.

This letter was made public through the Cuban Junta, who
secured it at Havana. The Junta claimed that the receiver of the
letter was so astonished at its contents that he could not help telling
some of his friends about it, and that in this way it had come into
the hands of their agents. The authenticity of the letter was not
doubted for a moment ; but the officials at Washington promptly
afforded Minister De Lome an opportunity to deny it if he cared to.
Nothing came from De Lome, however, and the State Department
then sent a request to him for immediate information as to the genu-

3 1 6 THE EX PL OS/ON OE THE ' ' MAINE ' '— WAR

ineness of the letter. De Lome called at the State Department.
He admitted that the letter was genuine, but explained that the trans-
lation was inaccurate, and he volunteered the further information
that he had cabled his resignation to Madrid.

The resignation of the Spanish Minister was accepted, and he
withdrew to Canada. The Spanish Government made a feeble
attempt to disclaim responsibility for this gratuitous insult to the
President of the United States, but this incident filled the cup of the
Nation's patience almost to overflowing, and there was, therefore,
less surprise manifested than would have been the case a week or so
earlier, when, on the morning of February 16th, the whole world was
electrified by the news of the blowing up of the Maine, as she lay
moored in the harbor of Havana, and the loss of several hundred
lives.

The news of the catastrophe was officially communicated to
Washington in a message to the Secretary of the Navy, from Captain
Sigsbee, of the Maine, which was received just after midnight, and
read as follows :

" Maine blown up in Havana harbor and destroyed. Many
wounded and doubtless more killed and drowned. Wounded and
others on board Spanish man-of-war and Ward Line steamer. Send
lighthouse tenders from Key West for crew and a few pieces of equip-
ment still above water. No one has other clothes than those upon
him. Public opinion should be suspended until further report. All
officers believed to be saved. Jenkins and Merritt not yet accounted
for. Many Spanish officers, including represensative of General
Blanco, now with me and express sympathy. Sigsbee."

The first reports received from the scene of the disaster placed
the loss at something over a hundred, but at that time it was still
dark and it was impossible to obtain more accurate information.
This, however, was bad enough as it was, but when it became known
that the great majority of the crew of the big battleship had been
killed or drowned, the anxiety for further details was deep and
universal.

On the day following the explosion, it was ascertained that the
total victims of the disaster were 264 men and 2 officers killed, and
many men wounded. The officers killed were Lieutenant Friend W.

THE DISASTER DESCRIBED BY AN EYEWITNESS 317

Jenkins and Assistant Engineer Darwin R. Merritt. Captain Charles
D. Sigsbee, the Commander, and Lieutenant-Commander Richard
Wainwright, were both on board at the time, and, with all the other
officers, escaped. The Navy Department was besieged with inquiries
from the friends of the members of the crew, and the whole Nation
was aroused to fever heat by the disaster.

None of the Government officials would say that they thought
the Maine had been purposely blown up, but thousands of citizens so
expressed themselves, and there was a general feeling throughout
the country, while waiting for further particulars, that if the explosion
was shown to be due to bomb, torpedo or mine, it would mean noth-
ing less than war with Spain.

The officers of the Maine, promptly recognizing the possible sig-
nificance of the catastrophe, were somewhat reticent as to the details
of the occurrence. Various descriptions of the disaster were given,
but it was some time afterward that a perfectly connected story was
available.

Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright, at a quarter to 10 o'clock
on the night of February 15th, was half undressed and was smoking
in his cabin. Suddenly an explosion occurred, which put out the
electric lights. Wainwright struck a match and made his way to the
adjoining cabin of Captain Sigsbee. The Captain had been thrown
from his bunk, but was uninjured. Wainwright's belief was that the
explosion was due to a short-circuited dynamo. Captain Sigsbee and
he hastened on deck and ordered a man to flood 2,500 pounds of gun
cotton which was on board. The order was carried out, but the man
never returned, for by the time he could go to the place where the
flood cocks were and get back again to the quarter-deck, a second
explosion had taken place, and he was undoubtedly added to the
victims.

THE DISASTER DESCRIBED BY AN EYEWITNESS.

One officer described the disaster as follows :

" Three of us were sitting in the mess-room, when a heavy ex-
plosion occurred. We rushed on the upper deck and found that
the vessel was on fire and sinking. All efforts were then directed
toward lowering the boats and saving lives, but the Maine settled
quickly on the bottom of the harbor, only her upper works remaining

3 1 8 THE EX PL OS/ON OF THE ' 'MAINE ' '— WA R

above the water. Boats from the Spanish warship Alfonso XII, and
boats from the Ward Line steamer, City of Washington, came along-
side and rendered assistance."

All the officers agreed that the explosion occurred somewhere in
the forward part of the midship section of the battleship. Many of
the crew who were below at the time of the first explosion were un-
able to escape, and those who succeeded in reaching the upper decks
saved their lives with great difficulty.

The Maine, at the time of the explosion, was at anchor, about
500 yards from the arsenal, and about 200 yards from the floating
dock. The explosion put out the lights near the wharf, and blew
down telephone and telepraph wires in that vicinity. The smoke-
stacks of the battleship fell at 11.30 The first of the American
sailors to reach the wharf were swimming. Three of those who thus
escaped fell senseless just as they reached a place of safety. The
total number of those saved, out of a crew of 350 was less than a
hundred.

OTHER VESSELS LEND ASSISTANCE

Eyewitnesses of the scene of the explosion, within a few minutes
after its occurrence painted striking word pictures of the struggles
of wounded men in the water, and of the excitement that prevailed
in and about the harbor. Boats from the Spanish warship and
merchant vessels, searching for the wounded, more frequently en-
countered the bodies of the dead, and each hour seemed to add tc
these ghastly accumulations, until the wharves on shore became open-
air morgues, and the victims of the disaster lay in long rows side by
side, waiting for identification.

The wounded were taken to Key West as rapidly as possible, but
many of the dead were temporarily buried in Havana, and in these
burials the sympathy of the citizens of Havana was certainly made
manifest, though the feeling of suspicion that the disaster was due to
treachery had a strong hold in the minds of the surviving sailors as
well as in the minds of their friends at home.

The interment of twenty-two martyrs of the Maine took place on
the afternoon of February 17, 1898. The flags on the public build-
ings of Havana were at half-mast and many of the houses were draped

A BOARD OF INQUIRY APPOINTED 3Ig

in mourning. All classes were represented in the throngs that filled
the streets along which the funeral procession passed to the cemetery.
The procession included the Municipal Guards on horseback, the City
Fire Brigade, representatives of various official bureaus, officers of
the Spanish army and navy, and committees representing the Cham-
ber of Commerce and other trade organizations.

BURYING THE DEAD.

The bodies rested in coffins in the City Hall, and were profusely
covered with flowers. A great crown from the City Council bore
the inscription : " The People of Havana to the Victims of the
Maine." There was also a handsome crown of silk ribbons in the
Spanish national colors with the inscription: " The Navy Department
at Havana to the Victims of the Maine." The Mayor of Havana
headed the funeral procession ; General Solana represented Captain-
General Blanco. The population that lined the route of the proces-
sion gave every indication of the profoundest sympathy.

Others of the victims of the Maine were subsequently buried at
Key West. The bodies of many were claimed by friends and taken
to their homes for burial. Many bodies were never recovered, and
some were found by the divers who subsequently worked upon the
wreck of the Maine, wedged in between the decks, where they had
met their death by drowning. A few of those who had been picked
up in a wounded condition died in the hospitals, but the great ma-
jority of the injured were only slightly hurt and rapidly recovered.

A BOARD OF INQUIRY APPOINTED.

Captain Sigsbee, of the Maine, had asked, immediately upon the
occurrence of the disaster, for a Board of Inquiry to determine the
cause of the explosion. This was in line with the usual custom of
commanders of vessels which have met with any mishap, so that the
record of the commander may be established ; but in this instance
there came also a demand from the entire American nation, and,
while the Board that was appointed was officially named in response
to Sigbee's request, it was equally in answer to the popular demand,
a.nd its proceedings and findings were eagerly watched and waited for,

320 THE EXPLOSION OF THE ''MAINE" — WAR

The Spanish authorities in Havana, taking the cue from those
higher in authority at Madrid, continuously deplored the "unfor-
tunate accident" which had befallen the Maine, and straightway insti-
tuted an investigation of their own, the manner of conducting which,
and the subsequent findings that were promulgated, all going to show
that the Spanish Government had no intention of listening for a mo-
ment to any theory concerning the affair except that it was purely an
accidental occurrence.

Divers were sent down into the wreck of the battleship by the
Spaniards secretly, when no other divers were there, and on the
reports made by these Spanish submarine investigators a document
was formulated, which was widely circulated through Spanish official
channels, to the effect that the Maine had been blown up by an in-
terior explosion. The wreck of the Maine was so complete, its com-
partments were so utterly shattered, and its constructive iron so
twisted and broken, that the Spaniards found it comparatively easy
to mystify themselves, if indeed they failed to delude the rest of the
world.

Meanwhile, the divers engaged by the Government of the United
States conducted an investigation which was scientifically superin-
tended, and the results of which were accurately recorded. Diagrams
were made for presentation to the Board of Inquiry, and nothing was
left undone that could in any way be expected to throw light upon the
cause of the disaster. The Government of the United States was
fully determined that the truth should be made known.

BLOWN UP BY AN OUTSIDE EXPLOSION.

When the exact condition of the wreck had been determined,
and when the circumstances came to be considered in the new light
afforded by the official investigation, naval engineers throughout the
world, and scientific men of international prominence, promptly gave
it as their opinion that the Maine had been blown up from the out-
side. It then became known that the Maine had been moored at a
certain buoy in the harbor of Havana, to which she had been con-
ducted by a Spanish official, and it was also ascertained that this buoy
was in the immediate vicinity, if not exactly over, mines that had
been placed in the harbor bottom.

CAPTAIN SIGSBEE'S STOR Y 321

One theory was that the American warship had been thus placed
with the direct purpose of accomplishing her destruction. Others
accepted that portion of this theory which included the destruction of
the vessel, but were charitable enough to say that perhaps Spain's
managers of the affair did not intend to explode the mines except in
the event of war being declared between the two countries.

This left it an open question for the public mind as to whether
the Maine had been blown up by a secret order on the part of the
Government, or whether some over-enthusiastic individual enemy of
the United States had exploded a mine beneath her bottom without
waiting for orders. There was considerable talk about torpedoes,
and about electric connections with the shore batteries, but there had
been ample time for every outward evidence of treachery to be
removed before the official American investigation began, and it only
remained for the Board of Inquiry to establish the nature of the ex-
plosion and leave the world to judge as to its cause.

On February 18th, three days after the explosion, Congress ap-
propriated $200,000 for the employment of divers, for the raising of
the vessel if it was found practicable, and for the preliminary expenses
of the Court of Inquiry. On February 20th the divers began their
work ; on the 25th the Court of Inquiry began its investigations at
Havana, and on the 2 2d Consul-General Lee informally advised
Americans not necessarily detained in Cuba to leave for home at
once.

CAPTAIN SIGSBEE'S STORY.

The sessions of the Court of Inquiry were held behind closed
doors. The first witness was Captain Sigsbee. The record of the
testimony was strictly guarded until the conclusion of the investiga-
tion, but when once an officer had been a witness before the Court,
he seemed to be at liberty to speak more freely of experiences on
that dreadful niodit.

Captain Sigsbee himself, after being a witness, told to corre-
spondents in Havana the following story of his vessel's destruction.
He said : " I find it impossible to describe the sound or shock, but
the impression remains of something awe-inspiring, terrifying, noise-
rendering, vibrating, all-pervading. There was nothing in the former
experience of anyone on board to measure the explosion by.

322 THE EXPL OS ION OF THE ' ' MAINE "—WAR

" After the first great shock, I cannot myself recall how many
sharper detonations I heard, but it was not more than two or three.
I knew my ship was gone. In such a structure as the Maine, the
effects of such an explosion are not for a moment in doubt. I made
my way through the long passage, in the dark, groping from side to
side, to the hatchway and thence to the poop deck, being among the
earliest to reach that spot."

" So soon as I recognized the officers, I ordered high explosives
to be flooded, and I then directed that the boats available be lowered
to rescue the wounded or drowning. Discipline, in a perfect measure,
prevailed. There was no more confusion than a call to general
quarters would produce, if as much. I soon saw, by the light of the
flames, that all my officers and crew left alive and on board, sur-
rounded me."

" I cannot form any idea of the time, but it seemed five minutes
from the time I reached the poop until I left, the last man it was pos-
sible to reach having been saved. It must have been three quarters
of an hour or more, however, from the amount of work done. I
remember the officers and men worked together, lowering the boats,
and that the gig took some time to lower."

PLACED ABOVE THE FATAL MINE.

Captain Sigsbee testified before the Court of Inquiry that an
investigation was sometimes made of the bottoms of harbors in which
men-of-war are moored, but that in connection with the mooring of
the Maine in the harbor of Havana, presumably the port of a friendly
power, he had taken the berth officially assigned without question as to
its safety; but that he had taken the usual precautions against attack.
The quarter-watch being ordered to have ammunition for the smaller
guns ready to hand, so that, in the improbable event of an attack on
the ship, it would have been found ready. This ammunition exploded
when the heat reached it, and is supposed to account for the detona-
tion that occurred after the two first and greater explosions.

From the testimony of other officers, it was learned that the
usual rounds of the ship had been made at eight bells on that fatal
evening, and everything had been reported all right. There was
nothing in prospect but another night of untroubled dreams. One

SPAIN PREPARES FOR TROUBLE 32$

of the seamen testified that, looking over the side in the dark, at
about half past nine, he fancied he saw a black shining object silently
approaching the vessel, but it was supposed that the man's mind had
probably been set on edge by the gossip of his mates, and that he was
perhaps over-keen to scent danger. He testified that he was about to
give warning to the officer of the deck, when the explosion occurred.
, The whole forward part of the ship seemed to be lifted from the
water. Then followed the second explosion with outflaming.

The crash had been so terrific as to deprive some who heard it
of their reason, to stun others, to astound many, but for 250 gallant
seamen it was, if they heard it at all, the last sound that was to ring
in their ears in this world. The portholes of nearby ships were
smashed in, also the windows of houses facing the harbor. The
lights on the water front were extinguished. Great masses of the
vessel's iron substance were torn from her, and sent flying through
the air. Some witnesses testified to having heard an awful chorus of
groans from those not yet dead but dying between the vessel's decks.

As the hearings of the Court of Inquiry drew near their close,
more and more secrecy was maintained in regard to the evidence.
This led to the belief that developments were being made that
threatened the peace of the nations. Consul-General Lee's advice to
Americans in Cuba, that they had better get off of the island as soon
as possible, particularly annoyed the Spaniards, and an urgent
effort was made at Madrid to get United States Minister Woodford
to suggest General Lee's recall. This effort, however, signally failed,
and the temper of the American people in the emergency was magni-
ficently manifested, on March 8th, when Congress voted unanimously
for a defense fund of fifty millions of dollars, which President
McKinley was authorized to expend as he might deem best in the
interest of peace or war, as the case might be

SPAIN PREPARES FOR TROUBLE.

Nor was Spain lying upon her oars in the matter of preparation.
She was making strenuous efforts to purchase warships, and to pro-
vide for a big war loan. Another thing that she undertook at this
time was to create an impressive moral effect by dispatching a fleet
of vessels westward, as if to let the Americans see that she was ready

3 '6 THE EXPLOSION OF THE "MAINE"— WAR

for anything that might happen. It turned out, however, that the
destination of this fleet was the Cape Verde Islands, and the length
of time it remained at those islands, subsequently gave it the name
of the Cape Verde Fleet, and this was the fleet that really did venture
further west several months later, and never went back.

The Maine Court of Inquiry finished its work on March 19th,
and a summary of its findings was forwarded to the President and the
Navy Department on the following day. Then followed more than
a week of delay, during which time every detail of the report was
carefully considered by the Cabinet, and after this consideration had
been taken, the report in full, with all the evidence taken, was, on
March 28th, submitted to Congress. Meanwhile, all vessels of the
American Navy were donning their smoke-colored warpaint, and
everybody's mind was being made up to the fact that war was in-
evitable.

The tension of feeling throughout the nation was so great at
this time that the report of the Board of Inquiry was not altogether
satisfactory. It positively declared that the explosion by which the
Maine was wrecked was external, but it was impossible for the Board
to make any statement as to the responsibility. This omission was
the part that failed to give universal satisfaction ; but subsequent
events developed the fact that the Administration felt that there were
grounds for war, if war must come, even grander and more praise-
worthy than any that could be based upon the idea of revenge for a
national insult, or of reprisal for loss of life.

THE REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INQUIRY.

In any event the report of the Board of Inquiry was submitted
without attempt to fix the responsibility, though the public was left
free to draw its own conclusions from the findings. These findings
were substantially as follows :

1. That the battleship Maine was conducted to buoy No. 4 in
the harbor of Havana by the regular Government pilot, and that the
United States Consul-General at Havana had notified the authori-
ties, on the previous evening, of the intended arrival of the Maine.

2. The state of discipline on board the Maine was excellent, and
all orders and regulations in regard to the care and safety of the

THE REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INQUIRY 327

vessel were strictly carried out. The fire alarms were in working
order, and there had never been a case of spontaneous combustion
of coal on board. On the night of the destruction of the Maine,
everything had been reported secure for the night at 8 p.m. by reli-
able persons, through the proper authorities, to the commanding
officer ; and, at the time of the explosion, the vessel was quiet, and,
therefore, least liable to accidents caused by movements from those
on board.

3. The destruction of the Maine occurred at 9.40 p.m. on Feb-
ruary 15, 1898, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, she being at that
time moored to the same buoy to which she had been taken upon her
arrival. There were two explosions. By the first, the forward part
of the ship was lifted to a marked degree. The second explosion
was, in the opinion of the Court, caused by the partial explosion of
two or more of the forward magazines.

4. That portion of the portside of the protected deck, which
extends from about frame 30 to about frame 41, was blown up aft and
over to port. The main deck, from about frame 30 to about frame
41, was blown up aft and slightly over to starboard, folding the for-
ward part of the middle superstructure over and on top of the after-
part.

5. In the opinion of the Court, these effects and others devel-
oped in evidence could have been produced only by the explosion of
a mine situated under the bottom of the ship at about frame 18, and
somewhat on the portside.

6. The Court finds that the loss of the Maine was not, in any
respect, due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers
or members of the crew.

7. In the opinion of the Court, the Maine was destroyed by the
explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of
two or more of her forward magazines.

8. The Court has been unable to obtain evidence, fixing the
responsibility for the destruction of the Maine upon any person or
persons.

The report was signed by Captain W. T. Sampson, U. S. N.,
President, and Lieutenant-Commander A. Marix, U. S. N., Judge-
Advocate, and the proceedings and findings of the Court were

328 THE EXPLOSION OF THE "MAINE"— WAR

approved by Rear-Admiral Sicard, Commander-in-Chief of the
United States Naval force on the North Atlantic Station.

No further evidence has been officially recorded as to the cause
of the explosion ; but many stories were subsequently circulated in
apparent confirmation of popular opinion that Spain should have
been held responsible. One of these stories was to the effect that
dynamite had been purchased in England by private agents of General
Weyler, and that it was to the desire of his friends to resent his recall
from Cuba that the disaster to the Maine was due.

CONGRESS STIRRED TO ACTION.

The United States Government authorities, however, studiously
avoided laying the blame for the explosion at the door of Spain, but
there was no cessation of the preparations for war. Members of the
Senate and of the House of Representatives emphatically declared
that the time had come for America to intervene in Cuban affairs,
and, within two or three days after the report of the Board of
Inquiry was made public, resolutions to that effect were introduced
in both houses of the National Legislature.

Senator Foraker, of Ohio, on March 30th, presented resolutions
recognizing the independence of Cuba, and favoring armed interven-
tion. He declared that autonomy had absolutely failed, and that just
as this failure was realized the country was confronted by the De
Lome incident. Scarcely had this begun to attract less interest when
the explosion of the Maine threw the country into a hurricane ol
excitement, but that the proper action. for Congress to take was upon
the general Cuban question.

Senator Frye, of Maine, also introduced a resolution, based on
the declaration that the war in Cuba had been conducted by the
Spanish Government in violation of the rules of civilized warfare ;
that the President be authorized " to take such effective steps as, in
his discretion, may be necessary to secure a speedy termination of
the hostilities between the Government of Spain and the people of
Cuba, the withdrawal of the military and naval forces of Spain from
said island, and the complete independence of said people."

Senator Rawlins, of Utah, offered a resolution for the recogni-
tion of Cuba's independence, and for a declaration of war against

ALL POWERS STRIVE FOR PEACE 329

Spain. Senator Allen, of Nebraska, introduced a resolution recog-
nizing the independence of Cuba, and that the United States should
immediately intervene and put an end to the war that was being
waged by the Spaniards against the citizens of that Island. Similar
resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives, all
being referred to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, with instruc-
tions for an early report.

ALL POWERS STRIVE FOR PEACE.

Spain began to have inquiries made through devious diplomatic
channels as to what would satisfy the United States in regard to
Spanish conduct of Cuban affairs. Several propositions passed back-
ward and forward, unofficially, and there was every evidence of an
effort on the part of Spain to gain more time. Meanwhile, there was
a great rush at all the navy yards. The squadron at Key West, of
which the Maine had been a part, was rapidly put into fighting trim.

The Spanish vessels Viscaya and Atmiranle Oquendo, which had
been in Havana harbor since a few days after the destruction of the
Maine, withdrew to Porto Rico, and thence to the Canaries, being
subsequently attached to the Cape Verde fleet under command of
Admiral Cervera.

Representatives of the great powers called upon the Secretary of
State at Washington in the interest of peace, but, recognizing at once
the trend of events, reported their opinions to their home Govern-
ments, and the importunities of the powers were then directed toward
influencing Spain to see the folly of allowing war to be declared.

The excuse put forward by Spain for not agreeing to the sugges-
tions of the United States was that the Spanish dynasty would be
imperiled by the rising of the people in revolution if too great con-
cessions were made in Cuba. The powers, however, agreed to take
care of the dynasty and to keep down rebellion if Spain would give
up; but Sagasta refused to negotiate for the preservation of peace,
Minister Woodford prepared to leave Madrid, and it became plainly
apparent early in April that the United States Consul-General could
be of no more service in Havana.

On the evening of April 9th, General Lee and his staff left
Havana on board the lighthouse tender Fern. The wharf was

31o THE EXPLOSION OF THE ' 'MAINE ' '- WAR

crowded, but no discourtesy was shown. General Lee had called at
the palace of the Governor-General to say good-bye to General
Blanco, but the Governor-General was very busy and could not
receive General Lee. The American flag upon the Consulate Build-
ing was taken down by consular employees during the afternoon, and
American interests were left in the hands of the British Consul. A
great many Americans accompanied General Lee from the Cuban
capital, but Havana seemed to be absolutely indifferent to the
evacuation.

AN ARMISTICE TO INSURGENTS.

On the same day that General Lee quitted Havana, the Spanish
Cabinet decided to grant an armistice to the insurgents in Cuba. The
Ambassadors of foreign powers had induced the Spaniards to make
this concession in the hope of averting the war. The conditions of
the armistice were to be the withdrawal of the American squadrons
from Cuba and the Philippines. The armistice was to last for five
days. The temper of the American Congress, however, was not favor-
able to any deviation from the programme that had been laid down.
Prominent leaders of both political parties insisted that Congressional
action should be taken regardless of the armistice, and it was also
necessary for the Cubans to be communicated with in regard to the
proposed cessation of fighting.

Meanwhile, however, the authorities in Madrid appeared to
imagine that armistice meant peace, for they still believed there would
be some way found for them to meet America's demands and still
retain sovereignty in Cuba; but, on April nth, President McKin-
ley sent to Congress his famous message asking for power to inter-
vene in Cuba. The message referred to the fearful starving and
desolation which had followed General Weyler's policy of devastation
and concentration ; it denounced the policy of reconcentration as
uncivilized ; and it opposed the recognition of the belligerency of the
insurgents, or the recognition, at this time, of the independence of
the present insurgent Government.

The President declared forcible intervention to stop the war to
be justifiable in the cause of humanity and for the protection of our
citizens, and to prevent further loss to our commerce and trade. He
spoke of the inexpressible horror over the destruction of the Maine;

THE RESULT OF THE MESSAGE 33 1

and referred to the report of the Naval Court of Inquiry as com-
manding the unqualified confidence of the Government, adding that
the only hope of relief and repose from a condition, which could no
longer be endured, was the enforced pacification of Cuba.

" In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf
of endangered American interests, which give us the right and the
duty to speak and to act," said the President, " the war in Cuba must
stop. In view of these facts and of these considerations, I ask the
Congress to authorize and to empower the President to take measures
to secure a full and final termination of hostilities between the Gov-
ernment of Spain and the people of Cuba, and to secure in the
island the establishment of a stable government, capable of main-
taining order and of observing its international obligations, ensuring
peace and tranquility, and the security of its citizens as well as our
own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United States
as may be necessary for these purposes."

THE RESULT OF THE MESSAGE.

The President's message was referred to the Committees on
Foreign Affairs of both Houses of Congress, and was taken under
consideration in connection with the various resolutions for interven-
tion and recognition which had recently been introduced, and, on
April 1 8th, a joint resolution was agreed upon. The Senate had
declared for recognition, but the House had directly sustained the
President in his views upon this question, and the result was a non-
recognition measure, the full text of which was as follows :

Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for
more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near to our own
borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United
States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as
they have, in the destruction of a United States battleship, with two
hundred and sixty-six of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit
in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as has been
set forth by the President of the United States in his Message to
Congress of April 11, 1898, upon which the action of Congress was
invited ; therefore,

332 THE EXPLOSION OF THE "MAINE"— WAR

Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled —

First. — That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent.

Second. — That it is the duty of the United States to demand,
and the Government of the States does hereby demand, that the
Government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and govern-
ment in the Island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces
from Cuba and Cuban waters.

Third. — That the President of the United States be, and he
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval
forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the
United States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may
be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect.

Fourth. — That the United States hereby disclaims any disposi-
tion or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction or control over
said Island except for the pacification thereof ; and asserts its deter-
mination when that is accomplished to leave the government and
control of the Island to its people.

The adoption of this resolution was looked upon at home and
abroad as a practical declaration of war, and the preparations which
had been rapidly pushed forward since the destruction of the Maine,
now began to be rushed at high speed. The President signed the
joint resolution of Congress on April 20th, and the Government's
ultimatum was forwarded to Spain on the same day. Spain was given
three days in which to make a satisfactory reply, but Minister Polo y
Barnabe, who had succeeded DeLome temporarily, withdrew to
Canada. On April 21st, Minister Woodford was handed his pass-
ports at Madrid, before the American ultimatum was presented, and
he promptly left the Spanish capital. On the following day, April 22d,
orders were given the American fleet at Key West and the Flying
Squadron to seek the fleet of Spain, which was supposed to be on its
way across the ocean, and on the same day President McKinley issued
a call for troops, summoning 125,000 men for service in Cuba.

This call was in the form of a proclamation, as follows :

THE PEACE COMMISSIONERS.

Appointed September 9, 1S98. Met Spanish Commissioners at Paris, October 1st. Treaty of Peace signed by the Commis-
sioners at Paris, December 10th, and ratified by the United States Senate at Washington, February 6th, 1899

A PROCLAMATION 335

By the President of the United States :

Whereas, By a joint resolution of Congress, approved on the
20th day of April, 1898, entitled, "Joint Resolution for the Recogni-
tion of the Independence of the People of Cuba, Demanding that the
Government of Spain Relinquish its Authority and Government in
the Island of Cuba, to Withdraw Its Land and Naval Forces from
Cuba and Cuban Waters, and directing the President of the United
States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry
these resolutions into effect " ; and,

Whereas, By an Act of Congress, entitled " An Act to provide
for temporarily increasing the military establishment of the United
States in time of war and for other purposes," approved April 22,
1898, the President is authorized in order to raise a volunteer army
to issue his proclamation calling for volunteers to serve in the army
of the United States.

Now, Therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United
States, by virtue of the power vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws, and deeming sufficient occasion to exist, have thought fit to
call for, and hereby do call for, volunteers to the aggregate number
of 125,000 in order to carry into effect the purpose of the said resolu-
tion, the same to be apportioned, as far as practicable, among the
several States and Territories and the District of Columbia, accord-
ing to the population, and to serve for two years, unless sooner dis-
charged. The details of this object will be immediately communi-
cated to the proper authorities through the War Department.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this 23d day of April, A.D.,
1898, and of the Independence of the United States the i22d.

[seal] William McKinley.

By the President.

John Sherman, Secretary of State.

Among the lasting glories of the United States of America, will
ever be prominent the manner in which all the States of the Union
responded to this call for national defenders. The quota of each

336 THE EXPLOSION OF THE "MA/NE"—IVAR

State was fixed according to the population of those of the militia
age. On this basis the State of New York was to furnish 12,512
volunteers; Pennsylvania, 10,762; Illinois, 8,048; Ohio, 7,248;
Missouri, 5,411 ; and all other States in the same proportion, down
to 351 men from Delaware; 237 from Nevada; 231 from Wyoming;
181 from Arizona, and 142 from Oklahoma.

These volunteers were speedily mobilized at central points in
their respective States, and everything possible was done to perfect
their equipment. The members of the State Guards went into camp
under their own officers, and all, officers and men, were submitted to
a rigorous physical examination. The response to the call had been
so generous, that the War Department determined to take only those
who were best fitted for the arduous service which was to be expected
of them in Cuba. The result was that the ranks of the State Guards,
though they had been only slightly impaired by failure to volunteer,
were considerably thinned by the weeding done by the regular army
surgeons. So eager were men in all parts of the country to have a
chance to fight against Spain, that all sorts of subterfuges were resorted
to in the hope of deceiving the examiners in regard to actual physical
conditions, but the weeding out was successfully accomplished, the
vacancies in the State regiments were filled by men selected through
the same process, and the result was as fine a body of men as ever
enlisted for any service in any part of the world.

THE FIRST STATE TO REPOET.

The first State to complete her quota was Pennsylvania, not-
withstanding the fact that hers was second only to New York in
point of numbers. The Keystone soldiers were mobilized at Mt.
Gretna, the site of the annual State encampments, forty miles from
Harrisburg, The President's call had been issued on April 21st ; on
April 28th, the entire National Guard of Pennsylvania was in camp,
and within thirty days its ten thousand men had been selected, uni-
formed and equipped, and many of them were on their way to camps
of preparation nearer to Cuba, while one of its regiments, the Tenth,
was already on its way to Manila.

And what Pennsylvania had accomplished was approximated in
the other states throughout the Union. Camps of preparations

WAR IS DECLARED 337

were established at Falls Church, Va., near the historical battlefield
of Bull Run, and in the National Military Park at Chickamauga, Ga.,
which had been the scene of memorable battles during the War of
the Rebellion, Other temporary camps of further preparation were
established at different points, but the great majority of the troops
were eventually mobilized at these two most important rendezvous,
and from them the different regiments were forwarded to Tampa,
Charleston, Newport News, and other ports from which embarkation
was subsequently made for service in Cuba. The bulk of the troops
that went to Manila was selected from the Western States, the
Tenth Pennsylvania being the only volunteer regiment to serve in
that campaign from east of the Mississippi.

The regiments of the regular army were perfected in numbers
and equipment, and these were the nucleus of the army corps, which
were organized for the earliest service. The First Corps, however,
under Major-General Brooke, which was organized at Camp Thomas,
Chickamauga, was made up entirely of volunteers, but the Second
Corps, which did such gallant service before Santiago, under General
Shafter, was made up largely of regulars, but with a grand leaven of
volunteers who fully shared the honors of that eventful campaign.
Many officers who had been prominent in the Civil War were given
commissions as general officers in the volunteer service. Among
them were General Joseph Wheeler, who had been the great cavalry
leader of the Rebellion, General Fitzhugh Lee, of Va., General
Gordon, of Georgia, and others. Soldiers of all states were equally
eager. There was no longer any North or South, East or West. It
was one flag and one country, and " On to Cuba " was the cry.

WAR IS DECLARED.

These unmistakable preparations constituted a declaration of
war in themselves, but, for the sake of avoiding complications that
might arise in connection with blockades, etc., President McKinley,
recommended and Congress passed, on April 24th, a bill, as follows :

"First. — That war be, and the same hereby is, declared to exist,
and that war has existed since the 21st day of April, A.D., 1898, in-
cluding said day, between the United States of America and the
Kingdom of Spain.

338 THE EXPL OSION OF THE ' 'MAINE ' '— WA R

"Second. — That the President of the United States be, and he
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval
forces of the United States, and to call into actual service of the
United States, the militia of the several States to such an extent as
may be necessary to carry this bill into effect."

Then followed the active operations that were conducted by the
Navy upon the Atlantic coast and far away among the islands of the
Pacific. The victory of Admiral Dewey over the Spanish Meet in the
harbor of Manila, on May ist, seemed to set the pace for the rest of
the war. The news of this crlorious achievement stirred the hearts

of every American to such an extent that all efforts against the
national enemy seemed to have been accelerated thereby. The plans
of the War Department began more rapidly to mature, and the naval
vessels in the vicinity of Havana could scarce restrain their impulse
to make a decisive onslaught, but the Administration had the situa-
tion well in hand, and the advance of the army and navy was near at
hand.

CHAPTER XIX

The Campaign in Cuba

A. Close Blockade Established at Havana. — The First Shot of the War. — The
Buena Ventura Captured as the Initial Prize of the Conflict. — The First Death
of the War. — Ensign WorthBagley, of the Torpedo Boat Winslow, Killed. —
Admiral Cervera's Fleet Leaves Spain for the Cape Verde Islands. — A Period of
Search and Apprehension. — The Spanish Vessels Reach Santiago. — Commodore
Schley Bottles up the Fleet in Santiago Harbor. — "I've got them, and they Will
Never Get out Alive." — Sampson takes Charge of the Blockade. — Lieutenant
Hobson's Daring Deed of Heroism. — The Brilliant Young Naval Officer Sinks
the Merrimac at the Mouth of the Harbor to Prevent the Enemy from Com-
ing Out. — Afloat on a Raft Amid the Shells of Spanish Forts and Cruisers. —
Taken Prisoner and Landed in Morro Castle. — The American Vessels Shell the
Castle, although the Captured Men were Exposed to the Deadly Fire. — The Mag-
nificent Naval Battle of July 3d. — The Capture of Admiral Cervera and the

total Annihilation of the Spanish Fleet.

THE blockade of Havana by the vessels of the American navy
included in the North Atlantic Squadron, under Admiral
Sampson, began in the latter part of April, 1898. One by one
the vessels had gathered at Key West from different points on the
Atlantic coast, and on the 2 2d of the month, soon after 5 o'clock in
the morning, the entire squadron of sea-fighters, except the monitors
Terror and Puritan, and the smaller cruisers, sailed from Key West
headed for the Florida Straits.

1 This movement was made in pursuance of a proclamation issued
by President McKinley, and was really the first concerted movement
of the war. The call of the President for 125,000 volunteers was
not made until the following day, but it had been promptly deter-
mined that not a moment should be lost in blockading the principal
seaport of Spain's chief possession in the West Indies, so that the
effect of the declaration of war might be immediately felt.

It was known throughout the fleet, and on shore as well, that the
long-expected advance on Havana was near at hand. Key West was

339

34Q THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

in a fever of anticipation. Advices from Washington on the 21st
indicated the probability of a movement during the night or on the
following morning, but naval men kept their knowledge to themselves
as long as they could. Early in the evening, however, signals were
hoisted recalling to the ships all men who were on shore, and this
was accepted as a foregone conclusion that the movement was cer-
tainly near at hand.

Still later at night this idea was further confirmed by the arrival
of a special boat from the flagship with orders for every officer to go
on board. Midnight found Key West empty of gold braid and blue
jackets. The theatre of action was transferred to the harbor, where a
glittering panorama was enacted until daybreak, and then it was appar-
ent to everybody that the vessels would soon be beyond the offing.

For many days past the flagship New York had majestically
swung at anchor about seven miles out, flanked by her big sisters, the
lotua and the Indiana. To the eyes of Key West their great smoke-
stacks were barely visible, while the hulls lay like shadows in the dis-
tant water. The inner harbor, however, offered a striking picture,
crowded as it was with monitors, cruisers, gunboats, and torpedo
boats, flitting noiselessly in and out of the maze of greater vessels
lying at anchor.

THE MESSAGES OF THE LIGHTS.

When twilight fell, on the evening of April 2 2d, this scene
was unchanged, but in the darkness that followed, signal lights glim-
mered their messages across the skies almost without cessation, and
in the early dawn, while it was still dark enough for the same sort of
signalling, on the morning of the 23d, a great line of fire appeared
on the sky above where lay the flagship. A moment later and the
signal staff of the Cincinnati, in the inner harbor, flashed into colored
lights, answering the call. Then the Puritan and the Helena joined in
the incandescent conversation, and soon the skies were kaleidoscopic,
as ship after ship answered and new lights ticked messages fraught
with the gravest import, and creative of the Nation's history.

Those on shore knew not the words that had been transmitted;
they saw the ships of the inner harbor move out toward the larger
ones when the daydawn had advanced a little further, and everyone
knew that the flagship was drawing the rest of the fleet toward her.

THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR.

341

It was just 5.42 a.m. when the New York, without unnecessary dis-
play, moved slowly toward the outer waters of the Gulf. The Iowa
and the Indiana followed on either side, but separated from her by a
good stretch of water. As the line advanced toward the horizon, the
ships spread out until there was perhaps a distance of three miles
between the tips of the crescent. Those following the three leaders
were the cruisers Cincinnati, Detroit and Nashville; the gunboats
Wilmington, Castine, Machias and Newport ; the monitor Amphitrite,
the torpedo boat Foote, the Mayflower and the cable repair-boat Man-
grove. The Marblehead was taking on water and followed within a
day or two.

Although it was a fact that the departure of the squadron was in
pursuance of orders merely to establish a blockade, there were
many rumors in Key West, and throughout the entire country, when
the departure was made known, that an attack was to be made upon
Havana without delay. It became apparent subsequently, however,
that it was nothing but blockade duty that was expected of the
squadron at this time. The vessels patrolled the northern coast for
many miles east and west of Havana, and carried out the instructions
of the President concerning the stoppage and overhauling of all
vessels bound to and from Havana. The care exercised in carrying
out these instructions was made manifest by the paucity of complica-
tions growing out of the seizures that were made, and the energy of
the blockaders was emphasized in the many interesting incidents that
occurred.

THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR.

On the very first day out from Key West a prize was captured.
The Nashville saw a steamer flying the Spanish flag and overhauled
her. She first fired a blank shot, which the Spaniard ignored. This
was followed by a six-pound shot fired across the bows of the fugi-
tive— the first shot of the war. The Spaniard then came to a stop
and surrendered. She proved to be the Buena Ventura, of 1,000
tons, having on board a cargo of lumber. The Nashville towed her
prisoner into Key West, thus having secured the first prize.

The first fight of the war, however, was the bombardment and
reduction of the outer fortifications at Matanzas on the afternoon of
April 27th, by Admiral Sampson's flagship New York, with the

342 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

monitor Puritan and the cruiser Cincinnati. Matanzas is about fifty
miles east of Havana. Before the destruction of the Maine, its only
protection consisted of two old-fashioned forts near the entrance to
the harbor, with old-fashioned guns that were not at all formidable ;
but the Spaniards, anticipating trouble, had hundreds of men
employed on the works for several weeks previous to this attack, and
it was rapidly becoming almost as formidable as Havana itself.

The extent of the fortifications was not known to Admiral
Sampson, but it was known that whatever was being done, was being
rushed. Hence the determination of the Admiral, to vary the mono-
tony of blockade duty by a little target practice. The flagship started
out alone to do the work. The Puritan and Cincinnati were already
in front of Matanzas doing blockade duty. The New Yo>k signalled
what she was going to do as she started for the point furthest from
Matanzas, where the fortifications of Point Rubalcava were being
pushed ahead, and the Puritan and Cincinnati fell in behind.

The New York ran provokingly close to the fortifications and in
a few minutes there was a puff of smoke from Rubalcava, followed
by the roar of a heavy gun and the whistle of a shell. At the same
time there was another puff of smoke to the east and the roar of
another gun. These two shots were the invitation that the men of
Admiral Sampson's ship had been looking for, and in less time than
it takes to tell it, the bio- 8-inch mjn on the starboard side forward on
the New York, sent a shell directly into the fortification at Rubalcava.
At the same time, the Puritan steamed up behind the ATew York,
and the Cincinnati sailed directly toward the mouth of the harbor.

AMERICAN GUNNERS PROVE THEIR SKILL.

Before the Spaniards in the fortifications had recovered from the
suprise the first shell gave them, the New Yoi k had planted three
more almost in the same spot, and the Puritan and Cincinnati had
unlimbered their guns and were paying the same sort of compliment
to the other fortifications. Every shot they fired struck the fortifica-
tions and tore them asunder. Great clouds of dust arose, and lumps
of masonry went flying.

The marksmanship of the Americans was excellent. The
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AMERICANS STORMING SAN JUAN HILL

The most dramatic scene and the most destructive battle of the Spanish War

THE FIRST LIVES LOST FOR THE FLAG 345

York was about 6,000 yards from the shore, but she gradually reduced
the distance to less than 3,000 yards, and she increased the rapidity
of her fire to three shots a minute, and every shot had a telling
effect.

The Puritan did not fire quite so rapidly, but her shots were not
more than a minute apart, and she did not miss anything she shot at.
The Cincinnati fired broadsides with equal effectiveness, and after
about fifteen minutes of this rapid work, the firing from the fortifica-
tions had practically ceased, and the flagship signalled to back away.

At that moment Rubalcava fired her last shot. The Puritan
was a long distance from her, but her gunners saw the smoke puff
out and aimed for that spot with one of the big 12-inch guns. The
aim was magnificent. The huge 1,000-pound shell of the Puritan
struck exactly where the smoke had been, hit the cannon from which
it had come, smashed it, and drove on into the earthworks, carrying
destruction before it exploded. When it exploded it seemed to those
who were watching the shot, as if about all that was visible of the
island of Cuba went up into the air.

This was the last shot of the first fight of the war. The three
vessels then sailed out several miles off shore. There was no sign
of life about the fortifications of Matanzas after they left. Not one
of the Spanish shots had taken effect on the vessels, so, of course,
no one was injured. The casualties among the Spaniards have
never been known. It will be remembered that Blanco sent his
famous message to Madrid, which said : " Killed one mule," as the
report of loss in this engagement, but there is reason to believe that
the mule had plenty of Spanish company in the happy hunting
grounds.

THE FIRST LIVES LOST FOR THE FLAG.

The first lives to be offered up in connection with the war, that
had been inaugurated, were those of Ensign Worth Bagley and four
men of the torpedo boat Wmslow, which bore the brunt of a terrific
fire from batteries in the harbor of Cardenas, on May the 1 ith. The
harbor of Cardenas had been a refuge for Spanish gunboats, and the
gunboat Wilmington, with the gunboat Hudson and the Winslow, had
been ordered to rout them out. It was in the carrying out of these
orders that death came to these initial heroes.

346 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

Only one Spanish gunboat could be seen from the tmtiance to
the harbor. The Wilmington was too deep of draft to enter, so the
Winslow was sent in to capture her by threatening to blow her up
with a torpedo, and the Hudson stood by to lend a hand. When the
Winslow had advanced to within a thousand yards of the shore, a
masked battery opened fire on her. The plucky torpedo boat replied
sturdily with her small guns and continued to advance, but as she
swung around to move out of range, a ioinch shell struck her,
wrecking her steam steering gear, and rendering her helpless.

Still the little vessel replied vigorously with her three guns until
one of them was disabled by a fragment of a shell, but the others con-
tinued to operate while some of the crew attempted to connect the
hand steering apparatus. In the meantime another 10-inch shell
struck the Winslow on the port side, wrecked her forward boiler,
filling the compartment with dense clouds of steam, and driving the
men who were at work there to seek the deck for air.

The Spaniards quickly recognized the helpless plight of the
torpedo boat and began to cheer. Shore batteries and the guns of
two or three Spanish boats, which had not been visible from outside
the harbor, all concentrated their fire upon the little American vessel.
The entire engagement lasted for nearly an hour, and while it lasted
it was terrific. The Hudson steamed forward to the aid of the
Winslow, and attempted to tow her out of harm's way. The Span-
iards seemed to pay no attention to the Hudson, so intent were they
upon destroying the Winslow. Ensign Bagley and several of his
men stood on the deck of the latter, doing the best they could to
answer the fire of the enemy. When the Hudson approached within
hailing distance, Bagley called out : " Pass us a line quickly ; it's
crettins: too hot here for comfort." The Hudson's crew threw the
line and it was made fast, but it was too late to save the lives that
seemed to have been doomed.

Just as the hawser drew taut, a io-inch shell exploded in the
midst of the group of men on the deck of the Winslow. Every man
in the party was thrown backward, all dead or mortally wounded.
The plucky ensign, who had been in an exposed condition during the
entire conflict, was instantly killed. So also were John Denfee, a
fireman, and John Varvarves, an oiler. Two others, George B. Meek,

THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG IN CUBA 347

fireman, and E. B. Tunnell, cook, were so grievously injured that they
died a short time afterward. For a moment after the explosion the
Hudson wavered, and then she started with her heavy tow for the
mouth of the harbor. The hawser parted, however, before she had
gone far, and she turned, in the midst of a perfect hail of missiles, to
aid her disabled consort. This time the cable held, and the Winslow
passed out safely.

The shore batteries did not fire another shot after the Winslow
was towed away by the Hudson. On account of the smoke and the
masking of the battery, it was impossible to know what the Spanish
loss in killed and wounded was ; but it has always been thought that
the Winslow did much more damage by her answering fire than the
Spaniards were willing to concede, particularly because of the moral
effect of casualties at that early stage of the war. The bodies of
Bagley and his men were taken to Key West by the Hudson, and
their death was deeply mourned throughout the nation.

Another incident of this eventful week was a ruse resorted to
by the wily Spaniards to send a couple of Sampson's ships to the
bottom. They baited the trap as one would bait a rat-trap. A small
schooner was sent out from Havana harbor, shortly before daylight,
to draw some of the Americans into the ambuscade. The ruse
worked like a charm. The Vicksburg and the Morill, who had been
added to the blockading fleet, in the heat of the chase, and in their
contempt for Spanish gunnery, closed in upon their quarry almost
under the guns of Morro Castle, but the poor marksmanship of the
Spanish gunners gave them warning of their danger, and allowed
them to escape without damage.

THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG IN CUBA.

On May nth, while the Wilmington, Winslow, and the Hudson
were engaged with the enemy at Cardenas, where Ensign Bagley
and his men were killed, the steel gunboat Machias undertook to
silence the Spanish fire at Diora Bay, the barracks located a short
distance from the main batteries of Cardenas. The fight was
spirited, and in less than half an hour the Spaniards retreated from
their wrecked fortifications. Scarcely waiting for the firing to cease,
Ensign Willard, accompanied by three men, went ashore in a launch,

343 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

hauled down the Spanish flag, which the enemy had left behind in
their haste to get away, and raised in its stead the Stars and Stripes.
This was the first American flag erected over the enemy's works in
Cuba.

On May 12th, while Admiral Sampson and several of his war-
ships were reducing the fortifications at San Juan de Porto Rico,
the Manning, Dolphin, and Gussie reached Mariel, on the Cuban
coast, and the latter succeeded in landing a quantity of Winchester
rifles, ammunition, and supplies for the Cuban insurgents. On the
14th, four boat crews, from the Maiblehead and Nashville, cut the
cables at Cienfuegos, losing one man killed and several officers and
men wounded.

Commander McCalla, of the Maiblehead, had signalled to the
Nashville that morning that he proposed cutting the cable, and he
ordered that volunteers be called for. So hearty was the response
to this call that the officers of the vessels had to make selections
from the entire crews. Four boats were fitted out. There were
about forty men in the party. In each boat beside the crew were
several marines, and each of the launches had a one-pound gun in its
bow. All four boats made their way in, directly toward the shore,
until they were not more than thirty yards from the beach. The men
in the cutters were to work at the cables, so the launches stood
between them and the shore, and the men in the latter promptly
began firing at the Spanish soldiers who had gathered on the beach,
while the Marblehead and the Nashville shelled the woods on either
side.

The men in the boats cut a long piece out of the first cable, and
then began to grapple for the other. Meantime the Spaniards were
firing low in an evident desire to sink the cutters. Several men were
kept at the oars to hold the cutters in position, and the first man
wounded was one of these. No one else in the boat knew it, how-
ever, until he fainted in his seat from the loss of blood. Others took
the cue from this, and there was not a groan or complaint from the
two boats as the bullets, coming thicker and faster, began to bite
flesh every now and then. The men simply possessed themselves in
patience, and went on with their work. They did not even have the
satisfaction of returning the Spanish fire, but the marines in the bow

AN EFFECTIVE BLOCKADE KEPT UP

349

of the boats shot hard enough for all, and the men at the oars again
and again grunted approval when they saw Spaniards on the beach
fall victims to the shots that were fired.

BOTH CABLES ARE CUT.

This sort of thing kept up for about two hours before both
cables had been successfully severed, the Spaniards all the while keep-
ing up a fire on the daring cable-cutters, and the marines defending
the workmen. When it became too hot for comfort, a few cans of
shrapnel were exploded over the heads of the Spaniards. This was
too much for the Dons, and they ran to cover behind a lighthouse,
and to this place they dragged a number of their machine guns and
again opened fire. By this time, however, the work that the Ameri-
cans had started out to do was fairly well accomplished. The cutters
and launches withdrew from the shore, and were soon at the side of
<he Marblehead and the Nashville. The warships trained guns upon
the lighthouse, where the Spaniards had taken refuge, and speedily
knocked it into fragments. The only man killed instantly in this
engagement was Patrick Regan, a marine. A sailor, who had been
shot at the oars, died of his wounds on the same day. Five other
sailors were wounded, Commander Maynard, of the Nashville, was
grazed in the shoulder, and Lieutenant Winslow was wounded in the
hand.

AN EFFECTIVE BLOCKADE KEPT UP.

The blockade was kept up at all ports on the northern coast of
Cuba, and, though some of the Spanish skippers succeeded in eluding
the watchfulness of the Americans, many prizes were captured, and
the blockade was satisfactorily successful. Its effectiveness was soon
made very evident in Havana, where provisions grew to be very
scarce. It was impossible to prevail upon merchants to embark in
such a dangerous enterprise, as running the blockade, and shipowners
were equally loath to risk the almost certain capture and condemna-
tion of their vessels. The exigencies of the war, however, demanded
from time to time, the withdrawal of a part of the blockading force,
and thus it was made possible to introduce into Havana occassional

small consignments of supplies.
19

350 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

Among the earlier captures made by the blockading squadron, was
that of the steamer Lafayette, of the French transatlantic line, which was
taken by the gunboat Annapolis just off the harbor of Havana, but
the Lafayette was subsequently released on a technicality. The gun-
boat Vicksburg captured the schooner Oriente, and the dispatch boat
U?icas captured the A ntonio Stiaves. The cruiser Montgomery brought
into port the Spanish brigantine Fransouito, bound for Havana, also
the brigantine Lorenzo ; the Newport captured the Fadre de Dios, the
Morrill overhauled the sloop Espana, and the auxiliary cruiser Yale
secured a rich prize in the steamship Rita. The flagship New York
also made several notable captures including the Carlos F. Rosas.
In a secret chamber of the Argonauta, were found rifles and ammuni-
tion to the value of $6,000. A United States prize court was estab-
lished at Key West, and the Spanish vessels that remained unclaimed
were condemned and ordered sold.

A feature of the naval operations off the coast of Cuba, at this
time was the arrival at Key West, May 26th, of the battleship Oregon,
having made the voyage from San Francisco since March 19th, a
distance of more than 13,000 miles, which it covered in 65 days of
actual travel.

HUNTING FOR THE SPANISH FLEET.

The monotony of the blockade was broken nearly every day by
news of the supposed movements of the fleet of Admiral Cervera,
which was known to have left Spain for the Cape Verde Islands, and
which was supposed to be on its way to the West Indies. Marvelous
stories had been told of the prowess of these Spanish men-of-war, and
the appetite of the entire American Navy had been whetted to a
keen point. The desire to try conclusions with the enemy on the sea
was uppermost in the minds of every sailor, and there was sincere
disappointment when each succeeding rumor of the discovery of the
fleet proved to be without foundation, and there was equal satisfac-
tion when the enemy was at last definitely located.

Admiral Sampson had reduced the fortifications at San Juan de
Porto Rico and had seen nothing of the enemy's fleet in that direc-
tion. He then returned to Havana. Commodore Schley had beer
placed in command of the Flying Squadron. Orders had been sent

STARTED TO CRUISE EASTWARD 351

him to establish a blockade at Cienfuegos with the least possible
delay. His instructions were, that if the Spanish vessels showed
themselves in that vicinity, and, finding him on the lookout, should
try to come around the island, whether east or west, he was to send
word by the swiftest vessel he had, so that Sampson might be ready
for them at Havana.

The first definite information as to the whereabouts of Cervera's
fleet came through the United States Minister to Venezuela, who
cabled when he learned from a confidential source that the Spaniards
were seen on May 17th, headed in the direction of Cuba. They did
not appear off Cienfuegos, as expected, and Sampson sent instruc-
tions to Schley on May 21st, that word had come to Washington that
the Spanish squadron, consisting of four ships and three torpedo
destroyers, were probably at Santiago de Cuba.

" If you are satisfied that they are not near Cienfuegos," were
Schley's instructions, "proceed with all dispatch, but cautiously, to
Santiago de Cuba, and, if the enemy is there, blockade him in port."

STARTED TO CRUISE EASTWARD.

Meanwhile, Sampson assembled a powerful squadron off Havana
and started to cruise eastward, with a view to prevent the possible
approach of Cervera's fleet from that direction, but not so far as to
make it impossible to fall back to Havana in case of Cervera's fleet
coming around the western end of the island. It was not believed
by the Navy Department that Cervera, if he was in Santiago, would
remain there, unless the port was closely blockaded,

Schley did not reach Santiago on May 24th, as expected, because,
as he telegraphed to Sampson, he " was not satisfied that the Span-
ish squadron was not at Cienfuegos." "The large amount of smoke
seen in the harbor," were the words of Schley's message, " would in-
dicate the presence of a number of vessels, and under such circum-
stances it would seem to be extremely unwise to chase up a pro-
bability at Santiago, reported via Havana, no doubt as a ruse. I shall
therefore remain off this port, with this squadron, availing myself of
every opportunity for coaling and keeping it ready for any emergency."

Admiral Schley also embodied in his message to Sampson, the
following paragraph :

3 52 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

" I am further satisfied that the destination of the Spanish
squadron is either Cienfuegos or Havana. This point, being in com-
munication with Havana, would be better for their purposes, if it was
left exposed, and I think we ought to be very careful how we receive
information from Havana, which is, no doubt, sent out for the purpose
of misleading us."

On May 23d, Schley further reported that a steamer leaving
Santiago on the iSth, had brought word of seeing the lights of seven
vessels several miles to the southward of Santiago, and, notwith-
standing this report, Schley added that, "on Saturday, May 21st,
when about 40 miles southwest of Cienfuegos, I heard, from the
bridge, firing of guns towards Cienfuegos, which I interpreted as a
welcome to the Spanish fleet, and I am convinced that the fleet is
here. Latest Bulletin from Jamaica, received this morning, asserts
that the fleet has left Santiago. I think I have them here in Cien-
fuegos almost a certainty." In reply to this message from Schley,
Sampson sent him the following :

"St. Nicholas Channel, May 27, 1898.
Sir: — Every report, particularly confidential reports, state Span-
ish squadron has been in Santiago de Cuba from the 19th to the 25th
inst., inclusive, the 25th being the date of the last report received.
You will please proceed with all possible dispatch to Santiago to
blockade that port. If, on arrival there, you receive positive infor-
mation of the Spanish ships having left, you will follow them in
pursuit. Very respectfully, W. T. Sampson."

SCHLEY PROCEEDS TO SANTIAGO.

Schley's response to this message was that he should proceed to
Santiago at once, though he was embarrassed by the short coal sup-
ply of the Texas, and her inability to coal in the open sea ; further-
more, that he would not be able to remain off Santiago, on account
of the general short coal supply of the squadron. Upon learning
this, Admiral Sampson at once decided to go to Key West, coal, and
if authorized by the Department, proceed to Santiago. Colliers
were sent with all haste to Schley, and he was instructed to blockade
the Spanish squadron . .""all hazards. Admiral Sampson cabled to the
Navy Department as follows :

SAMPSON TAKES COMMAND AT SANTIAGO 353

" Notwithstanding the apparent uncertainty of Schley's move-
ments, I believe Spanish squadron is still in the port of Santiago."
The same dispatch said that Sampson's orders to Schley had included
the sinking of a collier across the entrance to Santiago, and this was
the origin of the incident in which naval constructor Hobson after-
ward played so prominent a part. Meanwhile, however, there was
great unrest at Washington as to what Schley was doing and what
he was going to be able to do at Santiago.

The dispatches that passed between Sampson and the Depart-
ment regarding Schley's movements included one sent by Sampson
on the afternoon of May 29th, as follows : " The importance of abso-
lutely preventing the escape of the Spanish squadron is so paramount,
that promptness and most efficient use of every means is demanded."
To this the Secretary of the Navy replied with the statement :
" Schley telegraphs from Santiago that he goes to Key West with
his squadron for coal, though he has 4,000 tons of coal with him in a
broken-down collier." Following this statement from the Secretary
was the following query : " How soon after arrival of Schley at Key
West could you reach Santiago with the New York, Oregon and the
Indiana, and lighters, and how long could you blockade there, send-
ing your vessels singly to coal from our lighters at Gonaives, Hayti ?
Consider if you could seize Guantanamo and occupy as a coaling
station. Schley has not ascertained whether Spanish squadron is at
Santiago."

The Admiral's response to the above was : " Answering telegram
regarding time of reaching Santiago : three days. Can blockade in-
definitely. Think can occupy Guantanamo. Would like to start at
once with New York and Oregon, arriving in two days. Do not quite
understand the necessity of awaiting the arrival of Schley, but would
propose meeting and turning back the principal part of the force
under his command if he has left. Try to hold him by telegraph.
Failure of Schley to continue blockade must be remedied at once if
possible. There can be no doubt of presence of Spanish squadron at
Santiago."

SAMPSON TAKES COMMAND AT SANTIAGO.

Meanwhile Schley sent word that he had oeen able to repair his
broken-down collier; that he would endeavor to coal the Texas and the

354 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

Marblehead in the open sea and to retain his position off Santiago as
long as the coal lasted. To this information Sampson sent Schley a
lessage of congratulation, warning him, however, to maintain a
close blockade, especially at night, but Secretary Long ordered
Sampson to proceed at once to Santiago and take command.

In pursuance of these direct orders, therefore, the New York,
with Admiral Sampson on board, left Key West for Santiago, just
before midnight of May 29th. The next morning the Oregon, May-
flower, and the Porlcr joined the flagship, and they all raced eastward
as fast as they could go. Up to that time no word had been received
from Schley as to whether he knew where the Spanish squadron
really was, but on the way along the northern coast of Cuba the St,
Paul and the Yale were encountered bound for Key West for coal.
Captain Sigsbee, of the St. Paul, had with him a copy of a dispatch
he had sent from Mole St. Nicholas, to Secretary Long, from Schley,
announcing the "bottling up" of the Spanish squadron, in the fol-
lowing terms : " Enemy in port. Recognized Christobal Colon,
Infanta Maria Teresa, and two torpedo boats moored inside Morro,
behind point. Doubtless others are here."

SUSPENSE APPEARED AT AN END.

The suspense of the past few days appeared to be at an end
after learning of this dispatch, but it was not until the early morning
of June 1st, when Admiral Sampson reached a point off the port of
Santiago and found Schley and his ships still there, that all anxiety
was removed and the fate of the Spanish squadron was sealed beyond
peradventure. Sampson assumed command, by virtue of his orders
from Washington, and at once began the arrangements for sinking
the Merrimac and in other ways making it impossible for Cervera co
escape.

It will perhaps never be quite understood why the Spanish squad-
ron did not get out of Santiago harbor before the Americans had
established their blockade. Some of the Spanish captains, who were
afterward captured, said it was owing to lack of coal, but others inti-
mated that Cervera had preferred to be blockaded in the tortuous
harbor of Santiago rather than in Cienfuegos, and that it had not
occurred to them that Santiago would become so untenable by reason

THE SINKING OF THE MERRIMAC 355

of land and sea bombardment. The fact that they had not escaped,
however, was enough for the Americans to know at that time, and
the next step was to "put a cork in the neck of the bottle."

THE SINKING OF THE MERRIMAC.

The original plan for sinking a vessel at the mouth of the harbor
of Santiago, had embodied the selection of the collier Stirling for
that purpose, and it was that name that had been given to Commo-
dore Schley, when Admiral Sampson sent his instructions regarding
the proposition. It was the Merrimac, however, that the Admiral
had in mind, and the name Stirling had been used through a mistake
of the stenographer. Schley had found no opportunity to carry out
this order, and Sampson at once went to work to perfect his plan.
He had no idea that a sunken vessel would prove a lasting impedi-
ment to Cervera's escape, because he was of the opinion that the
Spanish would be able to blow her up sufficiently to gain a path of
egress. His main object was to keep Cervera in Santiago until the
troops were landed.

On the passage from Key West to Santiago, Hobson, as assist-
ant naval constructor, had been called into the Admiral's cabin for
consultation as to the proposed blowing up of the ship. He took up
the subject with so much intelligence and enthusiasm that Sampson
put him in charge of the work of preparing the Merrimac. When the
call was made for volunteers, on the night of June 1st, Hobson begged
the Admiral to let him retain charge of the ship on her adventurous
trip. Other men begged for the same privilege, and every man in the
fleet volunteered for service on board of the Merrimac, but the
Admiral did not wish to risk any more lives than would be absolutely
necessary, and Hobson was so perfectly acquainted with all the
details, that Sampson finally put him in charge and refused to allow
any other officer to go on the expedition. The Admiral seems to have
been almost the only man on board the New York who expected to
see Hobson and his crew come out of the adventure alive, He said,
before the start was made, " It is a dangerous undertaking, and a
brave act on the part of those who are going, but it is not so easy to
shoot a few men on a big ship in a dark night, and, you know, the
Spaniards are very poor shots."

356 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

The Merrittitic was a steel cargo steamer of about 5,500 tons
burden. She was built at Newcastle-on-Tynf, for a Norwegian
company, but was burned at Newport News, in 1896. The hull was
sold to a New York firm. It was overhauled and refitted, and the
reconstructed vessel was sold to the Government for a collier in April,
189S. In fitting her up for the purpose of sinking her, a line was run
along the portside of the ship, parallel to the water line. Along this
line were suspended, in 8-inch copper cases, ten charges of ordinary,
brown prismatic powder, each charge weighing about 80 pounds ;
over this an ordinary igniting charge of brown powder was placed,
and the whole was covered with pitch for protection against water,
with a primer and a wire for exploding the charges. The first plan
contemplated the simultaneous explosion of all the charges. It was
found, however, that the battery on hand was not sufficient to explode
with certainty more than six of the charges, so only six were con-
nected. The ship's anchors were lashed over the rail, ready for
instant dropping. The cargo ports, two on each side, were opened to
aid in the submeroincr of the vessel.

PREPARATIONS.

Below, in the engine room, the nuts holding the bonnets of the
main injection valve, and the sea-suction valve of the big fire pump,
were slackened off ready for instant removal, and wooden props were
wedged in on top of the bonnets, so that after the nuts had been
taken off, one blow with a sledge would knock out the prop, allow
the bonnet to fly off and admit the sea. All these preparations were
made with the greatest haste, as it was decided to send the ship in
before daybreak on the morning of the 2d. One of the ships life-
rafts was to be towed from a line amidships on the starboard side.

Hobson, of course, was to be in charge ; Deignan was stationec
at the wheel ; Boatswain Murphy was to cut the lashings of the star-
board bower anchor ; and Montague was to similarlv cut the lashings
of the quarter anchor ; Charette was to explode the charges on signal.
At the first signal, Phillips was to knock out the props, Kelly was to
cut the small sea pipes and then run on deck to haul in the liferaft.
At the second signal, Phillips was to stop the engine, then run on
deck and jump over the starboard side. The strong floodtide was

THE FAREWELL OF HOB SON AND HIS MEN 357

relied on to head the ship properly and to assist in sinking her. It
was the intention of Hobson to remain on the bridge until he felt the
ship settle. He expected that a mine would be exploded under the
ship by the enemy, thus materially aiding his own plan.

THE FAREWELL OF HOBSON AND HIS MEN.

Finally all preparations were completed. By this time it was
broad daylight, but the Merrimac s crew had said "good-bye " to the
rest of the fleet and she was already headed in toward her fate.
Suddenly came an order to return, from the flagship. Some slight
changes in the original plan were made. Hobson decided also that
it would be safer to explode each powder charge separately. It was
also decided to follow the Merrimac in with a steam launch. These
details having been arranged, Hobson at 7 p.m., June 2d, went below
on the flagship, to get a little rest, and the men who were going with
him also took what rest they could get. At 1.30 a.m., Hobson and
his men were all on board the Merrimac, Cadet Powell was prepared to
follow with a steam launch, and the expedition finally got under way.

The moon was partly obscured by clouds and those on the other
vessels of the fleet could not see the movements of the Merrimac
after she neared the entrance to the harbor. At 3.15 a.m., June 3d,
a shot was fired, which evidently came from one of the guns of the
Socapo battery on the hill to the westward of the harbor mouth.
The shot was seen to splash seaward from the Merrimac having
passed over her. Firing became very general soon after that, being
especially fierce and rapid from inside the harbor on the west. For
fifteen minutes a perfect fusillade was kept up, and the whole fleet
knew that the Merrimac was having a hot time of it. Then the fire
slackened, and by 3.30 a.m., had almost ceased. A close watch was
kept on the mouth of the harbor in order to pick up the steam launch,
which was confidently expected to return with definite news, if not
with Hobson and the men who had accompanied him.

Cadet Powell broug-ht the launch alongside the Texas and
reported that "no one had come out of the entrance of the harbor.''
His words sounded like the death-knell of all who had gone in on the
Merrimac. It seemed impossible that any of them could have lived
through the awful fire that had been directed at the vessel. The

358 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

launch had followed behind the ship at a distance of about 400
yards. The collier was in plain view of Cadet Powell until she
rounded the bend of the channel, and until the helm had been
put to port to swing her into position across the channel. Powell
heard or saw and counted seven explosions, which were undoubtedly
those of the powder charges under the collier. He remained in the
entrance as long- as he deemed it safe to do so. No wreckage or
bodies floated out, but everything had evidently been swept inside by
the strong floodtide, and those who made up the launch party were
convinced that Hobson and his men were dead.

THE MERRIMAC'S MEN PRISONERS.

Much to the surprise of every one, therefore, a tug, flying a flag
of truce, came out of the mouth of the harbor in the afternoon and
made for the American fleet. The Vixen, flying a tablecloth at the
fore, went to meet the tug. A Spanish officer went aboard the Vixen
from the tug, and was taken aboard the flagship. He announced to
Admiral Sampson that the collier's crew were prisoners of war. Two
had been slightly wounded, but the others were all well. The Span-
ish officer also said that the prisoners were confined in Morro Castle
He said further that Admiral Cervera considered the attempt to run
in and sink the Merrimac across the channel an act of such bravery
and desperate daring that he thought it only proper that the Ameri-
can Admiral should be notified of the safety of those who went on
such a perilous expedition.

So far as blocking the channel was concerned the attempt was
not distinctly successful. The firing from the shore batteries did so
much damage to he collier that the original plan could not be closely
followed. Hobson maintained his place on the bridge, and the crew
was distributed as planned, but the crushing of shells through the
side of the vessel caused her to begin to sink before the details that
had been agreed upon could be carried out. When the vessel began
to settle, Hobson exploded some of his powder charges and ordered
the men in the engine room to come on deck.

A perfect shower of shot came from the forts on shore, and it
seemed as if the men would surely all be killed. Hobson ordered the
men to lie on the deck. The water came up until only their heads

LOCKED UP IN MORRO CASTLE 359

were above water, but they remained there until it was apparent that
the vessel was going down as she lay, and that they had better try to
save their lives. They all managed to get on board the raft and cast
loose from the sinking ship. They saw her settle until only the
upper half of her masts were above the water, and while they were
watching these, and wondering whether they had accomplished their
object or not, a Spanish craft, on board of which was Admiral Cervera
himself, came alongside and took them off. The Spanish Admiral
took Hobson by the hand and complimented him and his men upon
their bravery, promising them to send the message to Admiral Samp-
son, which gave the fleet its knowledge of the safety of the crew.

LOCKED UP IN MORRO CASTLE.

The prisoners were taken on shore at once and promptly con-
ducted up the hill to Morro Castle. There they were confined for
several days They were kept in separate cells and were not
allowed to communicate with each other. It was reported to the
fleet that the quarters of the prisoners were in an exposed portion of
the Castle, so that they would be directly in the line of fire if any
bombardment was attempted. Hobson afterwards said, however
that this was not the fact, though from his place of confinement on
the further side of the Castle he could hear the sound of the striking
of the missiles that were fired in the bombardment that did follow,
and could see the shells that soared over the castle and fell into the
fields beyond. The British Consul, however, protested against the
prisoners being kept at Morro, and they were thereupon removed
to the hospital nearer the City of Santiago, where they were kept
imprisoned until an exchange was agreed upon.

The Spaniards succeeded in blowing the Merrimac partially to
pieces, so that she really formed no obstruction in the way of ingress
or egress to the harbor. When this had been done, the officers of the
American fleet were convinced that Cervera intended to make a dash
for the freedom of the seas. Everybody, therefore, was upon a con-
stant lookout. There was no time of the day or night that the eyes
of the Americans were not fixed upon " the neck of that bottle ;" but
a whole month passed by after the daring exploit of Hobson and his
men before the happening of the expected. Meanwhile a bombard-

360 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

ment of the city of Santiago had been undertaken by throwing sheik
over the hills by which the harbor was enclosed, and the Morro and
other batteries were persistently hammered at whenever the fleet
seemed in need of target practice.

THE DAWN OF JULY 3D.

Sunday, July 3d, the fifth Sunday spent by the American vessels
before Santiago, and the ninth recurrence of that sacred day since the
victory of Dewey at Manila, broke with no particularly different
situation from that which had marked preceeding Sundays. The
monotony, the heat of the tropical sun, the wonder why something
was not being done beside waiting, all these were there, and no one
outside the harbor had reason to believe that anything unusual was
about to occur.

The American fleet swung lazily at a distance of from four to
five miles from the harbor entrance. The line which was at all times
supposed to be in a half circle, inclosing the harbor entrance as
a central point, was more than ordinarily broken up this awfully hot
morning. The big battleships had drifted to the east considerably,
and the Massac husetts, the New York, the New Orleans and the
Newark, were not in sight. The New York had taken Admiral
Sampson down to Altares, eight miles east from the blockade, to
make a visit to the camp of the American army, while the other
missing vessels were at Guantanamo forty miles to the east.

The vessels on the blockade were the Iowa, Indiana, and Oregon,
battleships ; the flagship of Commodore Schley, the Brooklyn, and
the small yachts Gloucester and Vixen. The Ioiva was swinging a
mile further out than the rest of the squadron, trying to arrange mat-
ters in her forward 12-inch turret, which was a little out of repair,
while the Indiana was doing the same with her forward 13-inch turret.
The absolutely available ships in the squadron, therefore, were only
the Oregon, Texas, and Brooklyn, although the Iowa and the Indiatia
were not Ions: in comingr forward and fretting a share in the fiefht.

It is a custom on naval vessels that there shall be a general mus-
ter, at least once every three months, and that the articles of war
shall then be read. First call for this purpose had been sounded on
board the Brookly7i at 9.15 a.m., and the men were assembling on the

THE DASH FOR LIBERTY 361

decks. The lookout in the masthead had some time before reported
smoke in the harbor, but, as the same thing had been noticed several
times, no special attention was paid to it. Presently the lookout
fairly yelled, " There is a big ship coming out of the harbor, sir."
Navigator Hodgson, who was on the forward bridge at the time,
looked toward the harbor's mouth, and then, grasping the megaphone :
" After bridge there, tell the Commodore, the enemy's fleet is coming
out."

Commodore Schley was sitting under the awning on the quarter-
deck. Going to the bridge, he said : " Raise the signal to the fleet",
and, turning to Captain Cook, who stood by his side, he added,
"Clear ship for action." Then the Commodore, who was to have
charge of this important engagement in the temporary absence of
the Commander of the fleet, went forward, and took his place on a
little platform of wood running on the outside of the conning tower,
which had been built expressly for his point of lookout in the event
of the Brooklyn s getting into a battle. He was dressed in blue
trousers, a black alpaca jacket, and the regulation cap without the
commodore's broad band of gold braid.

THE DASH FOR LIBERTY.

The Brooklyn and the Vixen were the only vessels to the west of
the entrance, the others having all drifted well to the east. Schley,
therefore, had the first good view of the oncoming vessel, which
proved to be the Infanta Maria Teresa. The Oregon was the first to
fire. She opened with her 13-inch shells, and the Texas followed
suit. Even the Indiana and the Iowa, coming up as rapidly as possi-
ble from their greater distance, began to fire, though the range was
so long that their first shots were not particularly effective.

Still the Brooklyn waited, but down below the coal was being
forced into the furnace, every boiler was being worked, and every gun
made ready to fire. Schley wanted to know which way the vessels
of the enemy were all going; whether they would follow in a line to
the westward, or whether they would scatter. Lieutenant Sears, who
had been sharing the Commodore's watchfulness, remarked, " They
all seem to be coming west, sir." Schley nodded, and gave the order,
"Full speed, ahead ; open fire, and don't waste a shot." In an instant

362 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

the Brooklyn's terrific 8- and 5 -inch batteries ®n her port side opened,
and the cruiser headed for a point in front of the first escaping ship,
firing at and receiving the fire from two of them.

The Maria Teresa came on directly toward the Brooklyn with
the evident intention of ramming her. " Hard aport your helm !"
shouted Schley, and his vessel began to turn. She turned so quickly
that in a minute her big steel rarn was pointing at the oncoming
enemy ; and the Maria Teresa had to work inshore to avoid the same
fate which she had planned to inflict upon the Commodore's flagship.
But the shells of the Texas and Oregon, with a terrible shower of
shot from the Brooklyn, had done their work. The smoke began to
appear pouring from the decks of the enemy's advance guard, and
everybody knew that the Maria Teresa was on fire.

the "Gloucester's" plucky fight.

In the meantime, the converted yacht Gloucester could be seen
pluckily engaged with two torpedo boat destroyers that had followed
the last ship out, and "Dick'' Wainwright won undying fame by
sinking them. At 10 o'clock the entire Spanish squadron was out-
side the harbor, and going rapidly westward. The Iowa and the
Indiana could not quite keep the pace, but they did excellent execu-
tion while they had the range. The Oregon, however, came across
to the assistance of the Brooklyn, which was now engaging the Chris-
tobal Colon and the Viscaya. At 10.10 the Spanish ships seemed all
to be concentrating their shots on the Brooklyn. She was in a per-
fect rain of shells, though most of them went over her.

Standing in this hail of shells, Schley asked Yeoman Ellis, who
was near at hand with a stadimeter : "What is the distance to the
Viscaya ?" The man took the observation. " Twenty-two hundred
yards, sir," he said. There was a whistle, followed by a splash, and
his head was literally torn from his shoulders by an S-inch shell.

The Maria Teresa ran her nose on the beach, and in an instant
was a mass of flames. The fire of the Brooklyn, the Oregon, and the
Indiana was then concentrated on the Almirante Oquendo, and in ten
minutes she, too, was sent ashore a burning wreck just a short dis-
tance from Santiago. The Iowa, in the meantime, had sunk one
torpedo boat destroyer, and the other one had been driven ashore by

A LIVELY CHASE 363

the Gloucester s terrific rapid fire. The Iowa and Texas also poured
hot shot into the Oquendo at a distance of 1,100 yards. Many 12-
and 8-inch shells were seen to explode inside of her, and smoke came
out through her hatches.

Next the Viscaya slowly drew abeam of the Iowa, and for the space
of fifteen minutes it was give aad take between these two ships.
The Viscaya fired rapidly but wildly, not one shot taking effect on the
Iowa, while the shells from the latter tore great rents in the sides of
the Spaniard. The Viscaya finally drew ahead of the Iowa, but then
she came under the murderous fire of the Oregon and Texas. A
moment later and she was raked fore and aft, clean along her gun-
deck, by an 8-inch shell from the Brooklyn. Another moment and a
shell exploded in her superstructure with terrific force, killing eighty
people; then she headed for the beach at Acerraderos, and was out of
the running-.

A LIVELY CHASE.

The Christobal Colon seemed to be the greyhound of the Spanish
fleet. Only the Brooklyn and Oregon were able to keep near her.
At 1 1 o'clock the other vessels were from six to eight miles behind.
Firing was suspended and all interest centred in the chase. The
men came up on deck and began to cheer. They cheered for Schley
and for Captain Clark, of the Oregon, and the Oregon's men returned
the cheer. Up to the masthead of the Oregon went a pennant.
" Remember the Maine," read the signal officer. " Tell them we
have," said Schley, and there was a roar, as the answer went up, that
might have been heard almost in Santiago.

The Colon, at a distance of five miles, hugged the shore, but
Schley ordered the Oregon to follow her, and then,' with the Brooklyn^
he made a straight course for Cape Cruz, around which the Colon
would have to steer on a long detour if she hoped to get away.
The three vessels pumped along at great speed. In an hour the
pursuers had made a considerable gain on their victim. Captain
Clark, of the Oregon, signalled : " A strange ship, looking like an
Italian, in the distance." He alluded to the fact that the Colon
was bought from Italy. Schiev, sitting on the edge of the forward
8-inch turret, swinging his lejrs and happy, said : " Tell the Oregon
she ^an try one of those 13-inch railroad trains on her."

364 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

There was a terrible roar as the big shell went by the Brooklyn,
a moment of suspense and watching, and then a hearty cheer as the
missile struck the water close astern of the Colon, four miles away.
Another was tried. That reached the mark, and there were more
cheers. Then the Brooklyn opened her forward and starboard S-inch
guns, and one shell was seen to go through the Colon at the top of
her armor belt. At 1.15 p.m. the Colon turned toward the shore and
gave up the fight. As she hauled down her flag the sailors on the
Brooklyn and the Oregon began a cheer that lasted for fully five
minutes.

THE SPANISH ADMIRAL'S SURRENDER.

A boat was lowered from the Brooklyn, and Captain Cook went
aboard to receive the surrender. The Spanish Rear Admiral, with
tears in his eyes, said : " I surrender unconditionally to Commodore
Schley. We were badly hurt and could not get away." While
Captain Cook was returning to the Brooklyn, the New York, with
Admiral Sampson on board, came along, ran in between the Brooklyn
and the prize, and ordered Captain Cook to send the prisoners on
board the New York. Commodore Schley, seeing this, megaphoned
over : " I request the honor of receiving the surrender of the officers
of the Christobal Colon." No answer was vouchsafed him from the
New York. Commodore Schley then raised the pennant: "A glori-
ous victory has been won ; details later." The answer from the
New York was: " Report your casualties."

Meanwhile the Iowa headed for the wreck of the Viscaya, which was
burning furiously fore and aft. When the big battleship had approached
as near as the depth of the water would permit, Captain Evans low-
ered all his boats and sent them to the assistance of the unfortunate
men who were being drowned by dozens or roasted on the decks. It
was soon discovered that insurgent Cubans on the shore were shoot-
ingf at men who were struecrlincr in the water after having surrendered
to the Americans. Evans immediately put a stop to this, but he
could not put a stop to the mutilation of many bodies by the sharks
inside the reef. All the Spaniards were practically without clothes.
Some of them had their legs torn off by fragments of shells. Others,
who had been in the water, were mutilated in ever}- conceivable way.

PRA YEK ON BOARD THE ' ' TEXAS " 3^5

Admiral Cervera surrendered to Commander Wainwright, of the
Gloucester, who had been a deck officer on board the ill-fated Maine,
and who thus by the irony of fate had an opportutnity to " Remem-
ber the Maine," indeed. The crews of the Maria Teresa, and of the
Almirante Oquendo were taken on board the auxiliary cruiser Har-
vard, which vessel had nearly 1,000 prisoners on board by midnight.

The annals of naval history record no more complete destruction
of an enemy's fleet than this. Nor had there ever been a more nota-
ble act of implicit obedience to a superior power under such awfully
adverse circumstances as those which confronted the Spanish Admiral
in this connection. It was subsequently learned that Cervera received
direct orders from Madrid to make the sortie, and that he had no
thought of escaping, except by a mere chance. This heroic feature
of the enemy's position was prominent in the minds of his conquerors,
and the Admiral and his men were treated with every consideration,
so much so that Cervera, during his detention in the United States
as a prisoner of war, never ceased to speak of it.

PRAYER ON BOARD THE " TEXAS."

The scenes and incidents of this creat naval conflict would fill
the pages of many books, but some there are which were particularly
striking. Notable among these was the assembling of his crew upon
the quarter-deck, by Captain Philip, of the Texas, immediately after
the consummation of the victory, and his public acknowledgement,
then and there, of his belief in Almighty God, by the offering of a
prayer of thanksgiving for the success that had attended the efforts
of the American ships.

" Fighting Bob " Evans, the Commander of the Iowa, when some
oile referred in his presence to Captain Philip's action in this regard,
and asked him why he had not followed the example, said : " I found
my ship surrounded by boats carrying dying and wounded prisoners.
To leave these men to suffer for want of food and clothing while I
called my men aft to offer prayer was not my idea either of Christianity
or religion. I preferred to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and suc-
cor the sick, and I am strongly of the opinion that Almighty God has

not put a black mark against me on account of it, for every drop of
20

366 THE CAMPAIGN IN CUBA

blood in my body on that afternoon of July 3d was singing thanks
and praise to Him for the victory we had won."

The official announcement of the destruction of the Spanish
fleet was cabled to Washington as follows :

"SlBONEY, July 4th, 3 A.M.
'• To the Secretary of the Nazy :

The fleet under my command offers the Nation as a 4th of
July present the destruction of the whole of Cervera's fleet. Not
one escaped. Their attempt to escape was made at 9.30 a.m. yester-
day, and at 2 p.m. the last, the Christobal Colon, ran ashore 60 miles
west of Santiago, and let down her colors.

" The In/mta Maria Teresa, Oquendo and Viscaya were forced
ashore, burned and blown up within 20 miles of Santiago. The
Furor and PUitou were destroyed within four miles of the port.

" Enemy's loss probably several hundred from gun fire, explo-
sions and drowning. About 1,300 prisoners, including Admiral
Cervera. Our loss, one killed and two wounded. The man killed
was Gee rge H Ellis, chief yeoman of the Brooklyn.

Sampson."

. The Spanish prisoners were transferred at once to Portsmouth,
N. H., and from there Admiral Cervera was taken to Annapolis, Md.,
where he remained until his release. The Maria Teresa was subse-
quent!/ raised under the supervision of Naval Constructor Hobson,
but oias lost on her way to Hampton Roads. The other Spanish
vessels were left upon the beach where they had been driven by the
fierce onslaught of the American eunners. Most of the victorious
American vessels returned to American ports soon after their notable
achievement ; others remained at Santiago to aid the army in the final
capture of that city. This great victory, however, is conceded to have
practically ended the war, for there was no longer any hope that the
beleaguered city could withstand the operations that were being made,
against it.

CHAPTER XX

The Invasion of Cuba by the Army

General Shafter Starts from Tampa with Transports. — The Shutting up of the Spanish
Fleet Changes the Campaign from Havana to Santiago. — The Landing of Troops
at Baiquiri. — The Brilliant Charge of the "Rough Riders" under Colonel Wood
and "Teddy" Roosevelt. — Marvelous Bravery at El Caney and San Juan Hill.
The Small American Force though Handicapped on all Sides Wins Victory from
the Better Armed and Better Protected Spaniards by Sheer Bravery, and the Mad
Rush of their Battle. — Terrible and Costly Hours of Waiting. — Shafter 111 in the
Rear, Generals Wheeler, Lawton, Chaffee, Colonels Wood and "Teddy"
Roosevelt Lead the Men to a Marvelous Victory.

THE troops that had been mobilizing at the different camps were
more than longing for a chance to join in an attack upon
Havana, and when the orders for a forward movement were
given, many who were not in the secrets of the campaign thought
they were bound for the Cuban capital. Word had come to the
President, however, and to the Departments in Washington, that the
situation in the harbor at Santiago demanded immediate operations
on shore. The fleet was maintaining a perfect blockade, but could
not coax the rat from its hole. To get behind the enemy, therefore,
and to grind him, if possible, between the upper and the lower mill-
stones was an absolute necessity. The original plan, which had
Havana for the objective point, was therefore changed, and the eyes
of the leaders of the military expeditions to Cuba were turned towards
Santiago.

It was on June 13, 1898, that troops began to leave Tampa and
Key West to play their part in the operations against Santiago.
Seven days later all the transports bearing them arrived off the har-
bor. The start from Florida had been much delayed. There was
ground for the criticism that everything had not been well planned,
but the plans, such as they were, were pushed forward as rapidly as
possible under the circumstances, and the fle^t, when it finally loomed

367

368 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

in the offing opposite the neck of the bottle in which Cervera's fleet
was held in bondage, presented quite a formidable spectacle.

The transports rolled about in that vicinity for the next thirty-
six or forty hours, but on the second day, the 23d, General Shafter
landed his army of 16,000 soldiers at Baiquiri, a few miles east of the
Castle of Morro. This landing was accomplished with a loss of only
two men, and these met their fate by drowning. Before the coming
of the troops the Spanish had evacuated the village of Baiquiri,
which is just a little back from the landing. They set fire to the
town, destroyed the powder magazines, and utterly demolished a rail-
road roundhouse in which were several locomotives.

LANDING THE TROOPS FOR BATTLE.

Admiral Sampson had escorted the transports with men-of-war,
and when the soldier-bearing vessels approached the landing places
the warships shelled the vicinity and opened fire also upon the forts to
the east and west for a distance of several miles so that the attention
of the enemy was perfectly distracted, and the soldiers landed
unmolested.

To have made this landing on the imperfect wharves and from
the beach boats which were best available would have been terribly
disastrous if the enemy had been actively opposed, but under the
circumstances it was only the crowded condition of the transports,
and the awkward arrangements that were made, that caused it to
be at all disagreeable to these men who had long been eager to gain
a foothold upon Cuban soil.

Colonel Huntington's marines, who had already landed at Guan-
tanamo and had established Camp McCalla at the sacrifice of several
lives, had expected that the army of Shafter would land where they
did. The facilities at that point, however, were far from being good.
The marines themselves had found it hard to reach the shore, and it
would have been practically impossible for the regulars and artillery
to have disembarked at that point. Shafter had thought of making
the landing at Acerraderos. The Government map shows a road run-
ning from this point to the city of Santiago, but the engineers found
that this so-called road was simply a mule path over which it would
be killing work to attempt to transport artillery.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT. MAJOR-GENERAL ELWELL S. OTIS.

POPULAR HEROES OF THE SPAMSM-'--<--"rflN WAR

LANDING THE TROOPS FOR BATTLE 17 \

For this and other reasons Baiquiri was selected as the place for
disembarkation. Back of the town, already referred to as having
been burned by the Spaniards upon the approach of the transports,
there is a high plateau extending along the coast almost to Santiago.
Behind this plateau a coral road runs for some distance, occupying a
good strategic position for part of the way. Moreover, there is a
famous iron pier at Baiquiri, built by American capital for the sake
of facilitating- the loading- of ore brought down from the Cuban mines
which were being worked by a Chicago corporation. This pier was
particularly well built for the purpose for which it was designed, but
as its height above the water was about 15 feet it was really not
satisfactorily available for the landing of troops. Its shore approaches,
however, were advantageous in this connection, and it is probable,
therefore, that Baiquiri presented as good advantages for the disem-
barkation as could have been found at any other place along the coast.

The fleet of transports consisted of about 40 vessels. The con-
voy was made up of 16 warships of different rates. The expedition
comprised 14,564 enlisted men, and jjt, officers. The great majority
of the the troops were regulars. The only volunteer organizations
M-ere the Seventy-first New York, Second Massachusetts, and two
dismounted squadrons of four troops each from the First Volunteer
Cavalry, with Colonel Leonard Wood in command and Theodore
Roosevelt as Lieutenant-Colonel. There were also two dismounted
squadrons of four troops each from the First, Third, Sixth, Ninth and
Tenth regular cavalry, making a total of 2,875 enlisted men of dis-
mounted cavalry and 159 officers.

Of artillery, there were light batteries E and K of the First
Artillery, A and F of the Second, and G and H of the Fourth ; a
total of 18 officers and 445 enlisted men from this branch of the
service. There were also 200 enlisted men and 9 officers of engineers,
and one detachment from the Signal Corps, comprising 45 enlisted
men and two officers.

The regiments of regular infantry were the First, Second, Third,
Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Sixteenth,
Seventeenth, Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-fourth,
and Twenty- fifth, making, with the volunteers, a total of 561 officers
and 10,709 enlisted men.

372 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

When the army began to disembark there was a great deal of
undue haste on the part of different commands to be the first to get
on shore. Life on board the troopships had not been pleasant.
They had all been fearfully crowded. Everybody suffered greatly.
The thermometer had been close to a hundred down in the holds of
the vessels where the troops were packed in like sardines at night.
On one transport alone, the Cherokee, five regulars, inured though
they were to all kinds of hardships, fainted away, while one or more
cases of prostration had been reported from nearly every other
transport.

THE SCENE AT THE LANDING.

A thousand men could have prevented ten times that number
from landing at Baiquiri, but the Spaniards apparently had their
hands full at other points. Still, a few warships could have made the
position very hot for any one who undertook to prevent the landing.
The woods and the hillsides for miles around Baiquiri were shelled
by the vessels of Sampson's fleet, and the Spaniards practically kept
out of the way. From their point of observation, the fleet of trans-
ports with the convoy of battleships, must have presented a decidedly
formidable appearance, and when the soldiers began to swarm in the
rigging and over the sides, cheering wildly, the bands playing national
airs, interspersed with popular songs, the men joining in the choruses,
the warships banging away at the beach, smoke enough hanging over
the water to suggest war indeed, the scene so impressed the Spaniards
who saw it, that they apparently stood not upon the order of their
eoine but went at once.

Throughout the day smoke rose up from the buildings which the
retreating Spaniards had fired in the town, and made a sort of a
screen between the transports and the lower foothills. The higher
ground, however, was plainly in sight from the vessels, and detach-
ments of Spanish horse and foot, scurrying along upward and away
from this scene of impressively active operations, could be seen to
halt and look back as if taking in the full import of the picture.

Outside, stretching to the offing, were the transports, ranging
from the hucre coastwise steamer built on the models of Atlantic
liners to side-wheelers and nondescript vessels half-way, apparently,

THE SCENE AT THE LANDING 373

between the ark and a tugboat. All were moving constantly to
overcome the drift of the current. Among them, and spread out on
either side toward the shore, were the convoys, whose keen-eyed
lookouts constantly scanned the beach and the hills beyond, and
which occasionally sent a shot whizzing through the air.

Small boats were everywhere. They came and went singly, in
pairs, and in long strings. They were rowed, towed and allowed to
drift. They clung to the ships, lined the landing wharf, and filled all
space between. The soldiers, scrambling over the sides of the vessels
as best they might, packed themselves away in these boats, and it
was in connection with this haste and recklessness that the only
fatalities occurred. Each man carried his gun and field accoutre-
ments, and his blankets were slung in a roll over his shoulder.

It usually happened that men from several different commands
would find themselves in the same small boat, but when they landed
at a low wharf inside the iron pier, straggling up to a level bit of
sand beyond it, or if they had stepped overboard in shallow water and
waded ashore, they managed to fall into their own companies without
much delay, and, marching off, were almost immediately out of sight
in the tangle of tropical underbrush. Of the thousands that landed
not more than two or three hundred were in sight at any one time
during the three days in which the disembarkation was going on.

Some of the men were packed in the small boats for four hours
between the time they came over the side of the transport and the
time when it was their turn at the wharves. This is the reason why
so many became restless, and why hundreds of the impatient soldiers
left the small boats and waded, sometimes up to their waists, though
even this did not cool their desire to be on terra firma.

Those transports which had stock on board drew up along the
dock of the coal company. One of the side-wheelers got jammed
against the wharf in such a position that in self-defence it had to dis-
charge its cargo of ioo mules into thirty feet of water, and these
poor beasts, apparently as eager as the soldiers to get ashore, swam
gamely to the beach, fully forty yards away.

During the first day of the disembarkation the volunteers all got
ashore and a great part of the regulars. This day extended far into
the night, and the next day began where its predecessor had finished.

374 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

The searchlights from the men-of-war turned night into day, and
quite as good progress was made at midnight as at noon. The Engi-
neer and Signal Corps were among the first to land. The artillery,
including the siege guns, were among the last. The cavalry had
things pretty much their own way, for Roosevelt had set their pace
at Tampa by practically pre-empting a vessel to which some other
command had been assigned, and here at Baiquiri, Colonel Wood
having left the details of the disembarkation to him, it turned
out the Rough Riders were on shore among the first, and the other
cavalry were not far behind. There was a great deal of pulling and
hauling, and it looked for a time as if it would take a week to get
everybody landed. General Shatter and Admiral Sampson came
ashore in the same boat, and were loudly cheered by those who had
preceded them.

General Joe Wheeler, in command of the cavalry division,
promptly pushed forward to Siboney. General Young and Colonels
Wood and Roosevelt were with him. These knew that the first work
to be done in the way of facing the enemy would probably fall upon
them. Shafter established temporary headquarters at Playa del Este,
and the great bulk of the infantry bore off toward Jaragua, the
artillery being instructed to come on as rapidly as possible. The
Rough Riders, making a forced march, found themselves, the first
night after their landing, in a position which gave them a surety of
being in the very van of those who were to have this early oppor-
tunity to show the stuff they were made of.

THE ENEMY PREPARES FOR BATTLE.

On the afternoon of June 23, 1898, while the artillery and
infantry were still moving toward Jaragua, word came to General
Wheeler, through a Cuban officer, that the enemy had gathered in
considerable numbers at Guasimas, and that they were blocking the
way to Santiago in that direction. There is no town at Guasimas,
not even so much as a village. It is merely the junction of two trails
that meet at the point of a V, one coming from Siboney and the
other from Baiquiri, and both proceeding as one toward Santiago.
That same afternoon General Wheeler took with him a handful
of Cubans and reconnoitered this trail. That night he sat around a

THE ENEMY PREPARES FOR BATTLE 375

camp fire with General Young, Colonel Wood, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Roosevelt, and, after discussing the situation thoroughly, it was
decided to attack the enemy on the following morning.

Little sleeping was done that night. The news soon flew
through the cavalry quarters that there was to be "business" the
next day. Moreover, stores and ammunition were still being landed
on the coast only three or four miles away, and the searchlights on
the vessels in the harbor were throwing- their great arms of light
athwart the sky in every direction, so that the whole place was almost
as light as day. In this night light, and in the midst of this wakeful-
ness, the men did their best to dry their uniforms, and considerable
t ime was spent in cooking coffee and bacon.

At 5 o'clock in the morning, the men having had not more than
two or three hours sleep at the best, the forward movement began.
General Young started first toward Guasimas with the First and
Tenth (dismounted) Cavalry, taking the eastern trail. The Rough
Riders climbed the steep hill above Siboney and struck in on the
western trail. There was about half a mile between the Rough
Riders and General Young's command. Within less than half an
hour after the men left Siboney, Colonel Wood took the very precau-
tions which the earliest reports said had been neglected. He sent
Captain Capron forward with his troop as an advance guard. There
were Cuban scouts in front of these and flankers on the right and
left.

At about 6 o'clock Colonel Wood ordered a halt. Several of
the officers were mounted. They had been moving slowly to give
the men a chance to keep up. Every few moments a pause had been
made for the purpose of resting, so when this halt order came the
men thought it one of the ordinary stops that had been allowed them
during the hard march. But those who were in sight of the leaders
had noticed a Cuban scout dropping back and whispering softly in
the ear of Colonel Wood. A dozen men were sent back with the
scout, but there was otherwise no evidence of the seriousness of the
situation. The country was covered with high grass and chaparral.
Thousands of Spaniards might have been hidden without betraying
their whereabouts, and in it, as a matter of fact, thousands were con-
cealed and ready to do much damage.

37° THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

It was fully ten minutes before Colonel Wood gave the signal
for the entire command to advance. Colonel Roosevelt took a third
of the regiment into the forest on the right. Firing was begun by
the hidden foe, so our men quickened their pace, and were preparing
for a rush toward a point from which firing could be distinctly heard,
when one of the men who had been sent with the Cuban scouts a few
moments before met them. He had been wounded. His face was
covered with blood. He was sobbing like a child.

" I am not hurt," he said, in an apologetic tone, "but I am a
fool. I set off one of my own cartridges while I was loading. My
face and eyes are full of powder and I can't fight." Then he sat
down on the grass, and the others went on, leaving him alone there
sobbing and swearing alternately.

THE FOE IN AMBUSH.

In the meantime the enemy was pouring a telling fire into the
men. General Young, with the regulars, was off at the left, Colonel
Wood occupied the centre, and Roosevelt was on the right. These
three gradually drew together at the apex of the V, pushing forward
through the high hot grass and undergrowth right into the face of the
firing that came from the dense thickets, and with never an oppor-
tunity at this stage of the proceedings to get a fair shot at those who
were firing upon them from ambush.

Every little while a comparatively open space would be encoun-
tered. Then it was like breaking through the walls of a maze. In
other places the troopers could not see those who were nearest them.
If they heard a twig break, or the heavy breathing of a man, they
knew they were not alone, but there was no sign of human beings
except in the intervals when they came out into the open.

The fire of the enemy was awfully accurate. Nine men of the
Rough Riders were killed in the short space of three minutes. The
wounded were dragged into the shade when opportunity offered, but
many of those who had fallen were left to lie, where they fell, until the
first-aid men or the surgeons could find them.

The enemy was firing very low. The Rough Riders had to
advance oftentimes on their hands and knees. It was mighty hot
work, and it didn't take long for everybody to strip to the waist. If

THE TERRIBLE ROLL OF DEATH 377

a fellow kept his cartridge belt and canteen, he had all he wanted to
carry, so the trail along which they passed was strewn with bits of
uniforms and articles of equipment, and looked more as if a retreating
army had passed that way than that an army of advance had fought
its way to victory. Blanket rolls, haversacks, carbines, canteens,
hats and even shoes were cast aside, and here and there an empty
cartridge belt was found in evidence of some one having used the
last of his precious ammunition.

THE TERRIBLE ROLL OF DEATH.

It has been estimated that there were about 3,000 Spaniards
engaged in this fight, The Americans were less than 1,000. The
Americans had 16 killed and 52 wounded, 42 of the casualties occur
ring to the Rough Riders and 26 among the Regulars. The Spanish
killed were about 100, notwithstanding their advantage of ambush.
Thirty-seven Spaniards were found dead on the ground. The
wounded had been carried off, and it was ascertained after the battle
that many of the killed had also been carried away and buried.

Prominent among those who were killed along the bloody trail
of Guasimas was Captain Capron. He was the fifth generation of
soldiers that his family had produced, and his father was at the head
of a battery of artillery only a few miles away. The younger Capron
was only 28 years of age. He was shot in the shoulder. The wound
was known to be fatal from the first. One or two of his friends saw
him as the surgeon was trying to do what he could for the man.

The death of Sergeant Hamilton Fish was another sad event of
this day's experiences. Fish, defiant in life, had met death standing
Half a dozen of the troopers had called to him to crouch and creep
along with the rest of them, but he was at the head of his men and
stalked across the occasional open spaces without a thought of him-
self until finally he fell like a log across the trail.

Some of the escapes from death were miraculous. Champney
Marshal, of Washington, had one bullet pass through his sleeve.
Another passed through his shirt, where it was pulled close to the
spine. The holes where the ball entered and went out again were
clearly cut. Another man's skin was slightly burned by three bullets
in three distinct lines, as though it had been touched for an instant

378 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

by the lighted end of a ci^rar. Roosevelt himself was so close to one
bullet, when it struck a tree, that it filled his eyes and ears with splin-
ters, and his color sergeant, Wright, following close at his heels, was
clipped three times in the head and neck, and four bullets passed
through the folds of the flaef he carried.

the max who wouldn't give up.

A cowboy named Heffner was shot through the body. He
asked to be propped up against a tree with his canteen and cartridge
belt beside him. As those who placed him in this position turned
away they saw him firing over their heads in the direction of the
enemy. Subsequently this man was taken to a hospital apparently
half-dead, but when he heard an ambulance coming to take wounded
men to the hospital ship, he rolled off of his blanket under the edge
of the tent, and the ambulance went off without him. Next day he
dragged himself to the firing line. He was sent back by Colonel
Roosevelt, but when it came to the battle of El Caney this man appeared
amoncr the rest of the Rouo;h Riders and insisted on handling a gain.

" I thought I told you to go to the hospital and stay there," said
Colonel Roosevelt.

"I believe you did. Colonel; but there was nothing going on
back there, and I thought I had better be with the rest of the boys."

This man recovered from his wound sufficiently to come home
with his regiment to Montauk Point, and subsequently helped to
make some of the noise that the Rou^h Riders made during Colonel
Roosevelt's successful campaign for the governorship of New York.

Another of the men who fell in the first volley was Captain Mc-
Clintock. A private who had been sick for some days, seeing Mc-
Clintock lying on the field, crawled up between the latter and the
firing line and said :

" Never mind, Captain ; I am between you and the enemy. They
can't hurt you now."

Edward Culver, a Cherokee Indian, was alongside of Hamilton
Fish when the latter was shot. As Fish fell to the ground, he called
out, " I am wounded." Culver called back, " And I am killed."

Culver was shot through the left lung, the ball coming out the
muscle of his back. He believed he was dying, but he said if he was

THE HEROIC WORK OF "BOB" CHURCH 381

to die he would do the Spaniards as much damage as possible before
leaving. He braced himself up against a bush and sent forty-five
bullets at the enemy before being taken away.

THE HEROIC WORK OF " BOB " CHURCH.

"Bob" Church, of Princeton football fame, was junior surgeon
of the Roosevelt regiment. He carried as many as half a dozen
wounded men on his back half a mile from the firing line to a tempo-
rary dressing station, and those who knew of the work he did on that
day say that these and many others owe their lives to his indefatiga-
bility and nerve.

There was no difference in the bravery of the two predominating
elements in the Rousdi Riders' organization, but there was a differ-
ence in their style of fighting. The cowboys of the western frontier
slipped cautiously from cover and dodged deftly behind the next pro-
tecting thicket, but the eastern athletes made wild rushes and were
reckless in exposing themselves. On every hand, however, evidence
was constantly accumulating that there was never a body of men
possessing such varied elements, and yet it was easily welded into an
effective fighting-machine so easily that a foreigner would not have
known that all these men were not as much brothers in blood, charac-
ter, occupation, mutual faith and long companionship as any soldier
organization that ever took the field.

The dominant element was the big-game hunter and the cowboy.
Every field officer and captain had at one time or another owned a
ranch. The majority came from Arizona, New Mexico, Oklohoma,
and the Indian Territory, though nearly every State in the Union
was represented. There were graduates of Harvard, Yale, Columbia,
Princeton, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, of Virginia, of Colo-
rado, Iowa, and other western and southern colleges. There were
members of the Knickerbocker Club of New York, the Somerset
Club of Boston, and of famous horse organizations of Philadelphia,
New York, and New Jersey. There were revenue officers from
Georgia and Tennessee, policemen from New York City, half a dozen
deputy marshals from Colorado, several Texan rangers, three or four
Cherokees and Chickasaws, Choctaws and Creeks, and one Pawnee
Indian. There were Catholics, Protestants, and Jews in this organi-

382 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

zation ; there was one strapping Australian, and one of the Queen's
Mounted Police from the British-American possessions, though 90
per cent, of all were native born Americans.

This is the sort of material that forced the Spaniards along the
Guasimas trail back from the position they had occupied and gradu-
ally drove them out of reach. The result was that the way was
cleared through this defile to the immediate vicinity of Santiago.
Furthermore, the fact that the Spaniards who had occupied this com-
manding position were not re-enforced, demonstrated the further fact
that the enemy knew how useless it would be to stop the onrush of
the Americans, and established in the minds of the American com-
manders the idea that their strongest opposition would be met much
nearer the beleaguered city.

The position of the Spanish in the vicinity of Guasimas was
naturally so strong that, if it had been held in force, the United States
troops must have had several days of hard fighting before they could
have driven the enemy from the mountainous ridges commanding the
road. But after the onslaught of the dismounted cavalry squadrons,
the Spaniards made no attempt to utilize the natural advantages
afforded by the lay of the land, and fell back immediately on the
line of defences at San Juan and El Caney, almost within firing dis-
tance of Santiago.

ROOSEVELT TAKES COMMAND OF THE ROUGH RIDERS.

Soon after noon, on the day of the Guasimas fight, the advance
guard of the cavalry was pushed forward to the plateau at Sevilla.
Here the country was fairly open with stretches of grass land at
intervals. The distance from Siboney, which had become the base
of supplies, was not more than five miles, and General Wheeler, in
command of the cavalry division, and General Lawton, commanding
the Second Infantry division, decided to make this point their head-
quarters for the present. On the following day Colonel Wood was
placed in command of a brigade, and Roosevelt's Rough Riders from
that time on were Roosevelt's in fact as well as in name.

With the cavalry at Sevilla, General Shatter maintained his head-
quarters at Playa del Este. One reason for this was that the cable
station was located at this point. The Commanding General also

SHAFTER IS TAKEN ILL 3^3

felt that he wanted to be near the coast until the very last of the
troops and munitions of war had been disembarked. When the
Spaniards had been driven out of Guasimas, and it became evident
that their firmest stand would be made near Santiago, Shafter trans-
ferred his headquarters to La Redonda, about six miles from Siboney,
and only a little way from Sevilla. Generals Kent, Lawson, and
Chaffee were also in that immediate neighborhood, so that Sevilla, as
a matter of fact, may be said to have been the location of the entire
army immediately after the exploit of the Rough Riders and other
cavalry along the Guasimas trail.

The encampment was continued at this point for three or four
days, and it became a common remark of field and company officers
that any enemy with a small degree of enterprise could have attacked
the invaders and done them great damage, if, indeed, the entire force
could not have been routed and driven back in confusion. The camps
were in a jumbled condition, supplies were irregular, and the men
soon became pretty well disgusted with what seemed to them to be
an interminable delay.

Meanwhile news was constantly being brought to General Shafter
that the Spaniards were improving their position, particularly in the
vicinity of El Caney and along the San Juan hills. They had evi-
dently been indifferent to the easy prey that the invading army might
have been, merely because they had already seen something of the
valor of the American troops, and had chosen the battleground on
which they preferred that the bulk of the fighting should take place.

The natural conformation of the country could hardly have been
more favorable to a defensive campaign. The Wilderness in Virginia
presented far less difficulties to the invading Northerners than did
the San Juan valley to Shafter's army. The greater part was cov-
ered with young undergrowth, interlaced with thorny vines, and the
roads were little more than blind trails.

SHAFTER IS TAKEN ILL.

General Shafter was taken ill while the army was at Sevilla, and
his condition was made worse by the extreme heat. He kept in touch
with what was going on, however, but for several days the duty of
personal observation had to be delegated to others. He and all his

384 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

officers saw, within forty-eight hours after the fight at Guasimas; that
an early advance must be made upon El Caney. The subsequent
capture of this point and the really brilliant engagement at San Juan
constitute one event, and it has always been so regarded by all the
general officers who took part in the fighting.

The reinforcements that General Pando was known to be offer-
ing to the beleaguered garrison at Santiago would have found their
easiest approach through El Caney, and it was decided, therefore, to
put this possibility out of the way as soon as circumstances would
permit. The Spaniards had apparently expected that the army would
reach Santiago by detour along the coast, but Shafter evidently had
his own reasons for sending his men directly across the country.

Progression and protection of the American position was ren-
dered imperative by the problem of feeding the men who had pene-
trated into the enemy's country. The roads were impassable. The
dry weather had given place to tropical rains. Every pathway had
become a sunken road. There seemed to be only one of two things
for the invaders to do — they must either hold the ground they had
gained and advance therefrom, or some of the troops must move
westward along the coast, where the Spaniards had made special
preparations to receive them, and try to capture some little port, thus
shortening up the line of supplies between the fleet and the troops.
The forward movement was decided upon. Moreover, the officers all
felt that J'uly 4th was approaching, and everybody wanted to cele-
brate that day by some great event.

A COUNCIL OF WAR.

On June 29th a council of war was held. Ever}- man who took
part in it had learned a great deal regarding the use of rapid-fire guns
and smokeless powder. Older officers, who had served in the Civil
War, saw that the rapid-fire guns of to-dav, where smokeless powder
is used, give to each man the value of five men during the Rebellion.
More than that, with the accuracy of aim now possible, a good marks-
man can kill ten men with such a gun where he could only kill one
thirty years ago. The new arms, with their low range and rapid fire,
had wholly altered the manoeuvres that must immediately precede and
occur during the battles of the future. The play, therefore, was to

FIERCE FIGHTING BEFORE EL CANEY 385

be for a flank attack, and that was the plan decided upon at this con-
ference in front of Santiago.

Generals Young and Chaffee favored clearing the right flank
first, and not exposing both of our flanks to the scientifically posted
Spanish infantry. It was decided, therefore, to take El Caney by
assault early on the morning of July 1st, and let the other two di-
1 visions conform to the movement that was to be made by Lavvton, who
was to deliver the swinging, jugular-vein blow. General Lawton
wanted to go out that very night and get into position to deliver his
blow, but every commander was as zealous as he was, and the result
was that this disposition was not made. The plan was further devel-
oped during the final day of June, and on the following night bivouac
was made at 10 o'clock, and the men slept on their arms.

Before daylight General Chaffee had worked his men forward
so that he might approach El Caney from the east of north.
He got his men well entrenched, personally supervising every detail.
It was subsequently discovered that the Spaniards also well under-
stood the trick of digging good trenches. Their rifle-pits consisted
of a deep, narrow hole in which a marksman could crouch, making
the earth itself his guardian angel, and when, at the first sight of
dawn, Chaffee ordered the advance, and line after line of rifle-pits
was encountered, there was an occasional hesitation, not inspired by
fear, but by indecision.

The fighting was stubborn from the very outset. Resistance
was determined, and the patience of the two divisions on the left,
already under fire from the San Juan forts, was sorely tried. Their
commander sent over to know if the movement of Chaffee could not
be hurried or abandoned, so that they could go into action against
the enemy in front of them, but Chaffee was too far committed to
consider the proposition of withdrawing. The effect of this message,
however, was to redouble the energy of the men before El Caney,
and many acts of individual courage were performed that day.

Captain Capron, father of the young man who had been killed
with the Rough Riders alone the Guasimas trail, concentrated the
fire of his battery upon the blockhouses by getting two of them in
line. So accurate was the aim of his battery that he knocked whole
corners out of these stone structures. His guns were so placed tha

386 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

after the shells went through one blockhouse they would land and
explode in the next one, rending it apart like a box of pasteboard.

While this sort of thing was going on, Adjutant-General Gilmore
had ridden over from the San Juan way with the information that
the fight had its heart in front of the forts at that point, and that
reinforcements must be hurried there to insure success. General
Lawton turned to the officer who brought this news and said : " There
is important business to be done here, and I can't quit." A hurried
consultation was held, however, and it was decided that the village
must be taken. It was done in thirty minutes by a splendid assault
led by Captain Haskell, of the Twelfth Infantry. Those who saw
this gallant officer lead the charge up that hill will never forget it.
He rushed along at the head of his men with his long, white beard
'flying in the air and surrounding his face like a patch of fog. His
men followed him without question, and one blockhouse was carried
almost before the Spaniards knew that the enemy was upon them.

A TERRIBLE FIGHT IN A BLOCKHOUSE.

This blockhouse stood at the top of a hill, facing the pathway,
leading up to it and into the town. Intrenchments were all around
it, and no one knew how many soldiers of Spain were in and behind
these fortifications. There were about fifty inside the blockhouse,
shooting through the holes. A company of the Ninth Infantry
reached this point first, and twenty of them climbed up to the roof
and dropped inside. A terrific fight took place in these close quarters.
The first Americans who entered were awfully slaughtered by the
Spaniards. Some of them were badly mutilated. Fifteen others of
the Ninth regulars also mounted the walls of the blockhouse and
jumped down into this pit of death. The sight of their outraged
comrades galled them. It took only a moment for vengeance to be
wrought. One man was shot in the wrist, but he killed the Spaniard
who shot him and brought away the pistol that the Don had used.
One American is known to have killed four Spaniards in this hand-
to-hand encounter. One of the regulars had a piece of his nose shot
off. Turning on the Spaniard who had maimed him he ran him
through with his bayonet, pinned him to the wall and held him there
until he died.

FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES SURPRISED 387

Meanwhile others of the Americans were doing desperate work
in the immediate vicinity of the blockhouses. The rush that had
been made seemed to take away the breath of the Spaniards, and the
shower of leaden hail which was fired upon them created awful havoc.
When our men got into the Spanish ditches they found some of them
three to five feet deep with dead Spaniards, but no wounded were
found, these evidently having been taken along with the retreating
force. The Spaniards, however, made a desperate resistance at many
points. Their firing was much more accurate than many have been
led to suppose, Their artillery was well placed and did a great deal
of damage, but it was the intrepidity of the Americans that staggered
them. The fact that their advantage with smokeless powder did not
deter the onslaught, seemed to be more than they could understand.

WHAT FOREIGN REPRESENTATIVES SAID OF THE FIGHT.

The assault and capture of El Caney took the breath of the
foreign attaches who were watching the manoeuvres. One said : " It
is very gallant, but very foolish." " It is slaughter ; absolute slaugh-
ter," said another, " they never can take it, you know." The little
Japanese attache merely shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.
But they all watched the assault with eagerness, and when it was
crowned with victory they could hardly believe their own eyes.

The Rough Riders' dynamite gun, handled by Alsop Borrowe,
did good execution against the fortifications at El Caney. This was
the first opportunity afforded for work with this weapon, and every-
one was well pleased with what it accomplished. It was located in a
position that was guarded by several troops of the Rough Riders, who
were particularly anxious to have more active work to do than they
seemed likely to get in this connection. Later in the day, however,
Colonel Roosevelt made good use of his opportunities, but it was in
the second day's fighting that the regiment again distinguished itself.

The lack of more artillery was very disheartening. Had it not
been for the marvelous prowess of the infantry, the Spaniards would
not have been driven out of El Caney. The slightest faltering on
the part of the Americans would have resulted in their having been
hurled back further than their starting point. It was their continuous
forward movement that won the day.

388 THE INVASION Of CUBA BY THE ARMY

The first wounded man to reach headquarters was a private of
the Second Massachusetts, who had two fingers shot away. His
battalion had been within 200 yards of the enemy when the Spaniards
opened fire. He spoke particularly of the disadvantage he and his
comrades had had in not beinef able to see where the shots came
from. They felt like rats in a trap at first, but they soon learned the
Spanish tactics of fighting under cover. This wounded man com-
plained bitterly that his regiment had not been allowed to light fires
for twenty-four hours, and had started into battle with only ten pieces
of hardtack and a piece of bacon an inch wide.

THE WORK OF THE SHARPSHOOTERS.

During the progress of the fight, the Eighth Infantry was under
a heavy fire, in the neighborhood of a big mango tree. Some of the
men were under the tree, and the fruit fell on them in showers,
knocked down by the bullets. The greatest annoyance experienced by
all the troops was from the sharpshooters who were posted with their
smokeless powder pieces in the surrounding trees. It was impossible
to get at these fellows until their companions had been driven from
the rifle-pits. Then one of these roosting birds would occasionally
drop down to join in the flight, and the chances were very much
against his getting away alive.

It had been thought before this fight began that El Caney could
be captured in very short order. The first blockhouse fell into the
hands of the Americans within half an hour after its fierce assault
was undertaken, but the day was well spent before all the trenches
were cleaned out, and the enemy was entirely driven back. It had
been a day of bravery, and a day of slaughter on both sides, though
the exact loss could not be reckoned until the following day's work
was complete. The United States troops had stuck their finger
nails into the crest of the bluff and stayed there. They were vic-
torious as far as they had gone, but there was much more to be
accomplished. Westward from El Caney, on the top of the ridge,
were the forts of San Juan. These constituted the outer stronghold
of Santiago, and these must be captured at once.

Officers and men all knew that this was the work cut out for
them on the 2d of July. There was very little sleep that night, but

WHY ROOSE VEL T KEPT AHEAD 389

a great deal of work was done in perfecting the intrenchments and
getting ready for the morrow. The morning broke clear and beauti-
ful. The men could be seen on the crest of the hill, in the holes
they had dug in the ground during the night, and the entire army
was eager to go to their support. The enemy was evidently quite
as wide awake and anxiously awaiting the attack.

San Juan hill is a long and steep irregular ridge. It is of unequal
height, and the highest point was crowned by an old building which
had been converted into a fort with trenches in front of it, and the
ordinary broken-stone construction of the Spanish blockhouse. In
front of the blockhouse the hill was at least a hundred feet higher
than the plateau before it. The ascent was at an angle of fully forty-
five degrees. The face of the hill was stony and thorny, and on the
margin of the plateau was a wilderness of trees and thick brush
through which the American soldiers had to fight their way, and
when they had penetrated this thicket they were out in the open
fully exposed to the fire of the fort and those who were in the
intrenchments at the top of the hill.

WHY ROOSEVELT KEPT AHEAD.

The original order had been not to advance beyond the San
Juan River, which flowed sluggishly through the thicket, but the fire
in this brushwood was too effective to engender patience, and as each
regiment came to the stream, which really was not much of an impedi-
ment to progress, they rushed over it and up on the hill without
waiting for further orders. It was at this point where Colonel
Roosevelt dismounted and led his Rough Riders up the slope. Af-
terward, when complimented on the good time he had made at the
head of his command, he smiled and said : " I had to move quick to
keep out of their way." The men of several commands got separated
in this advance, and it was this fact, particularly in the case of the
Seventy-first New York, which led to contradictory reports as to
obedience of orders and manifestations of indifference. Those who
neared the top of the hill first saw that they could do nothing, unsup-
ported, against the enemy, and, as they looked around in their
anxiety, each on-coming command was warmly welcomed, and thus
each moment it grew warmer for the Spaniards.

390 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY Till': ARMY

On this hillside also the barbed wire fence played no unimportant
part. Several companies of the Sixth Infantry ran plump against
one of these obstructions halfway up the hill. Captain Burns saw
a big Cuban fighting with a machete a little way off and called to him
in Spanish to cut the wires. He did so, and the men rushed through
and onward. The hill was so steep at that point that the men had to
drag themselves up by catching at roots and bushes, stopping every
other second to kill a Spaniard or two, and some of them stopping to
be killed.

Several of the cavalry regiments became seriously mixed up
owing to the utter impossibility of moving straightforward at any-
thing like regular intervals. Captain Morton commanded a battalion
of the Third Cavalry. When he finally approached the open spaca
across which the dash was made for the right of the San Juan posi-
tion, he found himself surrounded by men of two or three different
regiments, mostly, however, of his own. He did not hesitate. There
was no time for hesitation. Mauser bullets and shrapnel were sing-
ing thick and fast through the air, and men were falling on every
side. Morton simply put all the men near him into line, led them
forward and quickly took the most advanced position on the right,
driving the Spaniards back upon a battery of theirs down under the
walls of San Juan barracks.

SKILL OF SPANISH ENGINEERS.

The artificial strengthening of the Spanish line of defense showed
the very highest order of engineering skill. The utmost advantage
was taken of the conformation of the ground. Each fortified point
or angle commanded some other one. In many places, on gaining
certain intrenchments, the American troops found themselves under
a crossfire from other portions of the original line. The result was
that the Americans seemed sometimes to be almost surrounded, and
it was like fighting their way out of a hollow square when any ad-
vance was made.

It was under these conditions that all the regiments, engaged in
that day's fighting, did so nobly. The rush of the Ninth and Tenth
cavalrymen was noted by the commanders of many other regiments,
and those colored regulars became heroes from that hour. The

PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF OFFICERS 39 1

regulars naturally gained the most of the glory, for they were in a
large majority, but the commanding officers have accorded a full
meed of praise to all concerned.

General Kent, commanding the first division of the Fifth Army
Corps, gave special credit to Brigadier-General H. S. Hawkins, who,
placing himself between the two regiments leading his brigade, the
Sixth and Sixteenth Infantry, urged and led them by voice and bugle
calls to the attack so successfully accomplished.

The total number of killed on July ist in the First Division was
89, the wounded nearly 500. On July 2d, 9 were killed and 94
wounded. The total for the three days' fighting, from the morning
of the attack upon El Caney until the truce on the afternoon of July
3d, was 12 officers and 87 men killed, 36 officers and 561 men
wounded, and 62 unaccounted for. General Lawton lost 410 men,
the cavalry lost 285 men, and the grand total, as given by General
Shafter in his official report, was 1,593 men, killed, wounded and
missing.

PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF OFFICERS.

The large proportion of officers killed in these engagements has
been attributed by many to the fact that this was a junior officers'
campaign. General Wheeler was unable to be in the field on July
ist and 2d. Generals Kent, Lawton and Chaffee were active, of
course, but General Shafter was practically confined at headquarters,
and the bulk of the work fell upon the juniors. These were mowed
down with the men under their command, and have taken, with them,
their place among the heroes who swept away the obstructions to the
approaches to Santiago and made the subsequent surrender of the
city a certainty.

The personal impressions of some of the officers who were
engaged against the Spaniards on these earliest days of July tell the
story at first hand. Lieutenant Joseph A. Carr, of the Rough Riders,
speaking of the fight at San Juan Hill, has said : " We were not sup-
ported by artillery, and it was a test of what American nerve and
determination could do. Most of my men were shot down from am-
bush. I was left in command of what remained. After we had
driven the Spanish back and taken possession of San Juan hill, I
was sent to occupy another eminence about 500 yards away. The

392 THE INVASION OF CUBA BY THE ARMY

Spanish fire never ceased. We had no earthworks and no artillery.
I saw no flinching. No man seemed to think of retiring, but every
nerve was strained to its utmost, and our boys made a display of
courage and coolness that I cannot help feeling is somehow a part of
American blood."

Captain Hunter said : " It occurred to me, as we were going up
San Juan Hill, that just twenty-five years before, to the very day and
hour, Grimes' battery had opened the battle at Gettysburg. This
coincidence was no unpleasant thought. I knew we had a hot day's
work ahead, but I also knew that we were bound to win. As the
battle proceeded our loss was heavy indeed, but when we saw the
terrible execution our own men were doino- we becran to feel more

o o

than satisfied. When the artillery firing began the very first shell
fired by the enemy killed one man and seriously wounded two others
under my very eyes, but they paid for this a hundred times over
before the day was done."

The larcje number of killed and wounded in the en<ragrements
which took place before Santiago was very galling to the commanders,
and even more so perhaps to the authorities at Washington. General
Shatter has been criticized in this connection for allowing the fighting
to proceed without the aid of the siege guns, and without the artil-
lery to support the infantry, but it is claimed, on the other hand,
that there was a certain amount of work to do, and that it had to be
done at once, and that the loss of so many men, deplorable as it was,
could not have been prevented under the circumstances.

The sacrifice of these lives, however, occurred in the midst of
onslaughts that powerfully impressed the Spaniards as to the mettle
of Uncle Sam's soldiers. There was no longer any thought in the
minds of the enemy that they had to deal with novices in war, or that
they would have no difficulty in driving the invaders into the sea.
Quite the contrary. The news was carried into Santiago that the
American army could, and probably would, sweep everything before
it, and it was this sort of tidings, emphasized by the accumulating
assurances of the next few days, that paved the way for the subse-
quent surrender.

CHAPTER XXI

The Surrender of Santiago

Truce Proclaimed and Prolonged from Day to Day. — Consultation for Surrender of
Santiago — General Miles, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Joins Shatter and
Takes part in the Negotiations. — General Toral Surrenders. — Terms of Evacua-
tion.— Raising the Stars and Stripes above the City. — Hobson and His Fellow-
Heroes Exchanged. — A Rousing Reception by Land and Sea.

"TF you do not surrender the city I will bombard it." That, in
j effect, was the ultimatum which General Shafter sent the
Spanish commander in Santiago on the 3d of July. General
Linares had been wounded. General Toral was in command. - He
refused to surrender. With this refusal came to General Shafter an
appeal from foreign residents in the town for an opportunity to get
out of the city before the bombardment began. The representatives
of foreign nations came out to have a consummation with General
Shafter, and the result was that notice was given that the bombard-
ment would not take place until noon of J*uhy 5th.

General Toral was urged to aid the /rapid departure of foreign-
ers and non-combatants, and notices were posted in the streets of the
city advising all women, children and non-combatants, that, between
5 and 9 o'clock in the morning of July 5th, they might pass out of
any gate of the city. Everybody must go on foot. There could be
no carriages. Stretchers would be provided for the ill and infirm.
A great company of pilgrims took advantage of this opportunity,
and there was a continuous line of refugees pouring out of the threat-
ened city between the hours that had been named, and nearly 400
persons were carried out on litters.

All this took place, of course, under a flag of truce, and while the
flag was still flying a communication was received from General Toral
requesting that the truce be still further extended. He wanted to
communicate again with the Spanish Government at Madrid con-
cerning the surrender of the city, but all the telegraph operators,

393

394 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

being Englishmen, had gone out with the refugees. General Shafter
extended the truce until 4 o'clock on Sunday, July 10th, and the oper-
ators returned to work the wires for the Spanish commander. During
all this time the refugees continued to throng the roads to Siboney and
El Caney until there were nearly 20,000 of them congregated at these
two points. Meanwhile the Spanish soldiers were helping themselves
to everything that had been left behind by the families who had de-
parted, and no effort seems to have been made on the part of the
Spanish commanders to stop the looting.

GENERAL MILES ARRIVES ON THE SCENE.

General Miles arrived upon the scene on the day set for the ex-
piration of the truce. The first of the two expeditions containing
reinforcements landed on July 8th, the second on the 9th, and an-
other on the 10th, so that Shafter's army had been strengthened by
6,000 men. General Toral knew of the arrival of General Miles, and
with this knowledge came the impression, strongly urged on the part
of the American emissaries, that further resistance on the part of the
Spanish commander could only result in a useless loss of life.

The answer of the Spanish commander was that his home gov-
ernment had not yet given him permission to surrender the city, and
that, if the Americans could not wait any longer, he and his men would
die fighting. A joint bombardment by the army and navy therefore
was promptly begun.

The response of the Spanish guns to the firing of the Americans
on sea and shore was feeble. When the Americans fired with small
arms the answer was more vigorous, but Shafter's lines were well
protected with sandbags, and not much damage was done. The ves-
sels of the fleet kept up a rain of shot and shell on the water forts
and the approaches to the city, and the artillery was used much more
than smaller arms in the trenches.

This bombardment continued until the afternoon of the second
day. Then another flag of truce was hoisted over the city, and the
general impression was that Toral was about to surrender, but he
only asked for more time. Generals Miles and Shafter held a con-
sultation. Another truce was consented to, and, at last, on July 14th,
General Toral agreed to surrender the city on condition that the

THE CONDITIONS OF THE SURRENDER 395

Spanish army be returned to Spain at the expense of the United
States. On July 16th, the agreement of surrender, the points of which
had been communicated by cable to Washington and Madrid, and
had been approved, was signed in duplicate by the commissioners of
both sides.

THE CONDITIONS OF THE SURRENDER.

The conditions of the surrender involved the following points :
(1) The 20,000 refugees at El Caney and Siboney to be sent back to
Santiago, (2) An American infantry patrol to be posted on the
roads surrounding the city and in the country between it and the
American cavalry. (3) Our hospital corps to give attention, as far
as possible, to the sick and wounded Spanish soldiers in Santiago.
(4) All the Spanish troops in the province, except ten thousand men
at Holguin, under command of General Luque, to come into the city
and surrender. (5) The guns and defenses of the city to be turned
over to the Americans in good condition. (6) The Americans to
have full use of the Juragua Railroad, which belongs to the Spanish
Government. (7) The Spaniards to surrender their arms. (8) All
the Spaniards to be conveyed to Spain on board of American trans-
ports with the least possible delay, and be permitted to take portable
church property with them.

The American army took formal possession of the city of San-
tiago on the morning of July 17th. General Shafter had notified
General Toral of his wish in this regard, and no obstacle was inter-
posed. At 8.30 o'clock on the morning of that day, therefore, Gen-
eral Shafter, accompanied by General Miles, General Wheeler and
General Lawton approached Santiago on foot, walking down the
road from headquarters in a leisurely manner. Under a great mango
tree, just outside the walls of the city, they were met by General
Toral in full uniform, accompanied by nearly 200 officers. The com-
manding generals faced each other, and General Toral, speaking in
Spanish, said :

"It is by fate that I am forced to surrender to the American
army the city of Santiago."

General Shafter replied :

" I receive the city in the name of the Government of the United
States,"

336 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

This was all of the simple ceremony which transferred the
ancient capital of Cuba to our forces. The officers of the Spanish
General wheeled about and presented arms as General Shafter, with
the American officers and troops that had been chosen for the occa-
sion, passed on into the city and to the Governor's palace.

That picturesque building is in the centre of the city fronting
the Plaza, at the other end of which stands the Cathedral. The
watching soldiers in the American trenches could see their com-
manders as they proceeded in the direction of the Plaza, and all
along the lines they gave voice to cheer after cheer.

In front of the palace about 3,000 persons had gathered to see
what was going to take place. The Civil Governor, the Mayor of the
city, the Chief of Police, and perhaps two score of the minor officials of
the municipality were waiting with the rest. There were also pres-
ent some of the English and French residents of the city. Irrepressi-
ble cheers by American sympathizers were objected to by some of the
Spaniards, and one or two fist-fights occurred. But the trouble was
|uelled almost as soon as it began.

After the Americans had arrived at the palace, the Archbishop
of Santiago, the most powerful ecclesiastic in Cuba, accompanied by
ten priests, came forward, gravely saluted General Shafter, and
entered into conversation with him, the Archbishop speaking excel-
lent English.

Preceding the formal ceremony of handing over the city to the
Americans, luncheon was served at the palace. The only Cuban
present at any of the ceremonies was General Joaquin Castillo and
one of his aides, who were the personal guests of General Shafter.

RAISING THE FLAG OVER SANTIAGO.

Just before noon, Lieutenant Miley, General Shafter's chief of
staff, disappeared from the crowd at luncheon, and shortly afterward
every one went out on the plaza in front of the palace, where Ameri-
can cavalry and infantry were drawn up. General Shafter and the
other Americans, followed by the Spanish military officers and offi-
cials, took up a position in front of the soldiers. Lieutenant Miley
appealed on the top of the palace, accompanied by two other
officers.

RAISING THE FLAG OVER SANTIAGO 397

Every eye was riveted upon them as they stood silhouetted
against the sky. Every voice was hushed expectantly, and then, as
the great bell of the tower of the Cathedral grave the first stroke of
12, Lieutenant Miley ran the Stars and Stripes up to the top of the
staff which had before known only the emblem of Spain. Its folds
spread to the southwest breeze, and as it fluttered there, all hats were
i removed, and Americans and Spanish officials alike stood bare before
the flacr of the victor.

As the last stroke of the hour tolled out, the military band played
the " Star Spangled Banner," following it up with "Three Cheers for
the Red, White and Blue," Again and again the soldiers cheered,
and so did more than half of the people. The crowd was composed
largely of men and women of a half-starved appearance, most of
whom seemed to be grateful that the Americans were in possession
of the city, evidently anticipating that their days of hunger and
misery were over. One enthusiastic Cuban started the cry, "Viva los
Americanos !" and hundreds of his compatriots joined in the acclaim.

As the American flag floated over the city, one of the batteries
of artillery at the right centre of the American line fired a national
salute. As the guns thundered, our 20,000 men, from the Third Regi-
ment on the left of the line, to the Eighth Regiment far off on the
El Cobre road on the west, yelled, cheered, shouted, threw their hatr
in the air, and jumped up and down. The soldiers stood on tlx
crests of the trenches, which they had won at the cost of so many
lives, and, though they could not be seen from the city, their cheer;
were easily caught by the ear, and it was thus made plainly evident
how completely Santiago and the Spanish army had been hemmed in.

After cheering the flag on the palace, the soldiers in the city
cheered for General Shafter and for the army as a whole. General
Shafter and his officers then left for the American camp, and soldiers
were assigned to patrol duty in the city.

The navy also had its share in the ceremonies of surrender.
Admiral Sampson had received requests from every small vessel in
the fleet for permission to enter the harbor, but the danger from sub-
marine mines was not yet well defined, and nothing but launches were
allowed to enter. Three of these felt their way into the harbor, pass-
ing the wreck of the Reina Mercedes and the Merrimac, with only her

393 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

topmasts above the water, and so on up the bay, at the head of which
the surrendered city lay. They arrived in time to take part in the final
cheering. They found the army already in possession of everything.

The only war vessel in the harbor was the small gunboat Alvarez,
which mounts a modern 4-inch gun forward and a machine gun aft.
The Spaniards requested that the American flag be not raised on her
until all her crew had left her. This request was granted. The Span-
iards took the boat up to the dock and all disembarked. Lieutenant
Marble then ran up a new American flag on the vessel, and a ship of
war was added to our navy. The Lieutenant also took possession of
all the other vessels in the harbor. One of them was a big steamer
that had been used as a transport ; the others were two tugs, four
lighters, twelve schooners, and a number of small boats. The Ameri-
can flag was raised on all of them.

Lieutenant Marble boarded the gunboat which had been cap-
tured and returned on her to the fleet. He had with him two Spanish
officers who knew all about the mines in the harbor. On the way
down the bay he told them of the destruction of the Spanish fleet at
Manila. They said that the Spanish official reports declared that
Admiral Montijo had won a glorious victory at Manila, and that, if
the soldiers in Santiago had known of the Spanish defeat in the
Philippines, they would not have been so willing to fight the
Americans.

Before the gunboat reached the sea, the men on the vessels of
Sampson's fleet saw American infantrymen and cavalry at Morro Cas-
tle and on the side batteries. They knew then that the surrender was
complete, and the sailors added their full quota of cheering to the
shouts that had been sent up by the soldiers. Some of the vessels
moved up close under the castle, and then they saw for the first time
the awful havoc their guns had wrought.

The Morro was literally a pile of ruins — at least on the side next
the sea. The rock on which it had been built had crumbled to dust
wherever shot and shell had struck ; there was a dozen holes in the
lighthouse, and the building around the semaphore had been com-
pletely destroyed. All but two of six guns that had been mounted
on a battery to the east of the castle were wrecked. This battery
was protected by barrels of sand, and it was evident that the reason

HAVOC wkuuoHi BY OUR oUJVS 399

the Spaniards had shot too high in answering the American fire was
that some of the sand barrels in front of the guns were so high that it
was necessary to greatly elevate the guns in order to shoot over
them. Several of the guns were dismounted, the earth was badly
torn up, and the sand bags were ripped open in many places.

Inside the harbor entrance some tremendous holes were seen
that had evidently been made by the coughdrops administered by the
Vesuvius on Dr. Dynamite's prescription. The first close inspection
of the wrecks at the entrance of the harbor revealed the fact that the
Reina Mercedes did not block the channel. Further examination
showed two twelve-inch holes in her side, plainly establishing the fact
that she was sunk by one of our ships, and not by the Spaniards
themselves. The Spanish officers volunteered to help remove or
explode the mines in the harbor. Four had been exploded against
the Merrimac, but there were yet half a dozen that were dangerous.
There were also several contact mines at the right of the Merrimac,
going in. Those on the left of the Merrimac, the Spanish officers
said, had been removed to let Admiral Cervera's fleet out. Half a
dozen launches from the warships went about with the Spanish offi-
cers, and eventually the mines were made harmless.

An incident of the surrender was the raising of a Cuban flag on
the western end of the fortifications known as water batteries. This
was discovered on board the New York, and orders were sent to
haul it down. It was an American victory on land and sea, and Old
Glory was the only flag to float.

Meanwhile the soldiers left on duty in Santiago had restored
comparative order. Immediately upon hoisting of the Stars and
Stripes over the Governor's palace the refugees began to crowd back
into the city, and the Spanish soldiers began to leave. They did not
pretend to go in any sort of marching order, and as they reached the
rifle-pits they stacked arms and went into camp. They spent the
time in good-natured chaffing with the men they had been seeking to
destroy, and ate greedily of the hard-tack that was given them.
General Linares and General Toral were not in the city when our
flag was hoisted. They remained in houses outside of the town, and
they remained there until a transport was ready for them to go on
board.

400 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

The formal surrender of Santiago and its possession by the
army of the United States was announced to the Government at
Washington by General Shafter, as follows :

" I have the honor to announce that the American flag has been
this instant, 12 noon, hoisted over the house of the civil government
in the city of Santiago. An immense concourse of people was
present, a squadron of cavalry and a regiment of infantry presenting
arms, and a band playing national airs. A light battery fired a salute
of twenty-one guns. Perfect order is being maintained by the
municipal government. The distress is very great, but there is little
sickness in town and scarcely any yellow fever.

" Battalions of Spanish troops have been depositing arms since
daylight in the armory over which I have a guard. About 7,000
rifles, 60.000 cartridges, and many fine modern guns were given up.

" This important victory with its substantial fruits of conquest
was won at a loss of 1,593 men killed, wounded and missing. Law-
ton, who had the severe fighting around El Caney, lost 410 men;
Kent lost 859 men in the still more severe assault on San Juan and
the other conflicts of the centre ; the cavalry lost 285 men, many of
whom fell at El Caney. The feint of Aguadores cost 37 men. One
man of the signal corps was killed and one wounded. Trying as it is
to bear the casualties of the fight, there can be no doubt that in a
military sense success was not dearly won.''

In forwarding to the War Department at Washington a copy of
the agreement between the American and Spanish commissioners for
the surrender of Santiago, General Shafter stated that the men, sur-
rendered by Toral, numbered between 22,000 and 23,000, about 6,000
more than the Americans themselves. The following is his report of
the situation as he found it after the surrender :

,;The city of Santiago is simply a network of fortifications at
every street corner. I had no proper conception of its strength until
I went into it, although I knew those old stone towns were naturally
very strong. Everything is going admirably, so far as the transfer is
concerned, and the Spanish troops are behaving well. They seem
perfectly delighted with the idea of returning to Spain.

" I send you a copy of a telegram of General Linares to his
Government, which one of the Consuls gave me. It shows the straits

GENERAL Sti AFTER SENDS TtiE MEWS 401

in which the Spaniards were and the feeling that animated them. He
stated the case exactly. I did have him so surrounded that it was
impossible for him to get away, and I could wait, and he could not.

" To-morrow morning- I shall send out to receive something over
2,000 men about thirty miles in the interior, and in two or three days
we shall send to Guantanamo to receive the 7,000 who have surren-
dered there. There are also about 800 men each at Baracoa and
Sagua de Tanamo, on the north coast, to whom I will send an officer
with a Spanish guide to take their arms and military supplies.

" We have secured a great deal more than I had any idea of get-
ting in the way of munitions of war. In everything except food the
Spaniards were well supplied. My only fear is that we shall have
some sickness, and it is for that reason that I have wired so earnestly
about getting the prisoners away so that we can go up into the moun-
tains with our soldiers, fifteen or twenty miles, at the end of the rail-
road, at San Luis, which is said to be very healthy. It is at any rate
about 1,500 feet above the sea, and has communication by rail with
Santiago.

" Of those here who served throughout the Civil War, all declare
they never had anything that could compare with it for hardship.
With only one set of clothes, officers have been, until now, rained on
nearly every day, carrying three days rations, like the men, on their
persons, and suffering every privation in addition to all the horrors
of disease in an unknown land, and very limited accomodations in
case of sickness or injury. The spirit shown by the whole army has
been simply grand."

The following schedule of ordnance surrendered at Santiago was
officially reported to the department at Washington :

Rifles. — Spanish Mausers, 16,902 ; Argent, 872 ; Remington,
6,118.

Carbines. — Mausers, 833 ; Argent, 84 ; Remington, 330 ;
Revolvers, 75.

Ammunition for small arms. — Mauser rifles, 1,500,000 cartridges ;
Argent rifles, 1,471,200 cartridges; Remington rifles, 1,660,000
cartridges.

The worthless small arm ammunition amounts to 973,000

cartridges.
22

402 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

Forty-four smooth-bore siege guns and 5 mortars were also cap-
tured, besides 30 bronze, 10 cast-iron and 8 steel guns, all rifled.

Projectiles captured. — Solid shot spherical 3,55 1 ; shells spherical,
678 ; shells cylindrical, 1,879 ; shrapnel, 437.

GENERAL LINARES' PITIFUL STORY.

The cablegram of General Linares to the Government at Madrid,
referred to by General Shafter as having disclosed the true state of
affairs at Santiago, before the surrender was written by the Spanish
Commander while confined to his house by reason of wounds received
in battle. It was sent to Madrid by way of Havana, and is there-
fore presumed to have had the endorsement of General Blanco.
It certainly set forth the situation in a deplorable light, and those
who afterward entered the city agreed with General Shafter that it
presented actual facts. The dispatch in full is as follows :

To the Minister of War ; —

" Although prostrated in bed by excessive weakness and sharp
pains, I am preoccupied to such an extent by the terrible condition
of these long-suffering troops that I consider it my duty to address
your Excellency the Minister of War in order to expose the true
condition of affairs.

" The enemy's position is very strong, and his outposts are very
close to the limits of this city. The natural formation of the sur-
rounding country gives our besiegers great advantages. Our lines
extend fourteen kilometers.

" Our troops are attenuated and the proportion of sick is con-
siderable, but they are not allowed to go to a hospital, owing to the
necessity of keeping them in the trenches. Our horses have no grain
or forage. Under a veritable deluge we remained for twenty hours
at a stretch in the trenches and breastworks, soaked to the marrow,
with no earthly shelter or protection possible for the unfortunate
soldiers, who eat nothing but rice, and cannot even change or dry
their clothes.

" The great losses among our officers — either dead, wounded,
sick or disappeared — deprive our men of the neccessary direction and
command at critical moments.

GENERAL LINARES' PITIFUL STORY 403

" Under such conditions it would be impossible to attempt to
break through the enemy's ranks, as one-third of our men are too
feeble to walk, and would have to be left behind, while the rest would
be decimated and routed by the superior forces of the enemy. The
result of such an attempt would be a wholesale slaughter and disaster.
The attempt would utterly fail in the object desired by your Excel
lency, which is the salvation of these eleven thinned and impover-
ished battalions.

" In order to attempt a sortie under the protection of the Hol-
guin division, it is in the first place necessary for those forces to
break through the enemy's ranks and reinforce ours before we could
move. On the other hand, the Holg-uin forces would have ahead of
them eight days of forced marches, and would have to bring a great
quantity of commissary supplies and rations, which it would be im-
possible for them to do. Altogether the gravity of the situation is
appalling. The surrender of the town is inevitable ; a prolonged
resistance would simply mean a protraction of our death agony. The
sacrifice would be sterile and fruitless.

"The enemy appreciates our position perfectly, and, with our
lines circumvented and walled in as securely as they are, he is able to
drain and wipe out our forces without exposing his own, as he did
yesterday, cannonading us with vertical fire, while we could not see
or make out his batteries. Moreover, his navy has our range down
to so fine a point that his ships can bombard the town by sections
with mathematical precision.

"Santiago de Cuba is not Gerona, which was defended inch by
inch to the last drop of blood by women and children, by the old and
by the feeble, all moved by the sacred spirit of independence, and
animated and encouraged by the hope and promise of relief, which
they did actually receive.

" Here solitude alone reigns. The total population, native as
well as Spanish, has left the city. Not only have private individuals
abandoned it, but public officials and Government employes as well.
The clergy alone remain within our wall, and they, too, are preparing
to flee to-morrow, with their prelate at their head.

" Our troops are not starting to-day, fresh and vigorous, full of
energy and enthusiasm, on a campaign ; they are men who have

404 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

struggled three long years against climatic perils, fatigue, hardships,
disease, and hunger, and who to-day. when called to face these trying
and critical conditions, are wasted away in body and soul, with no
earthly means or possibility of relief.

" They are fighting without spirit or nerves. They have no
sacred fire, no ideal to defend, for the very property they are called
upon to defend and protect has been abandoned before their eyes by
its veritable owners, many of whom are allied to the American
forces, strengthening those ranks against ourselves.

" The honors of arms and of war have limits, and I appeal to
the judgment of the Government and of the whole nation as to
whether these troops have not given repeated illustrations of cour-
age, valor, and devotion, and whether they are to be further sacrificed
for a lost cause.

" If, for reasons of which I am ignorant, their sacrifice is
demanded, or if some person is required who will assume the respon-
sibility for the inglorious end predicted in my former despatches, I
offer myself loyally on the altar of my country, to assume command
and responsibility in either case, and I will, if necessary, be alone
answerable for the surrender of this place, as my modest reputation
is of small value compared with the national welfare.

Linares."

the surrender must have come.

The entry into Santiago, and the discovery of the exact situation,
as so pathetically described in General Linares' dispatch, was a source
of great gratification to the army. Every one was convinced that,
if General Toral had not voluntarily relinquished the defense of the
city, he would have lost it by force of arms within forty-eight hours
of fighting, and that too, without a great loss to the Americans. The
position of the besiegers had been constantly improved. The invest-
ment of the city had daily been growing more and more complete.
Not only had the lines been stretched further and further around, but
they had been advanced and set in better places. The artillery had been
put in most effective stations, so that, if firing had begun again, awful
damage would have been inflicted. Many of the Spanish lines had been
enfiladed, so that they could have been swept clear in a short time.

ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION 405

The enemy appears to have known all this, for the certainty of a vast
destruction and the unavoidable necessity of an early capitulation
undoubtedly led Toral to yield when he did.

The plight among the Americans who were sick was pitiable in-
deed, but there were enough well men to have taken Santiago with
less ado than many may have thought possible. Sick and well alike,
profited immediately from the surrender. A day's ration for some of
the soldiers consisted of five or six pieces of hard-tack, two potatoes
and an onion, but the pack trains began to come in regularly just
before the surrender, and with them came not only food of better
variety and quality, but many appliances for the sick and wounded.
Quantities of rations were distributed among the refugees every day,
at least until they began to pour back into the city, and everybody
was glad indeed when the tension was relaxed and the matter of
supplies could be systematized.

ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION.

A Cuban woman from El Caney staggered into the camp of the
Ninth Cavalry on the morning of the surrender. She was pale and
pinched, and the ragged silk dress that half covered her attenuated
body spoke no more of past luxury and refinement than did her
features, her despair, and her utter exhaustion. She did not ask for
food. She wanted work. She washed clothes from the hospital tent
for half a day in return for food, and sat down to the welcome army
fare with hands bleeding from the unaccustomed labor. At dusk she
turned wearily back toward El Caney, six miles away, richer, at least, by
one meal. There had been many visits paid to the camps by Cuban
soldiers, but none of them were as willing to work for what they got
as this poor woman.

On the afternoon of the surrender of Santiago, the relief ship
State of Texas came up the harbor loaded with food enough to
give something to eat to every one within the city. She was moored
at the principal wharf, opened her ports, and began to issue food to
the people who thronged to her side. Questions to the applicants
were unnecessary. Their emaciated faces and eager eyes told that
they were desperately hungry. The plight of the children was par-
ticularly pitiful. The skin was drawn tight over their pinched faces,

406 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

and the eyes of many of them had an unnatural lustre. They
stretched forth their skinny hands timidly, and the beseeching look
in their eyes went straight to the heart of every American. The
Spanish soldiers did not openly beg for food, but when questioned
they said earnestly that they were hungry, and when food was given
to them they devoured it ravenously.

The supplying of food to the destitute was soon reduced to a
system, and the policing of the city of Santiago was rapily placed
upon a satisfactory basis. There was no offensive display of military
force by the American soldiers, and the occupation of the city was
practically accomplished without disturbance. There was no scarcity
of liquor in the town, but it was not sold openly. There was no
clashing between the forces that had been so bitterly opposed to each
other, and thus within thirty days after the landing of Shatter's army
on Cuban soil, the entire province, as well as the city of Santiago,
was in the peaceful possession of our arms.

THE EXCHANGE OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON.

Among the incidents preceding the raising of the Stars and
Stripes at Santiago was the exchange of Lieutenant Hobson and the
seamen who had composed the crew of the Merrimac when she was
sunk in the harbor. Hobson and his men were held as prisoners of
war by the Spaniards until the 6th of July ; the fleet of Cervera had
been sunk, the battles of Guasimas, El Caney, and San Juan Hill had
been fought, and these brave sailors were shut away from the active
operations. Several efforts had been made to secure their exchange,
but for some time these efforts were unavailing. Admiral Cervera
had taken such a deep interest in Hobson's exploit that it was tacitly
understood that he had become personally responsible for the hero
of the Merrimac, and there was no doubt, after the first few days,
that an exchange would eventually be made.

It was thought at first that the Spanish Government would
excuse their delay in consenting to an exchange on the ground that
Hobson had had full opportunity during his detention to observe the
character of the defences, and to gather other military information
that might be disastrous to the Spanish, if disclosed to the American
naval and military commanders. Captain-General Blanco, in Havana,

THE EXCHANGE OF LIEUTENANT HOBSON 4°7

authorized a statement to this effect , but the point was made on the
part of the United States that this reason would, of course, disap-
pear upon the capture of Santiago, and when Cervera's fleet had been
destroyed, and the surrender of the city was only a matter of time,
it was easier for an exchange to be brought about.

On the morning of the 6th of July the Spanish authorities con-
sented to make the exchange, and a truce was established for that
purpose. The place selected for the exchange was under a tree
between the Spanish and American lines, two-thirds of a mile beyond
the entrenchments occupied by the Rough Riders, near General
Wheeler's headquarters. The American prisoners left the Reina
Mercedes Hospital, on the outskirts of Santiago, where they had
been confined after their first week or so in the Morro, just before
3 o'clock in the afternoon, in charge of Major Irles, a Spanish staff
officer, who spoke English perfectly. The prisoners were conducted
to the meeting place on foot, but were not blindfolded. The Spanish
prisoners to be exchanged were Lieutenants Volez and Aurelius, both
of the Twenty-ninth Regiment Infantry, -who had been captured at
El Caney on the preceding Friday, and Lieutenant Adolfo Aries, of
the First Provisional Regiment of Barcelona, one of the most aristo-
cratic organizations of the Spanish army. There were also fourteen
non-commissioned officers and privates. Lieutenant Aries and a
number of the men had been wounded in the fight at El Caney, but
none of them seriously. The Spanish prisoners were brought through
the American lines mounted and blindfolded, in charge of Colonel
John Jacob Astor and Lieutenant Miley, accompanied by Interpreter
Maestro.

The meeting between Colonel Astor and Major Irles was
extremely courteous and extremely formal. No attempt was made by
either of them to discuss anything but the matter in hand. To Major
Irles was given a choice of one of the three Spanish lieutenants in
exchange for Hobson ; and he was also informed that he could have
all of the fourteen men in exchange for the American sailors. Lieu-
tenant Aries was selected, and the other two Spanish officers were
conducted back to Juragua.

The exchange took place at 4 o'clock. Just as the two parties
were separating, Major Irles turned and said, courteously enough, but

4o8 THE SURRENDER OE SANTIAGO

in a tone which gave his hearers the impression that he desired hos-
tilities to be renewed at once :

" Our understanding is, gentlemen, that this truce comes to an
end at 5 o'clock."

Colonel Astor looked at his watch, bowed to the Spanish officer,
without making any reply, and then slowly started back to the Amer'
can lines, with Hobson and his companions.

WILD WELCOME FROM AMERICAN TROOPS.

The meeting of the two parties and the exchange of prisoners
had taken place in full view of both the American and Spanish sol-
diers who were entrenched near the meeting place, and the keenest
interest was manifested in the episode. As Hobson and the men of
the Merrimac approached the first line of entrenchments, which hap-
pened to be occupied by the Rough Riders, low murmurs ran from
one end of the line of cowboys and athletes to the other, and by the
time the party reached them every man was on his feet cheering
wildly and rushing over every obstacle that chanced to be in the way, in
the effort to reach Hobson and his party and grasp them by the hand.

The released prisoners were soon surrounded. They were com-
pelled to stop and receive the greetings, congratulations and heart-
felt handshakings of men they had never seen before. Sunburned
cavalrymen who had spent their lives on the plains, and who did not
know the difference between a ship's maintop, bilge or keel, threw
their arms around the sailor boys and literally dragged them over the
entrenchments, all the time sending out yells that, under other cir-
cumstances, might well have struck terror to hearts even as gallant as
the heroes of the Merrimac.

In the entrenchments next to the Rough Riders were the Sev-
enty-first New York Volunteers, and Hobson and his men now had
to run the gauntlet of their greeting. Almost immediately afterward
the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry, both colored regiments, joined in the
general enthusiasm, and cheer after cheer arose as Hobson and his
companions forced their way through the lines of white and colored
soldiers.

Hobson, as far as possible, grasped each hand extended toward
him, and neither he nor his men made any protest against the uncom-

HOBSON MEETS GENERAL SHAFTER 409

fortable crowding and jostling which they had to undergo. If the
young officer, whose home is in Alabama, had any race prejudice
he certainly forgot all about it as he passed through the lines of
soldiers.

These prisoners, so recently set free, saw only the uniforms of
the United States army, and the Southerner who had distinguished
himself so gallantly cared not for the color of the wearers of the uni-
form. He grasped the hands of the colored cavalrymen and ex-
pressed his thanks for their patriotic welcome with as much hearti-
ness as he displayed toward men of his own color. He and all of
his men were completely overcome by the reception accorded them,
and tears rolled down their cheeks as the soldiers crowded around.

When the crew of the Merrimac approached Grimes' Battery, a
great cry went up for the firing of a salute in their honor. Hobson
protested against this, and called out to the artillerymen, who had
caugrit the infection, not to fire their gains. Some of the more en-
thusiastic soldiers, however, appealed to Colonel Astor, and he, enter-
ing into the spirit of the occasion, told the men they need not obey
Hobson's orders, as he was " only a lieutenant anyway." The offi-
cers of the battery, however, prevented the men from firing the guns
for fear the Spaniards might mistake it for the re-opening of the
attack, and if the latter had responded the American soldiers were in
no position, in their state of disorder and enthusiasm, to repel an
assault.

HOBSON MEETS GENERAL SHAFTER.

Hobson first paid his respects to General Wheeler, who was
nearest at hand, after which he started for General Shafter's head-
quarters, still accompanied by his men. Word of the coming of the
party ran along ahead of them, and regiment after regiment lined up
to greet and hail the heroes. On the way to Shafter's position they
met Captain Chadwick, of the New York, and Lieutenant Staunton,
assistant chief of staff, who had been conferring with General Shafter,
and who were then on their way to visit the firing lines. Warm
greetings were exchanged by the naval officers, and Hobson pressed
forward. After a short visit to General Shafter, Hobson rode to
Siboney, off which place the New York was lying. Here he and his
men were greeted with another tremendous ovation.

4io THE SURRENDER OF SANTL4G0

The single street of the little village was blocked with soldiers,
Cuban camp followers and sailors from the transports. Cheer after
cheer went up for Hobson and his sailors. They kept up a continu-
ous smiling, bowing, all the while insisting that they had merely done
what every American soldier or sailor would do if the opportunity
offered.

Hobson's reception on board the New York was equally enthusi-
astic as it was throughout all the fleet. He had very little to say
about himself, but one thing he did say was that from his place of con-
finement in the hospital, after being taken from Morro Castle, he saw
the battle of the preceding Friday, and, as he looked on that gallant
charge of the Rough Riders and the colored troops of the Tenth
Cavalry up the San Juan Ridge, he had said to himself that none but
American soldiers could have won such a victory.

Lieutenant Hobson impressed all who met him with his evidently
sincere desire not to have the incident of the sinking of the Merrim t£
made more of than a simple performance of a sailor's duty. He
talked in a straightforward manner about the incident, and did not
seem to think that he and his men had been in any great danger while
confined in Morro.

" In Morro," said Lieutenant Hobson, "we were confined in cells
in the inner side of the fortress, and were there the first day the fleet
bombarded the castle. I could only hear the whistling of the shells
and the noise they made when they struck, but I judged from the
conversation of the shards that the shells did considerable damage.
After this bombardment Mr. Ramsden, the British Consul, protested,
and we were removed to the hospital. There I was separated from
the other men in our crew and could see them only by special per-
mission. Montague and Kelly fell ill from malaria two weeks after we
were captured, and I was permitted to visit them twice. Mr. Rams-
den was very kind to us, and demanded that the sick men be removed
to better quarters in the hospital. This was done. As for myself
there is little to say. The Spanish were not disposed to do much for
any of the prisoners at first, but, after our army had taken some of
their men as prisoners, our treatment was better. Food was scarce
in the city, and I was told that we fared better than the Spanish
officers."

THE FIRST TROOPS IN CUBA 4' I

The announcement of the exchange of Lieutenant Hobson and
his men was officially made to Washington by General Shafter as
follows :

Playa del Este, July 6, 1898.
Headquarters Fifth Army Corps.
Secretary of War, Washington :—

Lieutenant Hobson and all of his men have just been received
safely in exchange for one Spanish officer and other prisoners taken by
United States All in good health, except two seamen convalescing
from remittent fever. Shafter,

Major- General, Commanding.

THE FIRST TROOPS IN CUBA.

The engagements which resulted in the capture of Santiago
were the last battles that took place on Cuban soil. It was only two
months, however, before this that the first landing of troops had
been made. A portion of the First Regiment, U. S. Infantry, did
the fighting in the original instance., and the vessel on which they
proceeded from Key West to Cuba, was the Gussie.

The commander of the expedition was Colonel J. H. Dorst,
U. S. V., and the troops accompanying him were as follows :

Company E, First Infantry. 60 men and Captain J. J O'Connell
and Second Lieutenant W. M Crofton ; Company G, First Infantry,
60 men and Captain M. P. Phister, First Lieutenant F. E. Lacey
and Second Lieutenant D E. Nolan. The object of the expedition
was to effect a junction with the Cuban troops that were supposed to
be in the western part of the island, and to provide for the landing of
stores and ammunition for the insurgents.

One bright May morning, the Gussie left Key West and
essayed to make a landing on the north coast of Cuba, a little to the
east of Mariel. The Cubans on board, who were to be put on shore
at the first opportunity, to act as scouts and guides for the expedi-
tion,made an inspection of the lay of the land from on shipboard, and
decided that they would prefer to land elsewhere. The whole
country-side seemed to know of the coming of the expedition.
Whenever the Gussie got anywhere near the shore, a Spanish
soldier would take a shot at her, but without effect, and as the vessel

412 THE SURRENDER OF SANTIAGO

proceeded on down the coast, squads of Spanish cavalry could be
seen keeping her in sight, evidently determined to prevent the carry-
ing out of her plans. Off Cabanas a drizzling rain began to fall
which soon turned into a regular drenching tropical downpour. After
that, nothing more was seen of the Spanish cavalry, and the com-
mander of the Gussie decided to land his scouts at Arbolitos Point.

FIERCE FIRING IN THE JUNGLE.

Three Cuban scouts went off first in a light skiff, to show the
way over the reef, but their boat was capsized, and they had to swim
and wade to shore. Two boats carrying about 40 men of Company
E, commanded by Captain O'Connell and Lieutenant Crofton, next
started. O'Connell's boat was upset on the reef and Lieutenant
Crofton's command therefore, was the first to land upon Cuban soil.
Captain O'Connell presently reached the beach about 300 yards to
the right.

Both parties went ahead in skirmish lines and dissappeared from
the sight of those on board the Gussie in a network of shrubbery.
Two minutes later the silence was broken by heavy volleys of mus-
ketry followed by the sharp cracking of skirmish firing. It was hard
to tell exactly what had happened, but evidently the skirmishers ha I
stumbled upon Spaniards in the jungle.

The advancing Americans had clambered over a line of Spanish
rifle-pits, unoccupied, but when Captain O'Connell and his party
finally came out upon a grass-grown road, they encountered about 50
Spanish guerillas, some mounted and some on foot, all evidently
pushing on with the greatest haste to reach the rifle-pits.

The guerillas were the first to fire. One bullet found lodge-
ment in the arm of a newspaperman, but all the rest went wild of
their mark. Our men, facing about and firing at ease, brought down
four of the Spaniards. The exhibition of marksmanship thoroughly
demoralized the guerillas, who made off into the jungle, firing wildly
as they retreated. Private Metzler, of Company E, brought down
the commanding officer of the band, who proved to be a Lieutenant
of that crack corps, the Civil Guard.

Lieutenant Crofton and his command now came up from the
left and both commands gave chase to the fugitives. The gunboats

FIRED UPON FROM AMBUStf .^

tore the jungle and the chapparal at the right of the skirmishers with
shot and shell, and the infantry fired half a dozen volleys in the same
general direction. Now and again a shot came back in reply, but the
Spaniards were more fleet of foot than accurate of aim, and nothing
more was seen of them.

The first action of the war fought on Cuban soil between
Spanish and American troops resulted decidedly in favor of the
United States. The enemy had lost at least four dead, whose bodies
were seen, and doubtless more were killed or wounded by the heavy
firing from the vessels. Lieutenant Crofton brought back with him
to the Gussie, as prisoner of war, a charcoal burner who had given
the first landing party misinformation, and who was thought to have
been a decoy in the pay of the Spaniards.

Another incident of this expedition took place after the Cubans
had been landed who were to make the connection with the camp of
their compatriots. The Gussze, still proceeding along the coast,
caught sight of a white flag, extended to the breeze from a tall palm
tree. It would be waved for a minute or two and then vanish, but
only to reappear, some moments later, a few hundred yards to the
westward.

FIRED UPON FROM AMBUSH.

The commander of the Gussze, and many others on board, looked
upon this as a signal from Cuban friends who were kindly guiding
the expedition toward a safe place for further landing, but suddenly,
when the Gussie had been lured to within 300 yards of the beach, the
Spaniards opened fire from two field batteries concealed in the jungle
of shrubbery and vines. In this instance, as usual, the Spaniards
displayed very poor marksmanship, and no damage was done.

Their presence and their readiness, however, convinced those in
charge of the expedition that the stores and ammunitions on board
the Gussie could not be landed with any assurance of their escaping
the Spaniards. The land had been approached at three points where
meetings with the insurgents had been pre-arranged, and in each
case the Cubans had not been able to keep their engagement. In
view of the Spanish force along the coast it would have been poor
policy for them to have appeared, so the Gussie flew to the breeze
the homeward bound pennant and sailed back to Key West.

CHAPTER XXII
The Campaign in Porto Rico

General Miles' Plans for the Invasion of the Island. — Preliminary Operations by
Sampson's Fleet. — Bombardment of San Juan de Porto Rico. — Miles in Charge
ot the Army Expedition. — Troops Meet with but Little Resistance. — Spanish
Officers and the People Cheer the American Flag. — Capture of Towns, and
Movements of the Army. — The First Steps Toward Peace, in Washington. — The
French Ambassador Consults our President and Secretary of State on Behalf of
Spain. — As the Guns of Pennsylvania Troops were being Placed in, Position for a
Battle, Word Came from Washington, Announcing that Fighting Must Cease. —
The Last Scenes and Shots of the War.

WHEN Santiago surrendered, the attention of the army and
navy was turned toward Porto Rico. The power of the
United States had already been manifested there, through
the naval arm of its service, by the bombardment of San Juan, the
capital of the island, about two months earlier.

When the fleet of Cervera was known to be at sea somewhere
between Spain and the West Indies, it had been thought advisable
to make sure that San Juan should not be a fit stopping place for the
coming Spanish men-of-war ; and, moreover, it had been deemed wise
to obtain a moral effect that could not be overlooked by letting the
world in general, and Spain in particular, see something more of what
Uncle Sam's gunners could do.

At midnight of May 3d the fighting squadron of Admiral Samp-
son left Key West eastward bound. The Admiral really hoped to
meet the Spanish fleet at Porto Rico, and, by destroying it, to strike
such a blow to Spain as would force her to sue for peace. In any
event the other objects enumerated were to be accomplished, so there
was nothing of the nature of an experimental excursion about the
expedition.

Sampson had with him the New York as his flagship, and the
battleships Iowa and Indiana, the monitors Amphitrite and Terror,
the cruisers Montgomery and Detroit, and the torpedo boat Porter.

4i5

41 6 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

The cruise was slow from the start. On the iith the fleet crossed
Mona Passage. At 5 o'clock that afternoon the Admiral moved his
flag to the Iowa, issued orders for the disposition of the vessels of the
fleet, and waited for the morning.

In the dim light of early dawn, the Morro (for every Spanish
port seems to have a castle of this name) loomed up like a gray moun-
tain of stone as the Iowa steamed slowly across the channel under
its euns. The sentinel on the watchtower could be heard Enving
the alarm to the city and garrison. General quarters had been
sounded on board the vessels at half-past four, and, though it was not
yet sunrise, the order was given to hoist colors as the vessels were in
motion, and, just as the Detroit passed the point of Morro, " Old
Glory" was flaunted in the face of the enemy.

THE FIGHT BEGINS.

Almost on the minute of 5 o'clock the Iowa fired the first shot
of the engagement. Quick as a flash the Dons answered, and the
fight was on. With the Iowa in the lead, the big battleships steamed
slowly by and delivered their broadsides. It was a sort of a reveille
that the Spaniards were not used to being awakened by ; but they
were not slow in getting into action, and their responses to the guns
of the Americans were a long way from feeble.

The line of the big battleships was just fifty-five minutes in pass-
ing, and, during that time, the Detroit stood still and allowed herself
to be used as a target for the guns from the entire range of forts. It
was this that caused Captain Bob Evans to remark to Admiral Samp-
son on the bridge of the Iowx: "The Detroit is the cramecock of the
squadron." As the Iowa passed, however, the Detroit got under way
and slowly moved out, and presently her guns were doing their full
share in the bombardment.

From the topmast of the Iozoa streamed in brilliant colored flags,
"Remember the Maine." Behind her came the hu^e Indian r, of
such enormous bulk that she rode almost steady even upon that heav-
ing sea. Then followed the ATczv York, almost as formidable as a
battleship, the low-lying monitors Amplntnie and Tenor, with the
Montgomery and Porter marking the limits of the course over which
this line of seafighters was passim

£>•

MANCEUVEkMG DURING THE FIG tit 41 ?

First the starboard broadsides were brought to bear. One of
the great 13-inch guns of the Iowa belched forth flame, and a shell
sailed high toward Morro. It fell short, but the response was a
roar from all the batteries and forts along the shore. It was a
tremendous burst of sound and smoke and flame — a shower of shells
that wasted themselves in the sea. So wild was the volley that even if
the Iowa had been within range, none of the shots would have hit her.

Presently, however, all the vessels drew in nearer to the shore.
Each ship was now firing, and each shore gun was answering. The
Spanish aim was wild, but the American gunners fired with the calm-
ness and precision of experienced target practice. The fleet and the
shore were soon enveloped in smoke. Only outlines could be made
out ; but it was apparent that, while the Spanish shells issued from
the smoke of the shore to fall into the sea, the American shells rushed
from the fleet's envelope of smoke to bury themselves in the smoke
on shore, and, now and then, as the wind drifted the thick gray cur-
tain aside, it could be seen that the American ships were uninjured,
and that on shore the line of fortifications, that had at first been
unbroken, was torn and ruined in many places.

NO GREAT DAMAGE DONE.

When the Iowa came up to the "stakeboat," she turned and led
the column back again across the line of fire, and the above scene
was thus repeated again and again. The Spanish shells did not all
go wild, though none of them did any great damage. One shell
struck a boat on the Iowa, passed through it and entered the super-
structure, scattering splinters in every direction. Three men were
injured, Admiral Sampson and Captain Evans were on the lower
bridge, and narrowly escaped the flying fragments.

In all, the Iowa was hit nine times. She was struck once by a
14-centimeter shell at a distance of about 5,000 yards. The shell
came over the stern of the ship, broke off an 8-inch iron stanchion,
demolished a wooden boat in which it exploded and set fire to the
canvas covering and the splinters that had been made. The shell
itself burst into many pieces. One fragment went downward and
struck near the port S-inch waist gun where 12 men were stationed.
One man was killed and several others injured.

4i 8 THE CAMPAIGN IM PORTO RICO

After two hours of this sort of work the day had become furi-
ously hot, so hot that men were fainting below the decks and at the
guns. The gunners were streaming with perspiration. A gunner's
mate on the Ampliitrile was overcome, and died in a few hours. But
the battle went on. The fire from the ships was unabated. Many
of the Spanish guns were silenced, but when the shore batteries
could be seen it was evident that the Spanish gunners were becoming
demoralized. They seemed to be drunk with fury. They loaded
and fired like madmen, without aiming, without any appearance of
discipline or direction, and seemed to be in such a crazed condition
that they performed such absurd acts as waving their swords, shaking
their fists and discharging pistols at the warships that were pepper-
ing them from far out in the harbor.

The man on the watchtower of the Morro, who had driven the
alarm to the city, stood at his post through the whole fight, and it
was said on board the vessels that his bravery was so much admired
that no one made any special effort to dislodge him from the eyrie to
which his duty had assigned him. He marched up and down on the
parapet through all the three hours rain of shot and shell, and was
still there when the fleet, satisfied that the defences of the harbor had
been badly crippled, and knowing that the city had been set on fire
by the bombardment, ceased firing and drew away.

Next day, at St. Thomas, it was ascertained that San Juan had
been practically destroyed. Nothing had been seen of Cervera's
fleet and Admiral Sampson had thought best, after inflicting the
punishment of this eventful day, to leave the enemy to their own
devices for the present. No further operations were carried on
against any portion of Porto Rico until two months later when
General Miles and General Brooke invaded the island at another
point.

THE EXPEDITION TO CONQUER THE ISLAND.

The operations against Porto Rico, following the destruction of
Cervera's fleet and the surrender of Santiago, were largely prompted
by the desire of the United States not to enter empty-handed
into a peace parley. It was plainly evident to the authorities at
Washington that the end of the war was near at hand, and the pos-
session of Porto Rico was an important desideratum. To bring

EXPEDITION TO CONQUER THE ISLAND 4*9

about this possession three expeditions were sent. The first, under
General Miles, sailed from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 21st; the
second, which was part of General Brooke's command, sailed from
Charleston also on July 21st, with General Ernst as brigade com-
mander, and the third, under General Brooke himself, embarked at
Newport News, on July 26th.

All these expeditions, aggregating about 11,000 men, were con-
voyed by warships and were successfully landed. The first, under
General Miles, reached Guanicaat daylight on July 25th. A Spanish
force attempted to resist the landing, but a few well-directed shells
from the Massachusetts, Gloucester and Columbia soon put the enemy
to flight. The Gloucester (formerly J. Pierpont Morgan's yacht
Corsair), commanded by Lieutenant Commander Wainwright, was
then headed into the port with orders to send a party on shore.

The harbor of Guanica is a veritable haven of rest, with high
mountains for a background, a bay of considerable extent, a plateau
of cultivated meadow land stretching from the beach to the mountains,
a score or so of prettily painted houses on the line of the shore, a
sugar mill on the right, a blockhouse distant a couple of miles on the
left, and, directly in front of the place, a smaller blockhouse, before
which floated the Spanish flag.

The Gloucester made direct for this flagstaff. When she came
to a stop, thirty men, under Lieutenant Huse, were sent ashore in the
launch. The Spaniards began to fire upon them. The Americans
replied with their rifles and machine guns, and several shots were
also fired from the vessels in the harbor. This served to scatter the
Spaniards from the vicinity of the flagstaff, around which the Ameri-
can sailors soon rallied, pulled down the red and yellow flag of Spain,
and hoisted the Stars and Stripes.

This action on the part of the Americans seemed to greatly
enrage the Spaniards. They set their gunners at work right merrily
in all the little batteries along the shore, and their soldiers fired from
around the corners of the houses in the town, but the American ves-
sels continued to fire into their midst, and the landing party quickly
threw up an entrenchment across the street, mounted a Colt rapid-
fire gun on its centre, tangled some barbed wire in front of this im-
provised entrenchment, signalled for reinforcements, and then opened

420 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

fire with the Colt. The result was that five of the enemy were killed,
while not one American was even wounded, and no further resistance
was made on the part of the Spaniards.

General Miles then went on shore and personally superintended
the landing. Boatload after boatload of men, and long strings of
boats, towed by the steam launches of the Massachusetts, made for
the shore. The troops formed into companies and promptly occu-
pied points of vantage in the neighborhood. A strong detachment
of troops was sent to Yauco, a small place about five miles inland,
which forms the western terminus of the railroad leading to Ponce,
15 miles distant, due east. The troops accompanying General Miles
from Guantanamo were batteries C and F of the Third Artillery, and
B and F of the Fourth Artillery, Loniras' Battery of the Fifth Artil-
lery, the Sixth Illinois Volunteers, the Sixth Massachusetts, 275
recruits of the Fifth Corps, 60 men of the Signal Corps and Seventh
Hospital Corps — 3.415 men all told.

It had been expected by the War Department at Washington
that the first landing in Porto Rico would have been made at Fajardo,
but General Miles cabled by way of St. Thomas that the circum-
stances were such that he had deemed it advisable to take the harbor
of Guanica first. There was considerable friction in connection with
this change in the programme, which some of the Washington
authorities claimed had been made unwisely by General Miles, but
the General of the army, being upon the spot, evidently considered
himself the best judge of the situation.

THE SURRENDER OF PONCE.

General Miles arrived at Port Ponce, having marched with his
division from Guanica on the morning of July 2$th. General Ernst's
brigade and General Wilson's division of the First Army Corps, which
had left Charleston on the 2 1st, arrived the same morning. They
found the port already under American control. It had been surren-
dered to Commander C. H. Davis, of the gunboat Dixie, on the 27th.
There was no resistance, and the Americans were welcomed with
enthusiasm. General Ernst's brigade immediately started for the
town of Ponce, three miles inland, which also promptly capitulated,
and where a still warmer welcome was given t0 the invaders.

THE CUSTOM HOUSE. PONCE. PORTO RICO, AFTER THE RAISING OF THE AMERICAN

FLAG BY GENERAL MILES.

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A PROCLAMATION 423

Ferdinand Toro, the British Consul, acting in behalf of the
Spaniards, placed the city in the possession of General Miles, with
whom was General James H. Wilson, commanding the First Division
of the First Army Corps. The scene was more like one on a gala
day than one involving the surrender of a city. A majority of the
residents remained in the city to welcome the Americans. The cere-
mony was unique. General Miles and General Wilson, by a pre-
arranged plan, had been driven from the American headquarters at
Port Ponce to Casa del Rey, in the city proper, where Consul Toro
and the Mayor awaited them. The bombero, or city fire brigade, was
drawn up opposite the casa, and as General Miles and General Wilson
left their carriages the fire brigade band played a Sousa march. Guards
in front of the building forced away for the American generals, and
through the cheering crowd they marched into the building.

Consul Toro said to General Miles that the citizens of Ponce
were anxious to know if the same municipal officers and system as
had been in vogue would be continued temporarily. He was assured
that municipal affairs would not be disturbed for the time being, but
it was explained that all would be responsible to General Wilson, as
Military Governor, who would keep the city under a form of martial
law which would be oppressive to none.

General Miles and General Wilson then stepped out on the
balcony to view the square. The crowd cheered wildly, and the two
American generals hastily withdrew. They received an ovati&n as
they made their way back to headquarters, and all that afternoon the
Porto Ricans continued to arrive in carriages, on bicycles and on
foot to cheer the generals and the troops. General Miles' principle
of purchasing or renting everything used by the army had a most ex-
cellent and immediate effect, and this was enhanced by the prompt
employment of several hundred natives as stevedores.

A PROCLAMATION.

General Miles added still further to the good understanding
between the Americans and the Porto Ricans by issuing the follow-
ing proclamation :

" In the prosecution of the war against the Kingdom of Spain
by the people of the United States, in the cause of liberty, justice

424 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

and humanity, its military forces have come to occupy the island of
Porto Rico. They come bearing the banners of freedom, inspired by
a noble purpose, to seek the enemies of our Government and of
yours, and to destroy or capture all in armed resistance.

" They bring you the fostering arms of a free people, whose
greatest power is justice and humanity to all living within their fold.
Hence they release you from your former political relations, and, it
is hoped, insure your cheerful acceptance of the Government of the
United States.

" The chief object of the American military forces will be to
overthrow the armed authority of Spain and give the people of your
beautiful jsland the largest measure of liberty consistent with this
military occupation. They have not come to make war on the people
of the country, who for centuries have been oppressed, but, on the
contrary, they bring protection not only to yourselves, but to your
property, promote your prosperity, and bestow the immunities and
blessinos of our enlightenment and liberal institutions and grovernment.

" It is not their purpose to interfere with existing laws and cus-
toms, which are wholesome and beneficial to the people, so long as
they conform to the rules of the military administration, order and
justice. This is not a war of devastation and desolation, but one to
give all within the control of the military and naval forces the advan-
tages and blessings of enlightened civilization."

One of the first acts of General Wilson, as Military Governor of
Porto Rico, was to release the political prisoners. One of these was
charged with having cut the telegraph wire between Ponce and San
Juan the night before the Americans arrived and would have been
killed on the following day. The first thing these political ex-
prisoners thought of, when once they breathed free air again, was to
see their friends and relatives ; the next was vengeance. They
promptly corralled the Spaniards who had put them into prison, and
dragged them before General Wilson, expecting no doubt that they
would immediately be put to death, but General Wilson released the
Spaniards and told the Porto Ricans that the redress they expected
was not his to give.

There came also to General Wilson, a large delegation of Porto
Rican priests who wanted to know what provision the United States

ENTHUSIASM AT YAUCO 425

Government intended to make for the churches. The Military
Governor informed them that, under the Constitution of the United
States, no appropriations could be made to religions organizations,
and that the churches would have to support themselves. The
editors of several newspapers also came to General Wilson to ask, if
they must suspend publication, but the General told them to " go
ahead and print the news."

While these matters were running so smoothly at Ponce, how-
ever, General Garreton's brigade, which had remained in the vicinity
of Guanica, had a spirited engagement on skirmish lines, July 26th.
The Americans were making an advance upon Yauco when they
were met by the enemy and a lively fifteen minutes' fight ensued.
Four men of the Sixth Massachusetts were wounded, but none
seriously, while three of the Spaniards were killed and thirteen were
wounded. Yauco was reached on the 28th, and was then added to
the towns that were fast coming into American possession.

ENTHUSIASM AT YAUCO.

At Yauco the enthusiasm of the Porto Ricans was even more
marked than at Ponce. When the Spaniards had been driven away
the citizens greeted the soldiers with as much enthusiasm as if they
had been men of their own blood returning from victory over a com-
mon enemy. The Mayor of the town promptly issued the following
proclamation :

"Citizens! — On to-day the citizens of Porto Rico assist in one of
her most beautiful fetes — the sun of America shines upon our moun-
tains and valleys this day of July, 1898. It is a day of glorious
remembrance for each son of this beloved isle, because for the first
time there waves over us a flag of the stars, planted in the name of
the Government of the United States of America, by the Major-
General of the American army, Senor Miles.

" Porto Ricans, we are by the miraculous intervention of the God
of the just, given back to the bosom of our mother, America, in
whose waters Nature placed us as people of America. To her we
are given back in the name of her Government by General Miles,
and we must send her our most expressive salutation of generous
affection through our conduct towards the valiant troops represented

426 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO KICO

by distinguished officers and commanded by the illustrious General
Miles. Citizens, long live the Government of the United States of
America. Hail to their valiant troops ! Hail, Porto Rico, always
American. "Alcalde Francisco Megia."

" Yauco, Porto Rico, United States' of America.

This proclamation was acted upon by the people without hesita-
tion. All day the bands played in the public square, the balconies
were filled with people, and dancing with the soldiers was the popular
amusement of the Porto Rican belles. At night the town was illumi-
nated, and half a dozen receptions were given. The only disturbing
elements were reports that came in from time to time that the
Spaniards had been re-inforced and were coming back, but the
American soldiers speedily dispelled these fears and the revelry went
on till longr after midnight.

Guanica had been the first town captured, Ponce was next sur-
rendered, and Yauco was third. The fourth town to be taken posses-
sion of was Juan Diaz. This was captured by the Sixteenth Pennsyl-
vania Volunteers, under command of Colonel Willis J. Hulings,
subsequently promoted to a Brigadier-Generalship in recognition of
his services here and at Coamo. This was the first Pennsylvania
regiment to get a baptism of fire. The Tenth had not yet gotten
into any engagements in Manila, and the Fourth, which was part of
the Second Brigade of General Wilson's division, did not get an
opportunity at this early date.

On August ist, Arroyo was added to the captured towns. It
came into the possession of the United States without a struggle.
When the sun rose over the picturesque village that morning, it was,
nominally at least, in possession of the Spanish, but the gunboat
Gloucester arrived at 9 a.m., sent a landing party on shore, and before
noon the Stars and Stripes were flying over the Custom House. The
only two declared Spaniards in the place — the Captain of the port
and a priest — were brought out to the Gloucester as prisoners, but
were released on parole. A city judge and His Honor the Mayor
were subsequently discovered and similarly treated.

A careful investigation of the neighborhood disclosed the fact
that, if there had been any Spanish soldiers there, they had made
good their escape before the appearance of the gunboat, but the

FIGHTING FOR THE PENNSYLVANIANS 427

Gloucester, not wishing to seem to have made such an easy capture,
dropped a couple of shells into the woods above the town, where
half a dozen horsemen were seen toward evening, and if these were
a squad of Spanish cavalry, they speedily joined the main body of
their command somewhere far away, for no resistance of any sort was
offered.

Six or eight miles to the westward of Arroyo was the more im-
portant town of Guayama. This fell into the hands of General Brooke
the day after he landed with General Haines' brigade, where the
Gloucester had made sure of a clear footing, at Arroyo. In this
brigade were the Fourth Ohio, the Third Illinois, and the Fourth
Pennsylvania. There was a garrison of 250 at Guayama, and General
Brooke determined to send an adequate force there rather than take
any chances that the strength of the garrison had not been under-
estimated. A message was sent demanding the surrender of the
place, and word came back that the Mayor of Guayama was consider-
ing the advisability of complying with the demand. It was not con-
sideration that General Brooke was looking for, however, but surren-
der. Therefore, leaving the Fourth Pennsylvania at Arroyo, General
Haines was ordered to take the Fourth Ohio and Third Illinois to
Guayama. These regiments appeared in front of the town on August
5th, had some slight skirmishing with the enemy, and obtained pos-
session without strong resistance. Three privates of the Fourth Ohio
were wounded in the skirmishing, none of them seriously.

FIGHTING FOR THE PENNSYLVANIANS.

The town of Coamo was captured on August 9th, after half an
hour of fighting, by Generals Wilson and Ernst. General Wilson
devised the method of attack, supervised the performance in person,
and was one of the first to enter the town after its surrender. The
troops under him, comprising General Ernst's brigade, were the
Second and Third Wisconsin and the Sixteenth Pennsylvania. They
left camp at 6 o'clock in the morning, taking with them two batteries
of artillery with which they began a cannonading of the town with a
view to disclosing the strength of the opposing force. The Sixteenth
Pennsylvania, however, had the good fortune to do all the real fight-
ing. They were guided in their advance upon Coamo by Colonel

42S THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

Biddle and Captain Gardiner of General Wilson's staff, and reached
the town ahead of the Wisconsin Volunteers.

Suddenly, emerging from behind a hill back of the town, they
saw a line of Spanish rifles aimed at them. Then came the crash of
a volley, the ping and whistle of bullets and a scramble for cover.
The Americans had no shelter, while the Spaniards had a perfect
breastwork in a bank of earth, which had been thrown up by the road-
builders to protect the gutter of the road from being washed away,
but the American fire was very effective. There was among the
Spaniards about a dozen mounted men and officers, and in a few
minutes all of them had been shot down. Six of the horses were
found dead and all wounded. The Second Battalion of the Sixteenth
Pennsylvania now emerged upon the road beyond the Spaniards, and,
as soon as the entrapped Dons saw themselves surrounded, the whole
line fluttered with white signals of surrender. Major Windsor ac-
cepted the surrender, and had them drop their arms and accoutre-
ments in piles in the middle of the road. The prisoners included
one major, one captain, three lieutenants, and 162 enlisted men,
nearly all of whom belonged to the Twenty-fifth Battalion of the
Spanish Infantry.

The Spanish wounded were cared for at the same time with
those of the Americans who were hit. Dead and wounded were
both taken to one of the official road houses near at hand. There
were five dead Spaniards on the road, and one more died soon after
the surrender. The Americans had a number of men slightly
wounded, most of them, however, being merely clipped by the
shower of Mauser bullets. Five had to go to the hospital, all
privates of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania, except Corporal Barnes, of
Company E, whose abdomen was cut by a Mauser bullet as if by a
knife.

The Spanish dead were treated with the highest respect. Sur-
geon Major John McG. Woodbury, of General Wilson's staff, took
charge of their burial, and gave full permission to the Spanish chap-
lain and the local priests to conduct the services in any manner they
chose. The bodies of the officers were sent to Ponce for burial, the
others were interred in the cemetery at Coamo with all the cere-
monies of the Catholic Church,

NOT A VERY CORDIAL RECEPTION 429

The noise of the firing between the Spaniards and the Sixteenth
Pennsylvania was plainly heard in the town, and, when General Wil-
son and the rest of the troops appeared on the outskirts, the alcalde
was there to offer the place in surrender. Generals Wilson and
Ernst slept that night at the residence of the alcalde, and the troops
passed on through the town and made camp in the direction of
Aybonito.

NOT A VERY CORDIAL RECEPTION.

The reception of the Americans in Coamo was not as cordial as
it had been in Ponce or at Yauco. Many of the people were in the
streets and some shouted welcomes, but there was a much greater
reserve than in places previously occupied. This was due, in a great
measure, to the misbehavior of some of the American soldiers who
first entered the town. Some of them went into the stores and
eating houses, seized what they wanted, and went off without paying
for it. The result was that the stores soon closed, and it was not
possible for any one to buy a thing to eat The action of the soldiers
in this regard was strongly condemned by General Wilson, but the
offenders could not be identified.

Meanwhile General Schwan, with a force of 1,300 men, including
regulars of the Eleventh Infantry, two batteries of regular artillery
and one troop of regular cavalry, had started from Guanica, where
General Miles had made his landing and was undertaking- a some-
what independent expedition in the direction of Mayaguez. This
expedition possessed one or two peculiarities. A Brigadier-General
commanded what was barely more than a single regiment. It included
all three arms of the service, and it was accompanied by a wagon
train. Moreover, it kept moving, and was constantly confronted with
a force which was its numerical equal, if not its superior.

It occupied Savana Grande and San German practically without
opposition, but about six miles beyond San German, midway between
that place and Mayaguez, the enemy was met in considerable force.
A hamlet at this point, bearing the name of Hormigueros, boasted
an army barracks, the headquarters of a Spanish battalion, which is
practically the equivalent of an American regiment in its numerical
strength. Here an engagement took place. There was a bit of
sharp infantry firing, with a slight casualty list for both sides. It

430 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

was not much of a fight, but it put the American Hag in the place of
the red and yellow over a Spanish military edifice. The Spaniards
might have stopped the Americans twenty times within the next few
miles. They might have decimated the invading ranks by guerilla
firing, but they seemed to have been terror-stricken by the appear-
ance of an army which fired as it moved forward and moved forward
always.

For General Schwan did not stop for a grand celebration at
Hormigueros. He left a small detatchment as garrison and went on
his way. This detatchment might easily have been swallowed up by
a return of the Spaniards from their flight across the hills, but they
seemed to have been too much interested in eettine somewhere else.

Mayaguez was occupied practically without resistance, and the
army pushed on toward Aguadilla and Lares. Anasco was occupied
and Aguarda virtually so. The Spanish troops fell back on Lares,
with the Americans in hot pursuit. They were overtaken on the
banks of a river near Las Marias where an engagement took place in
which the Spanish are known to have lost five killed and fourteen
wounded, though later reports were to the effect that the losses from
the American firing and from death by drowning in crossing the river
were many times that number. Another twenty-four hours would
undoubtedly have found General Schwan in possession of Lares and
Aguadilla, and in control of all the western part of the island, but the
truce had been declared before these points were reached. The
American losses throughout this whole campaign amounted to two
men killed and one officer and seventeen men wounded.

TRUCE IS DECLARED.

The truce had been brought about, it will be remembered, as the
result of the advances made by the French Ambassador in Washing-
ton, on the part of the Government of Spain, on July 26th, asking
President McKinley upon what terms he would consent to peace.
This was two davs before Ponce surrendered to General Miles, but
the result of the negotiations was still problematical. Two days later,
on July 30th, President McKinleys statement as to the conditions on
which he would agree to end the war was given to the French
Ambassador.

SUNRISE EXECUTIONS

Outside the prison walls, Havana. Weyler's way of getting
rid of prisoners.

A MARKET GIRL, PORTO RICO.

A VOLANTE, THE TYPICAL CUBAN CONVEYANCE.

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TRUCE IS DECLARED 433

The proposition submitted by the Ambassador, acting for the
Spanish Government was general in its terms. It was confined to
the one essential point of an earnest plea that negotiations be opened
for the purpose of terminating the war and arriving at terms of peace.
The communication of the Spanish Government did not suggest any
specific terms of peace, nor was there any reference made to Cuba,
, the Philippines, Porto Rico, or other Spanish possessions.

The evident purpose of the Madrid authorities was to first learn
whether the United States would treat on the subject of peace, and
after that to take up such terms as the two parties might suggest.
Neither was there any suggestion from the Spanish Government
that an armistice be established, pending the peace negotiations. It
was generally expected, however, that if formal peace negotiations
were entered upon a cessation of hostilities would occur.

Owing to the importance of the communication, the French
Ambassador adopted the usual diplomatic procedure of reading the
communication of the Spanish Government from the original, a trans-
lation being submitted at the same time. In the conversation which
followed the reading of the proposition, neither the President nor the
Ambassador entered upon the question of the terms of peace. The
instructions of the Ambassador confined him to the one essential
point of opening peace negotiations, and it was evident that the
President desired to consider the proposition before giving any defi-
nite reply. It was finally determined that the President should con-
sult his Cabinet concerning the proposition and that M. Cambon
would be invited to the White House for further conference and for
a final answer from the Government of the United States.

On July 30th the answer of the American Government to Spain
was handed to the French Ambassador. It included the following
propositions: The absolute surrender of Porto Rico to the United
States ; relinquishment of Spanish sovereignty in Cuba ; the cession
of several small islands adjacent to Cuba and Porto Rico to the United
States ; the cession of one of the Ladrone Islands to the United
States as a coaling station, and the leaving of the disposition of the
Philippine subject to future negotiations.

The Government of the United States did not put forward any
claim for pecuniary indemnity, but required the relinquishment of all

434 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

claim of sovereignty over or title to the island of Cuba, as well as the
immediate evacuation by Spain of the Island. The United States
announced its intention to occupy and hold the city, bay and harbor
of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which would
determine the control, disposition and government of the Philippines.
It was also provided, that, if these terms were accepted in their
entirety by Spain, commissioners would be named by the United
States to meet commissioners on the part of Spain for the purpose of
concluding a Treaty of Peace on the basis indicated.

THE PROTOCOL SIGNED.

On August 9, 1898, the Spanish Cabinet approved the terms for
preliminary negotiations, and this acceptance of the conditions was
communicated to President McKinley. On August 12th, protocols
agreeing as to the preliminaries for a Treaty of Peace were signed by
Secretary of State Day and the French Ambassador, United States
naval and military commanders were ordered to cease hostilities, and
the negotiation of a permanent peace was begun. The full text of
the protocols was as follows :

" 1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and
title to Cuba.

" 2 That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West
Indies and an island in the Ladrones, to be selected by the United
States, shall be ceded to the latter.

"3. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay
and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a Treaty of Peace
which shall determine the control, disposition and government of the
Philippines.

" 4. That Cuba, Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West
Indies shall be immediately evacuated, and that commissioners, to be
appointed within ten days, shall, within thirty days from the signing
of the protocol, meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to
arrange and execute the details of the evacuation.

"5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint not
more than five commissioners to negotiate and conclude a Treaty of
of Peace. The commissioners are to meet at Paris not later than
October 1st.

A PROCLAMATION 435

" 6. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be suspended
and notice to that effect will be given as soon as possible by each
Government to the commanders of its military and naval forces."

The proclamation declaring the existence of an armistice was as
follows :

"By the President of the United States of America:

I A PROCLAMATION.

"Whereas, By a protocol concluded and signed August 12, 1898,
by William R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, and
His Excellency Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleni-
potentiary of the Republic of France at Washington, respectively
representing for this purpose the Government of the United States
and the Government of Spain, the United States and Spain have
formally agreed upon the terms on which negotiations for the estab-
lishment of peace between the two countries shall be undertaken; and,

"Whereas, It is in said protocol agreed that upon its conclusion
and signature hostilities between the two countries shall be suspended,
and that notice to that effect shall be given as soon as possible by
each Government to the commanders of its military and naval forces;

" Now, Therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United
States, do, in accordance with the stipulations of the protocol, declare
and proclaim on the part of the United States a suspension of hos-
tilities, and do hereby command that orders be immediately given
through the proper channels to the commanders of the military and
naval forces of the United States to abstain from all acts inconsistent
with this proclamation.

"In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be affixed.

"Done at the city of Washington, this 12th day of August, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight,
and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and
twenty-third.

[seal] "William McKinley.

"By the President.

"William R. Day, Secretary of State."

436 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO PICO

This armistice proclamation was followed at once by orders from
the War and Navy Departments to the several commanders in the
field and of the fleets, directing that all operations be suspended.
Identical cablegrams were sent to General Miles in Porto Rico, Gen-
eral Shafter in Cuba, General Merritt in the Philippines, and to
Admirals Sampson and Dewey ; but it was in Porto Rico that the
principal operations were going on at that time, and it was there that
the effect was most interesting.

General Miles was at Ponce when the news of the signing of the
protocol was cabled from Washington. Generals Brooke and Wil-
son, with their brigades, were further afield. General Wilson had
received instructions from General Miles to demand the surrender of
Aybonito whenever he felt that the position warranted such a demand.
With the view, therefore, of making a demonstration in force, and
also for the sake of developing the enemy's position, General Wilson
had, on the morning of August 13th, ordered Major Lancaster to
take a battery of the Third Artillery, advance from the outskirts of
Coamo, where they had been in camp, and shell the Spanish position
at that place and Aybonito Pass.

IN A SHOWER OF LEADEN BULLETS.

These positions were very strong, consisting of a series of rifle-
pits along the crests of the mountains overlooking the military road
for miles. The enemy also had several fieldpieces, modern guns of
small calibre, mounted behind earthworks. As the horses of the
battery galloped up the road, the enemy's infantry, from the pits on
the mountains, showered bullets all about them. Four of the guns
were unlimbered off the road, behind a natural fortification in the
shape of a ridge, while the fifth gun was taken further above and
unlimbered at a turn within plain sight of the Spanish position, though
the horses and caissons were sheltered by a high bank on the roadside.

Within two minutes all five euns were thundering at the hill on
which the enemy's artillery was located. Instantly came the reply.
Shells screamed over the heads of the Americans for the thirty
minutes that the duel continued. Our fire was so well directed that,
after half a dozen shots, only one of the Spanish guns replied.
Twenty minutes later this also was silenced, and the Spaniards could

GENERAL BROOKE'S EXPERIENCE 437

be seen fleeing from the trenches and making for the rifle-pits on the
left. The rifle-pits were promptly shelled and a sharp fire was returned
for a few minutes, but silence presently prevailed along the entire
Spanish line. General Wilson then ordered the artillery to cease
firing. This was about 3 p.m. Another section Of the battery was
then ordered up the road, and when it reached the point whence the
former firing had taken place, the enemy began a fusillade, and all
three of the American batteries were at once turned loose upon them
until silence ultimately reigned supreme.

General Wilson then sent Colonel Bliss, his chief of staff, into
Aybonito under a flag of truce to demand the surrender of the city.
Colonel Bliss delivered the demand and reported to General Wilson
that the commandant had said : " If you want to save the further
shedding of blood, stay where you are."

General Wilson promptly ordered the artillery to unlimber again,
and the gunners were making preparations to fire when the message
was received from General Miles, notifying General Wilson of the
signing of the protocol and the ending of hostilities. The artillery-
men were so put out by being stopped from again attacking the
Spaniards that many of them wept.

Meantime General Brooke had been operating in the vicinity of
Guayama, and his experience at the final moment of the war was
equally interesting. He had instructed General Haines to advance
with the Fourth Ohio and the Third Illinois from Arroyo with a
view to ascertaining the truth of a report to the effect that the
enemy's troops had gathered in considerable force, at a point about
five miles distant up the military road to San Juan. The Fourth
Pennsylvania, under Colonel David Brainerd Case, was left at Arroyo
as a temporary garrison, this being the only other regiment in General
Haines brigade. After proceeding about half the distance to the
reported point of interest the Third Illinois was left as a reserve, and
the Fourth Ohio proceeded along the main road, General Brooke
and his aides being in advance of the column.

The day was beautiful. A slight breeze cooled the air and tem-
pered the heat of the sun. A peculiar haze covered the hills with a
bluish veil. There was nothing to break the stillness for a while, but

presently a sharply singing "pstwing" was heard over the heads of the
24

438 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

soldiers, a sound which nearly every one took for the whizzing of a
Mauser bullet. One of the General's aides, however, called attention
to a telegraph wire that had sagged by the roadside, and he insisted
that it had been cut, but the discussion was immediately ended by
the arrival of a great many messages, not over the wire, but through
the air, and the soldiers then knew that the enemy were watching
and intending to oppose their progress.

The range of the enemy's fire was evidently a long one, as many
of the bullets lay spent at the very feet of the invaders, and the
report of the Mausers was not heard until long after the song of the
bullet. No smoke or flash could be seen in any direction. It was
some time before the enemy's exact position could be ascertained.
This sort of thing kept up for about an hour. Finally the Spaniards
retreated toward the hills and took up positions behind rocks, from
which they did some pretty brisk firing. The dynamite guns were
finally brought up, five shells were thrown into the midst of the
enemy, and this silenced them effectively.

This engagement occurred on August i8th. Two days later
another advance was made along the San Juan road to a point where
the Spaniards could be seen, distinctly with a glass, throwing up
entrenchments on the opposite hills ; also small bodies of them mov-
ing about upon the side of the mountain some three or four thousand
yards distant. The Fourth Ohio, under Colonel Coit, was at the
head of the column. The road along which they were proceeding
was cut from the face of the hill. The last company was about to
pass through two open ledges in which the road was laid, when a ter-
rific volley fire was opened from the Spanish entrenchments. Colonel
Coit and two members of General Brooke's staff, who had ridden up,
took shelter behind a small house by the roadside, and the rest of the
command lay flat upon their faces. A gutter or trench by the side of
the road was the only cover. Into that rolled the men, and finally,
by its cover, managed to crawl around the bend to a place protected
from the enemy's fire.

The firing line was soon formed, however, the wounded were
brought back, and a few well-directed volleys told the enemy that
they were not to have it all their own way. In a few minutes the
dynamite guns were once more brought up. These caused the

THE FINAL OPERATION 439

Spanish to retreat. Several of the men of the Fourth Ohio were
slightly wounded in this engagement, but none were killed, and there
was never any means of ascertaining the effect of the American fire
upon the Spanish lines at this point.

THE FINAL OPERATION.

The final operation was on the morning of the 13th of August,
when General Brooke, who had come up to General Haines' position
again, with three batteries of artillery and two troops of cavalry,
ordered a concentrated movement upon the enemy's position. The
orders for this movement had been issued on the night of the 12th.
They were that the troops should be in readiness at 6 a.m. for the
advance in the direction of San Juan. There was little sleep that
night. The route had been reconnoitered, and the reports that had
been made upon it indicated that serious work was to be expected.

The military road along which the advance was to be made was
a winding affair with deep cuts. Often there was a sheer wall of two
hundred feet rising on one side, while across the road would be a
descent of perhaps three times that distance. The road led directly
over the mountains, and on every advantageous spot along that road
of ten miles, the Spaniards had planted batteries that could not be
seen from the road and were unapproachable in any other way.

Some of these entrenchments overlooked precipices three hun-
dred feet deep. To get at them, except by way of the road, meant to
scale walls of perpendicular rock. In some places tons of rocks and
boulders were held in place on lofty ledges by great vines and prickly
scrub growth.

From these entrenchments of the Spaniards it was possible to
note every movement of the American troops. The enemy could
accurately determine the strength of the invading force, but an esti-
mate of the force of the enemy was all guesswork. It was only
known that the Spaniards, many or few, were magnificently en-
trenched, and that it was going to be a hard job to rout them.

When the troops were led out of Guayama, on that morning of
August 13th, with General Brooke and his staff at the head, the
streets and balconies were crowded with natives. General Haines,
with some of the infantry, was sent to flank the enemy's position on

440 THE CAMPAIGN IN PORTO RICO

the left, while the cavalry were to perform a similar movement on the
right. General Brooke continued to lead the advance in person.
Part of the time he was on foot, while his staff and horses halted
along the roadside. He carefully scanned the hills with his field-
glass, and others who did the same could plainly see the Spaniards in
their fortifications at points where they had perfect command of the
road. To have taken those hills would have been as memorable a
victory as that of the division of General Lawton at El Caney, or the
dash up the slopes of San Juan, and General Brooke's force was eager
for the chance to take them.

The troops were soon ordered forward, and, clambering up the
steep slope, were formed into a firing line. The batteries followed.
Battery B, of Pittsburg, Pa., having the right of the line, was the first
to begin unlimbering. The guns were soon in place ; their targets
were marked and the range calculated. The cavalry then disappeared
around the hills. General Haines was only a little distance away
with the rest of the infantry. The Spanish position could be plainly
noted. Eagerness and expectation were universal. There was an
almost impressive silence. Even the final orders were issued in a
subdued voice, and everybody believed that the next thing to occur
would be the belching of artillery and a hail of leaden missiles.

THE MESSAGE THAT ENDED THE WAR.

Such was the situation when a mounted officer, closely followed
by his orderly on a mule, appeared around a bend of the road, lashing
his tired steed through the battery. It was Lieutenant McLaughlin,
of the Signal Corps. He rode up to General Brooke, neglecting, in
his haste, to dismount, and said : " An important message, sir."
General Brooke took the message from the hand of the messenger,
read it, passed it to one of his staff, then quietly turned about and
gave the order that the troops return to Guayama.

The contents of the message were soon known to everybody.
They were as follows:

"Port Ponce, August 13, 1898.
"Major- Getter al Brooke : —

" By direction of the President, operations against the enemy are
suspended. Negotiations are near completion. The protocol has

THE MESSAGE THAT ENDED THE WAR 441

been signed by representatives of the two countries. All com-
manders will be governed accordingly.

" By Command of Major-General Miles,

" Gilmore, Chief of Staff."

Not a comment was heard. The soldiers were utterly stupefied.
The retreat was made sullenly, but on the march the disappointed
soldiers, officers and all, used not a little strong language in condem-
nation of their luck.

" Three minutes more," said General Brooke, " and we should
have fired." Just then an enthusiast in the ranks, determined to give
some vent to his feelings, discharged his rifle, and this was the last
shot of the war. General Brooke looked around for a moment, as if
wishing he knew who had committed this breach of discipline, but he
merely smiled, as if perfectly understanding the situation, and led the
troops back to the coast. Thus was the military feature of the expe-
dition to Porto Rico brought to an end, and all that remains to be
told is in connection with the Civil Departments.

CHAPTER XXIII

Porto Rico— Past, Present and Future

The Island and Its Population. — Its Future as a Winter Resort. —Timber in
Abundance and Variety. — Minerals and Mining. — Some Facts about Its
Commerce, which Amounts to over $36,000,000. — The Chief Cities and Towns
of Porto Rico. — Snap-shots of San Juan, the Capital, and of Ponce, the Next
Largest City.

IT was in November of the year 1493, on his second voyage to the
New World, that Columbus landed on a strange island, in quest

of water for his ships. He found it in abundance, and called
the place AquadiMa — the watering place. As he had done at Cuba
the year before, the great discoverer held pleasant conferences with
the natives, and with due ceremony took possession of the island for
his benefactors and sovereigns — Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.
From that day until it was ceded to the United States in 1S98, as a
result of the Spanish-American War, Porto Rico remained one of
the most attractive and valuable of Spain's West Indian possessions.

The simple and friendly natives gladly welcomed their Spanish
invaders, who, with the same promptness which was manifested in
Cuba, proceeded to enslave and exterminate them. In 15 10, Ponce
de Leon founded the first settlement on the site of the present
village of Puerto Viejo. The next year the noted ivader founded
San Juan, the present capital of the island. One of the most inter-
esting sights of this old city to-day is the Casa Blanca, built at that
period as the palatial residence of Ponce de Leon. It was there,
perhaps, after he had finished his conquest of the island, that this
famous old Spaniard listened to the wonderful story of the natives,
who served him as slaves, concerning the mysterious country over
the sea which had hidden in its forests a fountain wherein an old
man might plunge and be restored to all the vigor of youth. It was
there and thus, perhaps, while sitting at leisure in his palace, that de
Leon planned the voyage in search of that "fountain of youth"
which resulted in the discovery and exploration of Florida.

443

444 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND Fl 'Tl'RE

As to the number of natives in Porto Rico when the Spaniards
came old chroniclers differ. Some say there were 500,000, others
300,000. It is all surmise. Probably the latter figure is an over-
estimate, for Cuba, more than ten times as large, was not thought to
Qontain more than half a million of inhabitants at most. A detailed
account of their manners and customs was written by one of the
early Spaniards, and part of it is translated by the British Consul.
Mr. Bidwell, in his Consular Report of 1880. Some of the state-
ments in this old book are most peculiar and interesting. Within the
last forty years archaeologists have discovered many stone axes,
spear-heads and knives, stone and clay images, and pieces of earthen-
ware made by the aboriginal Porto Ricans, and these are preserved
in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, in Berlin, and elsewhere.
It is curious that none of these remains had been found prior to
1856. On the banks of the Rio Grande there still stands, also, a
a rude stone monument, with strange designs carved upon its surface.

From the earliest times, the island, with its rich produce and
commerce, was the prey of robbers. The fierce cannibal Caribs
from the south made expeditions to it before the white men came ;
and for many decades after the Spanish conquest it suffered attacks
from pirates by sea and brigands upon land, who found easy hiding
within its deep forests.

ATTACKS AND INVASIONS BY FOREIGN FORCES.

In 1595, San Juan was sacked by the English under Drake, and
again, three years later, by the Duke of Cumberland. In 161 5,
Baldwin Heinrich, a Dutchman, lost his life in an attack upon the
governor's castle, and several of his ships were destroyed by a hurri-
cane. The English failed to capture it, fifty-three years later ; and
Abercrombie tried it again in 1797, but had to give up the under-
taking after a three days' siege. It was one hundred and one years
after Abercrombie's siege, before another hostile fleet appeared before
and bombarded San Juan. This was done by Admiral Sampson,
May 12, 1898, with the United States squadron of modern iron-clad
battleships and cruisers. In this engagement Morro Castle, which,
though impregnable a hundred years before, was unable to withstand
modern guns, and was in a large part reduced to ruins.

THE ISLAND AND ITS POPULATION 445

General Nelson A. Miles landed his United States troops on
the island in July, 1898, and on the 12th of August, before he com-
pleted his conquest, hostilities were closed by the protocol of peace,
and amid the rejoicing of the natives " Beautiful Porto Rico "
became a province of the United States. The one and only attempt
the Porto Ricans ever made to throw off the Spanish yoke was in
1S20; but conditions for hiding from the soldiers were not so good
as the Cubans enjoyed in their large island, and Spanish supremacy
was completely re-established by 1823.

THE ISLAND AND ITS POPULATION.

Porto Rico is at once the most healthful and most densely popu-
lated island of the West Indies. It is almost rectangular in form —
100 miles long and 36 broad. Its total area is about 3,600 square
miles — a little larger than the combined areas of Rhode Island and
Delaware. Its population, unlike that of Cuba, has greatly increased
within the last fifty years. In 1830, it numbered 319,000; in 1887,
813,937 — about 220 people to the square mile, a density which few
States of the Union can equal. About half of its population are
negroes or mulattoes, who were introduced by the Spaniards as slaves
in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Among the people of European origin the most numerous are
the Spaniards, with many Germans, Swedes, Danes, Russians,
Frenchmen, Chuetos (descendants from the Moorish Jews), and
natives of the Canary Islands. There are also a number of Chinese,
while the Gibaros, or small land-holders and day-laborers of the
country districts, are a curious old Spanish cross with the aboriginal
Indian blood. In this class the aborigines are more fortunate than
ithe original Cubans in having even a trace of their blood preserved.

This island is said to be capable of easily supporting three times
its present population, the soil is so universally fertile and its resour-
ces are so well diversified. Though droughts occur in certain parts
of the island, it is all extremely well watered, by more than one thou-
sand streams, enumerated on the maps, and the dry sections have a
system of irrigation which may be operated very effectually and with
little expense. Of the 1,300 streams, forty-seven are considerable
rivers.

446 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Forests still cover all the elevated parts of the hill country of
the interior, the inhabitants living mostly along the coast. The
main need to set the interior teeming with a thrifty and healthy
population is a system of good roads. The interior, with the excep-
tion of a few extensive savannas, is one vast expanse of rounded
hills, covered with such rich soil that they may be cultivated to their
summits. At present these forests are accessible only by mule
tracks. " The timber of the island," says our official report, " com-
prises more than five hundred varieties of trees, and in the more ele-
vated regions the vegetation of the temperate zones is not unknown.
On the hills is found a luxuriant and diversified vegetation, tree-ferns
and mountain palms being abundant. At a lower level grow many
varieties of trees noted for their useful woods, such as the mahogany,
cedar, walnut and laurel. The mammee, guaiacum and copal,
besides other trees and shrubs valuable for their gum, flourish in all
parts of the island. The coffee tree and sugar cane, both of which
grow well at an altitude of a thousand feet or more, were introduced
into the island — the former from Martinique in 1722, the latter from
the Canaries, through Santo Domingo. Tobacco grows easily in the
lowlands, while maize, pineapples, bananas, etc., are all prolific. The
banana and plantain bear fruit within ten months after planting, and,
like the cocoa palm, live through an ordinary lifetime."

MINERALS AXD MINING.

" The mineral resources of the island," says our consul in his
report, " have been very little developed, the only mineral industry
of any importance being the salt works situated at Guanica, Salinas
and Cabo Rojo. Sulphides of copper and magnetic oxides of iron
are found in large quantities, and formerly gold to a considerable
extent was found in many of the streams. At present the natives
still wash out nuggets by the crude process in use in the time of
Ponce de Leon. Marble, carbonates, lignite and amber are also pre-
sent in varying quantities, and hot springs and mineral waters occur,
the best known ones being at Coamo, near Santa Isabel."

The commerce of Porto Rico amounted, in 1S96. to $36,624,120,
exceeding the records of all previous years ; the increase, no doubt,
being largely due to the unsettled condition of Cuba The value of

REORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT 447

the exports for the same year was, for the first time for more than a
decade, slightly in excess of that of the imports ; the former being
valued at $18,341,430, the latter at $18,282,690. The chief exports
from the island are agricultural products. The principal articles are
sugar, coffee, molasses and tobacco ; while rice, wheat, flour and
manufactured articles are among the chief imports. The value of
the sugar and molasses exported to the United States during the ten
years from 1888 to 1897 made up 95 per cent, of the total value of
the exports to that country. Fruits, nuts and spices are also ex-
ported to a small extent. Of the non-agricultural exports, the most
important are perfumery and cosmetics; chemicals, drugs and dyes;
unmanufactured wood and salt.

The leading article of import from the United States is wheat
flour. Corn and meal, bread, biscuit, meats, dairy products, wood
and its manufactures, iron, steel, etc., are also imported.

GENERAL HENRY REORGANIZES THE GOVERNMENT.

When the American forces took possession of the island a
change was immediately felt, pointing toward a new era of success in
every branch of trade. General Guy V. Henry, " Fighting Guy,"
as he is called, was appointed and established Military Governor of
Porto Rico. He immediately set out to reorganize the affairs of the
Government. How he succeeded is told by Major George W. Fish-
back, Chief Paymaster of the Department of Porto Rico, as follows :

" The management of the island and its affairs commands the
admiration of both natives and Americans. Major-General Guy V.
Henry, who is Military Governor has proved himself to be most
acceptable to both. He is a forceful man and full of the kindliest
sympathies for the native people. He has surrounded himself with a
'cabinet made up of the most intelligent men of the island, and through
them, as representatives of the different branches of the Government,
he rules the island firmly and justly. He summoned the leaders of
the Roman Catholic Church and conveyed to them the fact that he
proposed to have perfect freedom of religious worship in Porto
Rico ; that he would not tolerate any interference with the affairs of
the Roman Catholic Church, nor would he allow that Church to inter-
fere with free religious worship on the part of the Protestant denomi-

448 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

nations. He furthermore served notice upon the Archbishop that he
would expel from the island any priest, or body of priests, who openly
or in underhanded ways made any effort to influence the native
people in questions of religious worship.

" I asked the Minister of Justice the other day in what esteem
General Henry was held among the best people in Government
circles, and he replied that he was very well liked, but was open to
criticism of making his Cabinet officers do more work than they were
accustomed to. The idea of working hours a day, with only a short
interruption for a midday breakfast, was something that Porto Rican
business men are not accustomed to.

UNDER PERFECT CONTROL.

" The whole island is under the most perfect control, under
General Henry's military supervision. Disturbers of the peace have
felt the weight of his iron hand and now appreciate the fact that an
offender will be dealt with quickly and severely if he commits an
offence against either public health or morals. The post office ser-
vice is being extended to all parts of the island, and letters mailed in
San Juan one evening are delivered in Ponce the following night.
General Frederick D. Grant is in command of the district of San
Juan, and, as a result of many inspection trips throughout his part of
the island, has the military body in excellent condition. There is no
sickness to speak of in any of the camps."

General Henry, immediately upon taking charge of affairs, issued
a formal letter to the Presidents and Secretarys of the Council there,
announcing what his program would be for the Government of the
island. In this statement he says, that as far as possible he wishes
to give independence of action to the Alcaldes and Consuls in the
various towns, and, after the selection of these officers, to hold them
responsible for the condition of affairs. He orders them to see that
the town is kept in proper police law and order, to introduce sanitary
regulations, to, obtain in the absence of a sewer system, the odorless
system of carts, used in the United States, to see that there are no
overcrowded houses, and that cleanliness is kept up, taxing those
people who refuse to observe the orders for health. He commends the
introduction of a water supply and frequent flushings of the streets.

UNDER PERFECT CONTROL 449

The choice of City officials he leaves entirely to the people
themselves under certain restrictions. The men chosen are not to be
removed except for cause, such as inefficiency, failure to do their
duty, or crookedness.

In this letter he takes up the system of education as follows :

" The system of school education should be looked into, and it is
my desire to ascertain how many teachers they can pay who can teach
^he American or English language, beginning with the younger chil-
dren. It is believed that people who can speak English only can
accomplish the purpose by object lessons. It is thought that Ameri-
can women for teaching can be obtained at $50 per month in gold,
and they are well worth it. The young children are anxious to learn
and nOw is the time for them to do so. If Alcaldes will report to me
how many teachers they can so employ they will be brought from the
United States and sent to these towns.

" It is also my desire to introduce, as soon as possible, policemen,
so as to teach the native policemen what their duties are, and also to
encourage them to exercise some authority, which at present they
seem not desirous of doing."

He further says that men should not be put in jail except upon
definite charges and upon proper evidence, and gives certain restric-
tions as to the punishment of criminals. The matter of customs and
the value of money he leaves to the Congress. He restricts articles in
newspapers of an incendiary character reflecting upon the Govern-
ment or its officials, and he goes on to say : " Upon my assuming
command, the cabinet selected by General Brooke handed in their
resignations so as to leave me free to act. I consider it for the best
interests of the island to retain those gentlemen in office until I have
(some reason for relieving them, for I believe they are capable men
and have the good of the island at heart, and in their actions are gov-
erned simply by the interest of the island rather than by personal
motives. It is the intention that the soldiers so far as possible shall
preserve law and order, but as in the United States the soldiers are
not needed, so the idea now is to educate the people to take care of
themselves."

Such was the opinion of General Henry when he took charge,
and the result was better than anyone hoped. As this is being

450 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

written, Aguadilla, on the west coast, is the only city under a Military
Mayor ; all of the others have a native in charge. Captain T. VV.
Mansfield took charge of that town, not because of disruption among
the people, but because of a deadlock and corruption in the town
council. He was in charge for one month up to March ist, and then
a new set of councilmen was elected, but these city fathers, instead of
voting for some native to act as Mayor, begged that Captain Mans-
field continue in charge. He was very popular with everybody.

DISHONESTV OF OFFICIALS.

When he took the office he discovered a system of corruption in
the government of the place which demanded an immediate reform.
No sooner was he seated than a clerk brought in a number of docu-
ments for him to sign. " What are these ?" asked the Captain. " Re-
ceipts for February," said the clerk. " Has the money been paid r"
" Not yet, sir."

This opened the Captain's eyes, and he soon found out how
officials had made money without much work. This was the plan :
The previous Mayors signed Treasury receipts sufficient to pay all
day-laborers employed by the city for a month in advance. As they
were dated a month ahead they could not be cashed by the workmen
until that time had expired. So when a laborer needed a loaf of
bread, he was forced to sell this' order for money at a big discount,
and the city officials personally bought them in. They would give
$30 for a $40 slip, and when it became due, they would cash it and
pocket the difference, $10, and there would be no record on the books
of any crookedness, although the poor laborer had been cheated out
of $10. It did not take long to correct that trouble, and it served as,
a warning that Porto Rican officials were not the most honest crea-
tures in the world.

A MONUMENT TO A SPANISH SOLDIER.

At Yauco, Captain C. A. Vernon has made himself exceedingly
popular with the natives and has organized a street-cleaning depart-
ment, strengthened the police force, and made the merchants inter-
ested in a village improvement association. Right outside of the vil-
lage is a little monument which bears the following inscription : " In

LIFE IN THE SMALLER TOWNS 451

memory of a Spanish soldier killed in action with United States
troops, July 27, 1898. Presented by officers of Yauco Post, First
Battalion, Nineteenth Infantry."

In the capital of the island American officers are to be found in
the Department of Justice, of Finance, the Engineering Department,
and the Educational and Health Boards. They are simply assigned
to duty there in order to introduce American methods.

When the United States took charge of the Treasury at San
Juan, the capital of Porto Rico, investigation showed that the insular
Treasury held 76 cents in copper, $3.80 in Venezuelan gold and about
$900 in American bankbills. This was a great surprise, as there
should have been at least several hundred thousand dollars deposited
to the credit of a general guarantee fund. Investigation showed that
at least $200,000 was missing from that fund, and it is probable that
the full amount which should be there is nearly 500,000 pesos, between
$300,000 and $400,000. There can be no doubt that the money was
taken to Spain. It is generally known that the late Captain-General
Macias delivered to the Government at Madrid 91,000 pesos, and
that the Brigadier de Marina Vallarino delivered to his Government
46,000 pesos which rightfully belonged to Porto Rico and which were
drawn from this guarantee fund.

The Spanish Bank of Porto Rico was found to be in arrears to
the Government, and it was forced to pay to the Treasury 20,000
pesos collected on account of taxes and revenues, and will be forced
to meet further obligations.

LIFE IN THE SMALLER TOWNS.

A glimpse of the life in one of the smaller towns of this island
is not uninteresting. Take, for instance, Adjuntas, which is one of
the places about which little is known, consequently it may be taken
as a representative small town. It is an exceedingly pretty little
place with a square plaza in the centre filled with beautiful roses,
palms and flowering bushes. It has several nice stores which sell
shoes and clothes and liquor. The stores generally carry very few
dry goods, as the people depend chiefly on the venders who go round
the streets with their baskets on their heads selling anything from a
baby's rubber ring to a very pretty dress.

452 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND EUTURE

All the saloons, or casinos, as the Porto Ricans call them, have
gambling rooms attached, for Porto Rico is a great gambling place.

Little fruit stands may be found on every corner, and the price
of oranges and bananas is absurdly cheap. The people are dark in
color, for even the Porto Ricans of the better class have a tinge of
Negro blood in their veins, while the lowest classes show strong traces
of Indian blood.

The people are for the most part lazy and dirty. They never
bathe, and they always wear the same clothes. Their chief food is
plantains, a kind of banana, which they boil, and oranges and bread.
Meat is very expensive, and therefore little used. During the coffee
season the workers picking coffee receive about 30 cents a day. At
the end of the season, instead of looking for more work, they gamble
away the little they have saved, and when it is gone the)' steal. The
people bury their dead in a rude box shaped like a coffin, and some-
times, if they have not enough money for this, they rent a coffin for
the occasion. Some of the coffins are not even painted. Four men
carry the box on their shoulders for many miles, and relief pallbearers
take the places of the others when they get tired. The body is taken
to a church and then to the cemetery where, if the coffin is not rented,
it is* buried. If the coffin is rented, however, the body is taken out ,
and buried right in the ground.

AT A COCKFIGHT.

Porto Rico is a great place for cockfights. The season is from
November until April, and Sunday is the chief day for the sport.
Every village, however small, or however how far up in the moun-
tains, has a pit dug in the earth and covered with a wooden roof to
keep out the sun in the dry season and the rain in the wet. The
spectators sit around on rough board seats, and yell at the top of
their lungs. They become so excited, and howl so vigorously, that
they sometimes scare the birds so that they turn and flee. In betting
the men never deposit their money. All wagers are paid at the end
of the afternoon fights. A man has to call out his bet at the top of
his voice, and his ears or eyes must then catch the answer. There is
no pit at San Juan, because that city is so overcrowded. But across
the harbor in Catano there is a place where all the sportsmen congre-

LAND IS EXPENSIVE 453

gate. Ten coppers is the fare and a native sailboat takes the gamblers
over. Admission is 20 cents. In Ponce there is a place owned by a
wealthy Spaniard. Behind the rickety board-fence he keeps more
than a hundred game-birds worth from $3.00 to $200 each. Half a
dozen negroes take care of his gamestock, clipping their feathers,
polishing their spurs, and feeding them.

The island offers great inducements for profitable investment.
It needs, however, good judgment, carefulness, and plenty of capital
to get anything like big returns. Agriculture is the great source of
wealth, and consequently the prosperity of the island depends on
the success of the crops. It also must be taken into consideration
that Cuba and Porto Rico produce about the same kind of crops,
and, unless Porto Rico is given extraordinary tax advantages over
Cuba, the latter will have the advantage of being so much nearer and
better situated in respect to the American market, and also is capable
of much larger and consequently much cheaper production.

LAND IS VERY EXPENSIVE.

Land is expensive in Porto Rico, because the island is so very
thickly populated, and, of course, since the occupation by the Ameri-
cans, the price has gone up remarkably. The land is divided into four
classes: First-class land is the sugar land, the second class the coffee
land of the interior, the third class comprises black sandy loam ad-
joining sugar lands, which is chiefly used for truck farms, and the
fourth class comprises the sandy beach land, where cocoanuts are
planted. Land is sold by the cuerda, which is equal to sixty-nine yards
square in our measurement. The sugar lands are found in the belt
of low flat land, running around the island between the foothills of
the mountains and the sea. First-class property has been known to
bring $400 a cuerda, but the price of to-day is about $150. This
represents land that has already been drained and ditched and is
ready for planting. The coffee plantations, if already planted, are
considered to be worth about $150 a cuerda, although land suitable
for raising coffee, if not planted, may be bought for about 10 or 25
pesos. For instance, a farm of 500 cuerdas is advertised for sale at
9,000 pesos, made up of forty cuerdas already set out with young coffee

trees, one hundred more suitable for immediate planting, and the
25

4$4 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

balance in woodland and pasture, part of which would grow fruits and
vegetables. The black loam of the third class varies very much in
value. Some farms of it are quite expensive, and others may be
bought for 10 or 20 pesos, depending largely on the location in
respect to the seaports. The sandy soil for cocoanut planting also
ranges from 5 to 25 pesos.

THE BEST FIELDS FOR INVESTMENT.

Orange raising, together with the raising of pineapples and
bananas, offers the best field, probably, for profitable investment. It
is a field that may be developed to a large degree, and, if the results
show sufficient production to warrant a line of fruit steamers, this
industry might have good returns. Sugar depends largely upon the
laws which will regulate its exportation. The Cuban crop will be its
greatest rival. The tobacco of the island is of excellent quality,
although it has been very badly harvested and cured of late. Here
is an example of what may be realized from a good tobacco farm :
A farm of 100 cuerdas produced in one year $12,000 in gold, and cost
the owner $3,000 for cultivation and general expenses.

In regard to the prospects for the future, Frank A. Vanderlip,
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, who was sent there to look into
currency and custom problems, says : " The people are delighted to
be Americans, and there is every prospect of prosperity for our new
possession. Whatever mineral wealth there is, is wholly undeveloped,
and the agricultural possibilities are, apparently, boundless. Only a
portion of the land is under cultivation. There are no water works,
sewers, electric lights, or electric railways. There is a good field for
electric roads throughout the island. With the exception of the mili-
tary road, there is no railroad of any kind in Porto Rico. The fran-
chise seekers and promoters in general, who rushed to the island
almost before the American troops were landed, have begun to give
place to a more solid and promising class. Undoubtedly capital will
began to seek investment there soon. There is no field for a man
without capital on account of the high prices for land."

In regard to the mineral resources of the island, Robert T. Hill,
of the United States Geological Survey, reports that the conditions
are theoretically favorable for valuable iron deposits, and, in one or

MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE ISLAND 455

two instances these undoubtedly exist, notably north of J uncos. At
this place there is a large deposit of magnetic iron ore of great
purity, containing 66 per cent, of iron and less than .023 of phos-
phorous. A French engineer has calculated that there are at least
35,000 tons of this ore in sight. At present it is many miles from a
seaport, and its development will necessitate the construction of a
railway. In Mr. Hill's opinion this deposit is the most valuable
metallic resource of the island at present in sight, and American
capital will develop it. It has been estimated that the deposit contains
10,000,000 tons of metallic iron.

MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE ISLAND.

The best-known iron mines, which are already in operation, are
situated in the Sierra Maestra, a few miles east of Santiago, and are
owned by American companies. There are also rich deposits of
manganese in the same rangre of mountains. The mines in the neigh-
borhood of Ponupo yielded 200 tons a day before they were closed
by the insurgents.

There is also plenty of asphaltum of great richness beneath the
waters of Cardenas Bay and in several other places. Near Villa
Clara is an unusually rich deposit, which has supplied the material for
illuminating gas for the city for forty years. The copper mines of
Cobre, about twelve leagues north of Santiago, used to be the greatest
copper mines in the world, back in 1867, and it is generally believed
that large quantities of the ore still exist in that locality, although
the mines themselves have been filled up with water, and it is a ques-
tion whether they can be profitably reopened.

Near Juana Diaz is a belt of beautiful marble of great hardness.
It is variegated in color, consisting of a reddish matrix, mottled with
small white spots. At present it is only used for structural purposes,
such as piers for bridges. Green sand marl occurs in great abund-
ance on the road from Lares to San Sebastian, immediately adjoining
the most productive coffee region. Lime marls abound everywhere
around the coast, and gypsum marls occur near Juana Diaz adjacent
to the Rio Portugues and near Ponce. These are especially import-
ant in as much as these natural fertilizers will play a large part in the
agricultural development of the island.

456 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

Gold is found along the bed of streams but only in small quanti-
ties, and Mr. Hill does not think that any quartz veins will be found.

Salt deposits exist and there are some thermal springs which are
said to be of great value in curing skin diseases and rheumatic
troubles.

OUR TRADE WITH PORTO RICO.

A word or two about our trade with Porto Rico may not be
amiss. Frank H. Hitchcock of the Department of Agriculture, has
recently made an investigation, into the exports and imports of Porto
Rico. His report shows that during the year ending June 30, 1897,
the commercial transactions between this country and Porto Rico
amounted to $4,169,912, and, with exception of 1895, when the value
of trade fell to $3,340,056, this was the smallest recorded for any
year since the Civil War. The high water mark in our trade with
Porto Rico was reached way back in 1872, in which the imports and
exports had a combined value of $13,870,925.

Products of agriculture play the most important part in our
commerce with Porto Rico, comprising in value more than 80 per
cent, of the merchandise imported and exported. Among these pro-
ducts sugar is by far the most important. Measured in value it com-
prised nearly 75 per cent, of all the merchandise we received from the
island during the ten years up to 1897, and if the value of the mo-
lasses be also included the combined item would form more than 95
per cent, of the total imports. After these, coffee is the most im-
portant, while fruits, nuts and spices make up the rest of the imports.

The annual receipts of sugar during 1S93 and 1S97 averaged
79,941,404 pounds, valued at $1,980,460. That of molasses 2,445,897
gallons valued at $558,042. The annual average imports for the past
five years in coffee amounted to only 164,769 pounds, worth $32,671.

In regard to exports the United States has chiefly sent to Porto
Rico breadstuff's and meat products, their combined value represent-
ing nearly 95 per cent, of the whole volume of agricultural exports.
Wheat flour is the chief breadstuff exported during the five years,
1893 to JS97- The average number of barrels shipped per annum
was 148,487, valued at $570 619.

During the same period our exports of wood and its manufac-
tures reached an annual value of $292,336. Our exports of iron and

CHIEF TOWNS OF PORTO RICO

457

steel manufactures during the year 1897 were larger than ever before,
and amounted to $180,486.

There are plenty of harbors along the coast of Porto Rico, but
those on the north side are mostly unprotected from the trade winds,
and those on the west side are filled with sand. The whole of the
north coast is lined with navigable lagoons, some of which are nearly
ten miles in length. Of the twenty-one rivers, most are quite small,
but several of them can be navigated for five or six miles. A num-
ber of the bays and creeks are deep enough for vessels of consider-
able size, but the north coast is subject to tremendous ground seas
which drift against the cliffs with great violence.

CHIEF TOWNS OF PORTO RICO.

The exporting towns are Mayaguez, San German and Agua-
dilla, on the west, and Guanica, Guayanilla, and Puerto Ponce on the
south. The eastern part of the island is less important commercially.

The capital of the island is San Juan. It is situated on a long
narrow island, separated from the mainland at one end by a shallow
arm of the sea. There is a bridge connecting this end with the
mainland, while the other extremity ends in a great high bluff, which
is crowned by Morro Castle, the chief fort of the town. Back of this
bluff is a magnificent bay with a good depth of water. It is one of
the best harbors in the West Indies. The town itself, built over 250
years ago, is a fine specimen of the old walled town, having a port-
cullis, moat, gates and battlements, which must have cost millions of
dollars. The city is laid off in regular squares, with six parallel
streets running the length of the island and seven at right angles with
these. The city is devoid of running water and depends entirely
upon rain water which is caught upon the tops of the buildings and
kept in cisterns. There is no sewage system, and the risks of con-
taminating the water supply are very great, while in dry season the
supplies are frequently exhausted.

The town is very much overcrowded. It is surprising to see the
great number of poor who are packed like rats in a garret in the
tenements in the upper part of the place, and it is almost impossible
to rent for residential purposes second stories that are not directly
over people who live in squalor, foul air and confusion. As may be

45 3 PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

imagined, dwelling houses are expensive, and our soldiers found great
trouble in securing quarters.

It can be seen readily that in the absence of a good water supply
and a sewage system, and with people packed together in such a man-
ner, epidemics of disease are frequent. The Spaniards once started an
expensive system of aqueducts costing $400,000, and issued municipal
r)onds for that purpose, but the work was never completed. The
piping was almost finished, however, and steps are now being taken
to push the work on a stone supply reservoir to be erected in the
northern and highest part of the city which would ultimately be used
in connection with the unfinished aqueduct. It will take at least a
year to complete this reservoir, and even then it will hold less than
3,000,000 gallons, which would only last the city five days.

The streets of the city are wider than those in the older part of
Havana and admit two carriages abreast. The pavements are good,
but made of material which is easily broken. Besides the portion of
the town within the walls, there are small portions just outside called
the Marina and Porta de Tierra, each of which have about 3,000
inhabitants. There are also two suburbs, San Turce approached by
the only road leading out of the city, and the other Catano, which
may be reached by ferry right across the bay. The entire population
of city and suburbs is about 30,000, one half of which consists of
negroes and mixed races.

THE CITY OF PONCE.

The city of Ponce, with a population of 37,500, and in commercial
importance next to the largest city of Porto Rico, is situated on the
south coast of the island about two miles from the sea, and about
seventy miles from the capital. It is one of the healthiest cities of
Porto Rico and is regularly built, the central part of it being made of
brick and the outside part of wood. Here the military commander of
the island used to live. It has an appellate criminal court, besides other
courts, and contains two hospitals, a military station, two churches, one
of which is the only Protestant church in the West Indies, a good
fire department, a bank, a theatre, three hotels, and a gas works.

The chief occupations of the people are the cultivation of sugar,
cocoa, tobacco and oranges and the breeding of cattle. The port

CITIES AND TOWNS 459

which is connected to the city by a splendid road is called the Playa.
Here all the import and export trade is transacted, and here is
the customhouse and all the consular offices. The port is a good
one, and will hold vessels of 25 feet draft. The water supply, which
is conveyed to the city by an aqueduct, is ample and good.

The third largest city of Porto Rico is Mayaguez. It is situated
in the western part, 102 miles from San Juan, on Mona Channel.
There are three manufacturies of chocolate there, and the city ex-
ports sugar, coffee, oranges, pineapples and cocoanuts. The coffee is
of the best quality and competes with Java and other first-rate
brands. The population is about 20,000, the majority of whom are
white. The city is connected with street cars with the town of
Aguadilla near by, and a railroad is being built to Lares in the
interior.

Aguadilla has about 5,000 inhabitants. Its chief industries are
the cultivation of sugar, coffee, tobacco, and cocoanuts. The climate
is very hot, but healthy. The city is a port for a district which has
about 30,000 inhabitants.

The town of Arecibo is situated on the northern coast of Porto
Rico, facing the Atlantic. It is much the same in construction as
other Porto Rican towns, with a plaza in the centre and streets run-
ning at right angles from it. The harbor is not a good one, being
exposed to the full force of the ocean, and having dangerous reefs
close into shore. The Rio Grande de Arecibo empties into the har-
bor, and is a small, shallow stream upon which goods are conveyed
on flat-bottom boats from the city out to the bar, and there trans-
ferred to lighters which carry them over to the vessels. It is, how-
ever, the port of about 30,000 inhabitants, and is, consequently, an
important place, although the town itself has but 7,000 people
in it.

Fajardo, on the east coast, has a population of 9,000. It is a
good port, with a lighthouse at the entrance, and a customhouse.
The town itself is a mile and a quarter from the bay. Most of the
people of the district manufacture muscovado sugar, which is the
chief article of export. The climate is healthy.

Naguabo, on the east side, having 2,000 inhabitants, Playa de
Naguabo, with 1,500, and Humaco, the capital of the district, with

4<5o PORTO RICO— PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

4,000, Arroyo in the district of Guayama (southeast portion), with
i, 200 inhabitants, are the other well-known cities of the island.

The general healthfulness of the whole island gives rise to the
belief that it will become a splendid winter resort in the future under
the Stars and Stripes. It already has fame in that connection, and
now, with its new affiliations, the personal safety and comfort of visi-
tors will be such that it will probably be the land of refuge when
snow and sleet chase the rich from their homes in the great cities of
the North.

CHAPTER XXVI

The Closing Events of the Philippine War

A Proclamation by the Commissioners from the United States, Giving Assurance of
our Good Will but Stating that American Supremacy Will be Maintained for
Good Government. — Dagupan Bombarded. — General Montenegro One of the
Great Insurgent Leaders Killed. — Lawton's Flying Column Sweeps Down Upon
the Province of Laguna. — Santa Cruz Captured. — Lumban and Pagsangan Also
Fall Before the American Troops. — Lawton's Expedition Recalled. — MacArthur's
Men Gloriously Storm Calumpit's Trenches. — The Fighting Continues.

SHORTLY after the fall of Malolos, the United States Philip-
pine Commissioners issued a proclamation on behalf of our
Government to show the good will of the President and the
people of the United States towards the inhabitants of the Philip-
pines. This proclamation was one of the most important documents
issued in connection with war in those islands, and is given herewith
in full, inasmuch as it shows the attitude which President McKinley
has taken and proposes to carry out in regard to the Filipinos.

The proclamation follows :

" The commission desires to assure the people of the Philippine
Islands of the cordial good will and fraternal feeling- which is enter-
tained for them by the President of the United States and by the
American people.

" The aim and object of the American Government, apart from
the fulfillment of the solemn obligations it has assumed toward the
family of nations by its acceptance of sovereignty over the Philippine
Islands, is the well-being, prosperity and happiness of the Philippine
people and their elevation and advancement to a position among the
most civilized peoples of the world.

" The President believes that this felicity and perfection of the
Philippine people is to be brought about by the assurance of peace
and order, by the guarantee of civil and religious liberty, by the
establishment of justice, by the cultivation of letters, science and the

461

462 A PROCLAMATION BY THE COMMISSIONERS

liberal and practical arts, by the enlargement of intercourse with
foreign nations, by expansion of industrial pursuits, by trade and
commerce, by multiplication and improvement of the means of
internal communication, by development, with the aid of modern
mechanical inventions, of the great natural resources of the archi-
pelago, and, in a word, by the uninterrupted devotion of the people to
, the pursuit of useful objects and the realization of those noble ideas
which constitute the higher civilization of mankind.

" Unfortunately, these pure aims and purposes of the American
Government and people have been misinterpreted to some of the
inhabitants of certain islands, and as a consequence, the friendly
American forces have, without provocation or cause, been openly
attacked. And why these hostilities ? What do the best Filipinos
desire? Can it be more than the United States is ready to give ?
They are patriots and wants liberty.

" In the meantime the attention of the people of the Philippines
is invited to certain regulative principles by which the United States
will be guided in its relations with them.

" These are deemed to be the points of cardinal importance :

" i. The supremacy of the United States must and will be
enforced throughout every part of the archipelago, and those who
resist it can accomplish no end other than their own ruin.

" 2. To the Philippine people will be granted the most ample
liberty and self-government reconcilable with the maintenance of a
wise, just, stable, effective and economical administration of public
affairs and compatible with the sovereign and international rights
and the obligations of the United States.

" 3. The civil rights of the Philippine people will be guaranteed
and protected to the fullest extent ; religious freedom will be assured,
and all persons shall be equal and have equal standing in the eyes of
the law.

"4. Honor, justice and friendship forbid the use of the Philip-
pine people or the islands they inhabit as an object or means of
exploitation. The purpose of the American Government is the
welfare and advancement of the Philippine people.

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR 463

"5. There shall be guaranteed to the Philippine people an honest
and effective civil service in which, to the fullest extent to which it is
practical, natives shall be employed.

" 6. The collection and application of all taxes and other reve-
nues will be placed upon a sound, economical basis and the public
funds, raised justly and collected honestly, will be applied only to
defray the regular and proper expenses incurred by and for the
establishment and maintenance of the Philippine Government and
such general improvements as the public interests may demand.
Local funds collected will be used for local purposes and not to be
devoted to other ends.

" With such prudent and honest fiscal administration it is
believed that the needs of the Government will, in a short time,
become compatible with a considerable reduction in taxation.

" 7. A pure, speedy and effective administration of justice will
be established whereby may be eradicated the evils arising from
delay, corruption and exploitation.

" 8. The construction of roads, railroads and similar means of
communication and transportation, and of other public works, mani-
festly to the advantage of the Philippine people, will be promoted.

" 9. Domestic and foreign trade and commerce, agriculture and
other industrial pursuits tending toward the general development of
the country, in the interests of the inhabitants, shall be objects of
constant solicitude and fostering care.

" 10. Effective provision will be made for the establishment o*
elementary schools in which the children of the people may be
educated, and appropriate facilities will be provided for a higher
education.

"11. Reforms in all departments of the Government, all
branches of the public service and all corporations closely touching
the common life of the people will be undertaken without delay and
effected conformably with right and justice in a way to satisfy the
well-founded demands and the highest sentiments and aspirations of
the people.

464 INSURGENT GOVERNMENT TOTTERS

" Such is the spirit in which the United States comes to the
people of the islands, and the President has instructed the commis-
sion to make this publicly known.

" In obeying his behest, the commissioners desire to join the
President in expressing their good will toward the Philippine people
and to extend to the leading representative men an invitation to
meet them for the purpose of personal acquaintance and the
exchange of views and opinions.

Jacob Gould Schurman, George Dewey,

U. S. Commissioner. U. S. Navy.

Elwell S. Otis, Charles Denby,

Major-General, U. S. A. U. S. Commissioner.

Dean C. Worcester,

U. S. Commissioner.

Colonel Charles Denby, one of the members of the Commission,
said concerning it, "This is the most important proclamation since
the Declaration of Independence. Spanish, Tagalo and English
versions of it have been printed and it is proposed to circulate them
at all the seaports and they will be sent to the lake towns by gun-
boats." The effect of this publication was to bring thousands of
Filipinos into our lines under the flag of surrender.

In the meantime General Mac Arthur's army rested at Malolos,
the men sleeping in the trenches and occasionally exchanging shots
with stray detachments of insurgents, who kept up just enough fire
to make life unbearable to the soldiers. After the battle which
resulted in the capture of the Filipino capital, a priest and two mem-
bers of the so-called Filipino Congress, who hid themselves in the
woods during the fightingf, returned and surrendered to the American
troops and stated that 2,000 of the Filipino soldiers were anxious to
give up fighting and would do so, except for their officers to keep
them under arms. The natives were still further depressed by the
loss of one of their best leaders, General Montenegro, who was
killed in the battle of Malolos. Next to Aeuinaldo and General
Luna, he was the greatest of the Filipino officers.

On April 3, 1899, General Otis cabled to the Adjutant-General
at Washington as follows: — "Present indications denote insurgent

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR 465

government in perilous condition. Its army defeated, discouraged
and shattered. Insurgents returning to their homes in cities and
villages between here and points north of Malolos which reconnoiter-
ing parties have reached, and desire protection of Americans. Views
from Visayan Islands more encouraging every day."

On April 4th, General MacArthur's brigade moved out of
Malolos to the northward in the hope of finding the main body of
the Filipino army and effectually destroying it. They were not able
however to locate the remnants of Aguinaldo's forces, although they
went for twelve miles seeking some trace of them.

About the same time the United States Cruiser Charleston, while
cruising along the west coast of Luzon Island sent a boat inshore
near Dagupan to make soundings. The rebels opened fire, wound-
ing one of the officers, whereupon the cruiser bombarded the town
and the insurgents fled.

Malolos soon resumed its natural aspect. Business went on as
usual and there was nothing extraordinary except the nightly attacks
of the insurgents and the hard work of the soldiers who were active
in cleaning up the city and turning it from a place of pestilence to a
healthful spot.

Reports reached Manila about this time, that there had been
trouble on the island of Negros. On March 27, 1899, a number of
bandits headed by a man named Papaissio attempted a rebellion and
killed several officials. A proclamation was issued calling upon the
natives to rise up against the American troops. Two expeditions
were sent to the scene of the disturbance and on April 2d, the head-
quarters of the bandits at Labzid was captured and the town itself
destroyed. Thirty-five prisoners were brought back, and the rebellion
was practically quelled at the start. In Samar things were reported
to be quiet and the Filipinos were said to be anxious to accept
American rule.

LAWTON LEADS AN EXPEDITION.

After the taking of the capital it was decided to send an expedi-
tion across the Laguna de Bay and capture Santa Cruz. General
Lawton was in command and under him were three gunboats and
1,500 picked men. The expedition consisted of eight companies of

466 THE NATIVES MAKE A BOLD STAND

the Fourteenth United States Infantry, three companies of the
Fourth Cavalry, four of the North Dakota Volunteers, four of the
Idaho Volunteers, two mountain guns and two hundred sharpshooters
of the Fourteenth Infantry.

General Lawton captured Santa Cruz after a splendid battle.
The attack was made simultaneously by land and water and the tak-
ing of the city was the result of a spirited charge. Santa Cruz is the
military key of Laguna de Bay, the large sheet of water in the centre
of the island of Luzon, connected with the Bay of Manila by the
Pasig River. The capture of this city cut off the only telegraphic
communication between the insurgent forces to the north of Manila
and those south of Manila, and consequently these two bodies are
forced to act independently of one another in the future.

On Saturday night April Sth, the troops started, but progress in
boats was slow so that they did not reach the other side of the lake
until noon of the following day. Consequently the attack was post-
poned until the dawn of April ioth. Then the line advanced in
extended order, the gunboats moving slowly along the shore, shelling
the wooded places in front of the American lines, driving the Fili-
pinos inland. The Gatling guns were placed upon the decks of the
boats and used to clear some entrenchments which were near enough
for the fire to be effective. The battalion of the First Idaho had a
short sharp fight against a force of Filipinos on the high ground on
the right of our advancing line. They made a sudden charge upon
the enemy which turned and fled leaving many of their dead on the
field. In order that the prisoners taken, might be safely guarded by
a few men, their hands and feet were tied. General Lawton hap-
pened to see them in that condition, and with his own hands cut the
bands from the prisoners and forbade such action in the future.

THE NATIVES MAKE A BOLD STAND.

A mile south of the town on the shore of the lake the Filipinos
made a strong stand against the advancing forces. They did not
retreat even when the gunboat Caste advanced and betran to shell
their lines, but pluckily answered back with their muskets. A troop
of Cavalry however, which was advancing on the city, wheeled round
and put these insurgents to flight. They rushed forward at double

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR 467

time, stopping now and then to fire an effective volley. The gun-
boat Laguna de Bay bombarded the entrenchments close to the town
and also the stone buildings occupied by fighting men, particularly
the prison which was used as a fort. The shells crushed in the roof
of this building- in the bombardment. The main line of the Ameri-
cans in the meantime swept the Filipinos before them, driving them
in full retreat through the town to the swamp beyond. The advance
was conducted in perfect system, and the exhibition of tactics was
enough to bidden the heart of a military expert.

Geneia* Lawton with the Fourteenth Infantry under his per-
sonal direction made a magnificent charge across a bridge over a
creek on the southern side of the town. The men tore down a stone
barricade with their hands and drove the enemy backward at the
point of the bayonet. After the capture of the city General Lawton
established his headquarters at the palace of the Governor of the
Alcalda Mayor, province of Laguna of which Santa Cruz is the capital.

GENERAL LAWTON's NARROW ESCAPE.

During the advance on the city, when the troops were half way
to the town from the landing place a single Filipino remained be-
hind when his comrades fled, and bravely met death in an attempt to
kill General Lawton. He secreted himself in a house which he
knew the Americans would pass When General Lawton and his
staff reached this place the insurgent, who was only six feet away,
fired point blank at the group of officers. Fortunately in his excite-
ment his aim was bad, and the bullet flew wide of its mark. After
firing, the native jumped from a window and fired from the yard, but
again failed to hit anybody. Before he could get out of the yard, he
was surrounded and shot three times. Even then he would not sur-
render, until he was finally struck with a gun and completely disabled.

Two members of the Fourteenth Infantry who ventured a hundred
yards beyond the American lines had a lively experience. No sooner
had they gotten out of sight of our lines than they were surrounded
by insurgent troops who took them prisoners. They were disarmed,
but one of them managed to conceal his bayonet in the leg of his
trousers, and while their captors were taking them to the insurgent
line, this man whose name was Myers, suddenly drew the bayonet

468 GENERAL OTIS' REPORT

and stabbed the Filipino who was guarding him. At the same time
the other prisoner grabbed his guard's rifle and struck out with it in
every direction, the natives were so surprised that for a time they
did not know what to do, and both of the Americans ran for their
lives in the direction of their camp. Myers reached the American
lines safely, but the other man did not arrive, and it was thought he
had been lost. Searching parties were sent out to look for him, and
he was finally found hidden in a tree where he had climbed to escape
the Filipinos who had pursued him, and where he stayed for many
weary hours.

GENERAL OTIS' REPORT.

In reference to this attack of Lawton, General Otis reported as
follows :

" Enemy left ninety-three uniformed dead on the field and a
number seriously wounded. Lawton captured city without destruc-
tion of property, his loss ten wounded, slightly except two. One
since died. Lieutenant Elling only officer wounded, slightly in hand.
Enemy retired eastward, Lawton in pursuit this morning."

In that pursuit General Lawton captured two more towns,
Lumban and Pagsangan. He also captured two gunboats and four
launches in the Santa Cruz river, which had been taken from their
owners by the insurgents. From Lumban he advanced eight miles
north and occupied Pacte the military centre of the district. The
troops forded two rivers and marched through tangles of underbrush
driving a small number of the enemy before them. In taking Pacte
the North Dakotas were in the centre and the sharpshooters flank-
ing, when the column suddenly encountered a cross fire of the rebels.
Sharpshooters were moved out quickly and a squad of five of the
North Dakota men was surprised by a volley at fifteen yards from a
concealed trench. Two were killed and two wounded, one mortally.
The Dakota sharpshooters rushed the steep incline and took the
trenches.

As the Flying Column, as Lawton's expedition was called, moved
northward, the enemy retreated everywhere before it. Late after a
victorious march General Lawton was ordered to return to Manila
with his expedition. All of the territory taken by him was evacu-
ated. It was considered unwise to deplete our troops on the island

The closing events of the Philippine war

469

by leaving sufficient garrison in the various places captured to hold
them./ The main objects of the expedition, which had been to cap-
ture the insurgents boats and distribute copies of the proclamation
issued by our commissioners had been accomplished and the strength
of the American troops had been emphasized throughout the lake
region, consequently it was considered that the expedition had been
very successful.

AN ATTACK ON GENERAL WHEATON.

In the meantime General Wheaton had been having a lively
time near Malolos. The rebels cut the telegraph line at several
places between Manila and Malolos, and signal fires were lighted and
rockets sent up among the foothills to the right of the railroad. All
this signified that something was going to happen, and so it proved,
for later the enemy attacked the outposts of the Minnesota regiment
between Bigaa and Bocave, five miles south of Malolos, killing two
men and wounding fourteen. Simultaneously the outposts of the
Oregon regiment at Marilalo, the next station on the way to Manila,
were attacked with the result that three Americans were killed and
two wounded, while the enemy lost ten men killed and six wounded.
Troops were concentrated along the railroad as thickly as possible
and the rebels were driven back to the foothills.

WOULD NOT WAIT TO BE KILLED.

Later General Wheaton with the Tenth Pennsylvania and the
Second Oregon regiments and two guns advanced to drive the rebels
still further. He met with slight resistance near Santa Maria and
had one man wounded. The enemy bolted when shelled by the
artillery arid burned and abandoned the town of Santa Maria, where
a thousand rebels had been reported to have collected. During the
rest of the day the enemy was in full retreat, burning the villages
behind them. Occasionally a few of them dropped to the rear and
fired at the advancing American troops, thinking apparently that this
would check the advance and cover the retreat of the Filipinos.
Finding this ineffectual, these rebels gave it up and fled with the
others. As General Wheaton telegraphed to Major-General Otis,
"They would not wait to be killed."

t ,n A LIVEL Y SKIRMISH

One of the sad fortunes of war was described in a cablegram
from Admiral Dewey, which caused much comment in this country.
The cablegram tells the whole story concisely — all else is conjecture.
It said :

"The Yorktown visited Baler, Luzon, east coast of Luzon, P. I.,
April 1 2th for the purpose of rescuing and bringing away the Span-
ish forces, consisting of eighty soldiers, three officers and two priests,
which were surrounded by 400 insurgents. Some of the insurgents
armed with Mauser rifles as reported by natives. Lieutenant J. C.
Gilmore, while making an examination of the mouth of the river in
an armed boat, was ambushed, fired upon and captured. Fate
unknown, as insurgents refused to communicate afterward. The
following are missingf :

Lieutenant J. C. Gilmore, Chief Quartermaster W. Walton,
Coxswain J. Ellsworth, Gunner's Mate H. J. Hygard, Sailmaker's
Mate Vendgit, Seamen W. H. Rynders and C. W. Woodbury,
Apprentices D. W. A. Venville, J. Peterson, Ordinary Seamen F.
Brisolese and O. B. McDonald, Landsmen L. T. Edwards, F. Ander-
sen, J. Dillon and C. A. Morrissey."

Here again was noble sacrifice " for humanity." The little band
of Spanish troops less than a hundred all told, had been keeping a
large number of Filipinos at bay at Baler for months. Their con-
dition had become critical, and just at the time when there seemed
no hope, the gallant Admiral made this brave attempt to aid those
who had a few months before been his sworn enemies.

The fate of the reconnoitering party is still doubtful. It was
thought that they had been mutilated and tortured after the Filipino
fashion of treating prisoners, but word was received some days after
that the unfortunate men were being held as prisoners of war in the
hope that some day they might be useful to the rebels.

A LIVELY SKIRMISH.

A lively skirmish took place on April 21st. Three companies
of the South Dakota marched from Bocave, and united with three
companies of the Minnesota regiment just north of that place. There
they encountered about 500 insurgents and a brisk interchange of
sh'vts resulted. The insurgents finally fell back in good order, after

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR 4?r

suffering great losses. The Americans lost one man wounded, and
returned to Bocave after ammunition was exhausted. The army
tugs along the river took up the fighting and drove the insurgents
inland.

A force of 200 insurgents attacked the outposts of the Washing-
ton regiment on the same day near Tagig, south of Pasig. They
were routed after two hours hard fighting, leaving twelve killed and
several wounded on the field. Three of our men were wounded in
this fight.

General Lawton was put in charge of a new flying column and
started to outflank the enemy before joining MacArthur north of
Malolos.

A DESPERATE FIGHT.

While he was on the way, one of the most depressing of all our
battles with the Filipinos occurred near Quenqua, about four miles
northeast of Malolos. In the engagement two gallant officers,
Colonel John M. Stotzenberg, of the First Nebraska, and Lieutenant
Sisson of the same regiment were killed, and our total loss was six
killed and forty-four wounded.

The insurgents had a horseshoe trench, about a mile long,
encircling a rice field on the edge of a wood. Major Bell, with forty
cavalrymen, while making a reconnoissance, encountered a strong
outpost and at the first fire one of his men was killed and five
wounded. The Americans retired, carrying their wounded back with
great difficulty, closely followed by the enemy. Reinforcements were
sent for, and two battalions finally arrived, under Colonel Stotzenberg.
He decided that a charge was the best means of dislodging the
enemy, and he led the advance in person. When about 200 yards
from the enemy's breastworks, a bullet struck him, and he died
instantly. Lieutenant Sisson suffered the same fate. The bullet
which pierced his heart, pierced also the picture of the woman which
he wore around his neck, suspended by a ribbon.

The arrival of the artillery materially aided the American forces,
and the Filipinos fell back to another series of trenches, a mile away.

The eyes of the leaders now centered upon Calumpit, to which
the insurgent Government had retired when Malolos was taken.

, „ FUNSTON' S MAD FEAT

With its fall, they hoped would come the fall of the whole fabric of
fhe so called Filipino Government, and in this it would seem they
were correct.

THE TAKING OF CALUMPIT.

The taking of Calumpit was characterized by one of the most
brilliant deeds of daring: the war has seen — a deed which made
Colonel Fred Funston, — " Fighting Fred," as they call him — the
most talked of man of the day.

The troops had advanced step by step to the edge of the Bag-
bag River, beyond which the enemy was intrenched with great skill,
and was able to hold a large force at bay. The bridge over the rivei
had been cleverly stripped by the Filipinos, and had been so fixed
that the girders would part if a train were forced over, thus throwing
the whole into the river. Fortunately the girders fell before their
time. The advance was made along- the railroad. The Kansas
regiment was on the right side of the road and the Utah light artillery
and the First Montana on the left. In the centre was an armored train,
mounted with six-pounders and rapid fire guns, pushed ahead by
Chinamen. The train was moved right up to the mouth of the
bridge and a vigorous response was made to the fire of the enemy.

FUNSTON'S MAD FEAT.

Then Colonel Funston did one of the dare-devil feats which have
made him famous. " Volunteers to cross the bridge," he cried, " and
I'll go myself."

There were too many volunteers eager for the adventure, so the
doughty Colonel had to pick his men. He chose Lieutenant Bell, a
private of Company E, one from Company K, trumpeter Barsfield
and Corporal Ferguson of Company I. This gallant half-dozen set
out for their perilous feat in the storm of shot which rained around
them. Slowly they crawled accross the iron work of the bridge, with
Filipino bullets popping from the heights above them. When they
reached the broken span, they dropped into the swift water and swam
ashore. Colonel Funston was the first to reach the bank, and as the
brave six Americans rose, dripping from the water, and charged upon
the trenches with wild western yells, the armed Filipinos fled before
them.

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR 473

The severest fighting however was encountered by the other
brigade of MacArthur's division, that commanded by General Hale,
and consisting of the Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa regiments.
Six were killed and twelve wounded in this engagement, and many
rebels were left dead on the field, and 350 prisoners were taken. The
fiercest engagement took place at Pulillan, north of Quenqua. Here
the Filipinos were strongly entrenched, and continued to receive
reinforcements from Calumpit. When night closed General Hale,
and General Whcaton had joined forces, and as Calumpit was too
stronglv fortified to be taken offhand the troops waited until morning
before making the attack.

This was the last ditch of the Filipinos. They brought artillery
into use for the first time since the war began, but did not handle it
with much effect. The attack was pushed effectively and Calumpit
fell, the enemy retiring to Apalit. They finally were forced out of
that town, which they burned as they left.it.

THE MOST BRILLIANT ACHIEVEMENT OF THE WAR.

In this, the last great battle of the Philippines, Colonel Funston
again proved himself a man absolutely without fear. He performed
what General MacArthur said was the most brilliant and daring
achievement of the war, and won a victory unparalleled in the history
of American arms.

The victorious march of the American troops had again been
checked by a river — the Rio Grande. It was too deep to ford and
the bridge across it had been stripped, as usual, by the enemy.
Something had to be done and Colonel Funston volunteered to do
it. He asked to be allowed to cross the river and Wheaton gave
him permission. The first attempt to cross was to be made at night,
some miles below the bridge. The barking of dogs revealed activity
in the American lines however, and the Filipinos were ready with
showers of bullets to check the attempt.

Kansas and Montana volunteers had occupied the whole town
except the splendid entrenchments which controlled the bridge over
the river. The entire strength of the enemy had been concentrated
in these trenches and they must be taken. Only the river (100 yards
wide) separated the two forces. Funston first thought of taking

474 THE FIRST STEP TOWARD PEACE

fifteen men over the bridge at night, but Corporal Ferguson of Com-
pany I, Kansas, reconnoitered and reported that plan impracticable.
He went within ten feet of the insurgent sentry on the bridge and
was not discovered.

The next day Funston determined to brazenly defy the bullets of
the Filipinos and cross the river before the very eyes of the enemy;
with 1 20 Kansas men he went to a point several hundred yards from
the bridge, where two privates, White and Trembly, swam with a
rope to the opposite shore. They landed and attached the rope to a
portion of the insurgent trench, being under the protection of the
vigorous fire of our troops. Several insurgents were on the shore
where the men landed, but fled when the two fearless fellows began
yelling. The rope was attached to three rafts loaded with fifty men,
and these were drawn to the shore in safety, although exposed to an
awful fire from the enemy.

This little band advanced upon the trenches and literally scared
the Filipinos out of their stronghold. The bridge was thus left
without protection and our troops immediately crossed it and .swept
the enemy before them. General Luna, who commanded the
retreating forces in person, tried to check the demoralization Oi his
army but was powerless. They could understand some things, bul
such fearlessness and such fighting was too much for them, and the)
fled.

FUNSTON MADE BRIGADIER-GENERAL.

In recognition of his bravery in this and other battles, Funston
was appointed a Brigadier-General of Volunteers on May 2d.
The appointment was strongly recommended by General Otis
and Major-General MacArthur, both of whom cabled to Washington
the most unstinted praise of the fearless Kansan.

General Funston has been a fighter all his life. His career has
been one of unusual excitement, and has served to bring out strongly
those qualities which go so far toward making a popular hero. His
first appearance before the public was made at a political meeting in
Kansas when he was little more than a boy. The meeting was in
opposition to his father who was running for Congress, and in the
■ midst of it young Funston sprang upon the platform unannounced

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR. 475

and spoke so eloquently to the crowd that he won many of them to
his side and aided materially in securing his father's nomination.

After being educated in the common schools and graduated from
the Kansas State University, he set to work as a reporter on the
Fort Smith Tribune, a paper with strong Democratic tendencies.
While the editor was absent, young Funston turned the sheet into a
Republican organ and wrote some burning editorials in favor of that
party. Naturally it cost him his position, and after more or less
indefinite wandering he joined the troops in fighting Indians.
Shortly after winning his commission in some hot fights he led the
memorable expedition to Death Valley and then went on a scientific
exploration to Alaska to collect flora and fauna for the Government.
From there he went to Cuba and joined the army of Garcia. Here,
as elsewhere, his absolute fearlessness made him conspicuous and he
was soon appointed chief of artillery. His services with the Cuban
army continued until the war between the United States and Spain
broke out, when he took command of the Kansas regiment and
began the series of triumphs which has made him one of the most
admired men in the Army.

OVERTURES FOR PEACE.

At the time, it appeared as though the end of the war had come.
It was no secret that the Filipino army was discouraged and dissatis-
fied at their condition, and this move toward peace was looked upon
as a first step in the direction of surrender.

Colonel Argfuelesses and Lieutenant Bernal were escorted to
General Otis' headquarters with the greatest formality and there
they were received by the victorious commander with courtesy and
respect. They stated, in behalf of their chief, that they were
desirous of ending the war as soon as possible, but that could not be
done until Aguinaldo should have time to summon the Filipino Con-
gress and place the terms before that body for action. Therefore,
they requested General Otis to order his forces to cease hostilities for
two weeks until that necessary step could be taken. General Otis
heard the envoys to the end and then replied : " Tell your General that
there must be no reservations. He must lay down his arms at once.
I cannot recognize the Filipino Government or its Congress. If you

476 CONTINUED FIGHTING. .

wish peace, surrender. You will be allowed perfect amnesty. There
will be no punishments for acts already committed. America for-
gives you.

"The proclamation issued by my Government is sincere, and
you shall share with our own people the fullest liberty. But now
you must make a complete and unreserved surrender. You are com-
pelled to admit that you are defeated.

"America did not begin the war. It was of your making. There
is a big army on the way from the United States and there is nothing
for you to do but surrender. This is absolute."

This constant refusal to recognize the Filipino Congress has
nettled Agfuinaldo not a little, and it is an interesting commentary on
his scheme that only sixty of the 300 members of the Congress have
taken the necessary oath of allegiance required by their constitution.

The overtures toward peace were fruitless, and the two com-
missioners returned to the insurgent army, expressing the hope of
being able to reach some definite decision within the next few days.

CONTINUED FIGHTING.

But the Americans continued their preparations for more fight-
ing. Positions were strengthened and one or two small skirmishes
took place. Major Bell, with a squad of scouts, occupied the town
of Macabebe, about four miles southwest of Calumpit and the invad-
ing army was welcomed by the townsmen with cheers and the ringing
of bells.

A Spanish prisoner who had escaped into the American lines
stated that 200 Filipinos had been killed in General Hale's advance
on Quingan. This was the largest number of insurgents killed in
any battle for several months previous

During the first week of May, Major-General MacArthur suc-
ceeded in capturing San Tomas after encountering strong resistance.
Brigadier-General Hale attacked the enemy on the right and Briga-
dier-General Wheaton on the left. In a daring charge made by the
latter's command, the gallant Funston added one more brilliant feat
of daring to his already long record, but this time he came out with a
badly wounded hand. Colonel Summers took Moasim, on the right
with a part of his Oregon and Minnesota regiments.

THE CLOSING EVENTS OE THE PHILIPPINE WAR. 477

When Major-General MacArthur's division advanced on San
Fernando, they found the town deserted by the rebels who had left
only a small detatchment to cover their retreat. The success of the
American arms was so marked that Aguinaldo sent an emissary to
General Otis requesting passes for his commissioners to enter our
lines. He was told that an unarmed emissary would never be stopped.

PRESIDENT MCKINLEY'S PROPOSED FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

Early in the morning of May 17th, General Lawton's advance
guard under Colonel Summers moved on San Isidro, the insurgent
capital and captured it after some fighting. The American forces
were now in such strong position that they seemed to hold the key
to the situation and seven commissioners from Aguinaldo met
General Otis and discussed further plans for a settlement. They
declared that they were not empowered to bind the Filipino Congress
to any agreement and could only submit to that body the results of
the conference. The United States Commissioners submitted a pro-
posed form of government which had been approved by President
McKinley. It was as follows :

" While the final decision as to the form of government is in the
hands of Congress, the President, under his military powers, pending
the action of Congress, stands ready to offer the following form of
government :

" A Governor-General to be appointed by the President ; a
Cabinet to be appointed by the Governor-General ; all the Judges to
be appointed by the President ; the Heads of Departments and
Judges to be either Americans or Filipinos or both ; and also a
General Advisory Council, its members to be chosen by the people
by a form of suffrage to be hereafter carefully determined upon.

" The President earnestly desires that bloodshed cease, and that
the people of the Philippines, at an early date, enjoy the largest
measure of self-government compatible with peace and order."

While the discussion was still going on, a sharp skirmish took
place near San Fernando, in which fifty Filipinos were killed and
many wounded. The American losses were two men killed and
twelve wounded. Another small engagement took place at Santa
Rita, in which the Filipinos were repulsed.

478 ADMIRAL DEWEY TO RETURN HOME.

On May 8th, the President issued orders stating that in each of
the new possessions — Cuba, the Philippines and Porto Rico — there
would be created "the offices of Auditor of the islands ; one Assist-
ant Auditor for auditing the accounts of the Department of Customs ;
and one Assistant Auditor for auditing the accounts of the Post
Offices, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of War, and whose
duties shall be to audit all accounts of the islands.

" There is hereby created and shall be maintained the office of
Treasurer of the Islands which shall be filled by the appointment
thereto of an officer of the regular army of the United States."

The constant procrastination of the Filipinos in the settlement
of the terms of surrender soon exhausted the patience of the authori-
ties at Washington. The stand taken by General Otis was known to
be approved and his need of more troops was recognized. During
May, reinforcements were sent to Manila and arrangements made for
the shipment of 2,000 more troops to leave San Francisco whenever
necessary. The proposition of General MacArthur to arm the
Macabebes and have them join the American forces in fighting their
old enemies, the Tagalos, was also looked upon favorably as follow-
ing an experiment England had so successfully made in her colonies.

Immense pressure was brought to bear upon President McKinley
to issue a call for additional volunteers but as General Otis had not
yet asked for such a step it became understood that nothing in that
direction would be done until a request for large reinforcements was
made.

ADMIRAL DEWEY TO RETURN HOME.

Meantime, Admiral Dewey, at his own urgent request, was
relieved and was succeeded by Rear-Admiral John C. Watson, who
was in charge of the Mare Island Navy Yard at San Francisco. As
soon as it was announced that Dewey would return home, the whole
country rose as one man to prepare a fitting reception to the man
who, above all others, had won the hearts of the American people.
Elaborate banquets were planned in all the large cities he would be
likely to visit on his return and invitations were cabled to him. A
great popular movement was started to present him with a handsome
residence as a gift of a grateful nation to its hero. No sooner had
the movement started than subscriptions came pouring in from all

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR.

479

over the country, and among the first to contribute to this national
testimonial was President McKinley.

Dewey's departure from Manila on May 20th, was a rousing
ovation. As the Olympia got under way the Oregon, the Baltimore
and the Concord fired the Admiral's salute, and at the first shot the
bands on board started and the white-clad sailors swarmed on deck and
gave cheer after cheer. And then came a short half-hour which, in
noise at least, equalled the memorable day which first sent Dewey's
name sounding around the world. Guns were fired seemingly from
everywhere, bands played and men shouted themselves hoarse, little
steamers, darting here and there in excitement, whistled their shrill
farewells to the departing Admiral, and big steamers, standing
stolidly in the harbor, blew their deep basses to swell the chorus.
The whole of Manila had gone hero-mad, and through it all, the
hero bowed his triumphant way, sorry to leave the scene of his new-
won fame, yet glad to get home again to quiet and to rest.

His very leaving was a sign that peace was near for he had
requested to be kept on duty until the war was over.

RENEWED HOPES OF THE INSURGENTS.

For a time it seemed almost as though the war were coming to a
close, but the near approach of the rainy season made the Filipinos
once more take heart, and their guerilla style of warfare became more
aggressive. They knew that the suffering of the American soldiers
during this rainy season would be greater than their own and that it
would give them a chance to recuperate and gather together their
more or less scattered forces.

Toward the latter end of May, the Philippine courts which had
been closed ever since the American occupation were reopened with
all of the Spanish system which did not conflict with the sovereignty
of the United States. The Chief Justice of the Court was a native,
and the Philippine members were all prominent lawyers of the
islands.

General Otis in reply to Secretary Alger's inquiry as to how
many troops he considered necessary to complete the conquest of the
islands, stated, that with 30,000 troops the American control could be
maintained. This once more started the agitation for another call

48o THE DEFEAT OF PIO DEL PILAR.

for volunteers, but no steps were taken in that direction. General
Otis already had within about 5,000 of the number he required and
it was generally understood that if he asked to have his forces in-
creased it would be done by forming skeleton regiments of the volun-
teers who were mustered out and filling them in with raw recruits.

THE DEFEAT OF PIO DEL PILAR.

During the first week of June a vigorous campaign was begun
against General Pio del Pilar. The campaign had for its object the
cutting- of the insurgent forces in two and the establishment of an
American line across the island. The rebel positions at Canita, Tay-
tay and Antipolo were taken in turn. Part of Whalley's b ;gade
under Colonel Truman advanced from Pasig and stormed Taytay,
easily driving the rebel skirmish line back. The rebels after setting
fire to the town fled to the hills.

General Hall's brigade, with a view to surrounding the enemy,
swept down the valley toward Antipolo. Before the advance of the
heavy American skirmish line the rebels were powerless. Antipolo
was taken and Pio del Pilar's army fled to the mountains. Hall and
Truman then joined their forces at Taytay, having thoroughly scoured
the Antipolo and Manquina Valleys. Meanwhile, Colonel Whalley,
with eight companies of Washington volunteers, embarked in native
canoes and being towed by three gunboats, advanced on Morong and
after some resistance captured the town, the rebels taking to their
heels. The result of these movements is that the American forces
gained complete control of Laguna de Bay and cut off the Filipinos
from an important source of food supply. It also sent General Pio del
Pilar into the mountains where he could do no harm. The next move
in contemplation was the sweeping of the Morong Peninsula, where
it was supposed a number of Filipinos were still entrenched.

THE HEAVIEST FIGHTING OF THE WAR.

On the 10th of June, a force of 4,500 men under Generals Law-
ton, Wheaton and Ovenshine, after some hard marching managed to
clear the country between the Bay of Manila and Bay Lake, south of
Manila. The fighting during this movement was bitter and the
obstacles almost insurmountable.

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR. 481

Just south of Las Pinas occurred some of the heaviest fighting
of the war. The Filipinos on this occasion showed better discipline
and more stubborn bravery than at any other time, and it was only
after the severest fighting and the concentrated fire of the gunboats
on Bakoor that the rebels were eventually forced to abandon their
position. The country through which the fighting was done was
mainly made up of lagoons, mud and water fringed with bamboo. No
sooner had the firing opened than it was seen that the Americans had
the hardest task of the war before them. Finally after the severest
kind of fighting, the Fourteenth Infantry swam the Zapote River and
drove the rebels before them. The Filipinos still resisted desperately
but they had been broken and soon retreated to the strongly fortified
town of Imus.

General Otis cabled to Washington, — " Success Lawton's troops,
Cavite Province, greater than reported yesterday. Enemy mumber-
ing over 4,000 lost in killed, wounded and captured more than one-
third. Have retreated south to Imus, their arsenal."

On June 20th, he sent the following dispatch :

" Wheaton at Imus. * * * Sent battalion south on recon-
naissance direction of Perez Das Marinas yesterday morning. Bat-
talion encountered enemy's forces 2,000, marching to attack Imus,
successfully impeding its progress. Repulsed enemy with heavy loss,
enemy leaving over 100 dead on the field, our loss five killed and
twenty-three wounded. Wheaton * * * * is driving enemy
beyond Perez Das Marinas, now in his possession. Wheaton's quali-
ties for bold and successful attack unsurpassed."

Reports had for some time been circulated that General Luna
was killed at the headquarters of Aguinaldo in an altercation with
an officer and toward the latter end of June, the Filipino Junta in
London, admitted that it had definite confirmation of the report.

About the same time the reports that another call for volunteers
would be issued became stronger and it was known beyond doubt
that the Cabinet had given the matter its serious attention on
more than one occasion.

No formal call for volunteers was made, however ; it was simply
announced that fifteen new regiments would be formed for special
service. In a remarkably short time these regiments were completed

482 CORRESPONDENTS AND THE " ROUND ROD IN"

and ten additional ones were recruited before the middle of Septem-
ber. Campaigning in the Philippines, though by no means a sine-
cure, so far as health and comfort were concerned, became a series
of small victories, comparatively unimportant in themselves but serv-
ing to advance the American lines and to scatter the Philippine
forces.

In the latter part of June, General Otis, yielding to the petitions
of many of the merchants of the islands, opened a number of ports
including, among others, San Fernando, on the west coast of Luzon,
Aparri, on the north coast, Curimoa and all ports in the islands of
Samar and Leyte, and shippers immediately began to send out their
delayed cargoes of hemp.

The tropic weather soon began to tell seriously on the condition
of the American troops. From the middle of May to the middle of
July, no volunteer regiment had a sick list of less than 20 per cent.,
and most of them had more than one-fourth of their number unable
to report for duty. The Nebraska Regiment, which was the worst
sufferer, had less than two hundred sound men in its ranks durinsr
the first week of July. At this time, the American newspaper cor-
respondents in the island, chafing under the restrictions of the
censorship, issued a "round robin," setting forth their grievances,
and presented it to General Otis, who promised greater liberality in
the future. The " round robin " created quite a disturbance in
Washington, though no official steps were taken in the matter.

During July, an important change was made in the rules govern-
ing practice before the courts, and the American system was, in many
respects, substituted for the Spanish. The change abolished pro-
curators and shifted all of their duties to the attorneys. It also
required that members of the bar must be residents of the island,
and that citizens of foreign governments be ineligible to practice at
the bar. The new order gave the courts sole power to determine
the qualifications of the attorneys — a power which, before that, had
been in the hands of the bar association.

Minor battles were constantly being fought with victory always

on the American side. About July 20th, Captain Byrne of the

Sixteenth Infantry, with seventy men, routed the robber bands at

Negros to the number of 450 men and killed 115 of them. On July

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR. 483

26th, Colomba, an important trading town on the south shore of
Laguna de Bay, was captured by Brigadier-General Hall after two
hours of sharp fighting. During this action, Captain McGrath of
the Twenty-first Infantry and Lieutenant Batson swam the river
under fire and procured a casco to ferry the troops across. Two or
three days later, the insurgents attempted to re-take the town but
were repulsed after an hour's hard fighting. During August, Gen-
eral MacArthur made decided advances which served to clear the
country to the left, right and rear of the insurgents. On August
1 2th, General Young's forces occupied San Mateo after severe fight-
ing and a brave charge over mud-covered fields.

General Bates' mission to Sulu accomplished his end about this
time. On August 24th, General Otis cabled the War Department
as follows :

" General Bates has returned. Mission was successful. Agree-
ment made with Sultan and Datos whereby sovereignty United
States over entire Jolo archipelago is acknowledged ; its flag to fly
on land and sea. United States to occupy and control all points
deemed necessary. Introducing firearms prohibited. Sultan to as-
sist in suppressing piracy. Agrees to deliver criminals accused of
crime not committed by Moros against Moros. * * * Moros,
Western Mindanao, friendly, ask permission to drive out insur-
gents."

In spite of the numerous defeats inflicted upon them, the insur-
gents still continued their campaign. It was impossible, on account
of the weather and the bad condition of the roads, to carry on any
very vigorous plan of action against them, although small fights were
constantly occurring. After giving up San Fernando, they entrenched
themselves about Angeles, in which position they made a stubborn
resistance to the attack of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith's regiment and
gave up only after four hours' hard fighting. In the province of
Cavite, they were supposed to have been effectually scattered but
succeeded in gathering together several thousand men and occupy-
ing a number of the smaller towns, from which it was almost impos-
sible to drive them until weather conditions became more favorable.

After the San Fernando ensraeement, the insurgents tried to
stop the northward advance of the Americans by threatening the

484 THE NATION GREETING RETURNING HEROES

railroad communication. A considerable force of General Pio del
Pilar's men crossed the Rio Grande, and threatened Balinag,
Juinguo and several other places whose garrisons were small, and
other bands attempted to tear up the railroad tracks between Bigaa
and Malolos. Reinforcements were sent from Manila, however, and,
the garrisons from Balinag and Juinguo set out against Pio del Pilar's
forces at the same time. The combined attack easily drove the
insurgents away. The Filipinos were also easily repulsed when, in
September, they attacked Santa Rita, Cuagua and San Antonio.

The offers of autonomy which the Americans had made to the
Filipinos did not meet with a favorable answer. The reply adopted
by the Filipino Congress repeated the arguments contained in the
appeal to the powers for recognition and the claims that the Ameri-
cans were the ao-oressors in the war and concluded :

" Notwithstanding the foregoing, we could have accepted your
sovereignty and autonomy if we had not seen by the behavior of the
Americans in the beginning that they were strongly opposed to us
through race prejudice, and the high-handed methods of dealing with
us made us fear for the future in your hands. Finally, we thank you
for your offers of autonomy under sovereignty."

The Philippine Commissioners, having completed their work,
were recalled by the President in time for them to reach Washington
early in November, when the results of their investigations were to
be laid before the President. The fact that General Otis did not
return with them, but sent in his written report, effectually silenced
the rumors that he was to be recalled from command.

During this time, changes were being made in the American
forces in the islands. The volunteer regiments were all sent home
by the middle of September and additional regiments had been sent
out to take their places. The reception accorded the returning
volunteers by their home cities was, in each case, an ovation. The
cities were gaily decorated and everyone put on holiday attire to
celebrate fittingly the return of the heroes. Nevada, Colorado,
Washington, Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, — every state
that had a regiment in service, joined in the jubilations. The recep-
tion of the Tenth Pennsylvania, in Pittsburg, was attended by President
McKinley and many of the most prominent men of the nation.

THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR. 485

But all the patriotism, all the fire and enthusiasm of a hero-
worshipping nation, burst forth in one great wave when Admiral
Dewey reached New York. The route of the great parade in his
honor was lined by countless thousands of cheering, shrieking, men
and women ; the whole country rose up to shout a greeting and a
welcome to the man who had sent her fame ringing' round the world
on that memorable first of May. The arch that spanned the course
of the parade was the best product of America's architectural genius,
the loving cup and the sword presented as the nation's gifts were
the richest products of the maker's art, nothing that could be done
to honor the hero was left undone. Governor Roosevelt proclaimed
September 29th and 30th public holidays, and throngs from every
state in the Union rushed to New York to join the celebration. In
Washington, Admiral Dewey was officially received by the President
and escorted by a mounted escort of notables to the Capitol where
Secretary Long presented him with the nation's sword. President
McKinley concluded the ceremonies with a dinner to the hero at the
White House. The same scenes were witnessed in Washington
as had been seen in New York, — the same wild enthusiasm, — the
crowds of shouting humanity pushing and surging to get a glimpse
of the man who had given them an ideal of American manhood and
American bravery. And through all the tumult, Admiral Dewey,
cool, modest, retiring, bowed his way, thankful for the gratitude of
the people, but more thankful for the rest that awaited him after it
was ail over.

ADMIRAL DEWEY'S MARRIAGE

The series of ovations had hardly ended before the announce-
ment was made that Admiral Dewey was to wed, and on November
9th, quietly and without ostentation, he went to the Rectory of St.
Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Washington and was married to
Mrs. Mildred Hazen daughter of Mrs. Washington McLean, and
sister of John McLean of Ohio, and widow of Brigadier-General
William D. Hazen.

A few days before, the committee having in charge the purchase
of a house for the Admiral as a nation's gift through popular sub-
scription, turned over to him a beautiful residence, fully furnished,
27

486 THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR

in the fashionable quarter of Washington. This house Admiral
Dewey turned over to his wife, shortly after the wedding, an act
which has caused much comment and much criticism throughout the
whole country. It was explained later that this was merely a pre-
liminary step to turning it over to the Admiral's son by his first
marriage, George Dewey, which was done a day or two after.

On July 19th, the Secretary of War Russel A. Alger resigned
his place in the Cabinet. He was succeeded by Hon. Elihu Root,
of New York, the famous New York leeal licrht.

With the accession of Mr. Root came a renewed zeal in the
progress of the war in the far off Philippines, and at present writing
there is every indication that the campaign will be brought to a
speedy close. The slowness which characterized the campaign in the
past disappeared and instead there was a series of brilliant forward
movements so that in a short space of two weeks the American
troops covered more ground than they had done in the previous six
months.

The new regiments which had been sent from home to replace
the volunteers instilled renewed enthusiasm among those who re-
mained. The force at General Otis' command was brought up to
65,000 men and then the onward campaign was begun. Part of the
responsibility for the movements of troops was placed upon Generals
MacArthur, Lawton and Wheaton, although General Otis was not
deposed from supreme control of all the affairs in the Philippines.

THE COMMISSION'S REPORT

At home a blow was dealt to the cause of the anti-expansionists
by the report of the Commissioners who had been sent to the islands
for the purpose of finding out the exact condition of affairs. The
personel of this commission was such that no charge of political
affiliation could be laid at its door. Consequently when on November
2nd it made a preliminary report, unanimously and unqualifiedly
endorsing the policy of the administration, the effect was immediate
and there was general acceptance of the document as finally settling
that part of a much discussed question. This impression was made
deeper by the addition of the endorsement by Admiral Dewey of the
position taken by the Commissioners.

THE COMMISSION'S REPORT 487

Here are a few brief abstracts from this important document
which tell its story simply and effectively :

Admiral Dewey himself wrote as follows concerning his alleged
promises to Aguinaldo :

" Upon the arrival of the squadron at Manila, it was found that
there was no insurrection to speak of, and it was accordingly decided
to allow Aguinaldo to come to Cavite on board the McCulloiigh.
He arrived with his staff on May 19th, and came on board the
Olympia to call upon the commander.

" He was allowed to land at Cavite and organize an army.
This was done with the purpose of strengthening the United States
forces and to weaken the enemy.

"No alliance of any kind was entered into with Aguinaldo, nor
was any promise of independence made to him then, or at any other
time."

The Commission's report then rapidly sketches events now his-
torical. It tells in substance, how the Filipinos attacked the Spanish
and how General Anderson arrived and Aguinaldo, at his request,
removed from Cavite to Bacoor. Says the Commission :

"Now, for the first time, arose the idea of national independence.
Aguinaldo issued a proclamation, in which he took the responsibility
of promising it to his people, on behalf of the American Govern-
ment, although he admitted freely in private conversation with mem-
bers of the cabinet that neither Admiral Dewey nor any other
American had made him any such promise.

"There were no conferences," says the report, "between the
representatives of the Filipinos and our officers with a view of oper-
ating against the Spaniards, nor was there any co-operation.

" There never were any operations or any combined movement
by the United States and Filipinos against the Spaniards.

" Deplorable as war is, the one in which we are now engaged
was unavoidable by us. We were attacked by a bold, adventurous
and enthusiastic enemy. No alternative was left to us except igno-
minious retreat.

"It is not to be conceived of that any American would have
sanctioned the surrender of Manila to the insurgents. Our obligations

488 THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR

to other nations and to the friendly Filipinos, and to ourselves
and our flag, demanded that force should be met by force.

" Whatever the future of the Philippines may be, there is no
course open to us except the prosecution of the war until the insur-
gents are reduced to submission.

"The Commission is of the opinion that there has been no time
since the destruction of the Spanish squadron by Admiral Dewey
when it was possible to withdraw our forces from the islands either
with honor to ourselves or with safety to the inhabitants."

Summarizing; the failure of the native form of sfovernment and
the success of the American control, the commission says: —

"The flat failure of this attempt to establish an independent
native government in Negros, conducted as it was under the most
favorable circumstances, makes it apparent that here as well as in the
less favored provinces a large amount of American control is at
present absolutely essential to a successful administration of public
affairs."

In taking up the ability of the people to govern themselves the
report says :

"Their lack of education and political experience, combined
with their racial and linguistic diversities, disqualify them, in spite of
their mental gifts and domestic habits, to undertake the task of
governing the archipelago at present.

" The most that can be expected of them is to co-operate with
the Americans in the administration of general affairs, from Manila
as a centre, and to undertake, subject to American control or guid-
ance as may be necessary, the administration of provincial and
municipal affairs.

"Should our power by any fatality be withdrawn, the Commis-
sion believe that the government of the Philippines would speedily
lapse into anarchy, which would excite, if it did not necessitate, the
intervention of other Powers and the eventful division of the islands
among them.

"Only through American occupation, therefore, is the idea of a
free, self-governing and united Philippine commonwealth at all con-
ceivable.

THE COMMISSION'S REPORT 48g

"The indispensable need for the Filipino people of maintaining
American sovereignty over the archipelago is recognized by all intel-
ligent Filipinos, and even by those insurgents who desire an American
protectorate. The latter, it is true, would take the revenues and
leave us the responsibilities. Nevertheless, they recognize the
indubitable fact that the Filipinos cannot stand alone.

" Thus the welfare of the Filipinos coincides with the dictates
of political honor in forbidding our abandonment of the archipelago.
We cannot from any point of view escape the responsibilities of
government which our sovereignty entails, and the Commission is
strongly persuaded that the permanence of our national rule will
prove the greatest blessing to the peoples of the Philppine Islands.

"Our control," the report concludes, "means to the inhabitants
of the Philippines internal peace and order, a guarantee against
foreign aggression and against the dismemberment of their country,
commercial and industrial prosperity, and as large a share of the
affairs of government as they shall prove fit to take.

" When peace and prosperity shall have been established through-
out the archipelago, when education shall have become general, then,
in the language of a leading Filipino, his people will, under our
guidance, 'become more American than the Americans themselves."

The report is signed by J. G. Schurman, George Dewey, Charles
Denby and Dean C. Worcester.

A GUNBOAT CAPTURED BY INSURGENTS.

The work of our troops during the rainy season was necessarily
hampered. One unfortunate episode of the campaign happened to
the U. S. gunboat Urdaneta. She was patrolling in the Orani River,
on the north-west side of Manila Bay, when she was surprised by a
force of insurgents, beached and riddled with bullets. One officer
and nine of her crew are still missing.

On October 8th General Schwan's column advanced from Bacoor
and occupied Cavite Viejo and Noveleta after one of the briskest
battles of the year. Three officers and nine privates were injured on
the American side ; the loss of the enemy is not known. General
Young, on October 12th, left Santa Ana and occupied Arayat two
hours later, after a skirmish lasting half an hour. He then pushed

49Q THE CLOSING EVENTS OF THE PHILIPPINE WAR

on to San Isidro, which he entered a week later, with slight loss.
The heaviest resistance was at San Fernando, where the enemy,
commanded in person by General Pio del Pilar, made a desperate
resistance only to be repulsed with great loss.

Santa Rosa was the next destination of the victorious command.
The Americans repulsed a strongly entrenched band of Filipinos just
beyond Tuboatin River, losing two killed and one wounded in the
fight. Cabanatuan, Talavera, Aldaga were taken consecutively,
and finally the objective point, San Jose, was reached.

The Filipinos fled in all directions before this rapid advance of
Young's troops. They could not make out what manner of warfare
this was and did not stand long enough to investigate it. At the
Talavera Arsenal a lot of supplies was captured, including thirteen
small brass howitzers and 800 one-pound projectiles. Troops of the
Third and Fourth Cavalry swam the river at Bongabon, surrounded
the town and took it without the loss of a man.

HEMMING IN AGUINALDO.

This onward movement, directed toward the north-east of the
island, was the first step in a campaign which had for its object the
hemming in of Aguinaldo and the main body of his army. General
Wheaton, with a force of 2700, went by boat to the northern part of
the island, the objective point being Dagupan, the extremity of the
only railroad in the country.

The plan was for Wheaton to reach out to the north-east and
effect a junction with Lawton and Young. These in turn were in
touch with MacArthur's forces in the south at Tarlac. This would
make a complete line across the island, and would make it impossible
for Aguinaldo to escape to the mountains at Bayombon, where he is
supposed to have removed his capital.

The landing of Wheaton's troops was successfully effected. Two
sharp engagements attended the onward progress of his men. The
first was at San Fabian, on the Dagupan road. Major Peyton C.
March, with a battalion of the Thirty-third Infantry, met 400 Filip-
inos strongly entrenched across the river. He forded the stream and
rushed the trenches, chasing the Filipinos for a mile. Fourteen dead
insurgents were left behind, including the Lieutenant-Colonel who

THE DEATH OF MAJOR LOGAN 491

commanded them. The next day the same officer flanked a trench
full of Filipinos, surprising and slaughtering nearly all. He pushed
forward and was the first to enter the town of San Jacinto, where
he captured a rebel flag.

THE DEATH OF MAJOR LOGAN.

In the same engagement another officer of the Thirty-third gave
up his life in one of the boldest charges of the war. Major John A.
Logan, Jr., occupied the center of the attack. It was neccessary
that a detachment of his men should go ahead to discover the location
of the enemy and the best method of reaching him. Major Logan
called for volunteers for this risky work, he himself leading the
handful of brave men who responded to his call. They crossed the
gully leading to a clump of houses in the midst of a grove of cocoanut
trees. The march was made knee-deep in mud.

The Filipino sharpshooters, hidden in trees, houses and a small
trench across the road, held their fire until the brave body of Ameri-
cans were close to them. When they began firing, other Filipinos
opened fire from thickets, right and left, further away. The insur-
gent sharpshooters picked off the officers first. Five of the Ameri-
cans who fell wore shoulder straps or chevrons. But the Thirty-third
never wavered. Its crack marksmen knocked the Filipinos from the
trees like squirrels, and the Americans rushed the trench, leaving
four dead insurgents there.

But alas ! Amongf the Americans who fell in that sfallant charge
was young Major Logan. His death was received everywhere with
the deepest sorrow. The President sent a personal message of con-
dolence to the bereaved mother and other messages of sympathy
came from prominent men all over the world.

The American loss in this battle besides Major Logan was six
killed and one officer and twelve men wounded. The troops cap-
tured twenty-nine Filipinos and found eighty-one insurgents dead in
the trenches.

The wings of the army were not idle meanwhile. Lawton
had mounted apparently insuperable barriers and pushed ahead.
Hayes of the Fourth Cavalry captured 400 Bolo men in the vicinity
of Carrangian who were transporting Aguinaldo's property north to

492 THE CLOSING EVENTS OE THE PHILIPPINE WAR

the mountains. Among the prisoners was Aguinaldo's private sec-
retary. General Young was pushing on to San Jose and Mayug.
At the latter place the insurgents' supply depot was captured, with
several hundred thousand pounds of rice, 3,500 pounds of flour, 7,500
pounds of salt and other provisions, 1,300 uniform coats, new, many
blankets and other articles of clothing ; also number of insurgent
officers and sixty-nine Spanish and two American prisoners.

MacArthur pushed on first to Tarlac, the insurgents' former
capital, then to Gerona, thence to Panique, and finally to Moncada.
The tracks of the railroad were not very badly damaged and commu-
nication was kept up with Manila.

One of the great coups of the war was accomplished by Captain
Leonhaeuser, who surprised an insurgent force of 200 at Odonnell
and captured all of them with their arms, 10,000 rounds of ammuni-
tion and four tons of sustenance.

The success of the web in which Aguinaldo is supposed to be
hemmed has not yet been learned. The campaign is one of the
greatest hardship, yet with determination to end the war, the daunt-
less soldiers are pushing on and on, without provisions or clothing,
seeking victory, through hardship, hoping ever for the final fight.

flm

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Full text of "The history and conquest of the Philippines and our other island possessions"

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