Page
April 15, 1899.1,
recovering from a severe illness having been in hospital for some time at Shanghai.
A PREVIOUS CASE. A somewhat similar case occurred at Macao in 1849.
refusing to take it off when requested.
Dr. Dennys in his "Treaty Ports" gives the fellowing account of the affair -
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
to the freedom with which the Manila press has been wont to discuss and criticise the taotics of the campaign, the generals have kept their plan of
of movements very close. It is a fact that any newspaper printed in Manila manages to find its way into the hands of the insurgents within 24 hours, to the (P) great advantage of the latter.
806
and shrapnel, ploughing up the barth the insurgent trenobes, Almost simul We have since received an account of the
ously volley after volley of musk affair from Mr. A. G. Romano, Consul-Gen-
out from along the whole line of eral for Portugal, which represents that Colonel
trenches. The rebels answered. Brown was not arrested nor subjected to any
yell and a perfect hail of bullets, and 1 indignity beyond his hat being knocked off by a
to obtain the shelter of the nearest civilian after he had been vainly requested
of the missiles passed high, but several to remove it. Lient, Galhardo asked him The day before this advance was made I the top of the trench we were in, some for his name, and upon his declining to give happened to be in San Pedro Magate taking ing into it. One of the soldiers in the it requested him to go with him to the Cou-photographs of the American and Filipino was in had a narrow escape; a strap passing over sulate.
freuches. Whilst here I received a message from his left shoulder was cut in two by a bullet, hos Surgeon Major Shields, the brigade surgeon, escaping with a mere skin scratch: For fully to the effect that he had just received a com. five minutes this heavy firing continued from munication from General Wheaton, asking him the trenches, then it abated somewhat, and. to at once go over to Caloocan as his acting the mon on the extreme right of Wheston's A.D.C., the advance from this town having brigade, taking advantage of the tem- been arranged to start at daybreak the follow-porary lull in the leaden storm. vaulted their ing day, The Major accepted, and kindly trenches, doubled 150 yards into the open, and extended the invitation to me. Being desirous then dropped into a supine position; concealing of obtaining photographs of the field of action themselves in the long grass. This movement and of gaining all possible experience in had the effect of concentrating the însurgént. military surgery, I gladly accepted the invitation. fire upon the right of the line, the remainder We (Major Shields, his orderly, the Ameri- of the line east of the railway, that is up to the can artist, Mr. Peters, and myself) left San sandbag battery, taking advantage of this mi Pedro Macate at 5 p.m. and arrived at Manila diversion in the rebel fire, executed a similar sy just in time to buy a two days' supply of food movement, the recently vacated trenches being before the shops closed, which they have to do almost immediately filled up by men from the about 6.15 p.m. on account of the order that no reserve line. For the next fifteen minuten the person is allowed out of doors after 7 p.m. advance line in the open kept up a heavy fire without a pass from the authorities.
upon the rebel trenches; they then again advanced s 100 yards dropping as before. All this time the =? Artillery kept clearing the ground in front of them with shrapnel, but as they neared the rebel :: treuches firing from the batteries was discon---} tinued. Now was the critical time; the Americans were within 150 yards of the insurgent trenches;: {" suddenly they rose from the grass and, with a za loud cheer, rushed the trenches, scattering the 4 rebels in all directions, most of them flying to the woods on the north of their lines, some running west along their own line of.. trenches towards Malabon. In this sortie very little life was lost on either side; five Filipino prisoners were captured, including a little rebel a warrior scarcely 14 years old.
"The year 1849 was also made memorable through the imprisonment of a British subject who had made an offensive display of his Pro. testantism by refusing to take off his hat on the passage of the Host through one of the streets, and his forcible release, accompanied by the killing of a Portuguese sentry, by a boat's crew landed from H. M.S. Dido, Captain Keppel. This act was justified on the ground of Macao being Chinese territory; bat in order to prevent a recurrence of similar proceedings the British Government shortly afterwards recognized the supreme jurisdiction of the Portuguese law. courts in the settlement,”
Dr. Eitel's account, in his "History of Hong- kong," is as follows:-
|
|
"Throughout the six years of his tenure of office, Sir Bonham maintained friendly rela- tions with the successive Governors of Macao, J. M. F. d'Amiral (until August 22, 1849), P. A. da Cunha (since May 27, 1850), S. Cardazo (since January 21, 1851), and T. F. Guimaraes (since November 18, 1851). Nor were these amicable relations interrupted even by that plucky but hasty action of the Senior British Naval Officer, Captain H. Keppel, who (June 7, 1819) landed at Macao, with Captain Tronbridge and 115 men of H.M.S. Maeander, and regoned from the Portuguese gaol-guard a British prisoner by an act of force which unfortunately involved the death of one Portunese soldier and the wounding of two others. The prisoner was Mr. J. Summers, preceptor of St. Paul's Col- lege, who had been lodged, with unreasonable harshness, in the common jail at Macao for not taking off his hat at the passing of the Corpus Christi procession. When Captain Keppel ap- plied for the prisoner's immediate rendition, Governor Amiral ourtly refused it because the gallant Captain declined to ask for it as a per- sonal favour. Captain Keppel fancied that his forcible interference would be held justifiable on the ground of the above-mentioned Hong kong Ordinance, which included Macao in the dominions of the Emperor of China. As Go vernor Bonham, however, took a different view of the case, and induced the British Admiralty to grant substantial compensation for the in- juries inflicted, the relations between the Go | vernors of the two Colonies continued unim- paired.
"
THE WAR IN THE PHILIPPINES.
THE FIGHTING OF 25TH AND 26TH MARCH.
We have been favoured by an English doctor
|
Mauy preparations had to be made, and it was midnight before we were able to leave Manila. Having been halted some 20 to 30 times on the road and made to show our passes, we ultimately arrived at Caloocan at 1 a.m. Saturday morning. Here we found General Wheaton and his staff encamped.
:
The troops on the north of the rebel, trenches now began to advance in a westerly direction, driving the rebels along their own line of trenches towards Malabon.
Throwing a mackintosh on the ground and ourselves upon the former, we lay down and invited sleep, but what with the mosquitoes, the chattering of the rekko, the occasional whis and thud of a bullet, and the more frequent crack of the rifle, the stern challenge of the American sentry and the taunting jeers of the Filipinos in the distance, sleep was not forth coming, and I soon gave up all idea of such, got up, and discarding my English costume, proceeded to robe myself in the uniform of an American private, considerately provided for me by the Major. This done I strolled along At first the troops were much troubled by the American line of trenches. The situation to a cross fire from the insurgents in the woods on me, at this time of the night, was very novel the north of the rebel trenches. This was, and impressive. Here was a group of soldiers however, ultimately silenced by the batteries is deep in slumber, Lat with one hand on their exploding shell over the woods, after whic wa rifles ready at the awakening bugle-call to the cavalry entered the woods on the ex- jump to their feet and fight for their stars and treme right and rode through them in a wester, stripes; there was a sentry on big knees takingly direction, thoroughly clearing them of any a pot shot through 500 yards of nocturnal stragglers. By 10 a.m. the troops on the north blackness at a rebel acting in a similar capacity of the rebel trenches were nearing the Bencangs to himself, with the all important difference that river. It must be remembered that the latter he (the rebel sentry) had to stick to his post were still in conaction with the western end of under the eagle eye of the searchlight from the American trenches by a semi-circular line of the American man-of-war, U.S. Helena, lying men extending across the open, and it will thus be outside Malabon.
seen that the American forces now consisted of a U-shaped line, of which the north limb was made up.
of those men on the north of the rebel trenches, the southern limb by those men had as yet never left their trenches were situated between Malabon · bridge the Dagupan railway; the curved part of the line by those men in the open; between the two lines of trenches. General” Wheaton's strategical object was thus to afford no means of escape to the rebels enveloped in the con cavity of this line of troops and capture them along the edge of the Bincanga river. In this, however, he was only partially successful, for
At 4 a.m. the still night air was disturbed by the clear bugle-notes of the "I can't wake 'em up-I can't wake 'em up" of the revielle. The American line of trenches, a moment ago still and calm in sleep, was now bristling with ani- mation, looking in the gloom-for the moon had sunk, and there was still an hour to dawn— like some leviathan night serpent quivering with suppressed excitement. The whistle of the Filipino buglers, the shouts of their outposts, and the ascent of several rockets, which is the Filipino method of signalling, proclaimed the fact that the foe was equally wide awake and
busy.
General Wheaton and his staff now appeared and took up their position on the right of the brigade. By 5.15. a.m. it was comparatively light; the rebel trenches could plainly be seen across the open, and several of the insur.
the rebels rushed into the river in hundreds
who accompanied the American troops with the following description of the fighting near Manila on the 25th and 26th March. The description is accompanied by a very clear plan showing the various positions, but this we regret our local resources do not enable us to gents excitedly running about from fort to fort; | force, concealing themselves in the thick bush reproduce
On Saturday and Sunday, the 25th and 26th March, was witnessed perhaps the smartest piece of engagement yet incurred in this Filipino-American cainpaign, the Americans succeeding in advancing their line some seven to
eight miles further north.
The advance was made by that section of the line on the extreme west extending from Malabon bridge
and thence to San Francisco del
Generals Wheaton and MacArthur were in
to
This particular advance has been expected daily for the last fortnight, but latterly, owing
they had evidently already scented mischief in the air. The insurgents were mostly arrayed in white or pale blue uniform-but here and there was one in crimson red, this being the uniform of Aguinaldo's own regiment, the crack rebel regiment, every member of which is a sharpshooter. Not a shot had been exchanged by the two lines for some time. The Americans had unconsciously lowered their voices to a whisper, and a deathly silence prevailed. Suddenly at a prearranged signal there was an angry roar from three of the sand-bag batteries, the artillery of which belched forth their shell
fall
OTHAR
swimming across to Malabon, most of them caping, but several getting captured, drowned, killed. The insurgents in Malabon, seeing the turn in the state of affairs, now came, down. the western edge of the Binoangs river.
along the banks of the water | ing up a heavy fire across the latter Americans. Again the mortar and pounders at A and a Hotchkiss brought into play, compelling beat a hasty retreat into Jamo out their retreat by a long In buildings. The whole of that porti rebel tranches extending from the i river to near San Francisco del Mon in the hands of the Americans. latter again formed up as **, long) from west to east, about 200 yards to
}