February 18, 1899.]
ther parts of the line recently. The Nebraska imen fired, and immediately hundreds of rebels en the vicinity responded.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
presentative of the Daily Press, a gentleman who came over with the Esmeralda said
"On Saturday night of last week I was at “A general engagement ensued all along the the Circus, which is within half a mile of the line as far as Balik-Balik in the north-east and outposts where the shooting first took place. Pasaye in the south-east. Both the American As a rule when there are any circus performances nd the rebel troops had long been expecting a going on the place is crowded with natives, but fight and were tired of waiting, but it seems I was surprised to notice that on this particular probable that the rebels had not fixed any par-night there were not more than 20 there. The ticular time to attack, for they did not begin in audience, however, included a good many the Tonda district until after 10 p.m., while American soldiers and the reserved seats were Malate was quiet until early morning.
filled with members of the aristocracy.
"A general call to arms was sounded about eight o'clock, some regiments getting the word later, but by half-past eight all were out. The intense strain and anxiety of the past few weeks made the men all the keener for the fight. Several officers hurrying to the front in car- riages were attacked by Filipinos in the street. Colonel Cotton shot one who tried to out him with a bola; Colonel Frost had a similar ex- perience, and General King was attacked by a man who escaped but was afterwards taken pri- soner at Paco,
**
The
· Paco Church was held by a number of rebel sharp shooters, who kept their position bravely till the Americans shelled them out. church and part of Paco village were burned. The rebels were driven back with a rush. Santa Ana and Pandacan ware captured and hundreds of rebels killed. Many hid in nipa hats and American soldiers were shot from the huts. On the places being searched scores of mudbespat tered natives without uniform were taken, having plainly been in the trenches and swamps. It is believed that hundreds of rebels tried to escape by swimming the river but were shot or
drowned. attacked
Tondo was
so vigorously that the cruiser Charleston, which had been watching closely and signalling to Admiral Dewey, had to shell the rebel stronghold of Caloacan. This is now almost entirely demolished. The Leyte and Callao also did much damage. Some of the dark bye-ways of Tondo were full of armed na- tives ready to rise against the Americans, but their allies outside failed to get in and so there was no rising. Before daylight Malate was attacked and the firing was severe until ten o'clock. The monitor Monadnock fired 400 or 500 shells, clearing the whole country,
"The captured rebel trenches all along the line are filled with dead bodies, lying in heaps huddled together. Santa Ana is par. ticularly a ghastly sight. The house of Mr. Coney, of Messrs. Stevenson and Co., is all utter wreck. The rebel losses cannot be less than 5,000. The Americans lost about 40 killed and a hundred seriously wounded. Fifty of the Igorotes, the naked wild men from the bills, with bows and arrows, were killed, and 300 of them were taken prisoner by Captain Mackie. Their head-gear, made of roosters feathers, make fine trophies of the fight."
Alluding to Monday's operations the Manila Times says:-
"At two o'clock yesterday afternoon an ex- pedition under General Hall, consisting of four companies of 1st Nebraskas, under Colonel Stottenburg, and two 3 inches guns of the Utah Battery with two smaller Hotchkiss rifles, set out to extend the eastern line to the waterworks. At the reservoir there was & reserve of one battalion of the 2nd Oregon and two companies of the 23rd U.S. Infantry. The march was a perfect, combination of artillery and infantry; the Utah's guns filled the brush with shrapnel, and then the infantry spread out in a long line and drove the few remaining Insurgents in front of them. It was more like a jack rabbit hunt than anything else. From the top of the hill overlooking the waterworks hundreds of natives could be seen across the river in the valley beyond. Four shells were thrown in among them, and in less than five minutes they had scattered to the village of Mariquinan. The works themselves were de- serted, and the cylinder heads, steam chest fixings, and some valves had been removed, but General Patter stated that a week would suffice to clear them out."
A BRITISHER'S EXPERIENCE. On Saturday morning the Esmeralda, which left Manila on Wednesday afternoon, arrived, bringing with her about 60 passengers, in- cluding about 20 priests and some women and children. Detailing his experiences to are
41
The first part of the programme was over before the alarm was given. Then somebody came to the door and shoutedQuarters, boys, the rebels are on us.' Within a minute there was not a soldier in the Cirons. One of the circus people got up and said the alarm was a false one, and we thought his announcement was correct when three or four minutes afterwards 30 or 40 of the soldiers came back, and the performance was continued. The shooting, however, continued to increase, and we begau to realise that it was much too near to us to be comfortable. Consequently the performance was stopped and we came 'outside.
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We then saw that all was in confusion, People were flying all over the place. Europeans were hurrying towards the town whilst natives laden with their belongings were making their way to the outskirts of the city as fast as they could. I saw two of them stopped by American sentries, and two great big knives (bolos) were taken from them. What surprised me was that the soldiers did not punish them in any way. 1 hey merely took their bolos from them and told them to git.' There was an awful commotion in the city that night. I was stopped twice on my way down to my quarters and told to keep from under the verandahs and to walk in the middle of the road, because people with white faces were all the same to the natives. Soldiers were going about in all directions, bagles were sounding, and there was tremendous excitement all over. The firing had by this time-it was about 12 o'clock-got right round the city. You may depend upon it nobody slept that night. As a precautionary measure a great many women and children were taken aboard the St. Paul.
"The firing continued up to morning, when the warships came on the job, the Americans having evidently made up their minds to give the natives all they wanted. At about half-past four on Sunday I strolled towards the outskirts of the town Malate way and saw scores of wounded natives being brought in. It was in this direction that the Americans had a pretty hot time, one of their regiments being completely surrounded by natives at one period. I, however, did not see any American wounded brought in. I did not go right up to the lines, as I was told that the sight was anything but nice. Some people went, all the same, and had nar- row escapes. Two Britishers who had ventured too far out were arrested by the Filipinos. who took them for Americans. They were kept all night in a house with a guard over them. They got away on Monday morning, but not before some one had been sent for to the city to come and identify them. The fight continued all Sunday night and was resumed on Monday, when there was very heavy firing.
"I was given to understand on Monday that the Americans were about to attack Pasig and Malolos, where Aguinaldo's best soldiers are stationed, and they expected a stiff job. When we left on Wednesday afternoon they were going to attempt to take Malolos. I went into town on Monday. The shops were shut and there was no business doing. A sentry was on guard on the Punta del Espagnia exan ining every native who went across. By Tuesday night you could scarcely hear the firing, the Insurgents having been driven completely away. You could only hear the heavy guns.
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and they came to the conclusion the firing cam® from another direction-which they could not say, as smokeless powder was being used by the natives. All at once an American shell barst within a short distance of them, and four nig. gers dropped from a tree to the ground like shot crows. They had been up a tree trying to pot them, and as they were using smokeless powder they could not locate them, but when the shell burst it brought them all down. One of the shells thrown by one of the warships bas the credit of killing over 100 natives. It fell rightin the centre of one of their entrenchments.
"I don't think there is any need to fear for the white population now. The only thing to fear is the burning of the city by the natives who are in the city. In order to be prepared for this emergency Mr. Ramsden, the British Acting Consul, has issued a notice in which he says:In case of fires breaking out and town rendered untenable, British subjects are to con- centrate at the British Consulate and the Manila Club, Ermita, where boats will take them off into the Bay.'
'On Wednesday the Tennessee Regiment, over 1,000 strong, left for Iloilo in the St. Paul. A mau-of-war or two went there as well. I
believe the Americans purposed giving the In- surgents at Iloilo only a short time in which to make up their minds. It is not correct that the Americans have taken Malolos, as the attack on the town had not been made at the time the report was published.
黄昏
There was one thing that gave general dissatisfaction in Manila. I do not know who authorised them, but the soldiers got hold of all the carriages which they found driving about and having turned the occupants out drove in them to where they were ' wanted. A number of Filipinos who had been treated in this summary fashion made a com- plaint at hend-quarters and in consequence the soldiers were notified not to interfere with private vehicles, but it was very bad on Sunday and Monday. I myself was strolling down the Escolta when I saw some soldiers stop a vehicle, make the occupants--two natives-get outside, and drive away in it themselves. I also saw them stop a carriage containing a Britisher. He, however, would not get out and after a while they ceased to bother him.
"At the time of the outbreak a lot of Britishers were living on the outskirts, and some of them · had very narrow escapes. Mr. Fitton, who had a wooden bungalow at Santa Ana told me that his house was literally riddled with shot, as it stood directly in the line of fire. The occupants saved themselves by getting under- neath the raised flooring.
As to the losses, I should think the Ameri- can losses up to the time we left were 200 killed and wounded; the Insurgent killed and wounded would number 5,000 or 6,000,
"I was told that Aguinaldo had displayed a flag of truce, but that Dewey had refused to recognise it, adding that the Filipinos had started the fighting and they would have to abide by it. An old Filipino told me that it was the best thing which could have happened, as if the Americans gave the Filipinos a thorough good drubbing now they would have peace for the next 50 years. American soldiers whom I have spo en to complained that the taunts and gibes they have bad to put up with from the Fili- pinos have been awful. It was quite a com. mon thing for a Filipino to tell them that they could not fight and that one Filipino was better
than a dozen Americans.
"General Otis gave orders for all the wooden shanties to be destroyed, because from many of them American soldiers who had been passing had been shot at. A lot of arms and ammunition was found in some of them. A box two feet long and one broad was found on the dock wall, and when it was opened it was found to be filled
with bolos.
“With a view to being ready should the In- surgents cut off the water, on. Saturday con- densing engines were got to work at the river-
side."
WHAT AN AMERICAN HEARD AND SAW.
"In the city of course no one talked of any. thing but the war. An American soldier told me a very strange thing. He had been at the engagement, and he said that he and some comrades were standing in a perfect shower of bullets. They could bear the ping' of the rifle | continuously, but where the bullets came from they could not understand. They were on the On Friday there arrived in Hongkong per alert and had their guns at their shoulders, but the Tailee an American gentleman named Mr. they could see nothing to fire at. There were Crocker, who saw a good deal
the stirring plenty of trees covered with leaves about, but | events at Manila. During the preced- they could discern no one among the branches, ing week by representing himself
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