Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-08-27


along the course of memorable his
L torical siegcs that about the second
month several legions of demons get
into the besieged. as well as the be-
sicgcrs. And when the latter happen
to be harharianS, the result is often
Ultra-infernal, as after the capture OF
kEerson, where Cougar Khan the lead
CT of the Mongol invaders, ordered the
survivors to be flung into a pit that had
been loaded with explosives, and then
put fire to the fuse.
Hence also the sensation of horror
that thrilled the civilized world at the
report that the mining town of Bulu-
wayo had been surrounded by the vim
dictive race Of the Dark Continent. Sir
Sampal Baker mentions a case where
that same tribe of savaGes dtsdained
| to make use Of their spears, but leaped
upon their prisoners like wild beasts
to tear them with their claws and
teeth.
The trouble is that protracted sicGes
are always apt to rouse the beast under
the skin of every male human being.
The loss of relatives and friends turns
political adversarieS into personal enc
mics. The besiegcrs feel that every
day of unsuccessful effort Increases the
slur upon their prowess, and long to be
revengcd. Alexander the Great was in
sober moods anything but savage, but
the seven months siege Of Tyre eX-
hausted his reserve funds of gener-
osity, and when the city had been taken
by storm he answered the appeals for
mercy by showing the spokesman of the
! deputation Il list OF his own loss in dead
and wounded, and then ordered an
equal number Of the captives to be
crucificd. The yells Of the thousands
of victims writhing on crosses and trees
could be heard at Sadurbal, ut a dis
tance of a league and half. Another
instance of barbarian severity attended
the last siege of Carthage. The Ro-
mans were not satisfied with the COM
plete demolition of the city, but en-
ployed several Thousand carts for a
week to scatter the many ruins, and
then rlowcd up the site of the main
town and covered the ground with
coarse salt to diminish its attractive
ness to future settlers.
The barbarity of those ages has been
equalled, if not eXcelled, by some OF the
horrors of modern sieges. The storm
ing OF Bagdad was an instance where
the fierce onslaught of ravcnous Huns
was met by all the Obstacles missiles
and projectiles that desperation could
suggest, and later at the storming OF
the bastile, in Paris, 1t semccd as il
brute frenzy had taken the place of
human instincts, driving the outside
participants to rend stone from stone,
and crush, mutilate and dishgure every
enemy. or all the sieges Of late times,
however, none can show such marvel
Gus endurance, such ferocious deter
minati0n as that attending the ten
months siege and inch-by-inch capture
of Saragossa. In December, 1908, Nor
tier and Monsey invested the city with
an army Of $4,000 regulars, 5000 auXil-
iarieS, besides teamsters and sappers
and an artillery train of hundreds OF
mortars and siege guns. The outside
walls crumbled like brick but thou
sands of volunteers closed every breach
with hillock of rubbish. even when the
French shotted their advanced batter
les with grape and canister. "Gravel
or bones, it's all the same" as long as
the gaps get promptly closed, yelled the
defenders. Cannon balls showered in
TO these ramparts of debris, but could
never demolish them altogether. Like
the sand bulwarks of Fort Fisher in our
civil war, rubbish heaps proved more
ineXpugnable than granite. The col
lapse of some lofty buildings like the
convent of San Jose opened, however,
a gate of access, and the division of
Gen. Duiardin rushed up, dragging
their cannon across stones and corpses
and then opened fire into the gathering
mob with such effect that the ground
could he held till two additional b;i-
gadeS entered the city and instantly
entrenched themselves among the
smoking ruins. But all that they had
thus gained was the change of opera
tiOns to Il close range fight. Missiles of
all sorts descended from the windows,
balconies and doors of the next street
buildings in ceaseless volleys. The
defenders appeared to have no end OF
/, | anu ud'i, liluttli, SlOEell
up sulphur and saltpetre enough to
manufacture all the powder they need
ed. They also improyised howitzers.
and every now and then a gang Of
youngsters would emerge from some
attic trap upon the top of a fiat roof,
blaze bushel of stones from a strange
looking carronade and vanish the way
they had come. These volleys had a
limited range, but fired squarely into a
crowd of trench digging soldiers they
did terrible execution, till the French
devised plan to checkmate that game,
!, and kept cannister-shotted guns of their
! own ready aimed to be fired the mo-
ment group of amateur cannoneers
ventured to show themselves ON the
housetops.
Incessant night alarms wore out the
, advance corps of the besegers. Fol
, the first few weeks hostile surprise par
| tiaa ,t.pt.o fpi1aI Inv thH nIaO cf Eaanin n