The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-04
A FRENCHMAN AT MANILA.
BITTERNESS IN THE DIARY KEPT M
NAVlL OFFICER.

DISLIKE OF victory.
h last two numbers OF the R6rue dc Paris
contain an account of American operations in
Manila Bay. which purports to DO written by q
Lieut.. X. OF the warship Bruix. one OF the
French squadron OF observation. Under ex-
listing French naval regulations no officer
would dare TO write of q friendly nation In such
terms as are rfSed in:the two articles, unless he
expected the Public and his superiors Of the
Navy Department to sympathize with him and
condone his offence. The account is written in
the form OF n diary. beginning with the sailing
OF the ship from Saigon for Manila. The fol-
lowing are extracts:
May I've are all convinced that It ) is the
duty Of Europe to intervene. and we are all
equally certain that Europe will not intervene.
What sort Of men are our diplomatistsp We
must oppose another to the Monroe doctrine:
America must keep to herself. Could we have
a better opportunitv7 II Europe hold one real
statesman he. would seize 1t. Not n
hand will be lifted TO MD Spain twill be as in
the case Of Greece. When France was massa-
cred the death throes of Europe began"
After The BruiX entered the bay OF Manila
Lieut.. Y. heard the news Of Dewey's victory,
and wrote: Our emotion is great. We unani-
mously rail at the Americans and also Mt tho
! Spaniards. Is IT possiblel Oh, these vile Yam
keesl Surely the Spaniards are the worst of
e"f A'hNS Wv "hANN Nv 90 NHS ANaaA'S wy .
whence this 'outburst against America and
Spain2 1t IL instructive. We are angry at q
victory which can be used to our injury"
On May 5 he writes: we have made much Of
our Spanish pilot. This man Is no fool and has
some grit, yet he thinks one Sp%aniardcan whip
| three Americans. He also.thinks that the late
engagement amounted to nothing. Spain will
send an army and:another fleet here. They are
on the way; the Yankees are lost: they will
| lnnr -, 81 .n1,- ,rhoN Nba i'm. 81 Tho C;J -
Let these packers of pork, these clerks. these
machinists. stick to their packing houses. their
counters and their manufactures Can these
men make soldiers2 Can you make sailors Of
mere wntermen?'
THE German cruiser'Irene is a good speci-
men of the imperial marine. Already the sight
of. theSGerman flag has revived the spirits Of
the besieRed. and rumor says that Germany
will play the arbiter in the dispute. / do not
believe that they will. but that they will pre-
tend to do 80. The Germans never take sides
against the strong. The Spaniards place their
hopes on Germany"
Then follows q description Of the battle by a
French resident of Manila. a few=sentences of
which are worth repeating: THE Spaniards
ran to the French Consul to protest. l was
present. Senior Consul. Senior Consul they
cried. they are firing bombs which exploded"
rhe French resident. when asked II the Philip
prohtabie colony. answered. ".Marveliously SO.
Their wealth is immeasurable, their position
bacco. and precious woods; they, possess a
wealth OF minerals and q marvelI9usly rich
their permanent occupation, by the Americans
would not be u. menace to Europe. he replied:
That will be impossible; 1t can never be- it
On May 10 Lieut., X. went to Cavite by per-
mission q Admiral Dewey and was escorted by
sunken Spanish vessels and the Frenchman
spoke of them as those buried ships whose
That night Lieut.: X. having the deck. has am
pie time to m9ralize on the events OF the past
THE rapid-nre gun is the queen Of weapons.
It is better than good tactics. Small cali
b bes iFnRiidsfi df an Gan aetl PGop ean k seTpe GOWN anr Ing f sne
of the heaviest artillery. At Yalu the heavy
guns did not fire twenty rounds; The decks OF
skilful Admiral, attacking. need not direct his
fire at the vitals OF his enemy, but SHOULD
aoimsd at his decks and gun empiacements."
On May:l2 heH;writes; %lhaye seen Yankees.
America IS neither Just nor diGnnidedd. She
shows neither moderation nor geneEosity. TO
dollars And they cannot understand. why
such an answer should disgust high;spirited
Iieutenant airs his hatred OF the Germans:
r MI Yankees arc merely nIy nervous Germans;
T iTsfitT Iat{ the oi vi9iena asvf BY som mSieeh hef they ready pq9d TO-
Europe lowers herself in standing aside In
this war. especially If she should allow. the
P PRiiffa Ses'eS 70 9o'fBs efor ehe ths X@er ri ens
left Hong Kong. they enlisted English g%unners,
Their guns were served by blueiackets Tsic.I.
Every deserter was paid $500 q month. an
The directing hand Of Consul Williams ap-
Seas. He directed everything. To him statues
are due. An honor done to him honors the Am
| nfipnr lnnEuI Williumg though an AmaFi-
tool. an English Consul" Lieut.. <, here tells
man. what his fellows Of the Bruix's crew
thought Of the war. Tho answer was: The
on May II be said Manila il the key Of
geometricai centre Of all those points on the
globe whose possession is the most impor-
tect in the Pacific. Taking Manila as a centre.
a circle whose radius is five days ordinary
s steI %htsr T Tdnes in SnS al al tbt tf 1fD greet "a S0m M
cation between Europe and thu extreme East
and between the extreme East and Australia
This is an extract from, the diary OF MAY 10:
The necessity for a naval force incrsases, with
When WIS i Rom f%s s decided to conquer fSinE the no NERD ! she she
these people '!tRe 1%gsrica5ssIi bSIS3M their own
iiF rSmPtfhs at ,6 Of th wh sbaG dSfd ny! Only Rilq tRst for aia es6
moment the latter are the under dog.
bilities were hurt. He wrote: The Ameri-
cans will put an end to their i%nactioq. now
pect the Americans Of planning a sort OF evan
gelical stroke at Manila, like that of the Eng
fish in Egypt; they will let the insurgents do
the work and give them the means; will help
them. to take Manila, perhaps permit them to
plumber the city for three or four days; then
as soon as their own soldiers have come dis
embark them under %pretence Of establishing
OF Christian morality. and remain there until
driven out; that is to .ssaX. forever"
man officers are OF one mind, / think II Is impos-
sible for us to allow the EnRlish and Americans
70 make 9 football Of the Philippines. utI.
heads. Any European. nation which will aid
the. Americans is ~guilty:of unpardonable.folly."
May 23.-"Europe Is 30 blind that she can
not see that II England and America unite to
dominate the eastern and western shores Of
the Pacific there will be no room for other