The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-08-08
TEE LADR0NDS CAPTURE
Described by the Officer Who Fig
ured in the Exploit.
THE AFFAIR WAS BLOODLESS.

, spaniards Had No Time to Delay o
Prepare Any Treacherous Tricks
Native Troops Released, But Span
iards Carried Away,
Wheeling, Aug. 8.-The details Of tn
bloodless capture Of tho principal o
the Ladrone Islands reached Wheelin,
yesterday In letter to Hon. Aut ustu
Pollak from the naval officer who fig
ured In the leading role of the exploit
Z Lieutenant William Braunersreuthsr
executive officer Of the cruiser Charles
ton. The letter is as follows:
I'VE have just carried out our orderl
to capture the Spanish authorities al
the capital of the Ladrone Islands
Agana. l was selected by the captain
to undertake this Job and given 100
men to land with as starter. I went
ashore to have talk with the governor
about affairs. and the result was that
l did not lose even single man. The
matter was all settled In one day, and
we are carrying with us 81 soldiers
(Spanish) and six officers. besides lot
Of Mauser rifles and nearly 10000
rounds Of ammunition. had the
whole to handle and did II up quickly
The captains instructions were to wait
half hour for his answer to our ulti-
matum. then use my troops. I waited,
and In Just 20 minutes the governor
handed me his sealed reply addressed to
the captain of my ship. then In the
harbor about four or five miles off.
knew this was sealed with the sole
0htNrt n ~o mt
broke the seal, read the contents, the
governor protesting, and saying that
that was a letter for my captain. Ire
piled: Il represent him here. You are
now my prisoners. senors, and Will
have to come on board ship with me-"
They protested and pleaded and finally
the governor said: you came on shore
to talk over matters and you make US
prisoners instead" I replied: II came
on shore to hand you a letter and to
get your reply; In this reply now in
my hands you agree to surrender all
under your Jurisdiction. II this means
anything at all. 1t means that you will
accede to any demands may deem
proper to make.
"You will at once write an order to
your military man at Agana. the cap
ital (this place was five miles distant),
directing him to deliver at this place
at p. m. Ut was then 10:30 a. M. June
2D all ammunition and flags on the
island, each soldier to bring his own
rifle ande ammunition and all the SOL
diers native and Spanish, with their
officers, must witness this" They pro-
tested and demurred. saying this was
not time enough to do 1t. But said:
"Senors, 1t must be done"
The letter was written read by me
and sent. l took all the officers with
me In boat and at 4 p. m. went ashore
again and rounded in the whole OUTFIT.
was three miles away from my troops
and had only four men with me. At
4 p. m. when I disarmed 10S men and
two officers. I had 46 men and three
officers with me.
The keynote to the whole business
was my breaking the seal Of that let
ter and acting at once. They had no
time to delay or prepare any treach-
erous tricks and I got "the drop on
The whole outfit as they say out west.
The native troops I released and al
owed to return to their homes unre-
'tricted they had manifested great joy
n being relieved from Spanish rule.
While 1t was harsh. 1t was war. and in
with the Spanish treachery
t was all that could be done. Twenty
our hours would have-yes. believe
wen four hours. with leader such as
he governor was, a lieutenant colonel
n the Spanish army-given them q
hance to hide along the road at Agana
md at intervals in the dense tropical
oilage they could have almost an
Inflated any force we could land The
pproaches to the landing over shallow
oral reefs would have made a land
ng without a terrible loss Of life al
lost an impossibility.
We have increased by conquest tho
opulation Of the United States by
early 1900 people. The capital has a
opulation Of 5000 people. This harbor
I which we were Is beautiful. easy of
ccess. plenty Of deep water, admitting
the presence Of large number of
essels at the same time. and Is an
leal place for a coaling station. II our
overnment decides to hold the Philip
Ines. 1t would then come In so well;
ih i ~ l,lVV IIlll6St l
onolulu to Island Of Guam $500 and
fence to Manila 1,600 miles. With a
1ain of supply stations like this we
'uld send troops the whole year round
necessary and any vessel with
capacity of $500 miles could
ach base OF supplies.
The details have scarcely touched
oon. but had the officials and soldiers
'eamed for one moment that they
ere to be torn from their homes. there
ould. I feel sure, been another story
tell. and am firmly convinced
Is letter would never have been
ritten.
The captain. in extending to me his ,
remarked: "Brauners-
uther. you'll never as long as you ,
re have another experience such as
Is. congratulate you on your
ork"
All this whole affair was transacted
Spanish. I had an interpreter with
E but forgot all about using him.
not want them to get a chance to
Ink even before 1t was too late.5 +,