The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1898-08-12
TELLS HIS EXPERIENCE
Lieutenant BrauneiS.
reuther at Guam.
FEARED SPANISH TREACHERY
By Prompt Action He Prevented Any
Underhand. d Work on the Part of
the Governor-Spaaish Prisoners
Protested and Pleaded.

"hCOlihSp W. mug. AhO III tco
details at first hands of the Ladrone
islands reached Wheeling today in a
letter to Hon. Augustus Pollack, from
the naval officer who figured in the
leading role of the exploit, Lieutenant
William Braunersreuther, executive
officer of the cruiser Charleston. The
letter follows:
United States Cruisers Charleston,
at sea and 1000 miles from Manila
June 24.-We have just carried out
our orders to capture the Spanish au-
thorities at the capital of the Ladrone
islands, Agana. was selected by the
captain to undertake this job and given
80 men to land with as a starter. /
went ashore to have talk with the
governor about affairs, and the result
was that did not lose even single
man. The matter was all settled In
one day, and we are carrying with US
54 soldiers tSpanish) and six officers.
81 had the whole matter to handle
and did it up quickly. The captains
instructions were to await half hour
IOf Ill auSWOE u thCH
use my troops. waited, and in just
30 minutes the governor handed me
his sealed reply, addressed to the cap
tain Of my ship out in the harbor, abuot
four or five miles off. l knew this
was sealed with the sole object of gain
ing time, and hence l broke the seal,
read the contents, the governor protest.
ing and saying that was letter for my
captain. replied:
"T 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 in
stead
81 replied: Il came on shore to
hand you letter and get your reply.
In this reply, now In my hands, you
agree to surrender all under your juris-
diction. If this means anything at all,
it means that you will accede to any
demand l may deem proper to make.
You will at once write an order to your
military man at Agana, the capital
(this place was five miles distafit), d.
reetsing. him to aeliyar here at this
place at a P. NJ. Gt was then 1890 A.
M. June 2D, all arms and ammunition
and all Spanish flags on the island.
Each soldier is te bring his own rifle
and ammunition, and all the soldiers,
native and Spanish, with their officers,
must witness this
.They protested and demur,ed, say
ing there was not enough to do it; but
said: Seniors, it must be done.
'tThe letter was written, read by me
and sent. l took all the officers On
board with me in a boat, and at P.
M. went ashore again and rounded In
the whole outfit. l 'Has three miles
away from my troops, and had only
four men with me. At P. M. when
l disarmed 1O3 men and two officers, !
had 48 men and three officers with me.
Tie keynote to the whole business was
my breaking the seal of that letter and
acting at once. They had no time to
delay or prepare any treacherous tricks.
and got the drop on the whole outfit,
as they say out West.
'The native troops 1 released and
allowed to return to their homes un-
restricted. They manifested great JOY
in being relieved from Spanish rule.
While it was harsh, it was war, and in
connection with the Spanish treachery,
it was all that could be done. Twenty
four hou1s-yes, I believe even four
hours-with leadership of the gov
ernor, who was a heutenant-colonel IN
the Spanish army, would have given
them q chance to hide along the road at
Agana and at intervals In the dense
tropical foliage they could have almost
annihilated any force we could land.
The approaches to the landing, over
shallow coral reefs, would have made
a landing without q terrible loss of life
almost an impossibility.
1--WE have increased by conquest the
population of the United States by
nearly $4,000 people. The capital has
population of 5000 people. This
harbor in which We are is beautiful,
easy of access, plenty of deep wateS,
admitting of the presence of a large
number of vessels at the same time, and
is an ideal place for coaling station.
If our government decides to hold the
Philippines, it would then come in SO
we'll; San Francisco to Honolulu. Q, 100
miles; Honolulu to the island of Guam,
$500, and thence to Manila, 900
miles. With chain of supply sta
tions like this, we could send troops the
whole year around If necessary, and
any vessel with steaming capacity OF
$500 miles could reach base OF supplies.
''The details + have scarcely touched
upon, but had the officials and soldiers
dreamed for one minute that they were
to be torn from their homes there
would, feel sure. have been another
story to tell, and am convinced this
letter would never have been written.
1.-THE captain, in extending to me his
congratulations, remarked:
" 'Braunersreuther, you'll never, as
long as you live, have another expert
ence such as this. congratulate you
upon your work.
AsAll this whole affair was trans-
acted in Spanish. had an interpre-
ter with me. but 1 forgot all about
using him. I did not want them to
get chance to think even before 1t
was too late"
Two Killings in Convict Camp.
Little Rock. Ark, Aug. 9.-A
double killing occurred at the convict
brickyard near here today. A convict
was advancing with an ak on guard,
when the guard shot-and killed him.
A dispute rose over the killing be-
tween WaIde Hudson and A. Potts.
another guard. The lie was passed,
and Potts shot and killed Hudson.