Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-05-30

men the Spanish authorities have built a
low wall of stone which only rises about
foot above the ground. Here the I'M
happy prisoners, their arms tied behind
their backs and their faces set against the
rising sun, are stood up in rows every
| morning, each n short distance from the
| other. The priest is the only mar allowed
| to converse with these prisoners from the
time they are captured until they are ex-
ccuted. After the priest has administered
the last rites of the church to the unhappy
prisoners file of soldiers standings short
| distance back from the stone wall are Or
dercd to take aim and fire
There are no blank cartridges in this
volley. Every soldier aims his piece and
knows that it carries death dealing bull
| let.
There are several soldiers for every pris-
oncr, so that death is sure to come when
| the command is given, and each prisoner
is pierced by many bullets The spectacle
| as described by an eyewitness is one which
more resembles the barbarous cruelties of
the middle ages than anything to be
looked for in the nineteenth century.
The fortunes practiccd by the Spaniards
| in the Philippine islands in order to COM
| pei their victims to disclose secrets about
| the revolutionists have Mortified the resi-.
dents Of Manila. They have actually
| nailed prisoners by their hands to the
| walls of buildings, In this position they
have been hagcllated Then the thumb
screw has been applied. If these fortunes
have failed, the unhappy prisoners have
been taken out to witness the early morn
ing executions on the low stone wall out
side the town, being told that they would
suffer the same fate tine next day unless
| they confessed.
The Black Hole of Manila is worse than
| that of Calcutta. In an old dungeon in
the fortress about 100 people were thrown
| one night, there being hardly room for so.
The miserable wrctchcs were up to their
knees in mud. The next morning 50
| corpses were taken out. Entrance to this
room was gained through trapdoor in
the roof, and the only ventilation was
through barred opening underneath the
platform floor. 1t was found on cxamina-
| tion of the bodies that the prisoners who
had not been smothcrcd were done to
death by fellow sufferers.
With all these barharitics the spirit of
revolution has been gaining ground The
favorable for guerrilla warfare than in
Cuba, and the natives are rs brave and
| make excellent soldiers While in Cuba
the Spaniarls must traverse marshes, in
| the Philippines they mist traverse the sea
In the archipelago there are 600 islands in
"A chain which stretches nearly /, 100 miles
from north 10 south, and at the widest
| point is almost 200 miles in width. The
Spanish soldiers must journey from island
| to island and conquer each one in turn,
| tedious undertaking, which would cost
Spain hundreds of thousands of soldiers,
and the flower of her young manhood has
already died in Cuba. Each island is
mountain fortress, which can be easily
| held against attack. There are few plains
| which furnish open ground for the en-
Iloymcnt of modern military tactics.
The population consists chiefly Of ma
tives, mostly Malays. bold and intrepid,
the race which supplied the buccaneers of
| old with the Malay sailors and fighters
| who are familiar to all readers of fiction
While retaining their fighting abilities,
| these descendants of pirates are the most
civilized men in the extreme east They
still, however. affect the. savage dress, ex-
| cept in the most populous districts, little
| clothing being worn beyond il holm cloth
by the i1en and short skirt by the wom-
en- They live in huts of pine branches
and till the land. Very few of the ancient
race survive. and they alone are uname-
liable TO civilization These, who number
| less than 10000, are called negritocs, or
little negroes.
But the other G, 600, 900 natives who fur
nished the pirate captains with their crews
were the most powerful sayagcs in the
world They are physically brave and fear
no consequences when in battle. fighting
like the all conGuering Arabs who fought
under the standard OF Mohamned They
| need only good officers in the opinion Of
the military experts, TO make them excel
lent troops Their proves was proved in