The herald., 1898-09-24

MANILA, P. l., Aug. 21.-(Special Core
spondence to The Herald) This city Is
now completely under American control,
the Spanish having given 1t over entirely,
but some Of the suburbs are in the hands
of the insurgents, and from present in
dications trouble may ensue Ten days
ago a "Filipino" would tap an American
on the shoulder and say, "Filpino, Ameri-
cano, amigo" now the Spanish are making
somewhat similar remarks and the natives
look on aslSance.
Even as early as tho day after the fall
of the city, American and Spanish soldiers
could be seen smoking and drinking to-
gether, apparently the best Of friends. and
now they are going around together even
more friendly than before the present dis
turbance.
The Spanish, at least a large percentage
of them, look upon the occupation OF the
city by our troops as an exceedingly lucky
state of affairs, for. had the insurgents
taken the city, the result would have been
disastrous indeed Prior to the surrender
there were fires in various parts of he
town almost continuously, caused by the
Insurgents and their sympathizers, and
since the American occupation there has
been but one alarm.
Merely Target Practice
AS a feat of arms and as a spectacle the
bomba rdment and taking of Manila was
not one to class with the great battles of
history. for the bombardment consisted Of
Smelling the works at one point-the ex-
treme south wall of the city-and lasted
but slightly over half an hour and only
half of the American fleet was engaged.
and the resistance on shore amounted to
very little
The game opened about o o'clock by the
Olympia, followed by the Callao "a gun
boat captured from the SPANISH Raleigh,
Concord and Petrol steaming from the
anchorage off Cavite across the bay to q
position off the southern portion Of the
city. The Charleston, Baltimore and Bos-
ton took station between the foreign feet
ard the city. some two miles off shore, and
the Monterey steamed In to within some
three quarters of a mile of shore and d.
rectly in front of the government build
ings.
The Olympia fired the first gun at 9:25,
ard this was a signal for firing from the
Callao, Concord, Raleigh and Petrol, but
not a single shot was fired from either the
Charleston. Monterey, Baltimore or Bos-
ton until the firing OF the salute to The
American flag shortly after 8 In the after
noon.
The Land Advance
The land advance was commenced at the
firing of the first gun, and was q much
more dangerous proceeding than the at
tack by the sea, for all the American losses
were on land and the Spaniards kept up
quite a lively fire for considerable length
Of time, although luckily their aim was too
high to cause any great loss of life.
The movements Of the Olympia were
closely followed throughout the day by
the dispatch boat Zafiro, on which were
Gen. Merritt and staff, and the general and
staff were the first to go up the Pasig river
in on American boat. The launch how
ever, carried the white flag and the first
to carry the American Stars and Stripes
UP the Rio Pasg was the generals private
launch, the Canacao, in command of Pri-
vate Wickersham of the First Idaho vol
unteers.
Private Wickersham further dstin-
gulshed himself by capturing and towing
to shore a launch that had been scuttled
by the Spanish shortly before the surren-
der and turned into the stream to sink
and again the morning following by cap
turing another launch flying the Spanish
flag.
Merritt in Possession
Gen. Merritt took possession of the city
Immediately upon its surrender and has
ever since occupied the governor generals
palace. Headquarters for the various de-
partments are established In the ayuntia-
miento, which would correspond to our
city hall, and oil the public buildings are
occupied by the American troops.
Gen. Macarthur, provost marshal gen.
eral and military commandment, is occupy
Ing the civil government building, which
might we'll be compared to our police sta
ton, although the offices OF the mayor
were also there, and the civil guard hos
been succeeded by our soldiers.
The civil guard, or police, We're the last
to lay down their arms although it was
not from lack of willingness: but they
were allowed to retain them and patroled
the city until the American forces were
prepared to assume such duties.
The first of the Spanish soldiers stacked
arms and marched off Immediately after
the surrender, and for several days COM
panies Of Spaniards could be seen march,
ing from the outlying districts with guns
on their shoulders and belts full Of cart
ridges to the arsenal, whence they would
return minus their implements Of war. |
Inere are now III the possession OF the |
American forces over $1,000 rifles ana car |
bines and thousands upon thousands Of
rounds Of ammunition for almost every
kind of gun or cannon now In use.
Spanish and Insurgents
One Of the queerest sights to be met with
during the first few days following the &C. |
cupation of the city was found at the
various Spanish prisons. In a building or
portion Of one would be confined some two |
or three hundred insurgents, and over
them an armed Spanish guard with in |
structions to shoot at the first sign Of out |
break or violence, and over the Spanish |
soldiers would be an American sentry to |
prevent any acts of violence on the part of |
the Spaniards.
Again. at the gates Of the city, for the |
Old Town Is walled and has It's gates and |
drawbridges, one would find the Spanish |
police on the lookout for armed insurgents
and American troops to see that they the
insurgents) were not interfered with.
There has, however, been very little
trouble but two or three cases having been
j.