Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-08-17

addressed to the Captain OF my ship
out in the harbor about four or five
miles off.
1 knew this was sealed with the
sole object of gaining time, and hence
broke the seal, read the Contents.
the governor protesting and saying
that was a letter for my captain. 1
replied: Il represent him here. You
are now my prisoners. senors, and
will nave to come on board ship with
me-"
They protested and pleaded, and
finally the governor said: You came
on shore to talk over mat ters and you
make us prisoners instead"
l replied: Il came on shore to hand
you letter and to get your reply; in
this reply now in my hands you agree
to surrender all under your luri<dic-
tion. If this means ANYTHING at all.
1t means that you will acccJle to any
demand. may deem proper TO make
You will at once write an order ito
your military man al Agana. the cap
ital (this place was five miles distantl
directing him to deliver here at this
place at 4 p. m. lit was then 1890
m, June 2D all arms and am.nuni-
ton, and all Spanish flags on the Isl
and. Each soldier 10 bring his own
rifle and ammunition and all the SOL
diers, native and Spanish. with thell
officers must witness this"
They protested and dcmurrei. say
ing there was not enough To dc It. blii
said: "Senors, 1t must be done
The letter was written, read by me.
and sent. | took all the officers on
board with me in n boat and at 4 n
m. went ashore again and rounded in
the whole outfit. was three milc>
away from my troops and hal onlv
four men with me. At p m. when
l disarmed 10S men and two officers.
had forty-six men and three officers
with me. The 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 t-oops I released and al
lowed to return TO their homes un-
restricted; they had 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 hours would have
yes. | believe even four hours with
a leader such as the governor was. a
lieutenant colonel In the Spanish
army-given them q chance to hide
along the road at Agana and at in
tervals in the dense tropical foliage
they conld have almost annfhilated
any force we could land. The ap-
proaches to the landing over the shall
low coral reefs would have made a
landing without terrible loss of life
almost an impossibility. but, "All is
we'll that ends we'll"
We have increased by c-nlaest the
population of the Unitcd states by
nearly $4,000 people. The capital has
population of 5000 people. This
harbor in which we were is beautiful.
easy of access, plenty Of deep water.
admitting the presence of large
number of vessels at the same time.
and is an ideal place for a coaling sta.
tion. If our government decides to
hold the Philippines, it would then
come in so we'll; San Francisco to
Honolulu. 2.1GJ miles. Iionnlulu to tbe
island of Guam. 1900: and thence TO
Manila. 1.600 miles With a chain of
supply stations like this we could send
troops the whole year around If nee.
essary and any vessel with steam.
ing capacity of $500 miles could reach
a base of supplies.
The details have scarcely touched
upon. but had the officials and SOL
diers dreamed for one moment that
they were to be torn from their
homes, there would, feel sure, have
been another story to tell and | am
firmly convinced this letter would
never have been written.
The captain in extending to me his
congratula tions, remarked:
BraunerSreuther. you'll never, as
long as you live, have another exper-
ience such as this. | congratulate you
on your work.
All this whole affair was transacted
in Spanish. l had an interpreter with
me but forgot all about using him. I
did not want them to get chance to
tn.nk even before it was too late.