The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-09-20
THE REBELS
WEAKENING
Insurgent Offer to Deliver Ameri-
can Prisoners to General Otis.
THEY ALSO WANT A CONFERENCE.

Military Operations, However, VIM
Not BE Restrained. a. the Proposed
Conference May BE Another Trtck or
the Insurgents to Cain Further Time
Washington, Sept 20.-Secretary
Root yesterday received a cablegram
from General Otis that seemed to in
dicate a weakening on the part Of the
insurgents in Luzon. II contained
proffer to deliver the American pris-
oners. who have been for so many
months in the hands Of the insurgents.
and also sought permission to parley
with General Otis.
This cablegram was at once taken
by Secretary Root over to the cabinet
meeting and formed the main topic
of discussion at the beginning Of the
session. However, upon reading the
message carefully its apparent import
ance seemed to diminish. Secretary
Root himeslf did not regard the mat
ter as of Importance at this time. He
recalled frequent efforts on the part Of
the insurgents in the past to gain time
at critical moments by opening nego-
tiations, ostensibly with the object OF
making peace. and he was not sure but
this last offer was something Of the
same kind However. the secretary
was of the opinion that it would fail
to afford the insurgents any adyant-
age. General Otis would receive any
messenger and listen to him and make
answer to his proposals, but this would
not restrain the military operations in
the slightest degree and the American
arms would lose no ground, no mat
ter how the negotiations turned out.
There is a possibility also that the
insurgents may have become disheart-
ened at the renewed and intense ac-
tivity i'm the direction of reinforcing
| General Otis. and concluded, in view
| of the great force gathering to open
| the campaign i'm the dry season that
further resistance would be useless.
1t is pointed out as a noticeable fact
that Aguinaldo's name does not ap-
pear in General Otis dispatch, and
though this may not be of great Sig
niticance still among some of the army
officers it is surmised that there are
| serious dissensions among the insur-
| gents and that perhaps some of the
/ disordant elements are acting on their
/ own responsibility. The text of the
| dispatch follows:
| Macarthur reports from Angeles
| visit of two insurgent officers with re-
quest for permission to send into our
| lines American prisoners and to send
| to Manila prominent insurgent general
| officer for conference. The requested
! interview granted and insurgent Of
! ficers at Angeles return north with in
formation"
! The capture of Lieutenant Gilmore
| and his party was one of the most
stirring incidents of the insurrection.
II occurred while the cruiser York
town was making a survey of the
western coast of Luzou. with a view
| to locating some of the detached
Spanish garrisons which had been
long cut OFF from the populous centers.
II was known that a Spanish garrison
had been surrounded at Baler on the
eastern coast, and Lieutenant Gilmore,
with a boats party from the York
town, was sent ashore TO reconnoiter
the surrounding country He divided
| his command, one party remaining
near the shore, while another pushed
| inland. This was the last heard of
the lieutenant and the IS men who ac-
companied MIN. The other members
of the party waited for a long time,
but got no trace OF their companions,
and finally were obliged 20 return to
the ship without them.
Admiral Dewey at once reported the
loss to the navy department and be-
fore he left Manila used every pos
sible means to learn the condition of
the captive Americans. At first il was
feared they had lost their lives, but
later definite information was receiv-
ed that the following were alive al
San lsidro, an insurgent stronghold:
Lieutenant Gilmore, Chief Quartermas-
ter William Walton, Sailmaker's Mate
Paul Vandoit, CoNswain John Ellis
worth, Apprentice Albert Peterson,
Landsmen Silvio BrisOlese, Lyman P.
Edwards and Fred Anderson.
Captain Charles NJ Rockefeller, of
/, the Nineteenth infantry, is also sup
posed to be a prisoner with the in
surgents, He disappeared last April
and no trace of him has been discov-
cred.
Gall az tho Famoua for tho Ia tast stylas /,