The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-09-17
AGUINALD0'S LOST MONEY.
WIS INDUCED 70 PAY a3OO,0OO FOR
ARMS HE DID NOT GET.

Were Hoodwinked Fly Shrewd Schemers
Revealed in the Confession of One of the
Gang and In Letters of One of the Vie
tlms-Amcricslns Concerned in the Affair.
MANILA. Aug. Here is part Of story the
whole Of which in all probability never will be told
There were and there are too many men engaged.
and the business was and is too shady to get at
the details Of II from the only persons who give
them all In their proper order, those who were
most intimately concerned. Tho China coast
offers very attractive field for flibustcring, and
the trouble Of the Flipinos with the Spanlards
gave the fllibusteTcrs opportunity which some OF
them developed until they arrived finally at o
scheme that bentsuhc furnishing Of arms to insur
gents all to pieces. and has real practical risk
This story gives only a little outline Of how the
thing Is done. Ii is made up almost wholly
of the confession of,onc OF tho operators and some
Intercepted letters which show what state Of
mind an innocent man can be thrown into by the
INSCRIPTIONS.
In the beginning when Aguinaldo was ready
90 como beck 70 Luzon TO take up his interrupted
occupation celebrating his people from the awful
bondage OF Spain, which he now adjures them 10
remember witlnunceaaing gratitude, he was vastly
In need OF arms and other things with which such
lofty purposes fulfilled At that time circum-
stances such that small supply Of warlike
instruments was not particularly difficult 10 OBJ
tain, and there was no great obstacle presented
TO the landing ofthe arms ono" they were IN Manila
bay The Agunaldo crowd had the money and
there weremcn I'm Hong Kong who had the arms
There arc always such men in Hong Kong. II
IL natural result of'the character Of tho country
round aboutrhat city. There ore always pirates
and rebels, andother people who must be suppress
ed, operating thercnbouts, and Ficcroys as well as
other folks must,have weapons with which TO do
the supervising. So there was not much delay
in NJ nd in
down here. Mr.. Tom Evans. an American advcn-
turer Of the strip one would naturally choose for
such work. took tho contract and delivered the
goods and got hiszmoncy Now he Is commits sion
broker in Manila.
But very after this first venture affairs
both down here and in Hong Kong assumed a
different aspect. and there was trouble for the
nlibuster Aguinaldo wanted moro arms. That
has become n chronic complaint. lie il always
IN want Of more arms moro ammunition or
more Of some such thing. and for ono so young
and Of so retiring disposition he has made rather
persistent efforts to have his wants supplied
The schemes Of the ,tlbustcrs have made Il lot
OF work and trouble for ,plr diplomatic and con-
sular representatives in the East and have given
the British and other governments along the
coast OF Asia occasional opportunity to deal
with the willy and. elusive tratcker in contraband
arms The most persistent Of the white bench
men of Agmnaldo have hung out about Hong
Kong and Shanghai principally Hong Kong.
Our consul there. Mr.. Wildman, had a good deal
to do with Aguinaldo in the ante-b ellum days |
Mr. Widman has been conducting a full 1cdged |
detective bureau in Hong Kong. and its operations
have not been limited TO that city He has watched
the shady British and American filibustcrs and |
the Filipinoswho have been manipulating things |
for Aeuinnldo in Hong Kong. and apparently
very little II anything in the way of arms or
munitions Of war has got away from him. Re
Gently his work has uncovered in large part the
details of scheme by which the Filipinos were
neatly done out of $500 600 Mexican by the
gang who had been getting arms to them Some
Of the parts missing from Wildman's work arc
supplied by letters taken from one of the gang
who was caught in Manila about the beginning
OF the year.
METHODS OF THE GANG
The story Of the success in part Of one expedi-
ton that from Canton, is told In the confession
Of Grimes, tool Of the gang which Wildman
obtained Grimes arrested in Manila last
fall and held for a time. lie had lot of CORE
spondcnce on him or in his effects at tho hotel
which was valuable showing what was going
on but demonstrated that he merely a sub
ordinate. In the end he was let go and his letters
were given back to him Most of them were from
Sylvester, who the real head Of the gang
and he was smart enough TO get them all from
Grimes after the return Of that worthy to Hong
Kong, and thus make away with fine lot Of evil
dcncc that would be very damaging to him should
he ever be caught in the Philippines
GrimeS's confession tells how the gang were
induced totry TO get their arms out of China by
means Of n fake sale at Canton after they had
been seized at Hong Kong. This suggestion.
Grimes says, came from an American official
at another Chinese port II it did. that official
accomplished lot more than lie figured on, for
the suggestion was the basis of the elegantly
simple scheme by which the guieless Filipinos
were worked so handsomely in the end Grimes
devotes most OF his confession To describing what
is known here the Abbey expedition The
Abbey was the ship that Admiral Dewey seized
III Batangas bay some time after she had landed
the arms she had brought down for the Filipinos.
Part OF that cargo consisted of two G atling guns
numbers 5l5S and $3.50, neither Of which has been
heard of TO any great extent, 50 far as our men
are concerned. in the existing Instruction This
expedition gave the gang their opportunity.
Crimes tells how they got the first $50 600 out
OF the unhappy Carlos the Filipino agent but
he does not go far enough. They transmitted
II to London by cable and then came down In
Hong Kong, avoiding Grimes by the simple
method he describes, and there got the other half
OF the price. This too they transmitted To London
by cable, and then followed il as fast as they could
' t. |
ment of old second hand guns on his hands and
the Filipino agents to gaz" at their empty pockets
and philosophiae on the uncertainty Of all things
mundane. Alas" says Carlos alas, NV
native country" This is how Grimes tells his
story. am informed that it is not true, as has
been alleged. that WildmHn wrote the confession,
although the declaration about two American
citizens conspiring American soil against
tho American Government is particularly Wild
mAnesque. This is the story:
CONFESSION OF GRIMES
H. Joseph Henry Grimes being duly sworn Of
my own free will and accord do hereby dcpose
and make the following statement that is to
say;
Il am a British subject born in Hong Kong.
and am 20 years Of Hgc | left Hong Kong about
fifteen years ago and travelled great deal Fin
ally in 1897 Joined l.. SptIcl x Co. Of Shanghai
as office manager When | visited Hong Kong
in February, 1898, became acquainted with the
Of III" lat" Filipino insurgent
government, and learned that they were about to
recnmnenc" their rebellion against Spanish rule
m, H.,