The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1899-04-19
B B B STORE.
THE FEBRUARY FIGHT.
The Manila Freedom Describes the
Fire and Battle.

fIC dnU DdNSiVs
Through the courtesy of James
O'Hara, formerly of this city, but
now of the Thirteenth Minnesota
Regiment at Manila, we have been
able to read copy of Freedom, -
the American paper published at
Manila, Philippine Islands. The
issue is the one of Feb. 25th, and it
was about five weeks reaching Red
wood Falls. The paper contains a
full account of the attack on the
city and surrounding country by
the insurgents on the Wednesday
night before.
The headlines, occupying a quart
er page of space, say: Fire and
Rife Make Matters Warm in and
about Manila-The Insurgents play
their trump card and as result,
thousands of their own countrymen
are Manila s Streets a
battlefield Grand and Beautiful is
the midnight scene while Santa
Cruz, Tondo and San Nicolas dis
tricts go up in flames, but grander
aud nobler is the work Of the city S
defenders in their battle to preserve
law and order-The street attack on
the 18th Minnesota Guard in the
dead of night, when all was con-
fusion deed worthy no less a per-
son than the Prince of Devils-Co.
c. makes gallant defense and is
afterwards reinforced by Co. M. !"
Freedom then gets down to bust
ness by giving some particulars of
the incendiary fire and the battles
that followed. 1t says
1.-THE success in the work ofdevas-
tation attending the efforts of the in
surrecto fire bugs in their efforts at
Paco, evidently encouraged them to
further exertions, and on Wednes-
day evening last they so far sue
ceeded as to raise three disastrous
confagrations in the city itself.
The first outbreak made itself mani
fest little before 8 p. m. on We'd
nesday last, when flames were dis
covered issuing from native broth
,el in Gale Lacoste, Santa Cruz, an
important thoroughfare, in the
heart of the part Of the city mostly
affected by Chinese shop keepers,
and close to the canal as it runs
between Gale Arranque and the
bridge at the end of the Escolta.
Like lightning the flames spread
from house to house, kerosene or
some other highly inhammable sub
stance having evidently been used
and in very short time and before
any effective work could be done
either bv the native brigades or
the Insurance Companies Volunteer
Brigade, matters had assumed a
most serious aspect. The whole
district was pow roaring mass of
.seething flame, the surrounding
streets resembling pandemonium
as Chinese and natives rushed fran
tically hither and thither jostling
one another and jabbering like
those possessed. So much had
they lost their heads that in but
very few cases was any effort made
to save goods to any great extent
although there were plenty of vol
unteers about.
''The Minnesota guards and other
soldiers were working manfully and
performed what might almost be
termed prodigies in their efforts to
preserve law and order, but the
flames. were continually gaining
ground for some time until the
whole district between Gales La
coste, Gandara and Arranque was
either well ablaZe or mass Of glow
ing embers and semi-incandescent
iron sheets. Then the devilish
Vaccinations of the incendiaries
began to show themselves again in
repeated attempts to cut the hose,
but the boys were in most cases too