The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1899-04-08

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pf bHttle has TO some extent blown
away, and engagements With the enemy
are less frequent, win write little
concerning the situation here, and ~
q DO 70 ~ briefly ~ possible. The Day
following tie last engagement Of which
wrote yon - having oeenrDd on the
10th Inst. at Cnlo0can, the American
forces began entrenching heavily - The
outside limits 81 the line then held b.
them. fully determined to hold every
foot o. ground taken from the enemy.
Had the commanding general attempted
70 drive the enemy further out. our ilne
would have been sadly weakened, be-
eanse each mile taken would meana
much longer line to maintain, and ut
that time troops we're mot 90 plentiful,
nor are they now 90 plentiful that We
can afford to act on the Aggressive,
having. with mot exceeding 1900 men
70 bold line IN . simieirenlnr shape,
some say seventeen miles ia length. I
think this too much. and place an en-.
frenched line At twelve miles long. Our
forces could throw 10 the Beld. Ct this
writing. about 20OC0 men were Il not
for the fact that In the city itself the
enemy has quite an army, q am safe In
saylng 1000 stroBg) armed with Manseg
rides. and who IL ready and willing at
the proper moment to break out, and
with the murderous Instinct Inherent In
their nature. kin and burn, irrespective
Of both age or sex; this being the case,
u becomes incumbent upon the repre-.
sentatives Of our nation to protect life
and property here on this island, now
that we have sequired Il. You will
have learned ere now Of the serious con.
diti0n Of affaiFs here since the begin
ming Of hOstilitles. but can form no true
idea Of the true state OF affairs. We
are facing pretty hard proposition.
What with line Of battle twelve miles
long, opposed 70 rs IN army vaFionsly
estimated ~ from 1000 70 5000 strong.
with . city containing ct least quarter
OF million inhabitants &C our back,
and In which crouch well armed, an
army nnorganized. nearly half NJ strong
- our entire force: = mob OF murder
GUS, fiendish savages. ready at the most
unexpected time 70 pour volleys OF bull
let's into our rapks. Such . state OF az.
fairs is anything bat cheerful; and the
WORT Of the evil il. that one cannot tell
what houses are friendly and what are
not unless one can zee the Gag OF some
other nation, such as the Gags floating
over the residences OF c0nsuls from
different countries. one cannot feel that
he 10 entirely safe from assassination.
Even the white dag supposed 10 be an
emblem Of pesc-. Is not always an A.
snranCe that tlle occupants Of the buiId-
ing over which it Goats are friendly to
our nation or our dag.
believe I am safe In saying that
every man IN the Eighth army corps
would be glad 10 meet the entire insnr.
gent army In oar front where one can
see and be s-en: where true soldier grit
means face 70 face with the enemy, and
not coward-iiEe resort 10 street fighting
and guerrilla warfare. Not since the
fight at CAloocan on the 10Th Inst. has
the enemy fought ~ brave men, bat on
the contrary resort 70 Ore and night en-
gagements. trusting TO hnd some weak
spot In our line.
An attempt was made = week or ten
days ago 10 break through our lines BY
coming toward q portion Of our liue
held By the First Washington. with =
Dag Of truce, and when within seventy.
Eve yards Of our men the enemy threw
down their white dag and charged our
entertainments. In less than three
minutes they fed, those who could Zee,
leaving one hundred and City dead and
wounded. None but fanatics would
ever have undertaken such move, and
none but reckless. thoaghtIess men
would have allowed an enemy b ap.
proach 80 near with arms, and IN such
numbers. Fortunately for our forces,
the rase failed 10 materiAliEe. At night
the enemy slip ~ near AZ they deem safe
and keep up fnsilade for an hour OF
two al time, when all becomes still,
somestimes for the remainder Of the
night, sometimes renewed with only
desultory shots. At times q gunboat
which we have in the river takes hand
aud the bursting OF three inch shells
have tendency to quiet things downNA
little, for the Filipino has mortal dread
Of canon, which he characteriEes ~
"boom-boom."
A real lanehable circumstances oc-
cured but few days since, when =
large body Of Insurgents charged the
line held by the Nebraska troops, the
insurgents on double Quick, and shout.
ing ''ganR.way Americana" "AmeFi.
cano muchee milo: It Is needless TO
say that they found Americana muchee
wano."
On the night Of the 2lst inst. an at
tempt was made to Ore the entire city,
the connagration being started In three
different portions Of the city; In one in.
stance thickly settled portion Of the
business houses was fired. doing almost
incalculable damage. both 10 disinter.
ested parties and 10 the Insurgents
themselves, for many hundreds OF their
homes were destroyed. and many OF
their men killed. It is true that they
killed aud wounded several of our men,