Mesa free press., 1899-01-13
lNcAPAcITY OF sPANlARps.
Retired French Naval Officers Obser.
vations of tina Manila Fight

The Courier des Etas-U Unis is pub
fishing series of letters from Manila,
one of which gives an account of the
battle of Cavite by retired French
naval officer who lived for long time
In the Philippine Islands, and whose
country house was situated between
Cavite and Manila. The views Of the
Frenchman are interesting, especially
because they seem utterly devoid of all
prejudice.
Now, monsieur" asked the CORE
spondent, "since your house was so
near the scene of the battle, be good
enough to tell us what the affair look
ed like"
. well, l will tell you the thing simply
and just as it occurred At g. o'clock
that morning was in bed. heard
long, dull sound. I thought that it was
a signal announcing the arrival Of
French or an English vessel. My wife
awoke and asked, Who's thatY 1T is
simply signal said 1. Two minutes
afterward there was another cannon
shot. Hello! What's thisY said I. is
it something serious? That certainly
can't be a signal jumped up and
looked out of the window. could see
nothing but little curtain Of fog and
little smoke. Then, to frighten my
wife with what believed was little
practical joke, | shouted, The Ameri-
can fleet! 1 looked out again. The
fog was gone, and, sure enough,
counted seven ships in line. They were
advancing very slowly. l came back to
my wife and said: We'll, now, let me
tell you that what said to you mo-
ment ago by way of joke was really
fact. Here the Americans are! She
almost lost her head with fear. None
Of that said 1. Cover your head in the
bedclothes and put cotton in your ears
If you want to, but keep quiet
II watched the feet. 1t was advanc-
ing upon Cavite, where all the Spanish
boats were heaped together like mice
in trap. The Americans, were soon
upon them and opened terrible fire.
They maneuvered for while, and fin
two largest in the rear, and the others
in front, two at the right, two at the
left, all facing the Spaniards. At 1870
o'clock there was not single Spanish
vessel afoat; all were either sunk or
burned. The fire of the Americans was
excellent; indeed, wonderful. Each
shot hit the mark. l could see the
smoke and the cloud of dust when a
projectile fell on shore. 1t was mag
nificent piece of firing practice"
'But didn't the batteries fire?"
ooh, yes, the battery at Cavite fired
few shots, but it was quickly demolish-
ed by the shells of the Americans. 1t
was absolutely reduced to cinders. I
admired greatly the accuracy Of the
American shooting. AS said, every
shot seemed to hit the mark"
''Now, tell us about the protestations
that were made by the consular corps,
and especially by the German consul,
in regard to some broken promise"
asThere were no protestations. The
Spaniards came to the French consul
battle. / was there at the time. They
were excited and shouted out: 'Senor
Consul! Senor Consul! They fired at
us with shells that burst! 1t was
who replied to them: 'Ah! shells that
burst! exclaimed. Did you Spaniards
protest in 1870, when Strasburg, Bel
fort, and Paris were bombarded with
shells that burst? And even two months
ago, when you massacred a lot of In
surgents, it was also with shells that
burstv But that is the way always
with the Spaniards. They are proud,
valiant and stubborn, but they live in
1850, or, say, 1910. They have not
changed one bit since then. Charles ",
Cortez and Legazpi are the only heroes
they speak of. They do not seem to
know that a great many new things
have been introduced since that time,
among others shells, new powders, ma
chimes, electricity, etc."
''Now, monsieur, do you believe that
with the wise administration Of far
seeing and cultivated nation the Phil
ippines would be a valuable colony"
Marvellous, perfectly marvellous! In
the Philippines there are untold riches
and their situation is perfectly unique.
Among other things there are sugar,
hemp, rice, and an incalculable quan-
tity of precious woods. And to all these
must be added coffee, tobacco and the
mines. In fact, the subsoil Is worth
gold, but it has never been exploited"
'Have the natives really suffered
much from the Spaniards"
"Oh, yes, very much; that Is incon-
testable. The Spaniards never did any
thing for them. Just fancy that at
Mariveles, at the entrance to the bay,
there are still cannibals. Yes, sir, can
nibals! Just think of that They are
very gentle and they dc. not cause much
trouble, will admit, but they have a
taste for human flesh all the same, and
that propensity has never been checked
by the Spaniards. They go to church
once in while, and that is all that is
demanded of them"