The suburban citizen., 1900-01-13
HAD A ROUGH TINE,
THRILLING STORY TOLD BY LIEUT.
ENANT GILMORE.
WEAK FROM STARVATION.
Gen. Tino Had Ordered That the Party
should be shot. But the Lieutenant IN
Charge of the Guard Had Kinder
Heart, aud Left Them Behind TO strog-
gle for Themselves in a Savage Country

Charge of the Guard Had Kinder
Heart, aud Left Them Behind TO strng-
gle for Themselves in a Savage Country
Manila, (By Cable. )--Lieutenant j. c,
Gilmore, of the United States gunboat York
town, who was captured by the insurgents
last April near Baler. on the east coast OF
Luzon, and rescued few days ago by Col.
Luther r. Hare, OF the rhrty-third Yolun-
teer Infantry, sat In the apartment Of bis
sister, Mrs. Price, wife OF Major Price at
the Hotel Oriente, In Manila, and told a re-
markable story OF his eight months ir cap
tiyity ending with his dramatic dellverance
from death that seemed inevitable.
The steamer Venus came into the harbor
from Yigan, province OF South Ilocas with
Lieut.. Gilmore and nineteen other Ameri-
can prisoners, including seven Of his sailors
from the Yorktown Lieutenant Gilmore,
after reporting, came ashore and hobbled
along, with the aid Of a cane TO the Hotel
Oriente where American officers and ladies'
were waltzlng through the halls to the strains
Of "Aguinaldos March"
Although tanned and ruddy from expos
ure, he Is weak and nervous, showing tho
results OF long hardshps. He speaks warm
= HaNfAAtHN
General Tlno, declaring that while In the
formers Jurisdiction he was treated spien-
didly, but that after he fell into Tlno's hands
he suffered everything
Colonel Hare and Lieutenant Colonel
Howe, the latter Of the Thirty-fourth No,-
unteer Infantry, rescued Gillmore's para 0n
December 19. near the headwatec4 lHdS
Abulut river, after they had been abahdoned
hn Apnth
from the savage tribes around them When
the rescuing forces reached them they we're
nearly starved, but were building RATS In
the hope Of getting down the river to the
coast.
Lieutenant Gilmore made the following
statement:
THE Filipinos abandoned us on the night
! OF December 16 Wehad reached the Abalut
river, near its source, and the Filipinos
RATED US over. We then went down the
| stream along rough trail, guarded by
company OF Fillpinos That night we were
separated from this guard and another COM
| pany, armed with Mausers, was put in charge
OF US. l suspected something, and ques-
toned the lieutenant In command. Hesaid;
4 have orders from General lino to shoot
you all, but my conscience forbids. shall
leave you here
II begged him for two rifles to protect us
from sayages adding that would give him
letters to the Americans, who would pay
him well and keep him from all harm. He
refused this, however saying that he would
not dare to comply. Soon aiterward he left
with his company.
"We had seen some sayagcs in war paint
around u.s. and we prepared to fight them
with cobblestones, the only weapons that
were available to us. The next morning we
followed the trail OF the Filipino soldiers,
feeling that 1t was better to stick to them
than to be murdered by sGvages, but we
could not catch up with them. Then /
ordered the men to build RATS, in the hope
OF floating down the river. 1t was fcrlorn
hope, but knew the river must empty into
the sea somewhere ! was so weak myself
that l did not expect to get out, but
thought some OF tho men could.
Yclls That Cheered Them.
ION the morning OF December ls, while
we were working on the RATS, the Ameri.
cans came toward us yelling. One OF my
men shouted, They are on us!" He was
lushlng a raft OF bamboo. l, however
knew II was not the yell OF savages, but the
| yell OF Americans. The rescuing troops
thought we had Filipino guards, and called
TO us In English to lie d0Rn 50 that they
could shoot the Filipinos. That was the
finest body of officers and men / ever saw
Lieutenant Gilmore cannotspeak enthusl-
astically enough about the ll0 picked men
who had rescued him and his party.
The command spent the day In making
RATS. Colonel Hare thought Lieutenant
! Gilmore too weak 70 live through the trip,
but there was no alternative. They shot
many rapids, the men losing all their effects
and Lieutenant Gilmore some valuable pa
| pers. Only fourteen out Of thrty-seyen
RATS survived the first nights experiences,
and eighty men were practically unable 10
walk when Yigan was reached.
Describing the flight from Benguet, when
/ the Americans approached, Lieutenant Gill.
more said;
"The Fillpinos, completely terrified. left
Benguet on December z. They hurried the
! prisoners from town to town, often retrac-
| ing the trail, not knowing where the Amer.
leans would attack After being almost
without food for three days, they killed
several horses, and we lived on horse flesh
for several days. l did not have full meal
from December until 1 reached Vigan.
Indeed the rescuing party lived largely
| upon rice, without salt. There was one day
when was reduced TO chewing grass and
bark.
u-o roaka I-uya oop,nlntn tho. cbruId