The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1900-01-09
LIEUTENANT GILMORE'S STORY

Tale Of His Eish. Months Captivity.
MANILA. Jan. a.-Lieutenant j. c.
Gilmore of the United States gunboat
Yorktown, who was captured by the
insurgents last April near Baler and re-
leased a few days & by Colonel
Luther R. Hare of the Thirty-third vol.
unteer~ infantry, sat in the apartments
Of his sister. Mrs. Major Price, at the
Hotel Oriente. in Manila. and told a re-
narkable story of his eight months in
captivity, ending with his dramatic de.
l~iverance from death that seemed to be
inevitable.
The steamer Venus came into the
harbor Saturday evening from Vigan,
| province of South Ilocos, with Lieuten-
ant Gilmore and 10 other American
prisoners. including ! Of his sailors
from the Yorktown. Although tanned
and rudy from exposure he is weak
and nervous from hardships. He speaks
warmly of Aguinaldo and very bitterly
against General Tino, stating that
while in the formers jurisdiction he
was treated splendidly, but that after
he fell into Tino's hands he suffered
everything.
Lieutenant Gilmore's Statement.
Lieutenant Gilmore made the follow
ing statement:
The Filipinos abandoned us on the
night Of Dec. IS. We had reached the
Adult river, near its source. that morn
ing and the Filipinos RATED us over.
We then went down the stream, along
a rough trail, guarded by a company of
Filipinos. That night w We're separ.
ated from this guard and another COM
pany, armed with Mausers, was put in
charge of us. l suspected something
and questioned the lieutenant in COM
mand. He said:
~ have orders from General Tino
to shoot you all, by my conscience for.
bids. l shall leave you here
Il begged him for two rifles to pro-
tect us from savages, adding that l
would give him letters to the Ameri.
cans who would pay him we'll and keep
him from all harm. He refused this,
however, saying that he would not dare
to comply. Soon after he left with his
company.
"We had seen some savages in war
paint around us and we prepared 10
fight them with cobble stones, the only
weapons that were available to us.
Hoped to Escape Down the River.
"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 savages, 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
a forlorn hope, but l knew the river
must empty into the sea somewhere.
y the morning Of Dec. Is, while
we were working on the RATS. the
Americans ann toward US yelling.
The rescuing troops thought we were
Filipino guides and called to US in Eng
llsh to lie down SO that they could
shoot the Filipinos. That was the
finest body os officers and men that /
ever saw
The command spent the day in max
ing RATS. They shot many rapids. the
men losing all their effects and Lien
tenant Gilmore some Of his papers.
Only IA out Of the 81 RATS survived the
first nights experience and so men
were practically unable to walk when
Nlgan was reached.
Lived on Grass and Bark.
Describing the flight from Benruet.
when the Americans appeared, Lieu
tenant Gilmore said:
The Fllipinos, completely te1rorized, |
left Benguet on Dec. Z. They hurried
the prisoners from town to town, often
retracins the trail, lot knowing where
the Americans would attack. After be.
ing almost without food for three DAYS
they killed several horses and we lived
on horse flesh tor several days. | did
not have a full meal from Dec. 7 until
l reached Vigan. In fact the entire
party lived entirely upon rice without
salt. There was n day l was reduced
to chewing grass and bark.
The Fillpinos' treatment of ths
Spaniards was brutal in the extreme.
The Fllipinos had old grievances against
them to wipe out"
Lieutenant Gilmore declined to sneak
regarding political conditions, except
to say he believed the insurrecti,n
would last as long as there were any
left.