The Elbert County tribune., 1900-01-11
GlLLMoRE's STORY.
suFFERINos OF HIS MEN WHILE
PRISONERS.

3Off EHlN1o Ut fFs~ =
PRISONERS.
Guard Was ordered TO shoot Them nn'
Turned Them Loose to starve-N@f"~
| Eseapr From Death
Maniln. jan. s.-Lieutenant D. u
Gilmore. OF the United Stntes gun
boat Yorktown. who was captured py
the insurgents last April near baier'
| IN the coast OF Luzon. and rescued
few days ngo by Colonel Luther H.
Hare OF the Thirfy-fhird volunteer III
| fantry. sat to-day in the apartments
| OF his sister. Mrs. Major Price, nj tne
uotel Oriente In Manila and told re.
inarkable story OF his eight months
captivity, ending with his dramaic
1 heliyerance from death that seemed ih-
evitnble. a.,
The steamer Venus came INTO the
barbor last evening from the tigan
province of South Ilocos with Lieu
tenant Gilmore and nineteen other
American prisoners, including se~en OF
his sailors from the Yorktown. Lieu
tenant Gilmore. after reporting, came
ashore and hobbled along. with the nin
OF a cane. TO the Hotel Orientc, where
American officers and ladies' were
wnltzing through the halls TO tne
strains OF "Aguinaldo's March,
Although tanned and ruddy from ex-
posure, he Is weak and nervous. show
Ing the results OF long bardships. He
speaks warmly OF Aguinald0 ana very
bitterly against General TinG, declar-
ing that while In the formers turisulc-
tion he was treated splendidly. Dut
after he fell into Tino's hands lie sur
fered everything.
Iiaufanunf Colo
mel Howse. the latter of the Thirty
fourth volunteer infantry. rescued
GIllmore's party on December 18th,
near the headwaters of the Abalut
river, after they had been abandoned
by the Filipinos and were expecting
death from the savage tribes around
them. When the rescuing force
rcnched them they were nearly
starved. but were building RATS In
the hope of getting down the river to
the coast.
Lieutenant Gilmore made the fol-
lowing statement:
"The Filipinos abandoned us on the
night of December 10th. We had reach
ed the Abalut river near its source that
morning and the Filiplnos RATED us
over. We then went down the stream
along n rough trail, guarded by a CON-
pany of Filipinos. That night we were
separated from this guard ana another
company, armed with Mausers, was
put in charge of us. l suspected some
thing. and questioned the lieutenant
in command. He said: Il have orders
from General Tino to shoot you all.
but my conscience forbids. shall
ieave you here
II begged him for two rifles TO pro-
tect us from savages, adding that |
would give him letters to the Ameri-
cans who would pay him well and keep
him from all harm. He refused this,
] however, saying he would not dare TO
| comply. Soon afterward he left with
his company.
I'VE had seen some savnges In war
paint around us and we prepared to
fight them with cobhlestones, the only
weapons that We're available to us.
The next morning we followed the trail
of the Filipino soldiers. feeling that 1t
was better to stick to them than be
murdered by savages but we could not
catch up with them. Then I ordered
the men no build RATS In the hope OF
fioating down the river. 1t was for
lorn hope. but knew the river must
empty into the sea somewhere. was
so weak myself that l did not expect
to get out. but I thought some of the
men could.
'.On the morning of December 18th
while we were working ON the RATS
the Americans came toward up yelling.
One of my men shouted: They are on
u.s. He was lnshing raft of bam-
boos- l. however, knew 1t was not the
| yell of savages, but the yell OF Ameri-
cans. The rescuing troops thought we
had Filipino guards and called to us
in English to lie down, so that they
could shoot the Filipinos. That was
the finest body of officers and men
| ever saw"
Lieutenant Gilmore could not speak
enthusiastically enough about the 40
picked men who had rescued him and
his party.
The command spent the day in max
ing RATS. Colonel Hare thought Lieu
tenant Gilmore too weak TO live
through the trip, but there was no al
tentative They shot many rapids. the
men losing all their effects, and Lieu
| tenant Gilmore some valuable PAPERS.
/ Only fourteen out of thirty-seven RATS
survided the first experience and
eighty men were practically unable to
walk when Vigan was reached
Describing the flight from Benguet
when the Americans approached, Lieu
tenant Gilmore said:
The Filipinos. completely terrified.
left Benghet on December 1th. They
hurried the prisoners from town
to town. often retracins the
trail, not knowing where the
Americans would attack. After
being almost without food for three
days. they killed several horses and
we lived on horse flesh for several
days. did not have full meal from
December 9TH until l reached vigan.
Indeed. the rescuing party lived large
ly upon rice. without salt. There was
one day when l was reduced to chew
ing grass and bark