The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-28

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 Telephone 1817-4.
 fire of the American soldier The great walls had stood so long that the natives evidently thought that they were impregnable, but they had reck- oned without the hosts that had never been defeated. In the old days this church was famous as the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the original im- age of which was brought from Extra madura, in Spain, and reigned in great state for many years on the Guadalupe hill. Multitudes climbed the stone steps up the hill to the big stone court in front of the facade. and on many a fiesta day the walls echoed with the murmur of the multitude and the laughter of little children.
 The church itself was striking ex- ample of Doric architecture, having massive buttresses to support it's walls which was all of hewn stone. In 1880 some of these external supports gave way and the vault fell, after withstand ing all the earthquakes; but in 1882 Father Jose Corugedo set about the work of restoration and repaired all the damaged portions of the building. The monastery was famous for it's great library, and it's archives con- taintng many relics and articles of great ecclesiastical interest and value Here were many manuscripts of scientific works on Philippine sub- jects, many copies of the Flora de Fillipinas," by Father Blanco, g. num- Der of unpublished works, documents containing data of great historical va due and other literary treasures, all of which were most carefully guarded from careless hands and profane eyes. The zeal of the American volunteers carried them far beyond the establish ed line at San Pedro Macati, to Guada- lupe and even to Pasig and Pateros. Who is responsible for this Is another question, but on February 14, 1900, the insurgent forces were concentrated against the isolated Americans, and while the troops were not repulsed, 1t was deemed good tactics to fall back on Guadalupe and the troops were quar- tered in church and convent. During 1 the night the insurgents massed their 1 forces in the jungle in front of the church and waged a furious battle from daylight till noon when the Ameri cans, supported by the artillery and the gunboat, Laguna de Bay, on the river, advanced and drove out the enemy, returning of course to their position at Guadalupe.
 The insurgent General, Pillar, now se- cured as endorsements the famous Twenty third Regiment of Aguinaldo and on the seventeenth the battle was on in earnest. All day and the next al- SC, the harassing fire continued, and on 1 the morning of the nineteenth, after a lively skirmish, the insurgents were driven back, the church and convent fired, and the Americans fell back to l their original position at San Pedro 1 Marcati.
 The military records at Fort Santia- go show that there were four compan- ies of the first California Volunteers at the church when it was burned and abandoned, and that the total casual ties occurring at Guadalupe were eight killed and forty-tWo wounded.
 The present condition of the ruin is very unsatisfactory. A dense growth Iof brush covers the approaches and fills the c1osters. It is almost impos- reason of the Instructions, and even the paths last made are hard to find The visitors first impression is that of great strength in the heavy walls which show in great numbers the holes made by the bullets of the insurgeni soldiers. Within the church may be traced the remaining lines of the de. corations of the old wallss but little is left to mark where the altar once stood.
 The two-story colinnades of the in. ner court are beautiful in their moss and vines and the perfectly formed arches lift their heads in mute appea to the open sky. The old stone stair. way still stands in good condition, and is striking in the midst of broker walls. By spikes that some one has driven into the walls one may climt to the top of the church wall and from there walk about the entire ruin. The view from the western gable is one of the finest in the valley. The sum- sets from the old upper windows must have been a joy to behold. The inner court contains the old cistern which is yet in perfect order and filled with clear water. It probably held rain wa. ter from the clean-tiled roof in the ole days, and with it's cement floor, walls and vault left little to be desired.
 Perhaps no spot is of more real in. terest than the crypt standing back of the apse of the church. It is part ly above graund, the vault of hewr stone still in good repair and contains inches for thirty-three bodies. There is every evidence that it was fully oc, cupied though the spaces are now al empty and the broken floor is strewr with human bones. There is no spot lin any of the ruins that seems so ut. terly old and dead and musty as this crypt.