Omaha daily bee., 1906-03-10
Fifteen American Enlisted Men Were Killed
and About Forty Wounded,
ATvEs FIGHT UNTIL ALL ARE DEAD
Robber Band Held Strong Position in Crater
Of Extinct Volcano,
GUNS ARE HOIsTED WITH TACKLE
Last Four Hundred Feet of the
Mountain slope is at
an Angie of Fifty
Degrees.

MANILA March 9--Ar important action
between American forces and hostile Moros
has taken place near Jolo. Fifteen enlisted
men were killed, commissioned officer was
wounded, four enlisted men were wounded
and a naval contingent operating with the
| military sustained thirty-two casualties
The Moros lost COO men killed
Major General Leonard Wood COM
mander Of the division Of the Philippines
reports as follows from Jolo. capitol of the
Suu islands:
severe action between troops a naval
detachment and Constabulary and hostile
Moros has taken place at Mount Dajo near
Jolo. The engagement opened during tho
afternoon of March and ended In the
morning of March S. The action involved
the capture Of Mount Dajo. n lava cone
! Ilq feet high, with a crater at its summit
and extremely steep. The last 100 feet were
at an angle of so degrees and there were
nifty perpendicular ridges covered with a
growth of timber and strongly fortified and
defended by an invisible force Of Moros.
@ The ,.aI1y army % casualties were fifteen enlisted
thirty-two enlisted wounded The
naval casualties numbered thirty-two En-
Pampanga, severely wounded and
Coxswain Gilmore was severely wounded
The constabulary casualties were Captain
John r. White. wounded in the thigh, Sc
verey; three enlisted men killed and thir-
talned a slight flesh wound in the thigh
Lieutenant Gordon was slightly, wounded
In the right hand, Lieutenant Wylie 7. Con-
way of the Sixth infantry was slightly
wounded in the left eye All the wounded
Colonel Joseph w Duncan of the Sixth
infantry directed the operations. All the
killed Six hundred bodies were found on
the field. The action resulted in the ex-
tinction of a band Of outlaws who. recog-
nizng no chief, had been raiding friendly
Moros and, owing to their defiance Of the
American authorities. had stirred up a dan
The artillery was lifted by block and
tackle. distance of 300 feet, into posi-
ton on the lip of the crater.
Brigadier General Bliss and myself were
present throughout the action.
The attacking columns were commanded
, | by Major Omar Bundy Captain K. p.
Iawton, Captain Rivers. Captain L, NJ
Koehler. Captain McGlachlin and Lieuten-
The officers and men. engaged highly
comnlend the More eonstabulary who did
seventeen out OF the force OF forty-four
engaged.
It is impossible TO conceive stronger
natural position than that attacked.
Cabinet Hears the News.
WASHINGTON. March s-Not because
Of the casualties among the American
, forces engaged. although they were more
] numerous than in any battle in the Philip
pines for several years past. but rather
because Of the extraordinarily large num-
E ber of natives killed the news OF the
battle of Mount Dajo was received at the
War department (and the Navy department
as well, for the blue Jackets were in the
! thick of the fghtng) with intense inter-
: est. The first authentic account came
through the Associated Press dispatch.
though at the same time the cipher ex-
2 perts Of the War department were busily
I engaged in trying 10 unravel a long report
: direct from Manila by cable This mes
sage was from Colonel Andrews, the mill
tary secretary at army headquarters at
Y Manila, who had received his data by inter
= island cable from Zamboango, where the
. commander in chief of the Philippine d.
g vision. Major General Wood, happened 10
: be. Secretary Taft was at the cabinet
II meeting when the official cable was de-
ciphered and a copy of 1t was sent at once
= to the executive officers and the president
q and cabinet listened to its reading by
e Secretary Taft. After his return to the
e War department Secretary Taft. comment
n ing on the engagement, said:
:. General Wood appears TO have been
there by accident. or rather WITHOUT an
idea of what was going to happen. I had
: a cablegram from him saying there were
= some matters calling him to the southern
islands and ! suppose when he got there
he found the trouble General Bliss
Aiindanao exercised military Jurisdiction
over the Jolo group, was probably at
/ Zamboango when General Wood arrived
e the Here is General Woods cablegram;
d MANILA-Ieaving for lamboango, be
y absent eight days; civil ana military bust
: ness preparatory to turning over duties
y as governor OF Moro provinces; shall be
u constantly in cable communication.
d This data relative to General Woods
Is movements was produced by Secretary
n Taft to meet the suggestion that General
wood may have been on punitive expe-
N dtion against the Moros. who had held
Is out for the last two years, against the
e Americans.
- Taft Diae0sses situatiOn.
~ The secretary said he had made two
visits to the Moros, Refreshing hts recol-
n lection by some Of the ofrcial figures at
~ hand. he said:
The island Of Jolo is S26 miles in area.
" with a population OF H,1lS people and d
10 density Of 1S7 inhabitants per square mile
only .270 civilized compared with 5O,ll9
n Wild inhabitants. Jolo Is the most lmpos-
lying west OF zamboango IN degrees north
:, latitude. The surface is covered with MUS
which, IN tew cases s9Sn as BshH s'si0 5s.S
feet rise TO the dignity Of mountains.
Mount Dalo, referred 70 In the dlspatch.
was probably not mentioned in the same
. tconnectiOn with these mountains because II
p was only 2100 feet high. The Jolo aren't
D.. I pelago Is inhabited by two races OF people,
n the Joio and The sisma, the former Malay
" | people long inhabiting the Jolo islands
s, Who had been prOselyted 20 MOhammedan-
Is ism The sultan lives In a native town
!, I near the city of Jolo and Is the nominal
y besd ~ ali Moros there and In MindanaO.
e. Tho latter recognize him, however, only at
r. | their convenience, when Il suits their pur-
ts poses. Two or three dattos have always
% resisted the sultans claims and there has
~ always been a state Of war between them.
IN I THE sliltans control over them is quite
limited and with three warring factions
I'M tie Islands. the jealousy a. tho support
Of Americans for one side, rs quite enough
to Keen them in a condition OF disturbance.
= III one faction thought IL Pad got together
III 1 enough mon, II went 20 hghulB lN the
- way. ID is worth nOtns that the cOustabu-
fe larry which "a highly praised In General
A. N,ood's dispatch Tor its Work, Was In that
"A section made up OF MorOs themselves. II
Al has never been difhcult 20 enlist them IN
D. our service % nght against their own pee9-