The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-10
Eighteen Americans Lose
 Their Lives.
FIGHT LASTS TWO DAYS
Artillery Hoisted With Ropes by
 Blue Jackets.
Lieutenant Gordon Johnston of Bir- ningham Among Those Wound ed.--General Wood High in
 Praise of United
 states Troops.

Manila. March 9.--An account of the fight near Jolo states that six hun dred outlaw Moros were killed in the crater of the precipitous volcano. The Americans lost eighteen killed and fifty-two wounded, including Captain Rivers, of the Fourth cavalry; Lieu tenant Agnew, of the Sixth infantry Lieutenant Gordon Johnston, o. signal corps; Ensign Cooke, command ing the Pampauga, and Captain Whi. of the constabulary. The attack was under the immediate command of Col onel Duncan. of the Sixth infantry
 The fighting lasted two days among the lava ridges which had been strong ly fortified by the Moros. Artillery had to be hoisted by means of ropes, the last one hundred feet at an angle
 General Wood highly commends the work of the troops.
 The movements of the gunboats, which had been detailed from the Asi- atic fleet for duty in the Southern islands of the Philippine archipelago, are reported only to the commander-in- chief of the Asiatic station at Manila, and the navy department consequently is without information as to the whereabouts of the ships until con- siderable time has elapsed.
 Sailors Take Part.
 However, the fact that H. s. Cooke, IT,, is reported to have been wounded establishes the further fact that the gunboat Pampanga, small craft of about 200 tons, was at Jolo, for this young officer is the commander of the vessel. Cooke Is a native of the Dis trict of Columbia, but was appointed to the navy from New York.
 The department of Jolo Is now in command of BrigadierG General Tasker II. Bliss. It was formerly commanded by Major General Leonard Wood. who afterward became commander-in-chief of the Philippine division on the de- parture of General Corbin.
 Some of the army officers here who have served in the Jolo groups. say that Mount Dago, the scene of the action is located about fourteen miles from Jolo, the capital of the island. Moro Coto is on the very top of the noun tain Once befofe the garrison of Ila- tives was induced to vacate the place by the exercise of diplomacy, but here- tofore no force has been able to cap ture it. The Sixth infantry, which seems to have been the brunt of the fighting, was from Fort Leavenworth and has been in the Philippines about year.
 The officers of the general staff fully acquainted with the habits of the Moros, say they have not the slightest
  late for the crushing defeat adminis- tered to them.
 Really Two Actions.
 These officers judge from the dis patch from Manila that there were really two actions. the first probably & surprise and serving merely to locate the position and to establish the strength of the Moro defenders. This having been done the second day seems to have been occupied in hoisting the artillery and ammunition supplies to positions from which to operate on the Moro fortress in the crater, and the second action, fought under the condi- ttons described, on the, slope of the mountain at an angle of fifty degrees, undoubtedly broke the Moro strength in that locality for an indefinite time
 Capt. Tyree Rivers, who was slightly wounded, was born May 10, 1862, n Mississippi; was appointed q cadet in the military academy from Tennessee July 1, 1876; second lieutenant 3rd cav airy June IS, 1882; first lieutenant Srd cavalry January IT, 1889, and captain 4th cavalry March, 1899.
 First Lieutenant Gordon Johnston who was seriously wounded In the shoulder, was born in North Carolina In 1874. He is a graduate of Princeton and an honor graduate of the infantry and cavalry school in 1903.
 He first entered the army al the out break of the Spanish war and was ap- pointed from Alabama as a sergeant in Company M, End Mississippi infantry. In 1899 he became second lieutenant in the 43rd infantry and is now first lieutenant in the signal corps.
 First Lieutenant Ernest H. Agnew in 1898 was a second lieutenant of the goth Kansas volunteer infantry and was made first lieutenant five years ago.