Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-12-28
he SURRENDERS TO
SAVE LIFE OF WOMAN
Spanish Governor of Island
Died Broken Hearted and
in Exile.
From the Sunset Maga.ine.

ernor general OF the Philippines. de-
scribtng the first expedition to the
islands following the victory Of Manila
bay. when Captain Glass Of the convoy
opened his sealed orders, and with fine
irony. enjoning secrecy. published h
welcome information hat the expedi-
ton was to stop by on the way and
capture Guam. Whether Guam was q
city. island. or man OF war was q sub
Ject OF much debate. All were agreed,
however, hat the intention to benev-
oientiy assimilate 1t was a good thing
which should be Withheld from the press
and regarded as strictly confidential.
a dot upon the harts supported by the
ipse dixit OF a quartet OF master ma
rines finally convinced the doubling
that Guam was a bit of land entirely
by water. And SO. On
June 20 at daybreak. cruiser and trans
ports. by virtue OF Il sacred compact
and "a lack OF wireless. steal upon 1t
unheralded and u-nannounced. With
rigging and every vantage point
crowded With men whose pulse beat
time to their excitement the transports
take their place five or six miles of
shore and await the coming conflict.
IN plain view the Charleston ia creep
ing along the outer line Of reefs and
there. from IL hidden cove. with a bone
IN her teeth. II great Spanish cruiser,
ghostly i'm the haze, comes out to meet
her. n then, just when everybody
rs on the tiptoe of expectation, the haze
iifts. and a whooping fighting craft of
nigh degree melts into a poor little
Japanese fishing schooner gently Dob
bling to her anchor.
surely there will be something doing
when the Charleston seeks to enter
there. And now the cruiser. dull as a
misty morning i'm her clothes OF somber
gray, swings to port and slips into tho
narrow n.lhns Hf,,nrtl~y ,,.,lnc A---
the gold faced type has said the fort is
sure to- and n shot is fired!
me garrison must be asleep. or maybe
it is permitting the entrance of the
vessel to make her destruction certain,
or maybe this or maybe that-any-
thing to keep alive the hope that the
colosseum of half circlcd transports
may not be denied the nerve tingling
spectacle of battling men. Bang! Bang!
Nine times bang go the guns OF the
Charleston. a hush of expectation and
then II great stiffness!
What has happened? Why. nothing
except that a dinky little row boat has
put off from shore with the Spanish
colors gayly flying from the stern. Not
u blt OF white is fiuttering from 1t any
where and every gunner is eager to
potshot IT as it meanders through the
coral reefs. Captain Glass won't haze
u that way, however. and permits the
nag ship of Guam to come alongside
without objection.
With great elaboration 81 boy in size
but a man i'm dignity and years, glitter
ing with the gold lace of II Spanish ma
jor, mounts the ladder lowered for his
reception, gravcly touches his cap to
the commanding officer, and then.
through an interpreter. present his
thanks for the salute just rendered, and
expresses regret that lie couldn't return
it-for lack of powder. Now, what do
YOU think OF that? A silly grin broad
~ tl1, fl..nS rf <kD -1.A -,
ormen. This is too much for the big,
kind heart of Captain Glass, who takes
the good major to the s%eclusiOn of his
quarters and there Very gently explains
that Spain and the United States have
been at war for more than GO days. The
major, who receives his daily paoer as
oiten as twice q year, is properly sorry
that such Il thing should be and. ris-
ing. solemnly announces that under the
circumstance he must retire and pre-
pare him for The fray.
why. my dear man. says the cap
tain, you can't do that. Don't you sec
You are my prisoner n that l must
ask you to surender at once the island
and all your forces?"
Tho major argues earnestly that he
IS a victim of deceit and that he has
been induced to come on board by false
~pretenses. OF course the deceit and
! false pretenses nave not been planned.
prepared and perpetrated by an aban-
doned and malignant heart. with malice
a~forethought. but none the less de-
cetved and fooled he has been, and OF
that fact no ~caballero. that is no
worthy caballerO such as was the can
tain, might. could, would or should adj
vantage take. That word ,caballero,
did the business. The major was per-
mitted to depart, with a warning that
surrender must be made ny S o'clock
OF that day or the island would be sur.
ounde by IA OF the transports. be-
sieged. bon1barded, undermined sunk.
carried by assault and otherwise
wasted, demolished and destroyed, with
all thai was in. around. over or under
Would o believe it-that little old
major said he'd think 1t over and left
the ship with the full intention Of mt
ting up fight? And from that inten-
ton not a bulge did ne bulge until the
pleadings of his doctor that he give a
touched his tough old Spanish heart and
persuaded him that he might yield with
honor to a force which. excluding the
cruiser. was more than 40 times his
own. So. at 5 o'clock. just Is the boats
' were putting of from the transports to
make a landing. the major. as governor
OF the Marianas. representative at
Guam of her majesty the queen regent
commander in chief Of ali the forces.
captain OF the port. collector Of Gus
toms. and sundry other things. sur
rendered at discretion and reported nm
board the Charleston with an army
corps OF 60 men. Guam was captured.
when the circumstances Of ifs tat
ing became known all the world Ak
cept the poor major laughed long ana
loud. To him what had occurred was
q serious matter which was not at All
provocative OF mirth. Contrary to the
military traditions Of Spain and the
/ rules re1niatinns and ocd1ro~O~S 10y