The Hawaiian gazette., 1913-04-04
MoRos KILLING AMERICAN
BOf.DTERs IN PHILIPPINES

/ wOundpd American soldiers lie ~ ihe
military hospital At Jolo, seventeen OF
them seriously hurt, M the result OF
/ bullets sent In by snipcrs from among
/ the Moro besicgers Of the town Of Jolo,
I all Of these casualties having occurred
within two weeks.
| officers, soldiers and military en-.
] ploycs' letters 20 TO the posioliice un.
sealed, and with the name and organ
I ization Of the sender on the envelope,
and this censorship Is one Of the reasons
why accurate knowledge of conditions
| In Jolo town has not been had before.
! This is the word brought to Manila
! by AN American civilian, who is thor
oughly conyersant with conditions in
/ the Moro country, and whose word can
| be absolutely relied upon. He was
drawn to speak of the matter through
his sympathy and pity for the Amer
leans already wounded, and for the re-
mainder of the American troops, who,
he says, are chafng under inaction.
! A one sided pitched battle on the
night Of February 25, in which over a
thousand shots were fired into the town,
is one of the incidents, the shooting
resulting in the wounding of four men,
none of whom were seriously hurt, how
|
the quarters of the commanding gem
eral, the roof of that building having
been punctured in scores of places.
Taunt the Soldiers.
"Come out, come out, you cursed
American pigs. Come out and fight us
like men, or we will make you swim
to Iamboanga,' is the oftenest repeat
ed taunt from the hostile Moros. who
come up within easy talking distance
of the walls and barbed wire entangle-
ments.
The cavalry stables, which lie just
outside of the walls, are surrounded by
three lines of barbed wire, one inside
the other. Upon these are fastened
empty tin cans the rafting of which
4 gives the alarm to the sentries.
The latter perform their duty from
behind barricades Of bales of hay and
sacks of oats, two men being constant
ly on duty in each barricade, while a
complete chain of temporary fortifca-
tions surround the stables. In spite of
the number of men within the walls,
the guard duty has been and still is
so severe that all men are on duty every
other night, and the strain is rapidly
telling on them.
The Gordon of stone block houses,
which encircle the town at distance
of half a mile, and were formerly held
by American troops, have been given
up, and are now occupied by hostile
Moros, hundreds of whom are also
camped in temporary shelters near the
block houses. The burning of crops and
houses of friendly Moros by the at
tackers still goes on the greater part
having been already destroyed, and the
friendlies either killed or forced to join
the hostiles.
What's the Matter?
The greater part of the latter are en-
camped upon hill within sight of the
town of Joio, and their movements can
be watched with glasses, The nightly
sniping is increasing, as the Moros be-
come more bold, and the failure of the
Americans to make reprisals is embold-
ening them to such an extent that the
feeling that general engagement is
imminent is growing. The cable Office
is as strictly censored as is the post
} Office, and it is now impossible for even
a civilian to send message, even upon
i business matters.
To make matters more serious, the
} trouble has now spread to the surround
burning and killing on the islands OF
Seminor, Tawitawi, Bongao and Siasi
D Just before the departure of the gen
tleman who brings the news, band Of
VI some sixty hostiles descended upon the
ranch of an American planter, killing
S five of his Moro employees, and burning
the ranch house and outbuildings. Tht
D planter was saved from the same fat,
It by having betaken himself to the pro
VI lection of the town of Jolo, upon frs
N notice that the trouble had spread tt
d his island
D Although the informant could no
verify the report, he states that it i
the general belief among the American
l. troops in JOlo that more than one dealt
has resulted from wounds among tn
d wounded men in the hospital, but tina
the burial or embalming is kept secret
ID Great dissatisfaction exists among tn
officers and men of the command at thi
d inactivity.
Soldiers Dead and Dying.
% MANILA, March 5.-Six America,
n soldiers, two of whom were sergeants
dead as a result of bullet wounds fror
n hostile Moro rifles, their bodies secretl
embalmed, and the caskets containin
NJ them as secretly stored away in tn
rear of the embalming rooms, is tn
sequel to the story of yesterday, whic
told of thirty-two casualties in tn
American forces during the past tw
lie weeks.
ID The story is from an absolutely II
ng liable source and was given under
promise not to divulge the name of tn
nj official who told it. Under strictest o.
ng dcrs of secrecy, and with only yer
few of the hospital corps men sharin
ib- the secret, plans were made by th
on military authorities to keep from publ
lin knowledge the deaths that occurred {
ia a result of wounds.
ial To further this object, all seriousl
y; wounded soldiers were kept in an inn,
VT ward, with very few attendants. upo
ly, case becoming very serious, II
rn' wounded soldier was moved into MOI
as distant ward, and in ease of death h
body was removed 10 tne embalmir
Nd. room at night. here the bodies we
on embalmed, and tho easkets stored In
Iun stOreroom adjoining,
AIN These are tho details given by Il
tho informant, who WAS perfectly co
the ymsant with all Of the cireumstAne,
hot This seeTocy MAS "A part Of the RoneT