The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1913-02-21
MEXICAN FORCES
CONTINUE FIGHT
u,dpro's Men Determined; Diaz
' Gains Ground.
.,.oriean Women Killed by Shell
A'''1 Foreigners Wounded-Both
Sides Ignore Protests. ;.

,,,,;oo tv-Antlc1patlng an early
METZ nt;on of hostilities Thursday,
reSu,llf than 600 Americans fled from
more m homes to temporary abodes in
tnsii ontskirts of the city. where the
the r O from the fire was minimized.
dan SSossador Wilson, on information
An,O@ the national palace, knew that
l L government planned a crushing
tns . and determined to save the
p ,nerieans, if possible, rented numer-
Anl'I houses, to which, under flags of
ou' US IN ooents of the embassy hurried
tu oUutomobiIes as many women and
II n: 1a as would agree to be trans
ported
Mexico City-Mexico's capital was
.rn asrnder again Thursday by shot
lO WI shpll 1t was not until 9 o'clock
. anu the fire ceased in all quarters.
'D General Felix Diaz, in command of
.,o rpbel forces, fortified and en-
t tns in and around the arsenal,
SoId his ground against the federals.
W. did more than this. He subjected
t te citv to a more terrible lombard
mont MO- than that of the previous days,
charged his zone of action, and sent
fnrcps against the national palace.
Madero was optimistic. Through
ont the bombardment and the almost
continuous rattle of machine guns and
rifles, the president went about his
work in the palace apparently upper
trbed. He took counsel frequently
with the finance minister, Ernesto
Madero. From time to time he was
in conversation with General Huerta,
the commander-in-chief.
At the arsenal General Diaz calmly
directed the operations. He charac-
terized them as solely defensive.
He, too, was optimistic.
The casualties are estimated at not
less than 300 dead and 1900 wounded
in the two days fighting. Two
American women are dead, shot to
pieces by she'll. They were Mrs. H.
". Holmes and Mrs. Percy Grifiths.
Several Americans haze been wounded.
For two hours Thursday morning
the rebel gunners rained shot and shell
at the lofty structures of the city,
from the roofs of which federal sharp
shooters and machine gun men had at
tempted to rake the insurgents in the
trenches and behind the barricades of
the arsenal.
The shells from the heavy guns of
the rebels were we'll timed, the ex-
plOsions throwing bullets over the
roofs, effectually clearing these build
ingS for time at least of the picked
federal troops.
The foreign diplomats resident in
Mexico City joined in a protest against
indiscriminate firing in the city, and
demanded that the firing zone be
limited, but they accomplished moth
ing.
Both Madero and Diaz evaded re-
Sponslbllity, each placing the blame
on the other and characterizing the
attitude of the opposing side as bar
barous and in violation of the rules of
civilized warfare.
Dlaz insists that he had to direct his
IRE at the points from which he was
attacked and called attention to the
TACT that the government cannon were
In the heart of the business section
and the thickly settled residential dis
tricts.
10 President Madero the diplomats
sald that they had come to protest in
Oehalf of their governments against
continuance of the "barbarous and in
human warfare"
ambassador Wilson, later, speaking
NJ ,Tr tne diplomats, said that President
Mdaero was visibly embarrassed and
unused, but attempted to place the
responsibility on Diaz. The president
gave glowing accounts of the measures
W @nlcn We're to be taken and expressed
sne belief that the rebellion would be
guelled within day or two.