The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1914-04-30


oss and marines have again proved
tAsir vslos In the facs Of foreign fos.
sad have. st the saDs tios. givsa IL
natives Of this town . ssv t6aa of
the courtesy Of American trooDs.
While the battle that resulted IL ths
taking Of Vera Crus vas not . osvess
one - battles OF The past have bsea
counted It vas Of . character 70 tese
the courage Of men Who we're ealle4
spoa to face the stssl-jacketsd bslbots
Of fosmsn hidden bshinA walls aaa -
housstops. and before It vas over II
American sailors had paid for Tie We
tosy With their lives and another -
were ssriously wounded.
While the AsxicaAs suffered noes
severely. the number Of their casual
ties has not been sscertainsd. bat tAe
best estimates obtained BY Capt Wil-
liam q. Rush Of the battleship Fiota1a
indicate that In the engagemsats oe
Tuesday and Wednesday their assd
amounted to about $50. No person
knows how many Asxicans fell
wousdsd. - . large part Of them we're
taken away and hidden by friends.
Dead Lay IN strsste.
In the streets about the plaza Thurs
day lay Afteen or twenty bodies.
majority Of them attired in citisens'
clothing. Some Of the men evidently
had been deed since the engagemsat
Of Tuesday. and the tropical heat
made their immediate disposal i'm
psrative. One OF the nrst orders given
after the town had been captured was
to bury the Mexican dead In . trench
at the sea end Of the streets leading
from the plaza.
When the city was taken the order
was given to advance carefully and
search every building for men bearing
arms Scores Of prisoners were taken,
most of them protesting volubly. many
hysterically. that they were not guilty
Of any unfr1endliness whatsoev sr
toward the Americans.
Expected 70 d Executed.
Accustomed ~ the Mexicans are to
their own contending forces shooting
Immediately all prisoners taken. the
captured men could not but believe
that they would receive no less dras-
tic treatment at the hands of the
Americans.
The guns found In houses were
thrown by the marines and bluejack-
cts from the upper balconies of the
houses to the pavement below.
The most spirited action Of Wednes-
day was the taking Of the naval acad-
emy. Aside from that nght there was
no definite organised opposition en-
countered by the Americans.
Americans Under Hot Fire.
A hot IRE was poured into the ad-
vancing Americans from the naval col
lege. which for . time held them back,
but few well-directed shots from the
cruisers Chester. San Francisco and
Prairie tore gaping holes In the stone
walls and silenced the rife fire OF the
Mexicans inside. The bluejackets
then were enabled to proceed with the
task they had In hand.
A squad Of soldiers, despite the
shelling It had received Tuesday, con-
tinued to give considerable trouble to
the Americans from the Benito Juarez
tower. After they had been silenced
and removed from the tower 1t was
discovered that the soldiers had con-
tinued fighting for lack Of ability to
do anything else. The shells from the
warships Tuesday had torn away the
stairway in the tower and the men
had been compelled to remain in It.
Mexieans Evscuats Hotel.
1t was not until late Tuesday that
the last of General Mas men on top
Of the hotel received written orders
from outside the city to evacuate their
position. The order was obeyed by a
portion Of the 100 men who were oc-
cupying the roof and vantage points
in the interior. but q small portion of
the band determined to disobey the
orders Of their superiors and fight to
the last. These men, however, surren-
1ered Wednesday morning. A lieu
tenant who. was in command OF the
Mexicans was led out . prisoner. and
although he had fought desperately,
ne trembled and turned pale in the
belief that he would be summarily
executed.
None of the American women were
mistreated by the Mexicans during
their occupation Of the building. A
lew Of the women assisted the Mexi.
:ans in caring for their wounded.
Old Tower Held.
In the fighting in the center of the
nner harbor. San Juan de Ulua, an
ancient stone fortress, new the Mexi-
IAN nag throughout the attack. The
,ommandant and so armed men and
300 workmen in the navy yard peered
rom the embrasures at the Prairie,
ying 500 yards away. and the other
ships shelling the naval academy. In
he dungeons remained 500 prisoners.
he echoes of the guns on the ships