Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1914-05-07
By a VETERAN

Z
/ Sam seized it on April q. Once it fell
to Gen. Winfield Scott, once to the
allied forces Of France, England and
! Spain, and twice to the buccaneers of
/ the Spanish Main.
/ / know several men today who were
/ present at the siege of 1S47 1t is
| probable none Of these veterans of the
/ first Mexican struggle will see service
/ this time, although I have just seen
| a letter from Brig. Gen. Horatio G.
| Gibson, q. S. A, retired, eightyseven
| years old, in which the venerable
! fighter offers his sword to the stars
/ and stripes and refers to Major Gen.
/ Leonard Wood as sponsor for his
/ physical and mental ability. General
/ Gibson served through the Mexican,
/ Civil and several Indian wars.
1t was March Z, 1847, when the feet
bearing General Scott and his little
army appeared of Mexico's principal
seaport. The troops landed without
much trouble after the city had been
bombarded, but it took a sanguinary
| siege Of thirteen days to capture the
| defenses. Trenches were dug and reg
ular operations conducted
So our troops this time can COM
mence their march toward the capital
| with much less of handicap than
| General SCOTS.
While the troubles of the United
States which eliminated in the Civil
war were brewing Mexico grew AFRO
| CANT to this country and to Europeans.
The browning insult was President
Miramon's seizure of S630000 in specie
from the British consulate. Great
Britain, France, Spain and Prussia de-
cided to move. Meantime the great
| Benito Juarez, the General Washing
| ton of Mexico, was conducting a re-
! volt in the North. He overthrow Mira
| mon, but the foreign troops kept on
| their way. On December Il, 1861,
| Vera Cruz was seized by a Spanish
! force under General Prim. The result
was the elevation Of Macmillan to the
! throne and, after the European troops
! had been withdrawn, the unfortunate
Austrian's execution.
The pirates, with force equal to a
| respectable army, captured Vera Cruz
| in 1858. They burned, slew and
| robbed for many days before they
| were driven to their ships. In 1712
the notorious buccaneer kings, Lau-
rent and Van Horn, seized the port
! and held it ten days. They killed hun
dreds of Mexicans, carried away wom-
en- captive and did an immense
| amount of damage.
| To this day the nurse girl of Vera
| Cruz, seeking to still the fretful child,
says: BE quiet or I will give you to
Van Horn"
PREPARATION for One Insult.
I was much amused by the i'll
! informed if well-meaning persons who
cried out that Dictator Huerta had
given sufficient reparation for the in
suit to the flag at Tampico by his
meager and half-hearted apology.
From the files of the navy depart
ment 1 have dug up a report from
Commander J. Blakely Creighton, U.
| S. N, commanding the Oneida, who
witnessed Japan's atonement for an
offense against our bluejackets. 1t
| reads:
t'Hiogo, Japan, March II, 1865
Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary of the
United States Navy, Washington,
D. C.-Sir: have the honor to COM
| municate the particulars of the execu-
| ton of the Japanese official Tati Zan-
zutaro, retainer of the Matsdaira BIZ
zen, No Kami, who ordered his troops
| to fire on the foreigners at this place
on the fourth ultimo.
''This execution was witnessed by
me at the request of our minister, Gen.
r. B. Van Valkenburgh, and was as
/ follows:
1 left the legation at about 900
p. m. in company with the officers at
tached to the foreign legations and
proceeded to Hiogo, where we were
met by a guard, who escorted us to
the temple where the execution was
to take place.
There was large number of
people on each side of the street lead
ing to the temple, and quite num-
Der Of soldiers drawn up inside and
about the temple. We were shown
into a room adjoining the Japanese
officials, where we were asked if we
wished to question the person about
to be executed, to which we answered
in the negative. They also took the
names of every official present.
after waiting about half an hour
we we're conducted by the Japanese
officials into what appeared to be the
principal room of the temple, which
was lighted with candles, and in
front of the altar was raised plat
form of about a foot in height, which
extended across the room and which
was placed on the right of the altar,
within a few feet of where the execu-
ton was to take place, with the Japan
csc officials on the left.
I'm front of the altar was a green
cloth and in front of that red one.
We were informed that the execution
would take place on the red cloth.
Seating ourselves upon the mats on
AMERICAN INTERVENTION
IS WHAT MEXICO NEEDS
American intervention Is what Mex
| tco most needs to fully develop her