p. 14 | In the Philippines

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 5, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 14.

In the Philippines

In the Philippines.—There has been almost continuous fighting of a more or less serious character between the Americans and Filipinos during the past two weeks. In an engagement on March 15 the Filipinos lost over 200 killed and 450 prisoners. Fighting was continuous on the following day, and the Filipinos lost heavily, being driven from successive trenches. In an engagement on the 19th the Filipinos were driven fifteen miles by General Wheaton's brigade, and left 200 dead on the field. American gunboats have entered the lake east of Manila, capturing a number of small towns and several gunboats used by the natives......The transport Sherman arrived at Manila on March 22, with a regiment of regulars to re-enforce General Otis.

On March 24 the Americans began a general advance, driving the Filipinos from their intrenchments and capturing a small village. The Filipino loss in this engagement is reported to have been between 300 and 400. What is said to have been the heaviest battle fought since February 4 occurred on March 25. The Filipinos made a determined stand but were unable to hold their position. The fighting continued all day, and the loss of the Americans in killed and wounded was about 200. The loss on the part of the Filipinos is much in excess of that number. The town of Malinta was captured by the Americans on March 26, and great numbers of the Filipinos fell in its defense. Among the Americans killed was Colonel Egbert, of the Twenty-second Infantry. Polo was captured on the following day. The line of the American advance is along the Manila and Dagupan Railway, toward the insurgent capital, at Malolos, where Aguinaldo is expected to make his final stand......A battle was fought for the possession of the village of Marilao on March 28, resulting in its capture by the Americans. The Filipinos lost 88 killed and 100 prisoners in the engagement. The Americans lost 28 killed and 212 wounded. The town of Bocave was captured by the Americans on March 29, leaving but 8 miles of comparatively level country to be covered between that and Malolos......A report by way of Paris states that Aguinaldo is ready to negotiate with Admiral Dewey for the surrender of his forces......The War Department at Washington has issued a statement to the effect that the losses of the Americans in Manila since February 4 are 157 killed and 864 wounded.

Reports from the island of Iloilo state that an engagement occurred near the city of Iloilo on March 16, resulting in a loss to the natives of 200 killed, and a much larger number wounded. There is now good prospect of the natives laying down their arms without further resistance. The natives on the island of Samar, however, are reported to be assuming a threatening attitude.

International.—A battle occurred on the frontier of Morocco, on March 22, between the Dejedi and Benisussen tribes on the one side and the Mohayas on the other. The latter were defeated, losing 800 prisoners. The number of killed on both sides is said to be 400......England and Russia are said to be coming into harmony over the matter of railway concessions in China, the czar being desirous of showing an amiable disposition on the eve of the peace conference......Cecil Rhodes, the South African millionaire and politician, has secured from Germany permission to build a telegraph line through German East Africa, thus connecting Egypt and South Africa. This is the preliminary step to the building of a railroad between Egypt and Cape Town.

There are mutterings of trouble coming from Norway and Sweden, the latest manifestation of this discontent being in the form of a refusal of the Norwegian legislative assembly to dine with the Swedish crown prince, who has been acting as regent in the absence of the king. The Norwegians also showed their dislike of the prince by pelting him with snowballs on a recent occasion......On March 17 the queen regent of Spain signed the treaty of peace between Spain and the United States. Altho the actual war ceased at the signing of the protocol, technically these nations will be at war until the treaty is signed by President McKinley......The convention between Great Britain and France delimiting their boundaries in the valley of the Nile was signed by the Marquis of Salisbury and the French ambassador on March 21......The czar is endeavoring to maintain peace in the Balkan States. Turkey has filled Macedonia with fanatical troops, and should these commit outrages on the Christian population, it is feared that Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro will attempt a rescue. Russia is using strong threats against these States to keep them down.

Belgium has joined the other nations in demands on China. She is asking for a concession at Hankow......Denmark, following in the footsteps of her sister nations, is preparing to send a cruiser to Chinese waters in connection with her demands on China for concessions and privileges. With all these nations joining in the clamor for Chinese territory, China must begin to realize that her end as an independent power is nearing rapidly. The empress dowager has ordered the governors of the seacoast provinces of China to resist by force of arms any further landing of armed foreigners on Chinese territory......Germany has despatched a third cruiser to Morocco to enforce her demands for the payment of damages to certain of her subjects whose property was destroyed by a mob.

Casualties and Calamities.—The long-continued drought and excessive heat in Australia is reported to have caused the death of millions of sheep and hundreds of thousands of cattle and horses. One report states that the farms are left without a blade of grass, and many farmhouses have been destroyed by bush fires, while fifty per cent. of the stock of all kinds has perished......A European expedition traveling in the Desert of Sahara was attacked by Arabs recently, and one hundred belonging to the expedition were killed......Cyclones visited portions of Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia on March 19, doing an immense amount of property damage. Thirteen persons were killed in Alabama, four in Georgia, and three in Arkansas......Advices from Sydney state that two villages in the Solomon Islands have been destroyed by a tidal wave, causing much loss of life......On account of the strict press censorship in Russia, it has not been known that a terrible famine is in progress in the eastern provinces of European Russia. There are several million people living in these provinces, and practically all have been reduced to the last extremity of want. The peasantry are endeavoring to support life on a mixture of weeds, acorns, and chopped straw, which renders them so weak that thousands of them are succumbing to disease. The death rate ranges from five to ten in the hundred......Thirty-three dead bodies have so far been recovered from the burned ruins of the Windsor Hotel, New York.

Miscellaneous.—A balloon voyage of 423 miles was recently made by four German officers in a little over four hours, who thus traveled at a rate of over one hundred miles an hour, the fastest trip of the kind on record......The two miners who had been imprisoned in the Bon Air mine at Leadville, Colorado, were rescued on March 23, having been thirteen days imprisoned in the shaft. They were given food, drink, and an electric light through a ten-inch water pipe. In order to accomplish their rescue a shaft had to be sunk through 200 feet of solid rock, at a cost of $3,000......Advices from Ecuador state that the Protestant missionaries in that country are in grave peril. A wave of fanaticism is sweeping over the country, through the influence of the priests, and a general massacre is threatened......The Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, of London, have both begun the issue of Sunday editions, which is an innovation in London journalism......Mrs. Martha Place, the first woman to die in the electric chair, was executed at Sing Sing, New York, on March 20, for the murder of her stepdaughter......On March 17, thirteen Spanish priests from Manila arrived in San Francisco on their way to Central and South American countries. Over three hundred of these priests are still held by the Filipinos......Princess Kaiulani, of Hawaii, died at her home near Honolulu on March 6.

The Trusts.—The New England Electric Vehicle and Transportation Company, with a capital of $25,000,000, was incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey on March 23......About 500 jewelry firms in New England and the Middle Atlantic States have formed a jewelry trust, with a capital of $25,000,000......The cast-iron pipe trust, whose formation was anticipated some weeks ago, has become an accomplished fact......The Compressed Air Traction Company has been incorporated at Trenton, N. J., with a capital of $15,000,000. The company is empowered to manufacture and deal in compressed air in capsules......The manufacturers of bicycles have arranged the details of a gigantic trust with a capital of $50,000,000. There is also to be a $5,000,000 bicycle-saddle trust, a steel-tube trust, and a wood-rim trust......The plow manufacturers of the United States are forming a trust, the capital stock of which is expected to amount to $60,000,000. There is also in process of formation a canned goods trust, to have a capital stock of $20,000,000......A $50,000,000 wine trust is in process of formation at New York. It is the intention of this company to control all the popular brands of wines in the country.

......The organization of the American School Furniture Company, with a capital stock of $1,500,000, was completed at Wabash, Indiana, on March 23.

Cuba.—The United States Post-office Department is supervising the establishment of an efficient postal service in the island of Cuba. Havana is to have the most modern post-office appliances, and uniformed letter carriers. Special stamps for the Cuban service are being furnished, also stamped envelopes with Cuban designs......An official despatch states that the Cuban army, with its corporals and sergeants, numbers 13,219 men, all told......The officials of Santiago province are making war on the brigands which infest the country around Santiago. Several of them have been killed and a considerable number captured......The work of bringing the United States volunteers home from Cuba has already begun, the intention being to have them all out of the island by April 25. Their places will be taken to some extent by regiments of regulars.

Lynchings.—Nine negroes at Palmetto, Georgia, who were being held on suspicion of having burned certain buildings, were attacked by a mob on March 16, and shot while begging for mercy. Four were killed and five wounded......Two negroes were killed and two wounded by whites at Charleston, S. C., on March 26, without apparent motive for the crime......Seven negroes were lynched in Little River County, Arkansas, on March 23, on account of threats which the colored men had made of precipitating a race war. The dead bodies of three more were discovered on the following day hanging to trees in the woods, and it is believed that a considerable number of others have been similarly dealt with......On March 18 three negroes were taken from an officer at Silver City, Mississippi, and lynched.