The Philippine Islands.

Hastings Standard, Issue 199, 17 December 1896, Page 4

The Philippine Islands.

i ' V P>!'.-.\NT. The •, r< -viii disturbance at the Philippine Island- recalls to my mind a so!('.••wlnit similar attempt made by the- Me-ti/> - soiin' twenty-live van's ago. My fi it'll'l A. ami my •< if were at ill!' time on a visit to the Philippine Islands, and after a run to 110-110 and Zeba by the su-anier running from Manila. had returned to tho latter place, fin onr arrival we found everybody in a state of excitmeiU, owing to an insurrection which had taken place a few days before at Cavit \ a garrison town, distant from Manila about PS miles by land eight by water, the Arsenal and 1 "Socks being there. The n;ime '■ C'aviU' " is more familar to Manila cigar smokers as a special brand of cigars. On tho previous Saturday, about nine or ten o'clock in the evening, the native troops garrisoning Fort Philip, about 800 in number, rose and murdered thi ir ('ommandante and other officers, and then took possession of tlie fort, where they fought and held out till Monday morning, when they had to give in, and by order of the Captain (ietteral every man found in the fori was killed, no i]uarter being given. Several managed to escape by jumping into the woods, but most of the-e were captured and eond"iiin* d to be shot or to imprisonment for life. 11 appeared from papers found afterwards that a general ri-ing was intended throughout the Philippine-, in order to kill or expel a.ll foreigners. Several people holding good position-: were taken in custody on suspicion of being implicated, among the number a lawyer and several padres. The (■ow rnor, for: unately. was a man who stood no nonsense, and by his prompt action 210 doubt saved many lives and. a f, r rt.at 11 ■! of trouble, (hie of the priests went t > him to intercede for the prisoners. lie replied, •• I know my business ; you go and attend to vours. I -Iki 11 sh'> >t the rebels, you can pray for their sauls," The general ri -ing was >ai<l to have been mi-carried. owing to the Cavit" men mis',iking a display of fireworks for tile to ri -e : and this doubtless saved the lives of the Spanish and foreign residents. Another account said t'ii.u the (iovariior bail received priva'e information respecting t'ne signal that was to be made from the fort in Manila, ;uid had a guard posted, who made prisoners of the intended signallers on the spot. The garrison consisted of about 10,000 11it'll, all being Me.-ti/.os or Indians, with the exception of one regiment, consisting entirely of Spaniards. lvven among the oliicers there was a great, number of Mestizos. In the afternoon we went to Cavite by tint steamer and had a look at the fort, and were surprised to find few signs of battery except in the trees, which were very much cut up. and great numbers of bullets visible, partly embedded in the wood. We were stopping with an Knglish gentleman, who had married a Spanish lady, and during that night he came into onr room armed with a. sword, and woke us, saving, '• I >on't be frightened, but Major , a Spanish officer living iu\t door, has ju-4 sent, in to sa.v that he has received official intimation that a general rising is e-- pec\ d 10-night, a nd that all the Indian servants are to take part in it.'' Our host then brought us what defensive weapons he could find, but could produce no firearms, as they were all at his office. He suggested that we should lock our door, but the key. which was on the outside, could not be induced to come out of the lock, so my friend A. moved his mat. and laid down in front of the door, hut we were not disturbed, the alarm having proved a false one. Some of the mutineers were to be shot in public in the morning, so at (» o'clock we drove to the Cal/ada. On arrival we found about 1700 troops assembled, consisting of Lancers. Pack Artillery, Garrison Artillery, and Infantry, with four or five military bands. These were shortly after formed into three sides of a square, the cavalry and artillery being on either side, in rear of the infantry, the fourth side being reserved for the prisoners who Were about to be shot. These prisoners, nine in number, were marched very slowly on to the ground, in the middle of a company of soldiers, several priests being with them, and talking earnestly to them the whole time, while a single drum was beaten at short intervals, one beat only, in a most melancholy manner. The prisoners were lashed together, with their elbows tied behind them, in rows of five and four respectively, and on reaching the vacant side of [the squire formed by tin' military, were made to kneel in one row, with their backs to the troops on the opposite side, this being done as a mark of disgrace. About this time, the Governor(;eiiera 1 appeared in a carriage and four, escorted by a troop of Lancers. He alighted, and went into the middle of the square, and stood chatting with the Peputy-Captain, General, and a few other oliicers. The Town Major then marched round with a band and a company of non-commissioned oliicers from the various regiments, and stopping at each side of the square, proclaimed that " any person asking pardon for the condemned would do so at the risk of his life." Nobody did so. and the non-commissioned officers returned to their respective regiments. The tiring party, about forty men, were then marched forward to within six paces of the prisoners, and. at the word of command, fired a volley into the backs of the unfortunate wretches, who immediately fell forward on to their faces, all but one lifeless. This one showed signs of life, and the manner in which an end was put to his sufferings was anything but pleasant to witness. No provision had apparently been made for a case of this sort, as there was no loaded reserve. The officer in command of the firing party bad to send for some mote executioners,

as they might well bo called. Two men won- sent with loaded muskets to finish the unfortunate. aiul they fired at him ho closely that his clothes were sot 011 iire ; but ho still moved, and the ofiicer then drew his revolver and. handed it to one of the men. This however, on being presented, only snapped and missed lire, so that they had to got and lire another pistol at the 'lying man before life was extinct. The troops were then formed in column, and inarched past the bodies, each regiment headed by its band, playing a lively quick march. Before returning to the Barracks, they were marched past and inspected by the Captain-General, who took up a position under the trees 011 the road back to the town, for that purpose. The Spaniards at that time (January, 1892) appeared to he a long way behind the times, and seemed to do nothing but loaf through life. The troops were all still armed with the old musket, and there was only one mounted officer to each regiment, he being the Colonel. The cavalry wen; mounted 011 small Manila ponies, but, being small men. looked very well, but not at all formidable. In view of the occurrences now takind place in the Philippine Islands, this short account of the result of an attempted rising maybe of interest. 1 may add that 1 was told that one of the great grievances on the part of the Mestizos who mutinied was the nonpayment of their wages, which were greatly in arrear.