Show ful ff aa iu 40 aitio no 4 0 V ka 1 X 11 4 WJ W J 1 czi A 0 ak I 1 0 jr 1 I A 0 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON illy years ago america had a new national here heio lie ile T was a little man with a slight JL limp a little man who x 1 weighs less than a hundred ww pounds with a vandyke beard and a sense of humor that bubbles in him like the effervescence ot of wine ills his name was frederick funston and ills his madcap enterprise ns as lie he himself called it put tits his name on tile lips ot of millions for funston had captured emillo aguinaldo Agul naldo the leader of the filipino Insurrect os the most talked of 0 man in the orient if not in the alie bhole whole world at that time who for three years had been lending leading some same american troops and native nathe auxiliaries a merry chase from one end of the province of luzon luon to anther another 0 on march 23 1901 the chase canse came to an all end when through the daring and the strategy of the little kansan this wily nathe loader leader was taken prisoner insignificant though funston may have been in appearance few mens lives had been packed as full with I 1 a nd ad venture eg as had ills his when lie sprang into fame almost overnight lie ile was born in ohio in 1805 the son of a first lieutenant in the union army who in 1807 1867 moved to kansas when w lien F rederick frederick was two years scars old where v here lie he wits was elected to the kansas state legislature and later elected and repeatedly re reelected elected to congress young funston Fi inston was educated in lot lola kan attended the university of kansas for two years and then went to work as it newspaper rep reporter orter first at fort smith ark and later on the kansas city journal during the summer of 1896 he attended a mass meeting in new york called to arouse sympathy tor for tile the cubans who were struggling to throw off the yoke of spain bl became e interested in the eduse cause of cuban liberty land off offered ered ills his services to the cuban junta after drilling recruits under its direction he joined a n fill filibustering bus expedition and aided in deliver ing ID to general gomez the first hotchkiss guns owned by the cuban revolutionists two weeks later he was placed in charge of these guns guna as captain of artille artillery ry D during u ring it his I 1 s 18 months in cuba funston took part tit in 22 engagements and 0 BO o fearful was the execution wrought by his guns alve pieces including a pneumatic dynamite gun the first ever used in battle that the sp spaniards il set a price upon ills his head at the battle of his lungs were pierced by a mauser bullet and while lie was recovering from this wound his hip vias vas injured by ills his horse falling upon it during a cavalry charge this was followed by tin attack of fever and with ft ath his health broken funston attempted to i reach each the coast and escape to the united states lie ile was arrested by the spaniards but succeeded in convincing them that ho he was a deserter from the cuban nimy army after swallowing the passport which would have betrayed bet raved him and although they at first sentenced him to a firing squad and a stone wall lie was finally freed and tent hent to tile the united states this was in 1890 1800 arid and the next few years funston spent on the lecture platform at the outbreak of the spanish amer lean ican war lie organized the twentieth kansas volunteers a regiment similar to the rough riders of which he was made u colonel ills regiment was w as 0 or r i dered to the philippines and in ili november 1808 1898 lie joined gen wesley merritt at manila and aided in the capture of the capital capit it Is at this point that aguina aguinaldo Agn inaldo I 1 d coules canies into the alie picture the early life and ancestry ot of tills this lender leader Is cloaked in mystery lie ile Is said to have much spanish blood in ills his veins from which came ills his intelligence ills his courage cou inge ills military ability and ills political acumen when in august 1898 he declared himself president of the revolutionary lutio lutlo nary government of the lie philippines and general in thief chief of its army he called himself don agul agal naldo y famy lie he was even then dreaming of independence for his native land after the americans had defeated the hated spaniard and these dreams dream li led to the insurrection against the new masters of the islands almost from the beginning of the insurrection funston had been in the held field against Aguin aldos followers ills his strict discipline had not made him e especially pec lally popular with ills his soldiers b but ut after the alfair at martino in april 1809 1899 he had their unbounded respect there lie he found the bridge across the river destroyed and a strong force of Insurrect os 0 on a the other side to resist a crossing by the americans selecting 20 of those who volunteered to accompany him fit funston n swum swam the river drove the enemy back and took SO 80 prisoners A few days later with only 45 men he crossed the RIO illo grande at calumpit on a raft and after a desperate tight drove 2500 of the alie enemy from an in trenched position for this feat he was promoted to brigadier general of volunteers throughout 1809 1899 and 1000 1900 there ther ewas was constant fighting but always the tender lender of the Insurrect os eluded capture sometime during 1000 he seemed to have dropped out of sight entirely but in january 1001 1901 from ills hiding place in the province of isabela aguinaldo Agul naldo sent out a letter denouncing the sub chiefs who hall had taken the oath of allegiance legi ance to the united states and ordered certain iii insurgent forces in southern luzon to join him at the rendezvous in isabela isobela the messenger entrusted with this letter surrendered to an american lieutenant in ili F february and upon securing the information so BO long desired general funston determined upon a daring plan fo for capturing aguinaldo Agul naldo going to manila to lay tits his plans before ills his superiors generals macarthur and wheaton Wh enton lie finally gained their consent to the attempt nt taking with him caits 11 II IV newton and russet kussel T hazzard azzard II meats oliver 11 1 11 blaz zard and burton J mitchell Ml arid and a company of 80 who spoke the languages lie he was landed on a beach south of in the province of principe on march 13 1001 ines and tha Ma cabebe scouts were to themselves off as a detachment or of insurgent Taga logs who lind had captured the ive five americans and wore were taking thein as prisoners to aguinaldo the position of funston lin anil and tits ills companions was 11 dangerous one everything depended doo deo upon the faithfulness 0 of f the Ma cabebe should they turn linn tractor to the americans it meant certain death but they remained faithful and after a fatiguing arid dangerous march of seven days dais anti anil nights the party reached a point eight miles froll calanan Pa lanan hiding place A message stamped with the seal ot of general lacuna an aguinaldo Agul naldo supporter up which hall had been foun found 1 I the alie papers handed over by the insurgent leaders messenger was sent forward to aguinaldo Agul naldo an and a prompt response was received welcoming the party the americans anti anil their fake Taga logs hastened forward foren rd funston himself was not present tit at the actual capture that lie entrusted to a span lard lazaro segovia and it 11 deta detachment cht net t of 0 the scouts the s story ory as funston told it later follows running up the bank toward tile house we were met by segovia who came running out ills his face aglow with exultation and ills clothes spattered with the blood of the men lie he had wounded ile he tailed called out in spanish it Is all right we hue have him wo VO hastened into the house and I 1 introduced myself to aguinaldo telling him that we were officers of the american army that the men with us were our troops and not hla his and that lie he was a prisoner of war lie he was given as aurance that lie he need fear no bad treatment lie ile said in a died dazed sort of way Is tills this not some rome joke jn le I 1 assured him that it was not though as a matter of tact fact it was a pretty bad one on him while naturally rilly angl n gl late ills his bearing was dignified and in this moment of his fall there was nothing of the craven in after years A alnaldo ul naldo was loud in ills his praise of funston for the audacity arid and skill of ills plan saying saving that only by the used could lie he have been captured the news that aguinaldo Agul naldo was captured wits hashed flashed to the alie united states and wits af hailed balled with delight ns as the sign that the long ond end wenry weary war against the insurgents was over tit lit last president mckinley on march 30 0 commissioned funston it bals alier gendral in the army arid and ind it not hern been for ills untimely un deith death in 1017 it la is probable that lie he would have been commander in thief of the AI P F when u lien the united states entered the world war ills ilia only part in alint grent ton eon aliet was to give ills his name to a training camp in kansas thousands of men received elved their training tot for 0 over o er there t re 1 S M by W ster V UN ilott |