Show THEIR ESCAPE how american prisoners were rescued by our troops story of sufferings of gillmore and comrades men were barefoot and almost naked manila jan 7 J C ot the united states gunboat yorktown who was captured by the insurgents sur gents last april near baler on the coast ot luzon and rescued a few days ago by col luther R hare of tho thirty third volunteer infantry sat today in the apartment of his sisi ter mrs maj price at the hotel or lente in manila and told a remarkable story of his eight months in captivity ending with his dramatic deliverance from a death that seemed inevitable the steamer venus came into the harbor last evening from algan pro inac of south flocos with gillmore and nineteen other american prisoners including seven of his sailors from the yorktown giu auire after reporting came ashore and hoi bled along with the aid of a cane to the hotel orielle Ori enle where american officers and ladies were waltzing through the halls to the strains of Aguin aldos march although tanned and ruddy from ex he is weak and nervous show in the results of long hardships he speaks warmly of aguinaldo Agul naldo and very bitterly gen tino declaring that while in the formers jurisdiction he was treated splendidly but after he fell into tanos bands he suffered everything ery thing col hare and lacut col howse the latter of the thirty fourth volunteer infantry rescued party on december near the headwaters of the abacut river after they had been abandoned by the and were expecting death from the savage tribes around them when the rescuing party reached them they were nearly starved but were building rafts in the hope of getting down the river to the coast gillmore Gill moro made the following statement to a correspondent of the associated preys the filipinos abandoned us on the night of december 16 we had reached the abacut river near its source that morning and the filipinos crafted rafted us over we then went dewi the stream along a rough trail guarded by a company of filipinos that night ft e berc separated from this guard and another company with mausert Ma users was put in charge of us I 1 suspected something and n command he saad 1 I have orders from gen tano to all but my cona science forbids I 1 shall leave you here 1 I begged ifor two alnes to protect us from savages adding that I 1 would give him letters to tho americans alio would pay him walland wc lland keep him from all harm he refused this however saying ho would not dare to comply scon afterward he left wath his company we had savages in war paint around us and we prepared to fight bliem with cobblestones the only weapons that were us the next morning we followed the trail of tho fillipino feeling that it was better to to them than be murdered by savages but we could nat catch up with them than 11 ordered the men to build brals in the hope of floating down the river it was a forlorn hope but I 1 knew the rivet must empty into th e sea somewhere I 1 ivask fco weak myself that I 1 did not expect to get oat but T thought some of the men could on the morning of december esth while we were boiking on the raft s the americans came toward us yelling one of my men shouted they are on us he was lashing a raft of bamboos I 1 however knew it was not the yell of the savages but the yell of the americans the rescuing troops thought we had fillipino guards and called to us in english to lie down so ahat they could shoot the filipinos that was the finest body of officers and men I 1 ever baw gillmore could not speak enthusiastically enough about the picked men who had rescued him and his party the command spent the day in making rafts ool hare thought gillmore too weak to live through the trip but there was no alternative ter native they ahot many rapids the men losing all their effects and gillmore some valuable papers only fourteen out of thirty seven rafts survived the first nights experience and eighty men were practically unable to walk when vigan was reached describing the flight from when the americans approached gillmore said the filipinos completely terrified left on december ath they hurried the prison era from town to town often retracing the trail not knowing where the americans would attack after celing almost without food for three days they killed several horses and we lived on horse alesh for several days I 1 did not have a full meal from december ath until I 1 reached vigan indeed the rescuing party lived largely upon rice without salt there was one day when I 1 was reduced to chewing grass and bark while we were in the hands of gen tinos men he issued an order that any person aiding an american by food or money should be treated as a criminal one citizen of algan sanor vera was probably killed for befriending us we would have starved but for the kindness of some of alie residents of the towns and bome of the filipino colonels but others treated us brutally wherever there was a prison we were kept there where there was no prison they would lodge us in a convent we suffered greatly flora want of cx as well aa lack of food for weeks gillmore was covered with bolls and in great pain when the filipinos found alie americans vre approaching alie treatment bo came better there was a sign in alie party and ho painted advertisements on the rocks throughout the rc cicat with other emblems like a and the word vengeance by means of which the americans were able to follow the fillipino treatment of the spanish eald gillmore was brutal in the extreme the insurgents hr old grudges to wipe out against them many talk about the in cuba but I 1 have seen spaniards dying at the rate of two and three per day ot starvation in the hospitals at algan I 1 have seen strike span lards in the face with whips and revolvers vol vers gillmore declined to speak regarding political conditions except to say that he thought the insurrection would last as long as there were any left the members ot the party reported to gen this morning they were barefooted sunburned and ragged some carried rifles others pet monkeys they attracted a great deal of attention as they passed along the streets those whose enlistments are about expiring will bo sent to the united states the others will be returned to their respective organizations among the prisoners arriving with gillmore were F J hubert edward burke and J J farley sailors from the urdaneta von galon of the baltimore A H gordon and george sackett of the third infantry apland smith and frank stone of the signal corps harry hubert of the hospital corps william bauco and edward of tho nevada cavalry martin brennan and james curran of the sixteenth infantry albert bishop of the third artillery and john obrien and david brown civilians brown who was formerly a preacher in honolulu twice revealed to the insurgents sur gents plots of gaining tho good will of the filipinos Fill pinos the rest of the party openly accuse him of treachery and entertain the bitterest feeling toward him charles baker of the third artillery was formerly one of tho prisoners but he became too weak to travel and the guards bayoneted him du ng the last flight through the mountains the prisoners of gillmore s party who escaped after leaving algan were macdonald of the twenty farst infantry van galon of the baltimore and farley of the oregon they were captured by savages recaptured by the insurgents who had tripped and prepared to beat them ind ultimately rescued by the americans the York towns men who were with gillmore were W walton chief quartermaster van dolt sail makers mate J elsworth cox avain L P edwards landsman A J peterson apprentice F anderson landsman and S seaman at baler J dillon landsman and C A morrissey landsman were instantly killed 0 B macdonald seaman and IS J nygard gunners mate were mortally wounded and D W apprentice and 0 W woodbury sea nien were seriously wounded |