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knew It wo 3 not the yell of savages, but the yell cf Americans. The rescuing troops thought we had Filipino guard.* and called to us la Eagll3h to lie down, so that they could shoot the Filipinos. That was the finest body of oncers and naea I ever saw." Lieutenant Glllnsore could not rpeak en thusiastically eaough about the HO picked mea who had rescued him and hl3 party. The command spent the day In making rafts. Colonel Hare though: Lieutenant Gillmore too weak to live through tha trip, i but there was no alterna tive. They shot nany rapida. tha men losing all their effects and Lieu tenant Gillmore some valuable pa pers. Only fourteen out of thirty-scren rafu survived the fir3t night's experience and eighty men were practically cnabla to walk whea .Vigan was reached. Describing the Sight from Bezgzez. whea the Americans approached. Lieuten ant Giltmore said: "The Filipinos, completely terriied. left Benguet on December 7. They hurried the prisoners from town to town, oftea re tracing the trail, not knowfns where tha Americans would attack. After bein£ al most without food for three days they killed several horses and we lived oa horseflesh for several days. I did not have a full meal from December 7 uatil I reached Vigaa. Indeed, the rescuing party lived largely upon rice, without salt. There was one day when I was reduced to chewln* grass and bark. "While we were in the hands of Gen eral Tlno's men he Issued aa order that any person aiding aa American by food or money should be treated as a criminal. One citizen of Vigan. Senor Vera, wu probably killed for befriending us. We would have starved but for the kindness of some of the residents of the towns aadl some cf the Filipino colonels, but others treated us brutally. Wherever there wu a prison we were kept there. Wher« there was no prison they would lodge us In a convent. We suffered greatly fronx want of exercise as well as lack of food." For week 3 Lieutenant Gillmore was cov ered with bolls and In great pals. Whea the Filipinos found the Americans were approaching; the treatment became bet* ter. There was a sign painter In the party and. he painted adrexttsesesta aa ONLY ONE MAN YET UNACCOUNTED FOR WASHINGTON. Jan. 7.— The Navy Department to-day received the following: MANILA, Jan. 6.— Secretary of the Navy. Washington: Gillmore. Walton. Vandolt, Ellsworth. Brlso lez. Anderson. Peterson and Ed wards have arrived; also Farley. Burke and Herbert of Urdaneta. Only Venllle la unaccounted for. Was last seen at Baler, June 15th. WATSON. us. I suspected something, end que» tioned the lieutenant in command. He said: 'I have orders from General Tino to shoot you all. but my conscience for bids. I shall leave yon here.' "I begged him for two rifles to protect us from savages, adding that I would give him letters to the Americans, who would pay him well and keep him fronr all harm. He refused this, however, saying that he would not dare to comply. Soon after ward he left with his company. "We bad seen some savages in warpaint around us. and we prepared to fight them with cobblestones, the only weapons that were available to us. The next morning we followed the trail of the Filipino sol diers, feeling that it was better to sticlr to them than b« murdered by savages, but we could not catch up with them. Then I ordered the men to build rafts, in the hop* of floating down the river. It was a forlorn hope, but I knew the river must empty Into the sea somewhere. I was so weak myself that I did not expect to get out. but I thought some of the men could. "On the morning of December 13, while we were working on the rafts, the Ameri cans came toward us, yelling. One of my men shouted. They are on cs.* He was lanhing a raft of bamboo. I, however, LIEUTENANT F. G TAIT, Black Watch, lata golf cham pion and best all-around amateur of Great Britain, was wounded at Magersfontein while bravely attempting to rally his men In the face of a hot fire. LIEUTENANT COLONEL BETHUNE commands th* Durban Corps of mounted infantry known as "Bethune's Horse," which have been most invaluable to General Bul ler for scouting purposes, j Colonel Bethune was the first commandant appointed to carry, out the decree of mar tial law in the colony. COLONEL C.'J- LONG. Royal Horse Artillery, vu dan gerously wounded at Colenso; His eagerness to get hl3 GUARDING THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION. The rrctection cf the railroad lint- connecting the several British columns with their bases against rald3 by the Been ar.d destruction by their sympathizers in the country around consumes no- small part of the British force now in the field. Between De Aar Junction, freni which Lord Methuen started with his flying column to the relief of Klmberley and Modtler Eiver station, seventy rail* I*,1 *, from four to six thousand men are required to guard the bridges and culverts srd other points where preat damajr* might be done in a. short time by the use of dynamite. And so between DeAar am! Naauwpoort. General French's has*, sixty-nine- miles, every bridge and culvert has to be protected, and the same on eastern system, where General Gatacre its operating, and In Natal between General Buller*s camp and Pletermarltz "burg. tiie numerous bridges, culverts nd tunnels have to be closely and sufiiciently guarded, repairing in the aggregate a large suaber of men. Section men And other railroad employes, with the loyal people In the vicinity, are entrusted with this duty in the less exposed districts. The above illustration, from the London Dally Graphic, shows th© guard at a cul vert below De Aar Junction- MANILA, Jan. 7.— Lieutenant J. C. Glllmore of the United States gunboat Yorktown. who was captured by the insurgents last April near Baler, on the coast of Luzon, and rescued a few days ago by Colonel Luther R. Hare of the Thirty-third Volunteer Infantry, sat to-day in the apartment of his sister, Mn. Major Price, at the Hotel Oriente, 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 har bor last evening from Vigan. province of South Ilocos. with Lieutenant Gillmore and nineteen other American prisoners. Including seven of his sailors from the Yarktown. Lieutenant Gillmore. after re porting, came ashore and hobbled along, with the aid of a cane, to the Hotel Oriente. where American officers and la dies were dancing through the halls to the strains of "Agulr.aldo's March." jPjfl Although tanned and ruddy from ex posure. Lieutenant Gillmore is weak and nervous, showing the results of long hard ships. He speaks warmly of Agulnaldo and very bitterly against General Tino. declaring that while in the former's Ju risdiction he was treated splendidly, but that after he fell into Tino' a hands he suffered everything. • Colonel Hare and Lieutenant Colonel Howse. the latter of the Thirty-fourth Volunteer Infantry, rescued Gillmore' 3 pari;y on December 13. near the head waters of the Abalut River, after they had been abandoned by the Filipinos and were expecting death from the savage tribes around them. "When the rescuing force reached them they were nearyl starved, but were building rafts in the cope of getting down the river to the coast. Lieu tenant Gillmore made the following state ment: "The Filipinos abandoned us on the night of December 16. We had reached the Abalut River near Its source that morning, and the Filipinos rafted us over. We- then went down the stream along a rough trail, guarded by a company of Filipinos. That night we were separated from this guard, and another company, armed with Mausers, was put In charge cf DRAMATIC RESCUE OF GILLMORE AND HIS MEN Abandoned by the Filipinos, They Faced Death at the Hands of Savages When the Relieving Force of Americans Arrived. Clery's two brigades forward only to find the Boers massed in force in trenches fronting Colen so, showing that they were strong enough to attack Ladysmith and hold Buller in check at the same time. Some fighting was begun by General Clery near Colenso bridge on Saturday at about 5 o'clock, since which time no dis patches have come through. General White's position at Ladysmith is clearly very criti cal and it is not an exaggeration to say that the British public must prepare itself for the possi bility of receiving news of the most serious disaster of 'the war. The latest message from White himself is dated at a quarter-past 3 p. m. on Saturday. At that time he was very hard pressed, to quote his own words. Communi cations from Ladysmith are re ceived, it will be remembered, by heliograph and at a critical point the sun failed and General Buller had absolutely no news to send. He adds, however, a camp rumor to the effect that at 5 o'clock General White defeated . the Boers, taking four hundred pris ers. Presumably General Buller would hardly have transmitted this message unless he had some reason for thinking there was truth in it. Still it does not pro fess to be anything more than a rumor and General Buller ex pressly says that he has no real news. The serious tone in all of White's messages is very signifi cant. According to the War Of fice these were received by ( Gen- FIERCE FIGHTING AT THE VERY GATES OF BESIEGED LADYSMITH BRITISH OFFICERS WHO HAVE WON DISTINCTION AT THE FRONT. LONDON, Jan. B.— This ncming-'s dispatches from the seat of war show that the situation in Natal is more critical for the P.riricTi arms rVian at any previous stage of the cam paign. The Boers have at last attacked Ladysmith in force and, while General Sir George White was able to repel the first assaults, the last words received from the besieged town were that he was "very hard pressed." Upon receipt of this news Gen eral Buller moved General I ONDON, Jan. 7. — General French reports a "serious accident" to the First Suffolk Regiment Four companies of the regiment I attacked a Boer position. Lieutenant Colonel Watson, in command, was wounded, and a retreat was ordered. Three-quar- Lters of the British reached their camp, but the others were overpowered and compelled to surrender. Seventy were taken prisoners, including seven officers. The War Office publishes the following dispatch from General Forestier-Walker, commanding at Cape Town: "Genera! French reports under date of January 6: v 'The situation is much the same as yesterday, but I regret to report that a serious accident has happened to the First Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment/ "From news just come to hand from them I gather that, with the authority and with the knowledge of General French, four companies of the First Battalion advanced by night against a low hill one mile from their camp. They attacked at dawn, lieutenant Colonel Watson, commanding, gave orders to charge. He was at once wounded. "Orders for retirement were given. Three-quarters of the force retreated to camp. The remainder held their ground until they were overpowered by greater numbers, when they surrendered. Seventy were taken prisoners, including seven officers. "General French reports that the Boer commando which made the attack on January 4 lost fifty kilted, besides wounded and prisoners. The commando was dispersed." General Buller has wired the War Office the following, dated January 6, from Frere Camp: "The following message was received from General White at 1 p. m. to-day: " 'January 6, 1 1 a. m.— Attack continues and enemy has been reinforced from the south/ "The following message was received this forenoon from General White: " 'Jan. 6, 12:45 p. m. — Have beaten enemy off at present, but they are still around me in great numbers, especially to the south, and I think renewed attack very probable/ "The sun has failed and I cannot get further information from Ladysmith until to-morrow." General Buller sends the following from Frere Camp dated to-day: "This from White, dated Saturday, 3:15 p. m.: " 'Attack renewed. Very hard pressed/ "I have absolutely no more news, and there is no sun. There is a camp rumor that White defeated the enemy at 5- this afternoon and took 400 prisoners. "I sent all available troops yesterday to make demonstration at Colenso. The trenches there were all occupied by the enemy." PRETORIA, Jan. 4 (via Lourenzo Marquez). — Field Cornet Vesser, under date of Tuesday, Jan. 2, reports as follows from Kuruman, British Bechuanaland: t :^ "1 commenced a bombardment of Kuruman yesterday (Monday), aiming at the police barracks. The fight lasted until 6 o'clock in the evening, when the garrison surrendered issuing frenHhe forts and yielding up arms. We tcok 120 prisoners? fn cluding Captain Bates and Captain Dennison, Mr. HiHyard, the magistrate, and eight other officers. We also captured seventy natives, together with a number of rifles and revolvers and a quantity of ammunition. "Fifteen British were wounded. They are being attended by us, with the help of Dr. Bearne, an English physician. "The horses, oxen, mealies and flour taken from the prisoners have been sent to Pretoria by way of Vryburg." ¦ LOURENZO MARQUEZ, Thursday, Jan. 4.— A dispatch from the Boer headquarters near Dordrecht says: •The British have been compelled to retreat from Dordrecht. Fighting continues around Colesberg, where the British occupy some of the outside kopjes. Bullets are dropping inside the town." SORTIE BY BRITISH TROOPS OF GENERAL FRENCH'S COMMAND ENDS IN DISASTER Four Companies Ordered to Attack a Boer Posi tion Are Repulsed and Seventy Men Taken Prisoners — Burghers Capture the Garrison of Kuruman After a Hard Fight — Buller Fails to Pierce Joubert's Lines to Relieve Ladysmith. Continued en Second Page. VOLUME LXXXVII— XO. 39. PRICE FIVE CENTS. SAX FEAXCISCO, MONDAY, JA]STJAKY 8, 1900. The San Francisco Call shorter range grans within elective distance ci the Beer lines lost ten of them to the enemy. CAPTAIN H. N. SCHOFIELD. Royal Artillery, aids-de camp to General Builer, gallantly brought off two ot Colonel Lor.si guns and inoJe desperate bet vain efforts to save more. LIEUTENANT COLONEL, C. B. JEFFREYS. Royal Ar tillery, by his splendid csaseuve^;? and accurate serv ing. c£ his guns saved General Gatacre's troops from an nihilation at Stormberg. December 10th. COLONEL G. D. CHAMIER. Royal Garrison ArtlSery. U la charge of the "gu:i3 of pesirion" at Kimbertsy.