Diaz Extends His Lines.

New York Times 100 years ago today, February 14, 1913:
Shortage of Ammunition Troubles the Government Gunners.
    MEXICO CITY, Feb. 13.— It was reported at 5 o'clock this evening that Gen. Felix Diaz had demanded the surrender of the National Palace. All through the day the rebel batteries of heavy guns were throwing a fierce fire of shrapnel around it. Many of these dropped into the Zocala, which fronts the building, and Federal soldiers were compelled to move to cover.
    Before dark the fire on both sides was intermittent, but apparently less vigorous from the Federals. The Government troops were receiving ammunition in small consignments, and it was said that they were running short.
    That Diaz had prepared for the threatened overwhelming movement by the Government which Madero promised would be carried through to-day was shown by the fact that he had stationed sharpshooters on the roofs of adjoining buildings, had dispatched a force outside his lines to the west of the city, and had placed his heaviest guns in positions commanding all the approaches to his stronghold.
    Gen. Huerta, commanding the Federals, had promised to rush the fortifications of the rebels, but he elected instead to employ his artillery from the various points of vantage. Only once during the early part of the day did the infantry come into action.
    During the heavy shelling of the palace. Diaz apparently moved some of his forces to the southeast of the city, and shortly after 12 o'clock it was made the target of both shells and rifle-fire from that district. Coincidentally, the rebels succeeded in extending their zone of activity in other directions.
    The rebel fire was intended not only to bring about the surrender of the palace but had for its purpose also the clearing of the intervening high buildings of machine guns and riflemen and of silencing the Federal battery operating in San Juan Letran Street, at a point midway between the arsenal and the palace.
    This shelling wrought havoc among the buildings in that section of the city. The American Club was riddled. The interior of this building, on the second and third floors, was completely wrecked. Of forty Americans within it at the time, several had an almost miraculous escape from death. In all, seven shells tore through the walls. The first two crashed through the reading room across the greater length of the front on the second story. The others entered above the second story on the sides, which are not protected by buildings.
    In addition to the shell-fire the interior as well as the exterior of the American Club was perforated in scores of places by bullets from rifles and machine guns. The shells which entered the reading room tore their way through the window casings, demolished a heavy leather chair and exploded with terrific force. Shrapnel was hurled in all directions, cutting the furniture to ribbons, ripping up the floors and walls, and puncturing in a score of places the portraits which hung about the room.
    The portrait most seriously damaged was that of President Madero. President McKinley's face is now set in a circle of holes, while the portrait of President Taft, hanging next, escaped with a single mark. President-elect Wilson's features were riddled, while at the upper end of the line of portraits balls found lodgment in plenty in the picture of another Democrat, Jefferson.
    To the rear of this room is a large one used for billiards and pool. There many Americans were gathered, as the manager had forbidden them to assemble in the front room, when a second series of shells crashed through the wall. These tore a way through the story above. Some of the shells entered almost on a line with the floor. All but one shell exploded. This remains buried in the third Wall which it encountered.
    Portions of shrapnel shell were hurled through the floor above the billiard rooms among a group of Americans. Four sleeping rooms on the fourth floor were wrecked. From one the entire wall was torn away. The wrecking of this building is typical of the damage done to many others in all parts of the city.
    Just around the corner from the American Club, near Porter's Hotel, R. M. Meredith was injured to-day. He was struck by shrapnel, suffering a scalp wound.

Madero Fails in His Plan.
    Madero's promise that the subjugation of Diaz would be swift and terrible to-day because the Government had planned to surround him completely and then pound his positions with their heaviest guns, was in no way fulfilled. Only at times was the bombardment as heavy as the average of yesterday, and that by the rebel guns. The Federal fire generally was slow, although since it came from various directions it was persistent.
    On the whole, the rebel commander's orders to his men were to conserve their fire, and little ammunition was wasted. No opportunity was lost, however, to throw shells at the troublesome batteries and his machine guns and riflemen effectually prevented the near approach of the Government troops.
    His greatest energies were displayed in the line of fire toward the palace, where his big guns scarred the walls and doors of that ancient structure, and cleared the big square in front of federal reserves.
    The battle lasted all day, broken only at brief intervals for the most part by federal orders to cease firing when their officers were changing position.

Government Forces Increased.
    So far as numbers are concerned, the Government's strength largely increased during the night. The Federal forces were strengthened by the arrival of detachments of all arms of the service until nearly 7,000 men were massed against the rebels. Most of the troops that arrived in the night were the command of Gen. Angeles, called from Cuernavaca. The total of these is said to be 1,500, and they brought with them two pieces of heavy artillery, with much ammunition and stores.
    Lieut. Col. Barron, who had conducted dashing campaigns in Michoacan and Guanajuato, brought in a small force, while Col. Caranza, another young officer, with a reputation for brilliant work, came in at the head of 200 Federal troops from Vera Cruz.
    These reinforcements brought the release from the firing line of the army cadets at Chapultepec, who were the first to rally to the call of President Madero for aid. They were sent to Chapultepec to act as a guard of that stronghold under the command of Gen. Beltran, formerly Principal of the school, who captured Felix Diaz at Vera Cruz after he launched his first revolution.

Blanquet and Zapata Neutral.
    The rebels, on the other hand, did not increase during the night and the forces under command of Gen. Diaz were believed to number a few more than 2,500.
    They had obtained some food supplies and some ammunition, but that was all.
    The attitude of two forces in the outskirts of the Capital remained in doubt. Gen. Aurelio Blanquet, the Federal Commander at Toluca, had been summoned to the Capital to report to the Government,, but had not reported. His absence was explained by the Maderistas by the statement that it had been considered best to leave him in the State of Mexico to check any possible advance on the part of the followers of Zapata. The Diaz forces had thought his attitude was favorable to them, but he gave them no encouragement.
    The attitude of the Zapatistas also gave rise to much speculation. Although Federal garrisons had been concentrated in the city, and so had left the Zapatistas practically without opposition, these rebels seemed to have made no combined effort to come to the assistance of Felix Diaz. At first it was said they were with him, but to-day it was broadly hinted that in the last extremity Emiliano Zapata would order his numerous followers into the Capital to aid President Madero rather than to assist one bearing the name of the dictator whom he helped to overthrow two years ago.
    A picturesque scene in the early morning was made by the fires on the pavements in many parts of the city, where the soldiers, under the orders of their officers, had raked together the trash and garbage thrown from the buildings and burned it. The disposition of this rubbish was a serious problem, as it was fast becoming a menace to the public health.
    There was a scattering fire throughout the night, and a sharp exchange of can-non shots shortly after 1 o'clock, but this lasted only a few moments.
    A number of heavy guns were brought up by the Federals before dawn, and posted in readiness for the expected action. The federal commander said he believed he would win the battle decisively in a short time, and claimed an enormous advantage in both the position and strength of his troops. He and President Madero said that they would be greatly surprised and disappointed if Gen. Diaz was not reduced to submission before nightfall.
    Gen. Huerta placed in charge of the federal artillery Lieut. Col. Rubio Navarrete, who has the reputation of being the most capable artillerist in the Mexican Army. He gained fame in the campaign against Orozco, when he was under Gen. Huerta's command.

Federals Open the Battle.
    There was no hurry on either side to start the engagement. At 6 o'clock movements of troops on both sides were observed, but it was two hours later before a Federal battery opened fire. Others joined in, and the rebels replied hotly with their guns stationed at the arsenal and the Y.M.C.A. Building.
    It was difficult to see how the rebels could resist for long the fire poured in by the Federals but they again showed the same excellent marksmanship which characterized their previous fighting, and this enabled them to offer a stern resistance. The Federal Generals explained the accuracy of the rebel artillery fire by saying that there was a scarcity of good range-finders in the possession of the Government troops, while the rebels, by capturing the arsenal, gained possession of a number of excellent instruments of that kind.
    Early in the fighting it developed that Diaz had succeeded during the night in hiding sharpshooters on houses in the so-called American colony, many blocks beyond his lines. This fact was revealed by a sharp attack on a detachment of Federals advancing from Chapultepec, which caused them to take shelter behind neighboring walls. Sharpshooters on the roofs of buildings in Hamburg Street attempted to pick off the artillerymen manning the ten Federal guns located near the British Legation. They were subsequently driven from their position.
    At the beginning of the firing there was a great force of Federal soldiery in the Zocalo, in front of the National Palace. When the shower of shells became heavier a Federal battery received orders to reply with vigor, and under the cover of this the Federal soldiers moved westward into cover on Independencia Street it was explained by the Federal commander that this move was merely to place his men in a position where they would be more easily available for action at the front.
    A vigorous artillery duel took place at 9:30 between a rebel battery at the arsenal and a Federal battery which had been placed in a commanding position. No great advantage appeared to have been won by either side.
    Between 9 and 10 o'clock shrapnel literally rained on the walls and shutters of the cable office, and it was thought that it might have to be closed. The first really sharp small arm engagement occurred at half past ten when the Federal forces moved into range. The infantry fighting lasted only a few minutes and was succeeded by a more intense cannonade from the rebels at the arsenal. The Federal battery stationed in front of the British Legation replied and drew much of the rebel fire.
    The cannonade then lost some of its viciousness and it seemed that the rebels were conserving their fire, although they continued to throw shells toward the Palace. One Federal battery kept steadily in action at the Colonia Station on the Paseo Reforma and another on San Juan de Lantern Street.
    Up to noon, when the shells of the contending forces had torn their way through the heart of the city for four hours, nothing like a decisive result had been achieved either by the Federals or the rebels. It had been practically an artillery duel, although occasionally small-arm fire played a vicious part in the battle.
    Most of the rebel fire was directed at the Federal batteries, but one of Diaz's batteries of big guns from time to time dropped shells over the city into Zocalo in front of the National Palace, and on to that ancient building itself, the walls of which withstood the bombardment well.
    Shortly after 12 o'clock the rebel batteries of heavy guns began throwing a fierce fire of shrapnel over the National Palace. At 12:30 a number of shells directed toward the palace were fired, apparently from the rifle and artillery range in the vicinity of the barracks to the southeast of the city, showing that a force of rebels were posted there also.
    At 1 o'clock the rebels appeared to have advanced their positions slightly. The heavy guns from the arsenal continued shelling the centre of the city and the National Palace.
    The firing, especially that of the Federals, became lighter at twenty minutes to 2 o'clock. Rebel shells, however, at that hour continued to hit buildings in the centre of the city and in the National Palace district.

Rebels Make an Advance.
    The rebels made an important forward movement at 2 o'clock, advancing a battery of artillery into Independencia Street some blocks away from their former position. They began shelling the Federal battery posted at San Diego Church, adjoining the offices of The Mexican Herald.
    At 2:20 P.M. the firing of both the Federals and the rebels ceased apparently all along the lines. The rebels were said to be in possession of the San Lazaro railroad station. Preparations were then being made to get a train ready at the Mexican Central station, and it was suggested that President Madero might be preparing to flee the city. At 2:40 P.M. the rebel cannon again began a bombardment of the National Palace district, but the renewed action lasted only about a quarter of an hour, and at 3 o'clock there was a lull in the firing.
    Lieut. Col. Navarrete, the commander of the Federal artillery, was slightly wounded during this exchange of shots, but remained on the firing line.
    The artillery engagement was resumed at 8:15 with the rebels again throwing shells in the direction of the National Palace.
    Cowed by the frightful pounding of shell to which they had been already subjected the populace to-day hid itself from sight, but it was for the most part protected by walls pitifully weak when compared with the high explosive power of the shells poured out by the guns of both the fighting forces.
    The efforts made by the foreign Ministers here to secure the arrangement of a neutral zone were ineffective. It was, however, generally understood that perhaps the safest district during the fighting would be that known as the Colonia Roma, in which the United States Embassy is located.
    In the American Embassy dozens of American citizens were provided for. Blankets and mattresses were spread on the floors and every chamber in the place was utilized as a sleeping apartment for some one. Other American families crowded in promiscuous confusion in rented apartments and other buildings furnished in some cases with nothing more than mattresses and a blanket or two.
    Yet in spite of the fact that many of the women and children in the foreign colonies were conveyed during the night in automobiles flying white flags to places of comparative safety, a large number of foreigners were still-penned up in regions not free from danger.
    Thousands of Mexican families concentrated on the lower floors and in the basements of residences and other buildings trusting to the series of floors above them to protect them.
    The question of food supplies throughout the capital was not solved during the day. Even the Federal soldiery experienced the discomforts of short rations, while among the rebels food was scarce.

Wilson Saves Telephones.

    United States Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson prevented the issue of a general order to cut off all telephone communications this morning by protesting against it to President Madero. He pointed out that it was known that the rebels were not connected with the system and the order would cause unnecessary hardship to others.
    The work of caring for the wounded has been limited by the Government to the White Cross Society, as it is charged that the Red Cross Society harbors many political enemies of the Government.
    Two non-combatants were killed this morning by bursting shells in the street in front of the American Club.
    Francisco de la Barra, former Provisional President, became a refugee and remained at the British Legation after he had approached President Madero yesterday on the question of compromising with the rebels, to which Madero immediately refused to listen.
    One rebel reverse terminated in the wiping out of seventy rebels and the reoccupation of a position which they had taken on the previous day. That was several blocks south of the arsenal.
    The rebels had wrested from the Federals the police barracks south of Belem prison. The Federals to-day from advantageous buildings swept this with machine guns, pressing the action until every one of the occupants had been killed. So little did the Federals think of this position as a strategic point that they did not hold it.
    For those killed in this section there was more than a fair trade made, as about 200 men of one Government regiment deserted to the rebel ranks.
    The Cuban and Belgian legations were rendered untenable, the occupants seeking refuge elsewhere. The French Consulate suffered a fate similar to that of the American Consulate several days ago, the Consul transferring his office to his country's legation.
    The Cuban Minister to-night asked his Government for authorization to charter special trains to remove from the capital to-morrow such Cubans as wish to leave. He proposes to land them at Vera Cruz and there place them aboard a ship flying the Spanish flag, if one is in port, otherwise on American warships due tomorrow. It was said to-night that the action of the Cuban Minister may be followed by other diplomats.
    The accustomed sparkle of the President's eye was not so evident late in the afternoon when he talked to the correspondent of The Associated Press. He still protested his optimism, but there was lacking the jaunty air of confidence which has characterized him since the day of his inauguration.
    He said he had between 5,000 and 6,000 soldiers and could reduce Diaz speedily but he hated to do so because of humanitarian motives. He denied that there was sympathetic trouble except at Puebla, where he admitted a slight difficulty, but asserted that this had been settled.

AMERICAN WOMEN VICTIMS.

Mrs. Griffiths Went to Mexico Because Situation Seemed Quiet.
    It was learned yesterday that it was Mrs. C. Griffiths, the mother of Percy L. Griffiths, an electrical engineer in Mexico City, and not Mr. Griffiths's wife, who was killed in Wednesday's battle in Mexico City. This information was obtained through Philip M. Dreyfuss, an electrical engineer, of 116 Nassau Street. In speaking of Mrs. Griffiths's death, Mr. Dreyfuss said:
    "My sister-in-law has frequently made mention of the dangers of life for the American in Mexico City. She has written several times of the lack of protection given to foreign subjects by President Madero and has said that it was unsafe for an American woman to venture out on the streets alone during the last two years. Mr. Griffiths has also told me that ever since Diaz was exiled he has been forced to carry two large pistols in order to secure himself against attack. His letters seemed to indicate that Americans in Mexico City were living on a sort of active volcano which was liable to erupt at any moment."
    Mrs. Percy Griffiths and her children, aged three and five years, came to this city a year ago owing to the trouble in Mexico, but returned about two months ago with Mrs. C. Griffiths, as they believed the situation had cleared.