The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-04-16
ANOTHER LETTER FROM FRED.

The latest letter from Major Fred
Funston was received by Frank L..
Webster, of Lawrence, and published
in his paper, the Gazette. 1t was
dated Jan. % and is as follows:
HEADQUARTERS
DEPT OF THE ORIENTO,
In the field near HolguIu, Cuba.
MY DEAR FRANK:-HOw are you
and yours? BY jove 1 am spending
lots OF time nowadays thinking about
my old friends, and L write occasion
ally though the uncertainty of the
mail leaving the island puts pretty
much of u damper on anything like
literary activity. [ look lOngIngly
forward To the time when can be
home again, although do not in the
least regret coming down here.
The Cuban revOlutionists are pref
ty fine lot of people, much better than
l expected to find them, and are put
ting up mighty fine fight for their
Independence The prevalent idea at
home that they are lot of bush
whackers attacking only isolated
bodies of troops, is very erroneous
one. There is permanent Organizs-
ton of artillery, Infantry and cavalry,
divided into companies, batta!iOns,
regiments and brigades with the
usual number of officers. There is the
strictest discipline but very little drill.
only enough to enable troops to go in
to POSITION without confusion. When
ever a Spanish column ventures out
from the fortified towns the Cubans
go at it in great style and often thrash
it.
Say, old man, you ought to see a
battle. There is the most Internal
roar, as if all hell had broken loose
aud the smoke resembled that of the
prairie fires that we used TO have at
home. On such occasions often long
for the quiet aud serenity of the
sumptOus rooms of some old club with
my friends at my side. l don't
know how many of these scraps L can
GO through without being nipped. 1t
does look as though my turn must
come soon. l have been i'm two sieges,
eight battles and several smaller
fights, have had tive horses shot
under me aud had the sole of my left
shoe split off by bullet. So you can
see that | have been in some of the
hot localities. But 1 shall make life a
burden to you with my war stories
when [ return-if do.
We occasionally hear rumOrs that
Uncle Sam is OH the point of recOgniZ-
ing our independence, and sincerely
hope that it is true, so that the bust
ness will he wound up.
AS to myself l am low chief of
artillery of the department. of the
Orlente which comprises all the east
half of the island, and have the rank
of major. l have full command of
that branch Of the service and have
plenty to do. The hardships of the
life are not very great to one who has
gone through what have. lam furn-
ished with two servants who cook
and care for my horse. We live on
beef and such vegetables as we can
get and often go hungry have not
tasted bread or any thing that con-
tains flour since leaving the states last
August. But the worst hardship that
l have had to undergo is that l have
not received a single letter since
reaching the island. Of course | do
not know a thing about my home
folks or any of my friends. Letters
have undOu btedly been written to me,
but are probably lying about some of
the military camps or have heen lost.
My original intention Of corresponding
for Harper's Weekly, | had to abandon
because of the difficulty of getting my
stuff off from the island.
Yours Faithfully,
FRED. FUNSTON.