The San Francisco call., 1898-08-26


 the place the fort being a complete wreck while the barracks where We slept had a few hcles In the roof which let the rain in on us tnd. it rains here with peculiar persisteney, especially at night. The heat at times is ter rible. The comes blazing down with a glaring intensity and not a breeze to relieve the griIling heat.
 We are now encamped at this place. which is about four miles from Manila, and have been here since the arrival of the second ex- petition The whole army, with the exception Of the Fourteenth Regulars is here. Between us and Manila the insurgent army Is posted Their fuTthest outpost is about two miles from the city The Spanish intrenchments ex$end to within a half mile of the insurgent lines, and the intervening space is the scene of night >ly; battles. Were 1t not for us the Spaniards would wipe the natives off the island. They defeat them in almost every engagement and the only reason for not following up their vic tofy is that are behind the insurgents, who invariably fall back on us. The Spaniards do not. seem to to attack 1 guess they fear it would be a good excuse for Dewey to :bombard the city, which Is completely at his mercy from the sea side. They therefore wish us to assume the offensive; then they ciaim that they were only defending their own. and hope that some of the European powers win intervene 10 prevent the bonhardment or i the city. II we have to take the place by storm 1t will be tough job as it Is splendidly fortified on the land side. However, I guess We The natives are very friendly just now, but do not put much trust in them. The treach- cry of their Malay ancestors has not been com pletely eradicated. by Spanish civilization and bullets. The majority of the natives seem to think that when we have captured the islands
  with one of their officers he told us through one of our men who speaks Spanish, what they would do when they got Manila. The whole piratical crew look forward with keen delight to leoting the place. Of course in this they are going to be disappointed If they attempt any such. thing they will get a dose that will open their eyes as 10 our intentions How things will go then man can tell. Altogether this Philippine question is going to be a hard nut to crack I am of the opinion that the natives will eventually give us more trouble than the .Spaniards. The third expedition got in today so now that Merritt is here We expect to make a move soon. Our life here so far has been quiet; and with the exception of more active guard and outpost duty somewhat resembles that at the Rresidio. Of course We have none of the luxuries we enjoyed there, and the only wonaen natives Most of them are ugly sin We live in shelter tents two men to a tent. Why they are called shelter tents I do not know, they shelter us from nothing. They are sold as waterproof, yet the rain comes through them like a sieve The little red ant. whose bite is like the prod of an electric needle crawls under them and the mosquito comes in of an evening and makes hiHself at home. What between the mosquito ant and Government contractor we are having an enjoyable time.
 ~. Dan Nichols is dead do not know if you knew him. He died from the effects of an accident on board the Peking. Your friend
 JOSEPH DONNELLY.