The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-12
SCENES N OLD MANILA
An Interesting Letter From John
q. Vigeant.
MINES IN THE INTERIOR
A Coos Dinner for Ten Cents-Visiting
the Chinese Qusrter-The Inquisi-
tion-Trouble With the
Insurgents.

John C.. Nigeant. bugler IN 90. D,
list regiment Montana infantry. L. :.
V. In writing from Cavite. Philippine
islands, under dates OF September IL
and Is. TO his parents. who reside at
ZIG South Wyoming street. Butte. re-
lates the following:
sept. II. 1898.
The 18th cavalry regulars and the
South Dakota regiment, U. :. v, have
been called out. We do not know
where they have been sent. We got or
ders to stay at Cavite as guard Of hon
or to protect the town. IL is a snap.
We get up at $50 n. m. breakfast at
5:45. drill between s and a. m. The
rest OF the day we have to ourselves to
do as we please. We have three good.
rough meals a day. The heat ranges
about 90 degrees I'm the shade at mid
day. The nights are cool from 10 n.
m. until s a. m. We have comfortable
sleeping quarters. hut the mosquitoes
raise - with us. Everything Is small
here. except the trees. The natives are
about five feet in height; all skin and
bones. both men and women. The ma
tive horses look to be a cross
a Shetland pony and n Montana ayuse
They weigh from 200 to 800 pounds. and
are pretty little beasts.
Il got a pass from Colonel kessler to
~ eAAREE nv 20. , - AAFeA = -
to Manila. / went by the government
boat. so IL did not cost me anything.
There are a couple of ferries running
between the towns. which charge 10
cents (of our money! per trip. Ameri-
can money Is worth twice as much as
the money used here at present. At
Manila i first went to a saloon as the
best place to learn what l could of
the place. The proprietor happened To
be a Frenchman. who. when he heard
me pea French, called me over 10
the bar and treated me about a dozen
times TO English book beer (Which is
sold at 20 cents a glass; and some of
their local-made beer.
II next visited the railroad depot. The
railway Is "A narrow-gauge 1three feet
wide). equipped with English rolling
stock. The passenger coaches are of
the old English style. with doors along
the sides. which are locked after the
passengers enter the stalls. The road
Is. or was. 1876 miles i'm length. When
the war began the S~paniards tore up
the last 100 miles Of IL. IL extended to
the gold n copper mines in the in
terror OF the island. The road IL owned
by an English company, who was made
TO pay a taxation OF so per cent. by the
Spanish authorities here. At the mines
there Is said To be large deposits OF
gold. silver. copper and sulphur ores.
u lfltu ~ Eft n Hdrr lfDfl ptHtfdi An-
derson to visit the gold fields. but did
not succeed. IL would take fully two
weeks to make the trip and cost about
SIS for car fare and guides.
From the railroad depot ! went 10
the customs house. which is now run
by our government. IL Is quite a big
building. There are from 200 to 500
men. all Americans. employed In the
building. After visiting the customs
hnlIga won't IN "A French restaurant
and took dinner. IL cost 10 cents-all
kinds OF things to eat. When / got
through. after eating about al hour.
! told the proprietor to charge the din
ner to me until payday. He laughed
and said: MI right. you've got the
proper gall of an American and Will
live in any country After dinner I
took "A hack and visited the Chinese
part of the town. ! had a little argu-
ment with the hack driver over the
fare. I finally told him TO go To N he
was not satisfied with the honor Of
driving an American soldier around
for nothing. At a Chinese distillery /
got some genuine gin. The chinese
were glad of the chance 90 treat an
Americana The gin Is far superior
TO the Holland gin we have in Butte.
II viewed the Spanish batteries on
The peninsula I'm front of the town. They
show good work Of craftsmanship on
the part Of our gunners: the shots
were fired from two miles.
Evidence of Spanish inquisition Is
plain 20 be seen by any one viewing the
Spanish prisons. At Cavite was the i'm
mense prison. with various devices of
torture. where Spain imprisoned Chris
tians not or their way 81 thinking and
political prisoners To be starved to
death or tortured In some other artistic
method. One can see proofs every day
of II.
Last week we SHIPPED all the Spanish
prisoners from CaVite TO Manila. They
were all paroled. There are II Spanish
men-of-war lying In the water in front
Of Cavite. sunk by Dewey, and three m
front Of Manila.
The natives here consider Dewey to
have a terrible temper. one instance: