The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-10-27
A LETTER FROM MANILA
An Interesting Description From
Lieutenant Knowlton.
ALL READY TO COME HOME
Tho Boys Do Not Take Kindly to Gar
rison Duty without Fighting Mos
quitoes q Pest-Al Kinds OF
vermin Abundant.

Lieutenant w. II. Knowlton writes,
under date OF Sept. Is. from Cavite.
Philippine Islands. TO his brother. John
d.. Knowlton of Butte. and in the
course OF his letter. says: THE latest
paper we have seen Is a Frisco paper
Of Aug. 4. so you see we are just a lit
tie behind the times. I suppose the
war is all over but the settlement. and
we are all ready TO come home. but I
guess we will wait till Uncle Sam tells
us we can go.
The climate isn't SO awfully bad
here. or course IL is pretty hot. but
there Is generally a breeze in the af-
ternoon and at night. so a person can
get along all right IL he doesn't have
to work, and we don't nave to do much.
We drill Is minutes in the morning and
IS In the afternoon. and the remaind-
er of the time we stay in the shade.
My health is good. but most every one
has had a QUO of malaria. Our men
have good quarters. but they are aw-
fully crowded. IL rains every night
just opens up and pours, but We dom
get wet. The sun comes out hot in the
morning and by . o'clock everything
fairly steams. That Is the time of day
for a fellow to stay I'm the shade. The
mosquitoes are awful. Red Rock lake
isn't in II with Cavite for size nor num-
bers. They don't bother me at all, how
ever. and the Others call me an i'm
nun
"Paxson is still on the sick list. but
Is not coming home. rho Rio is going
to take home a lot of sick and he had
"A chance to go on her. but wouldn't.
Paxson. Bordeaux and Doud have
been very sick and Dpud nearly died
several times. McCluskey and Sipple
also have been on the sick book. but
are now marked for duty. We have
four men sick In quarters and m in
the hospital. hut he isn't bad. We are
the only troops now at Cavite, except
a detachment of the 9th artillery. reg
ulars. All the rest were ordered to
Manila with 10 days r%ations. about the
first of the week. No one seems TO know
just why they were ordered there nor
they will come back.
W. expect to get paid Tuesday. 1t
has been over three months since W.
had a payday and every one has been
broke about two months of that time.
They have the smallest horses here
! ever saw. They are taller than Shet-
land ponies. but no heavier. They on
ly use them to carriages. n all the
heavy hauling is lone by water buffalo.
is 200 years behind the
The carriages and drays are all
Affairs. with the excep-
ton of electric lights and street cars.
Manila must look about as IL did 200
years ago. The houses are all two-sto-
ries, the first story being brick or stone
and the second generally frame and
the roof covered with tiles. No n
ives on the ground o i'm the good
residences. The doors are heavy. three
or four inches thick. and the windows
are covered with iron bars. a burglar
break into one in n week.
Very few houses i'm Cavite have glass
the windows. The sash are filled
with something like isinglass. but they
are always open. so II doesn't matter.
There are all kinds Of bugs here
big and little-lizards. flies and ants.
md II is a common thing to get up in
the morning n pour a few bugs
about the size of my thumb out Of my
shoes. They make some Of the boys
very V
The boys all have white suits and
and the regiment looks fine.
THE natives are very small people. |
| have seen some of the insurgent SOL
iiers on guard and they were not as
tall as their rifles with the bayonet fix
I'd. There were quite a lot of them
here when We came, but most of them
a gone a few miles into the in
terror. where they are ~entrenehed. They
claim to be friendly to US. but say they
are afraid the Spaniards will come
back. They seem to be a rather bright
and industrious people. but / guess the
Spaniards never gave them half a
when Dewey took this place. the
Spaniards left everything and went to
The natives came in and took
of everything in sight. We