Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-07-14
WONDERS OF THE WAR.
Interesting stories wni BE In Order
when tho Soldiers Return.

/ Interesting Stories VIII Do ~
when the Soldiers Return.
| No aspect OF our war with spain Is
| stranger 10 the American people tnan
the sudden removing of tens OF nous
ands Of our regular and volunteer soi-
diers to foreign lands. Some are pre-
pairing to 60 to Cuba, others to Porto
Rico, and. stranger than all. thousands
are to be hurried to the Philippine Is
lands. almost half way round the world
from u national capital, and 1000 or
5. 900 miles westward Of San francisco.
Probably no one will be ore amazed
! aud more permanently so, at this un-
expected condition Of affairs than the
| soldier himself. Our regulars are a
matter -of-fact lot OF fellows, who take
| duty as It comes and goes, n never
| allow themselves to be astonished. but
to be transported at short notice In the
cool northern ~springtime from the
| north Atlantic coast, the great lakes.
from windswept p~rairies and passes,
| the dry air of the west and the noun
| tains to the extreme tip OF Florida,
! with it's languid, murky breezes, would
! OF itself be change enough to compel
| attention 10 the size OF the country.
To send them to Cuba, whether the
skies be clear or overlooking with warm
| rains, is 70 fill them with wonderment-
To men accustomed to the neat VII
lagos OF the United States, to roads that
are at least distinct In outline. to for
| ests that, at worst, are passatle and TO
farms that do not go entirely untitled.
Cuba, In its ~desoiation. which the veget-
able luxuriance of the tropics cannot
hide, must be a series OF wonders. But
the Philippines-imagination staggers
at the prospect OF following the volun-
teers In their journey toward the farth-
est east by way OF the farthest west, a
sea voyage more than twice "a great
as the width OF the Atlantic, and to be
taken by thousands OF men. not n in
twenty of whom ever saw the sea, and
thousands of whom never saw a larger
craft than a skiff or a cancel During
the civil war a well-planned attack was
for a few moments in danger OF coming
to naught because the charging divi-
sion, composed Of men from the interior
states, suddenly saw before them the
Atlantic and a few ocean steamers.
They were good soldiers, but no quaint
ty OF military discipline can divest a
man OF ordinary curiosity. So imagine
the dazed condition OF volunteers from
the eastern portion Of the far west-or.
indeed, from any part OF the country
being put ashore on the Philippines,
where climate, vegetation, houses and
people are so entirely different from
anything the average American has
ever seen-where the cattle are only as
big as goats and the horse Is almost a
curiosity! Americans think they know
human nature, for have they not among
them the representatives OF all nations
OF Europe. some OF Asia, most parts OF
Africa, to say nothing OF the American
Indian and the American tramp? But
the Philippine natives are unlike any
OF these In manners and habits. Amer
lean armies have thus far been the
worlds most fertile sources of war
stories: the civil war added about 5000
titles to the nations list Of books of
home origin. but when the American
soldier begins to embody in literature
his recollections Of foreign experiences
incident to the present war all war
story records will be broken and the
wonder will not cease while the veter-
n remain alive.