The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1898-11-19
DIRECT FROM
ACU|NALDO'S
HEADQUARTERS
Major Cook Writes
From BakOOr.
A KICK AT THE KlCKERS
A KICK AT THE KcKERs
THE MEN ARE WELL TREATED
BY THE OFFICERS.
A Plea for Letters-Attitude of the
Natives Toward the Spanish
Prisoners Extremely
Hostile.

ALAMEDA, Nov 1S.-Major Byron
H. Cook of the First Montana Infantry.
u. S. ", has written to a friend in this
city from Cavite, p. l., under date of
September 20. His battalion is sta
toned at Bakoor a telegraph station
across the bay from Manila. The fol-
lowing interesting extracts have been
made from his letter:
We are expecting orders to move to
Manila but if they never come we will
be better satisfied; for the first time since
the organization of our regiment 1T is
satisfied to remain where it IL rather
than move on. Some of the men have
wonderfully changed their tuna, and
about 600 of them would give waIt they
have left of months pay TO be back in
San Francisco digging their toes into The
sand.
A great many have had malaria, and
about 10 per cent are on the SICK repcrt,
with them and we have had 40 deaths
here that can be attributed to the Gil
mate.
Talk about a lot of sick schoolgirls,
they are not in with the stalwart noun
taineeTs If the mail doesn't bring just the
right kind of letters.
AS far as L am personally concerned, II
my good health continues, 1 would not
object to a full term of enlistment IN this
place, If we can stay here it Is better
than being in Manila. We are the only
>
battalion and regimental drills, ana the
command is pretty we'll In hand. 1t IS
cooler here, too, than in Manila We are
LetWeen two small bays ana II there IS
any Wild blowing we get 1t.
on the 29th of last month l was de-
tailed summary court by the colonel. ms
corresponds with civil police judge. AT
first business was light, but then came
payday, and the court is now making lots
Of money for Uncle IN So nepsde1 Oh
The FilipinoS are getting even on the
Spanish prisoners for all that Spain ever
did to them. l have seen some that are
walking skeletons. The insurgents send
them to small towns and turn them
loose. The natives are hostile to them,
and the result is slow starvation. over
in Bakoor, a telegraph station between
here and Manila. were fourteen of these
prisoners when | was there and one OF
the men in the station told me there had
been quite a number starved to death.
They gave one of these unfortunates a
piece of bread one day: he sat down TO
eat 1t, when native took 1t away from
him. Some. of the most prosperous ma
tives feed them for their services.
Bakoor is Aguni Aguinaldo's head
quarters and was bombarded for thirty
months by the Spanish We met and
had quite a visit with Gomez, one of the
insurgent leaders. He speaks. good Eng
lish and impressed me favorably-
The thermometer hanging indoors
registers from 80 to 81 degrees night and
day, rarely higher or lower The days
are short and nights long. 1t is dark at
$50 in the afternoon and hardly daylight
at $50 in the morning.
In the mail which arrived on the Ari-
IONA yesterday there are evidences of the
kicker-the kicker that swells with self
Importance when he can find a paper yell
low enough to publish his roland the
strange part of 1t to me is the fact that
papers encourage such stuff They will
send broadcast reports almost libelous in
character against men who stand high in
their own communities and create or at
tempt to create an impression that many
of our commanding officers are second
only to the inhuman Spaniards In the
treatment of their men. Some of the at
tacks upon Colonel kessler are out
rageous. One report from Honolulu stated
that he had remained in his stateroom,
utterly ignoring the wants and necessities
of the men and finally Colonel Wallace
came to the rescue. The colonel com,
handing like some eight or ten hundred
of the kickers on board the Pennsylvania,
is possessed of a stomach that is not proof
against seasickness, and for the first Few
days he was necessarily confined to his
stateroom, while the more fortunate lieu
tenant colonel and the majors escaped
entirely. -
cooking capacity for 900 is quite a prob
lem, and it could not be worked out with
satisfaction to all the first week out from
port. The steamship company agreed TO
do the cooking for all, and 1t was reason
able to suppose that they knew what
they were undertaking, as 1t was directly
over $500 upon arrival here just for that
work Of course 1t was soon apparent
that they could not handle 1t, so deta1l
was made from the command to assist In
the kitchen Night cooks were put into
the kitchen and the men made to cut UP
meat, pare potatoes and onions ana po-
lice the boat. When the men recovered
their appetites, they were not satisfied
with the regular rations, and upon
number of occasions the men clamored
| dered 1t cooked for them, and he had to
pay for the excess himself. Not only that
some of tie company commanders re-
| fused to pay the steamer cooks the sixty
three cents per man for the trip agreed
upon. and Colonel Kessler had to put ur
for that, too. You know a trip Of that
| kind is hard under ordinary conditions
and upon a troopship it Is bound to be
| much harder. When the system was
| finally mastered the food began to taste
| of the ship and the men were tired OF
| Government rations, and the kicking
continued 1 read some of the kicks
| from the troops at Tampa and do not
| svmpathize with them at all-they are al
! kickers alike. l am glad to say that the
! men that have been accustomed to living
! we'll in private life were the last to com
| plain.