The San Francisco call., 1898-10-08

| plainly apparent from the foregoing list of the offices the boys of the First have secured Why if the Seventh had
 ever got here there would not nave been enough to go around. Seriously speaking the fact that the First Reg1- ment should have been called upon 10 1 furinsh men for these places In the civil administration of the government here is the highest possible praise TOT the general efficiency of the regiment Eyery. general officer who has came Ill contact with the Californians on tnls expedition has learned to appreciate the mettIe of the boys. The last order issued by General Merritt before his departure for Paris, as follows. shows how they were regarded by him:
 OFFrCE. OF THE MILITARY COVER NOR AND HEADQUARTERS DE-
 APARTMENT OF THE PAClbFoIG3;o E 3ooO Colonel James F. Smith. United States Volunteers, Commanding First California Volunteer Infantry-Sir: On the eve oI my departure l desire to express 10 you and your regiment my great apperecld- tion of the way in which l have been supported by all the troops or my com com mand. The cheerful fortitude with which all the officers and soldiers of the Elghtn Corps present endured the hardships of the campaign and their gallantry ln ac, tion is a matter of great pride to me, and I thank your regiment and youTseli TOT vour most valuable services. Very re- spectfully, W. MEhhA | @
 Major General United States Army.
 do not know for the life of me why there should have been a prejudice against the Californians from the start. but there was. The regiment was obe- dient, tractable, well drilled. Its officers were competent and soldierly. It obeyed every order, even some orders that were unreasonable, without complaint It showed. when the time came. that it could fight. General Anderson did not like the Californians, was only mildly preiudiced. however, and he was won by soldierIy attention to duty. General Greene did not like the Californians. was in fact, strongly prejudiced. He was won by attention to duty, by will ingness to do without complaining what no white man should be called upon to do in this climate. by superb fighting qualities displayed on that awful night of the 31st of July Lastly, General Merritt was prejudiced against the First. The gallant charge or the Second Battalion down the Gale Real and up to the walls of old Manila car ried the old soldiers heart. Now the First California is the pride ana Joy of the army. If there are any more places going the First will be In line for them.
 There has been a lot of speculation as +o whether General Merritt will return from Paris to Manila. I do not think myself that he will He is an old man. and long trips must be trying to him. Tn this connection, the report of Coio- nel Jewett upon the ability of the t4i- ninos to govern themselves, made to Merritt just prior to his departure l should prove interesting at this time. 1 The substance of the report was as Iol- l lows:
 .It is potent the Tagallo is in no con l dition to govern himself or his natlon
 at the present time. It would be wrong I to turn the Philippines over to the Gov | ernment of Spain, as Spain has shoWn l incompetence in this direction in the
 past. and is to-day in worse condition ] than ever to accomplish any good. | Colonel Jewett does not see any pres ent way out of the difficulty. Pernaps the F'ilipinos, the better of them, will 1 show him way out-after they nave l shaken themselves free of leaders who | like Aguinaldo and his kind, use the worst impulses of their countrymen to l further their own evil purposes.
 The boys of the First Regiment are busily preparing for 8 great celebration of the 9th of September. It will be held in the palace occupied by the Second Battalion in all proba bility, as the place best adapted for the purpose and will ! +5 Lya mn in r1th m S a
 what the Native Sons of the Golden West lack in numbers so far away from home.
 They were dredging the Pasig River i to-day back of the palace where l am 1 uuartered-for I am back in the Palace 1 of Malakanan. It was the strangest sight I have seen here yet-and it has been a land of strange sights. Six i natives in dug-out canoe sixty feet 1 long, which they call barca, had long poles, to the ends of which were fas- | tened large baskets. One man would lower the basket to the bottom of the river, perhaps eight feet, while an- other, diving from the boat to the bot tom, scraped 1t full of soft mud. when the diver would come up simultaneously with the rising of the basket. Fancy how much slickens would be cleaned out of San Francisco Bay in year if
 the Tagallo method was followed? The men l saw were dredging all day and
 the boat at dark was not half filled i with mud.
 | l cabled you the other day that Aguinaido, with the consent of General Merritt, given somewhat reluctantly, had sent an envoy to the Paris con- ference. I do not suppose even Aguin- aldo supposes General Merritt can give the Tagallo envoy standing there, and I know perfectly well General Merritt knows he cannot. It is merely the last spectacular play in what most intelli-