The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1898-11-30

letter to his parents by Frank N. Foster,
Company A, attalion engineers, United
States army:
MANILA, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
S pit. &c 1898.
The soldiers have all been paid, AMI as a
rule they try to see how promptly they can
spend their money The prices II every
! thing have gone up about three hundred
per cent, but that matters little to the sol
der. At night the Main street is so
crowded with soldiers, sailors and carriages
that it is almost impossible to get through.
The sun is too hot in the daytime, so as a
rule no one is out unless obliged to be, ex-
cept the natives and Cinnamon. However,
everything Is quite ordelly. the most dis
turbance being created by our own men,
who all very thirsty, for we get no
water that is fit either for drink or any
other purpose.
The soda water business is the chief in
dustry among the natives now. All that
can be said Of the article is that IL is wet
Nothing can be had to drink that is COOL A
small bottle Of beer costs 40 cents. A larger
one, but yet small, costs 80 cents, so you
can SEQ what difficulties one who is thirsty
has to contend with. A good meal is un-
obtanable, and in fact seems to be an I'M
known qt antity. But as we are well fed in
our own quarters we have nothing to COM
plain about
took trip over to Cavite last W eek and
saw the work OF Dewey's shells in the old
town, also the churches that were wrecked
by the insurgents. Nothing remains that
? could be removed. The walls are broken.
Floors are torn up, graves are dug up and
the bones scattered about in order to find
treasures that were supposed to be there.
This was all done before the arrival OF our
army, although IL has been charged to the
soldiers, The navy yard there is not very
large but 1t is In very pleasant spot, and is
worked to its full capacity repairing small
vessels hat have been captured. The city
of Manila is policed by the solderP, and no
aA1I To oil I'D on ha ufr off ta,,
o'clock at night without pass All others
are compelled to give good account Of
/ themselves, on penalty of being arrested.
The new town is flied with canals which
are used as waterways by the natives who
push along their dugouts with bamboo poles,
and carry fruit and pottery AS it seems to
me-from nowhere to nowhere. Their boats
are covered with a woven bamboo mat and
carry crew that is large enough to man
full-rigged ship. On the sides of the boat,
( both fore and aft, are grotesque scrolls and
figures in the most brilliant colors imagin-
able.
The natives, while not encountered with
too much brain, have been oppressed by
the church. and, as a rule, are ignorant,
save for what they have been taught in the
church, and are always exceedingly dirty.
They make very little money and have been
compelled by countless means and meas
ures to turn over their small earnings to
the church or be sent to prison. OF course
| there are exceptions to this dense ignor-
ance in the persons of those who have had
unusual opportunities to become educated,
but these are rare exceptions. Their ignor-
ance is not of their own voltion, nor is it
due to lack of ability, but to the want OF
opportunity. / doubt their capacity for as
high an education as a white man, but they
could far outreach our own negro race.
They come to work in scanty, but usually
clean linen, and carry their dinner of rice
wrapped in banana leaf, and at noon
time they all squat upon the ground in
groups and eat with their fingers. They
hang around the soldiers at mealtime like a
pack of dogs, and fight for any food that
may be offered them. From what l can
learn, the natives living in the mountains
are quite barbarous. The Spanish popula-
ton seems to be very small, and Spanish
women are very seldom seen on the street.
There are many Chinese, and they are
mostly shop keepers. They have their lit
tie stores about fifteen by ten feet square.
One of these stores must support no less
than five Celestials, and the doors and win
dows to these little closets are barred and
bolted to the extent that would lead one to
believe that they contained priceless val
uables, for door without five padlocks as
large as saucere, is an exception.
The water bt ffalo is used very much in
place of the OK. The milk OF the female is
used, but is very scarce; they are also used
as beef. The native American cow cannot
live here. The horses are very small and
hardy, and for one dollar you can hire
hack aud driver for an entire day, but at
the same time | cannot recommend the liv-
cry. The dogs in number and repulsive-
ness would put the Constautinople CANNES
to shame. The native children in the
streets have little advantage over the dogs
as respects flthiness and disease.
have Just eceived the first ter from
yor, dated July IA; it was on the road two
months and three days. l have received
also five bundles OF papers, the first news
OF what IL going on in the States since
leaving Honolulu, The newspaper aCs
counts of the d. plorable condition in the
hospitals apply here as elsewhere, although
as long as soldier here is in go. health
he has nothing else to complain OF, for the
food is good. The engineers have little to
do at present but the infantry are worked
very hard on fatigue duty. The clothing
supply is very deficient. | have no shoes.
One pair of duck trousers, blue blouse
that is heavy enough for winter day in the
States, and campaign hat are all L have
received here, although l have signed re-
ceipts for more clothing than 1 could pos
sibly take care Of.
Last week we received cots to sleep on.
Before, we slept on the floor or anywhere
we could | had auaged to get a cane
bed, which is cooler aud more comfortable.
The weather is little cooler than when we
first came here. There is more or less wind
all the time Rains are FRI quent but of
short duration. and usually in the night
time.
visited an old fort west of the city (near
the shore line of The harboD that was on the
extreme right of the Spanish entrench-
ments, and where the hardest fighting was
done By the Spauiards Here most of the
Spaniards were killed by Dewey's we'll
directed fire. The marks on the walls show
how accurate was the aim.
This fort was built in the seventeenth
century, and is where the Spanish line first
broke, and where the Stars and Stripes
first toated over the city OF Manila.