Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1898-12-14

Il tlOn, out tnlS is all tnat remains TO
remind the visitor of the memorable
first day of May, when Montejo's
fleet was sent to the bottom of the
ocean and the saffron-hued flag of
Spain was pulled down from the ar
senal at Cavite.
| Upon the shOal side of the bay in
front of the town of Bacoor the
water fairly teens with jelly-fish, and
they are fifty so named. They look
for all the world like currant Jelly
and have a certain indescribable
shape which makes them appear very
beautiful in the water. Their bite or
sting, as most of us know from ex-
perience, is quite painful.
Bacoor is quite an interesting place,
but 1 have not the time to say much
about it. There is an old church here
which was furiously bombarded by
the Spaniards some time ago, leav-
ing it a crumbling mass of ruins; it is
now used by the insurgents as a
prison. There is a native settlement
at BacOor also; it is here that Agui-
naldo, the general-in-chief of the in
boat landed at the place about 10
| O'Clock in the morning, where we dis
embarked. The Philippine who
brought us across i'm his boat asked
permission to go with us upon our
| walk and we freely assented, as ar
rangements were made to have the
boat proceed further up the bay and
wait for us to return. He proved to
be valuable guide, and was very
careful of our interests at all times.
We We're i'm hopes that we would be
able to strike a lateral road and go
directly into the interior tf the coun-
try, but were disappointed i'm finding
one; so we were compelled to follow
the main highway which skirts Ma
Mia bay from Cavite to Manila. The
vegetation is very thick on both
sides of the road, but in places we
saw fine fields of grain. The soil is
very productive and should be adapt
ed for the growth of almost every
thing. It's possibilities, however,
will never be fully revealed until the
lazy and shiftless Malayan is re-
placed by the more thrifty races of
men.
AS we walked along the road the
natives would come to the windows
of their bamboo huts and accos. US
with a "Good morning." This is
about the full extent of their knowl-
edge OF English, but they appear to
take great pride in showing off their
linguistic attainments. Their huts
are very hard to describe, but those
who saw the village of Dahomey on
the Midway Plaisance will have a
fair idea of what they look like. Oc-
casionally one of the natives would
come out and converse with us as
well as signs and our extensive Span
ish vocabularies would permit us to
do. We have all been applying our
selves to the study of Spanish. and
can talk with the natives with more
or less success. After while one OF
the natives would suddenly disap-
pear into his hut, and in a few min
utes reappear with such relics in his
hand as a machete or n Mauser bay
onet. These they offered to sell us
for peso apiece. A machete is an
ugly-looking weapon. They have a
sharply ground blade of about two
feet in length, a wooden handle taper
ing on both ends, and are always
carried around by the agricultural
handle them in a way which strikes
terror to the heart of the foeman.
During the rebellion against Spain,
and before they received firearms, the
insurgents would charge right in
amongst the Spanish legions armed
with Mauser rifles, and, regardless of
their own safety, slay and put to
rout the enemy with no other weapon
than the machete. Shugart pur-
chased one of these long knives from
Philippine, thrust it into his belt
and started down the road with a
martial stride, the rest of us follow
ing in his wake. He intends to have
it hung upon the walls of his home,
where his grandchildren may at all
times see the trophy and mediate
upon the valorous deeds of their an
cestOr.
Almost at every turn of the road
we We're overw helmed with evidences
of the good will and friendship which
the natives bear for the Americans.
l do not think this applies so strong
ly to Aguinaldo's army, nor to the
people living in the cities; but it is
certainly true of the people living in
the country, who are grateful for the
part played by our government in
emancipating them from Spanish
rule. AS we passed along we fire.
quently heard the exclamation,