Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1898-11-30
THE PHILIPPINES
An Entertaining Letter From
Sgt Cheadle<>>The Coun>
try, Its Inhabitants and
Their Customs.
CAvITE, P. l., Oct. 6, 1898.

CAvITE, P. l., Oct. 6, 1898.
EDITOR ARGUS: There is much spec
ulation rife among the volunteers in
the Philippines as to the probable
date of our departure for the U. 5.
The more sanguine think it will be in
q month or two, and the pessimistic
shake their heads mournfully and
opine that we shall serve our full two
years. 1t seems probable that both
are wrong. The Indications, 80 far
as any are discernible, are that we
are likely to put i'm the coming win
ter here, or the greater part of it, and
may think ourselves fortunate II we
are mustered put within a year from
the date Of our enlistment. II it
comes sooner, 80 much the better.
There seems to be no prospest of act
ual service, and most Of us feel that
we might be better employed else
where.
With the vanishing Of the prospect
of service in actual warfare the inter-
est felt by the officers and men Of our
regiment has, naturally, largely d.
minished. We feel as II we
simply waiting to be discharged.
This is in many cases harder on the
men than the officers. The latter
are, as a rule, drawing as large or
larger salaries than they receive at
home, while the %pittance of an en-
listed man il not much relief to any
one who is accustomed to earning
good wages or a fair salary or pro-
fessional income. However, this is
all a part Of the enlistment and nota
legitimate cause of complaint.
We received several numbers of the
ARGUS, and was sorry TO see I'm the
issue of Aug. IL an account OF our
voyage to Honolulu which is almost
wholly false in every particular, and
likely to give our friends at home a
greatly exaggerated idea of our dis
comforts. The officers of the regi-
ment were not compelled to protect
Lieut.. Seadorf, the quartermaster,
from violence at the hands of the
men; it is not true that Col. kessler
kept closely to his Dor during the
trip; it Is not true that the only veg
etables served We're onions there
was always an abundance OF good
potatoes also. The men did not give
three cheers for the lieutenant colonel
every evening, or any evening, SO far
as l know. 1t is not true that the
men were limited in the amount of
drinking water; each man was al
lowed to drink all he wanted, al
though not to carry it away from
the tanks for Use elsewhere-an
tirely justifiable measure. There were
discOmforts enough, some of them,
in my opinion, preventablc, but the
man who wrote that account is sure.
ly entitled to give a prominent perch
Il Ananias on his genealogical tree.
This whole subject of the alleged NAL
treatment of the enlisted volunteers
is getting threadbare, and it is no
longer n matter of much interest to
me; but | always feel like challeng-
ing a statement which L know to be
false. and especially when there is
to believe il is wantonly and
maliciously false. People will do
well to suspend judgment in this
matter until they are in possession
OF sufficient accurate data, and mean
time not to be distressed about the
alleged sufferings of their friends
among the volunteers. We have had
disco mfOrt, but no suffering. The
ways in (which different men meet
and endure the privations of the SER
vice are as various as the individuals.
Some will endure everything quietly,
when they ought, in justice to
themselves and their comrades, to
and insist upon their rights.
Others whimper like spoilt children
over every little annoyance, while
some will endure patiently anything
is unavoidable, but will not put
up quietly with any neglect or impo-
This last is in my opinion
the right course. The soldiers rights
are clearly defined and are enforce
But the chronic fault-finder
as little consideration in the
army rs u of it. For my part, 1t
was a real and considerable sacrifice
enlist, and l do not want to spoil
the whole matter by puerile and
weakly complaints. 1t seems to NE
by far more worthy of a man to en-
dure patiently whatever has to be
endured. The hardest thing for the
i'm this matter is not by any
means that the food has sometimes
been insufficient and unpalatable.
enough of this topic.
There are many interesting sights
this country. All kinds OF goods
ara ranSnartad On Land In aarta !