The San Francisco call., 1898-12-28
Tragedy Following g the Sinking Of Mon.
 tojo'S Fleet.
Volunteers at Manila Do. Their Christmas Shopping The
 Sunday Law Rigidly
 Enforced.
BY CORPORAL F. A. HEALY,
Special Correspondence of The Call.

Special Correspondence of. The Call.
 MANILA Nov. 21.-The good ship Senator has just arrived, bringing some ninety-odd sacks of mail and the first installment of the troops that are to relieve or reinforce us, l know not which. And when I say l do not know l put myself in very unique position, the position of the only man in the en- tire army who does not know all about it. Some of the boys have information of such reliability that they argue our early departure for home is an abso- lute certainty; others have equally au- thentic information of the Govern ment's intention to retain us here for the balance of our term of enlistment. Each faction is willing to back its opln- ion with good hard coin. But as paper is more common than cash the stakes take the form of written agreements promising to pay if the winner is lucky enough to catch the loser before the latter has succeeded in getting rid of his payday receipts. On this basis much, very much, is wagered on the date of our departure.
 But during the interval, be it long or short, which must elapse before the boys return home to tell in person of their adventures and hair breadth escapes by flood and field" l suppose their friends, relatives and acquaint- ances want to know whats doing" in far-away Manila. Well, not much, but such as it is, here goes:
 Probably the most momentous occur renee which has taken place here for some time was the departure of the troopsnip ScandIa. which, freighted down with invalids, prisoners, lucky boys and Xmas presents, left home ward bound week ago last Monday As soon as 1t became definitely known that she was going to leave the whole regiment turned out to do it's Christmas shopping. The paymaster had visited the garrison only a few days before, so each fellow had a pocket lined with two months pay to back him up in his efforts to prove to those at home that they were not entirely forgotten. One could enter any store along the whole line of the Escolta and find himself lost among crowd of white coated SOldiery, each man pushing, struggling and perspiring in frantic en- deaVor to get near enough to the coun- ter to buy something, no matter what, DTlCe or his purchase, when at last he sue ceeded to point of vantage, was a secondary consideration. I have seen many a man spend in ten minutes the result of two months hard work and go away perfectly contented because he had something that would serve as a Christmas offering to the loved ones in san francisco. When the presents were once obtained the next thing was to Tp a lyn oha nP and see to their safe delivery Every one of the lucky fellows who were to leave was called into service and the number Of packages that were entrust- ed to the care of a single individual would cause an Oakland transfer man to grow old in day. It mattered not whether the man going was an inti- mate friend or perfect stranger to the sender. The brotherhood of the army was sufficient to cover the obligation asked and to insure a willing accent ance of the charge and loyal atten- tion to the trust
 When at last the Scandia did sail the band of the First Cali Iornla boarded a launch and ac- out to give the departing comrades 2 httlng send off. The launch circled around the vessel, loving messages were shouted to those who were soon to see the ones at home and were answered py cheers and hearty good-bys The ship weighed anchor, three blasts of the whistle were blown and all was over. me band played We Shall Meet on Beautiful Shore" Whether thiS meant the beautiful shore of California or the golden shore of the New Jeru- salem, don't know.
 Ahls trip was followed a few days later by another one to bid inc officare ana men of the Charleston farewell m the eve of that ships departure for HolIo' where she goes to preserve or der and where the bluejackets will soon be joined by some of our troons that are expecting to be moved there to dc garrison work and protect the Snan- lsh from the fury of the FiliDinos Tn regard to these same Filipinos their hlgh state of civilization, capacitv for sel-soVernment, etc, l must say that tnose Wno praise them in these respects are either willfully misleading the nuh- lie or they have received their irnnras- slons from one kind of a Filinino while my experience has been with anotba, and entirely different sort. For an1ono all the dirty, dishonest, cruel ana treacherous savages that God eyer mi on earth to libel His own image ana likeness the Filipino easily takes first place Their treatment of prisoners in those parts of the island not unde, the protection of the American flag is abominable. and we daily hear tales o1 cruelty and outrage perpetrated upor helpless men and women who fall into their hands, which fairly make oul blood boil with indignation.
 Yesterday I went over to Cavite anf while there revisited the scene of a lit tie past Filipino pleasantly which vii serve to afford an insight into theil character. The place is little bacl room in one of the large buildings tha line the waters edge at a point not fa1 from where some of the sunken Span ish nlen-of-war lie half submerged il the salty waters of the bay. Here i was, when Dewey's guns sung the re quiem of Spanish power on that ia