The San Francisco call., 1898-09-24

any other country, and the boasted Escolta, the center of the fashionab ble shopping and parade district, is dis tanced by cheap grocery and retail district in any out of the way place in America
 The residences of some of the swells are really fine places, but nothing to what we have at home, and the only thing palatial about them is the con- trast they exhibit to their surroundings. The roads and drives are fairly pretty and very dusty in dry weather. In wet weather one cannot see the road with out the help of a diving-be Alto gether t,is a nice place. It has one brewery, which starts up every morn ing and is promptly drunk to a state of absolute dryness by about o'clock every afternoon by the crowd of beer loving barbarians from America, whose taste for the amber-colored beverage has sent the price per keg up from $3 to SS 50
 The aftermath of the battle is still the one topic of conversation In town, and the volunteer troops are receiving compliments on all sides for the splen- did gallantry of their advance. As the First California led the army 1t natur- ally comes in for the lions share of praise, and the Second Battalion under the command of brave old Major Slime Is the distinguished section of the regi- ment. l am sorry to see that among the different companies comprising the Second Battalion there has arisen a spirit of jealously which, if it Is allowed to continue, will have considerable to do with destroying the esprit de corps which a regiment should possess. Com pany l. under command of Captain Egg gert and led by that gentlemen, Lieu tenant Curzons and Lieutenant Adler, was the first to reach the walls of Ma nfla and witness the surrender, beating every other company by over ten min utes. Instead of congratulating Com pany l. on it's distinction and giving it the praise it's gallant conduct entities 1t to, the other companies try to steal its laurels by claiming to have won them themselves, thus causing consid- erable argument and ill-feeling where all should be in harmony and perfect accord. Fortunately Company L's po- mined that there cannot be the slight est question of who was really In at the finish.
 l understand that three men in Com pany L are to be mentioned for dis tinguished gallantry, namely Privates Moltke. Clancy and Brown. Moltke when the. insurgents came following the retreating Spaniards up to the walls firing into them and attempting to start what promised to be general massacre, took a white handkerchief from around his neck, and unheeding the storm of bullets that rained down about him from the walls behind and sang and whistled up the street in front where the savage Filipinos were slaughtering the foe that had surren- dered, held it aloft in his hand and ad- vanced down through the retreating Spanfards until he met the insurgents face to face, where he halted and kept them until their officers could get them under control. It was a gallant dis play of bravery and great presence of mind, and entities Private Carl Moltke to every honor a grateful Government can bectow upon him. What Clancy and Brown did which should entitle them to any honor not shared by every one of their comrades I cannot ascer- tein, though I have made most diligent inquiries in my endeavor to learn.
 Though there were many officers whose conduct on the day of days en- titles them to praise, yet there is one man whose splendid courage, excellent Judgment, steadfast perseverance and unwavering determination entitle him to the very first honors of the whole army and who is already beginning to receive the reward of his gallantry in the respect and esteem he Is held in by the non-combatant residents and the
 
 toned here, both. aboard our own ships and on those of the foreign nations now stationed, here. That man is Major Hugh T. Slime, commanding the Second Battalion, who personally led the whole army to success and was the first off, cer or man to reach. the goal. Let this be published if you cut all else of my stuff, for in doing so, you will only be doing justice to a man whose bravery is splendid enough. to stand out before the best, but whose, modesty would never allow it to be known were 1t not witnessed and commented upon by others.
 Colonel Smith I did not see much of, but the boys who did see him say he is an officer fitted to lead a body of troops right into hell, and that they would follow him there in minute. This do know, that if I am any judge of man our colonel has yet to learn the meaning of fear and he loves a scrap from a pure, unalloyed soldierly love of fighting for dghting's sake.