Brookings weekly register. (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1898-1903, 1899-05-25
DIRECT FROM THE FRONT.
Captain Harry A. Hegeman Writes Hi
Sister an Interesting Letter.

MY DEAR SISTER
Your letter bearing the date Of Feb
10Th, 1899, reached me today and am
very glad to have received the same,
for 1t was the first from home in some
time. You see that when we get any
mail 1t comes all In bunch.
want you to understand that when
l write home it is for all Of you and
you surely can expect no more, for If 1
should try to write to you all would
have no time for anything else
| Yes, Miss Larson is here. met her
about a week after she arrived. pre-
sumo that you think 1t very queer
that / didn't meet her before, but you
must remember that at that time we
were all in the trenches about three
miles from Manila, and while walking
is good the weather is somewhat warm
and further, that we cannot pick up
and go just when we want to as you
do back in South Dakota. I obtained
leave for a couple Of hours and went
into town to see her, but she had not
landed and / didn't have time to go
out to the Senator" 1 have seen her
only three or four times; have heard
since this campaign started that she
was sick with the measles, but l
guess that she will get along o. X.
You say that you object to short let
ters. Now l have written several long
ones and have told of everything i'm
portant here and when you ask ques-
tions l will try to answer them and as
you have asked several questions in
your letter / will proceed to answer
them in order.
/. Write about the stores"
The main business street in Manila
is the Gale de Escolta." There are
several large stores there. in which
you may purchase anything that you
may wish in the line Of dry goods.
There are no grocery stores as we have
In our country. The are several whole
sale establishments where you can
buy all kinds Of canned goods, but
these have started since the soldiers
came here and are all American. AS
most everything here is bought by the
case these places do very we'll. The
U. S. commissary does retail business
TO officers and it is there we get the
most of our supplies, Besides the
''Escolta" there is Chinatown, where
there is "Chinese joint" for every
ten square feet of surface on either
side of the street. Here one may get
silks, ETC., in fact everything that any
one would or could want, except eat
ables, and you may get them II you
desire to live in the style of the Chin
ese or natives, which Is diet OF rice
and fish. Aside from these places you
may purchase peanuts, beetle-nuts,
seasonable fruits, cigarettes, cigars
and cocoa-nuts at almost every native
hut In Manila. The native women
may be seen on any street sitting
down with large splint tray in front
of them, filled with the above named
articles. They do not make much,
but IL their days business amounts to
fifty or sixty centavos they have done
very well, as family can live on from
ten to twenty centavos per day. You
must bear in mind that the money
here is in value little less than one
half of ours, and one centavo equals
one-half of one cent in our money In
the above have answered two other
of your questions, viz: 2. How do
they live?" and 3. What do they
eat?n
4. What do they wear (or don't
wear?"
Now, you have put that question so
that 1T is very easy to answer II / an
swer the first part of it, but If you
expect me to answer the last part my
tablet will surely run short of paper
The fact is, they don't wear much Of
anything Their clothing is Of very
light cotton stuff and seldom more
than two thicknesses and often but
one. They very seldom wear shoes
and never stockings, unless 1t is on
some state occasion and then it Is
among the better classes or some city
belle.
5. "How about their marriage laws?"
Ihave had no thoughts of marrying
a native, so have not investigated the
laws. believe that they marry here
ali the way from two years old up and
some don't marry at all.
6. "Their amusements?"
The people are great gamblers, and
you may see boys almost anywhere
along the street throwing pennies and
the men all huddled together some
place betting on cock-tght; this is
the greatest amusement among the
men and they get greatly excited over
tba snort The women do not have