The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-08-06
MASSIVE FORTF|CANONS.
STRONG EARTHwORKs MADE BY
FGLIPtNOS.
\ Fertile Country with Thousands Of
Acres of Maize, Sugar Cane and To-
baoco-Thr Railroads.
speclal Corresnondencc OF m star.

Special Correspondence Of The star
MANILA, July 6.-At Arayat we met
the Seventeenth and Ninth infantry and
a battery of the First artillery, they
had left the railroad at Calumpit and
came to Arayat by way of San Louis,
Mexico and Cundaba. They reported a
fight at San Louis, but everything
quiet elsewhere. We left for Condaba
early the next morning arriving about
noon. Candaba is the head of naviga-
ton for the river gunboats, and we
found the Laguna de Bay, Cavadenga
and Oceanica there; also several casco
loads or rations. Candaba is twenty
one miles from Calumpt, and the gun
boats drawing about six feet of water,
light draft stern steel boats of the type
used on western rivers could go up the
Pampanga river as far as San Isidro
easily.
The evening of May 22d we received
orders to return to Manila and started
the next morning at o'clock arriv-
ing at Calumpit at 10 a. m, the second
day.
The land along the Pampanga river
is the best in Luzon. There were thou
sands of acres of Indian corn, sugar
cane and tobacco of good quality grow
ing. The country is very thiCkly popu-
lated. The people did not resist the
advance of the Americans, but stayed
at home, and were engaged in their usu-
al work Just as if there was no such
thing as war. There were trenches ev-
erywhere, miles of them, but as there
was no fighting at Mexico, Candaba,
Arayat and Santa Ana the natives
said they did not know anything about
the Notifications. and said they had
been built by bad Filipinos" form 9TH
er places.
At Calumpit the only building left
VIC CHI nd Of rtiir1
and smoking heaps of rice. Several hun
dred Chinese were working, replacing
the railway tracks and filling the
| trenches in the vicinity. The earth
works, trenches and Notifications at
Calumpit have actually changed the
appearance of the country some of
them being so massive that the heav-
lest seige gun would have no effect. The
eight miles between Calumpit and Ma
lolos has trenches every few hundred
yards with trenches at right angles
also for delivering a flank fire and so
it continues all the way to Colcoocan.
General King says that for extent, mas
siveness and arrangement, the earth
works of the FilipinOS SurpaSS any
thing of the kind during our Civil war.
The Manila and Dagupan railroad is
held by the Americans as far as San
Fernando, forty miles north of Manila.
The railroad is well built with a track
of heavy steel rails and the bridges are
all of iron and are good as any railway
bridge in America, the bridge at Calum-
pit across the Rio Grande de Pam
panga cost $4,000 The bridge over
the Bagbag river and few others near
San Fernando were damaged by the
insurgents cutting a span and letting
it drop in the river, they were tempo
rarily repaired with timber. The roll
ing stock is of European type, the loco
motives small, and the cars, both
freight and passenger, have only four
wheels None of the cars have air
| brakes and only few have hand brak.
es. The passenger cars have seats for
! thirty-two people and are of the first
| second and third classes. There are
no brake beams or blind baggage"
CORPORAL j. B. FINLEY,
Company |, Oregon Volunteers