The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1899-03-29
p many q lhe nasoIIaII0na vIIh AE1an.

on many Of the negotiations with Ag,an-
aldo.
He has trayersed the country whore me
American troops are now ngh,ing and
In speaking OF that locality saidi
THE railway line extends up the mid
die Of the valley along which our troops
have been advancing. The country IN
which recent operations have taken place
Is very fiat and Is simply a succession Of
rice fields. Between this valley and the
sea Is low range Of hills and on the
other hand is the coast range Of noun.
tains, perhaps 5000 or 5000 feet high.
The rice fields are quite small and are
separated BY dykes 70 that they can be
flooded. 1t Is an excellent country for
defensive operations. the natives can
use the dikes for trenches. retreatlng
from one to another. and then In oban-
doning a position they can food the
fields. thus hindering the advance Of our
men. have not seen Il mentioned IN
the dispatches. but have no doubt that
many Of these fields have been flooded
What do you believe will be the effect
Of the present campaign?"
There viii be several pitched battles
and then Aguinaldo's army viii be dis
persed but the American army In the
Philippines win have to contend with
guerrilla warfare for several years TO
come. The natives will not submlt even
II the main body Of the army IL scattered
and demolished. still. do not think the
prospect Is one that should be alarming
or distressing. Our army will have an
experience in the Philippines which win
be exceedingly valuable and make II all
the more effective In the future"
How did you happen TO make a trip
through the islandT'
1T was found advisable to ascertain
what the natives in the interior were do
ing and what seemed to be their attl-
tude toward the Americans. The Amer
lean officers in Uniform who had at
tempted to traverse this part Of the
country had been arrested and sent back
90 travelled as a civilian. That was late
In October As am OF English birth,
allowed the natives to believe I was an
Engllshman. In addition to that.
spoke Spanish and found little difficulty
In getting along, although l was con-
tinuaily stopped and questioned. At
every town the soldiers demanded Of
me pass from Aguinaldo- The fact that
his name was mentioned everywhere
showing that he was regarded as their
leader, gave me some idea OF his lnfn-
ence In the island. I went the entire
length OF the railway hne 10 Dagupan
on the entire coast. and everywhere
found the natives arming themselves
and drilling constantly. The one topic Of
conversation was the coming fight with
the Americans They seemed 10 regard it
as inevitable and were not disposed to
avoid II. Even the little boys were
marching up the streets and being drilled
and never saw more military enthusi-
asm in any country. OF course the drill
ing was very awkward and the disci-
pline was poor. but the soldiers were In
tensely earnest and enthusiastic every
where and the fact that the new arms
were being shipped in and distributed
showed that some well defined policy OF
preparation was being put into effect"
How did the natives get these inn
proved arms.
"They were shipped In during last
summer and autumn. AS soon as Aguin-
aldo established his government he began
to levy taxes In every village and to de-
mand tribute from the wealthy residents
in and around Manila and great deal
OF this money was Immediately expended
for arms and ammunition. At Malolos
1 saw Maxims and Gatlings. There are
enough Spanish artillerymen among the
insurgents to handle these guns In an
effective manner. 1t is evident also that
the natives have competent engineers,
with them. for their trenches have been
well constructed and so arranged that
the soldiers can retreat from one 10
the other without putting themselves in
range"
"You met Aguinaldo often?''
"For q time I met him two or three
times day. He impressed me as very
shrewd leader. He was exceedingly sus-
picious of the Americans and l found
the greatest difficulty in getting any
out of him. At every inter-
view he had one OF his native officers
with him."