Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1899-07-22
The Spaniards Worked Off &
Gold Brick on President
Mckinley.
The Solemn Services Observed
for the Dead at Battery
Hill and Pace.
KENTUCKIAN'S LETTER FROM MANILA

The following are few extracts from
letter written by John Dineen, of Lex
ington, Kentucky boy now with Com
pany II, Battalion of Engineers, stationed
at Manila. The letter was written on
June I, and gives details end facts not
mentioned in the censored dispatches,
and recounts much to justify the charges
ofinefficiency brought against those high
in authority. Among other things he
says:
~ have passed through hardships
enough to kill Peter Vinegar if he we're
here to fill up OH Vino. Talk about your
Poverty Flats, Rat Row and Davis Bot
toms or other popular residence quarters
of Lexington-you ought to get a peep
into Manila. One look would settle you,
that is, among the poorer classes. /
don't know what / will do when get
back to civilization. I'll1queer' myself
the first dash out of the box, notwith-
standing hope to get used to the change
after l am here awhile.
"Oh. the Philippines, Uncle Sans
gold brick The Spaniards can not fight,
but they can bunco. The Republican
party got an elephant this time all right,
and it's no G. o. p. either. It's one of
Uncle Johns green goods packages
painted white with a 500, 10000 trade
mark
Here is a partial list of what is and
what is not in the Philippines: No
brooms; no hats worn; the girls marry at
fifteen; no knives or forks; horses are a
curiosity; natives sleep at midday and
bathe thrice daily; more women than
men; rice is the chief product; cattle are
small as goats; laborers earn ten cents
per day; cocoanut oil is an illuminant;
the grasshopper is delicacy; buffaloes
are used in blowing; orchards command
81, 900 each; Manila has 100000 inhabi
tants; the annual cigar output reaches
260, 900, 000 bellies smoke cigars and chew
beetles; cigar factories employ 2l,0O0
women; cigarmakers earn IS to $40 per
month; a yard of cloth will make robe
for the poor; a piece of wood two feet
long costs forty cents.
1.-THE rainy season has set in and CAM
paigning will cease for time. The last
expedition through the mountains has
been sent out and no more will be made
until the rainy season is over. The
Tagurs have lost all hope, and are prac-
tically done for. There are no more
large bodies to be met, and it is now like
an Indian campaign, as the niggers are
together only IN small bands.
"The volunteer regiments to leave are
the Oregon, California, Nebraska, Colo
RADIO, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Min
nesota, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana,
Utah, South Dakota, Nevada, Kansas,
Washington, Tennessee and Iowa, in the
order named. With the above gone and
mustered out of Uncle Sans service, the
United States loses the best army it ever
had. l don't know what kind of repu-
tation the volunteers made in Cuba and
Porto Rico, but from what I've read they
made poor one, as they saw no service.
''To the volunteers in the Philippines
clings a reputation made and won by
gallant fighting, and it is a well-known
fact that to the Eighth Army Corps be-
longs the honor of saving the reputation
of the armv All that l know of being
done throughout the army in Cuba, Porto
Rico and the United States was to criti-
else the administration. Out here it has
been different, and of the four places, if
the truth were known, none had more
righteous kick coming than those in the
Philippines. None know of more hard
ships than the Eighth Army Corps. AS
for the scrap before Santiago, 1t was
as nothing compared with some we have
had here ! am relating what some OF
the old soldiers told me.
"The regiments coming over now are
not worth a -. Why, the volunteers
over here can teach the regulars how to
fight, and they are doing it right along
All the new soldiers are fit for is to do
garrison duty. They will need lot OF
scrapping before they can class them
selves with the Eighth Army Corps.
The new regiments are well dressed, and
to see them so spick and span makes us
poor fellows think of better days gone
by. 1t is quite contract to witness a
regiment of regulars marching along and
then view regiment that has been here
since last July. In one you see fine,
strong, healthy fellows in bright, clean
uniforms, with an elastic step. In the
other will be seen a crowd of half-starved,
weak, forlorn, sickly, pale fellows, who
come struggling along with weary step,
dragging their feet as if they were hun
bred weights. Their dress is muddy
brown, torn and tattered. Half of those
you notice are barefooted and their
clothes tied with native grass. The lines
in their faces are deep and drawn, and it