Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-11
Adiutant Ben e. CalkinS Re-
turns to Butte.
HE TALKS OF THE ISLANDS
Health OF the Montana Regiment IS
Much Better NOW--Met
Perrin Irwin,

Adiutant Ben E. Calkins, shorn Of his
hirsute appendage generally denominated
as a mustache, and fully thirty pounds
lighter than when he left Butte to wallop
the Spaniards in far away Manila, re-
turned at an early hour this morning,
glad, heartily glad to be back home again
among his friends, but with no regrets to
offer for volunteering his services to
Uncle Sam during the recent unpleasant
ness with Spain.
II left my mustache and about thirty
pounds of fat with the fishes on the voy-
age across said Adjutant Calkins this
afternoon to an Inter Mountain reporter.
"You, no doubt, have heard enough of
the voyage and the criticisms of Colonel
Kessler. All I have to say is that Col
onel Kessler is a gentleman and an Off
GER who does his whole duty. He is not
a grand stand player. He is not in the
'hurrah' business, and many of the boys
in the First Montana regiment misunder-
stood him. 1 am out of the army now,
so that l can speak my mind freely and
have no fears of being court-martialed.
The transport Pennsylvania, on which
we were conveyed across the Pacific, was
licensed to carry $50 people. On that trip
over the transport carried 1,465. What
WAS TIE cause OIL the OVerCrOWOlnS SIM
ply because Colonel Kessler wished to get
his regiment into action as soon as posi-
BILE. The boys during their s%ojourn in
San Francisco were %eternally kicking at
the delay in being sent to the front, and
several of them even went so far as to
say that Colonel kessler was e~ndeaVOring
to prevent the Montana regiment from
being sent to the Philippines. Colonel
kessler was rendered the use of the trans
port. He went down to the wharf and
looked at the Pennsylvania. He knew
he vessel was insufficient to accommo-
date the troops, but he was as anxious
as his men to get to the scene of dis
turbance and in lieu of anything better
he accepted the transport.
1--WE had orders from the captain to
have our men on board by 4 o'clock in
the afternoon, so that the ship could pull
out with the tide. While embarking,
crowds of Red Cross ladies and CORE
~spondents and reporters for the entire
press of California n adjacent states,
came down and asked permission to go
on board. Such a thing was an utter i'm
possibility in view of the prevailing con-
ditions. Colonel Kessler politely but
firmly said no" and explained matters.
The explanation, however, wasn't ac-
cepted, and as a result Colonel Kessler
was burned UP" by every penny-a-liner
on the San Francisco press. 1t was a
oSt, " NhSS AiS" ooAoA'Si
Kessler, who was then on his way to
Manila, could not defend himself, as the
voyage would take at least 80 days.
1.-THE health of the regiment is increas-
ing and there were no serious cases when
I left. They are getting acclimated in a
measure and are all taking better care
of themselves than when they first ar
rived. 1t is impossible, however, for a
white man to get thoroughly ~acclimated
in that country it is so beastly hot. I
wouldn't live there for half the Islands.
Three years is about the duration of life
of a White man on the islands. After h a
he becomes mummified and loses all his
vitality and he may linger along for sew
eral years more to save funeral expenses
than anything else. What the heat don't
accomplish is left to the fever and the
mosquitoes. And such mosquitoes! They
are of a larger brand than the Klondike
variety and offer a good target for a rifle.
Their looks are not half as bad as their
bite. They are the most vicious things
on earth and many of the boys of the
regiment frequently woke up with a large
and fertile crop of bumps.
1.-The Montana regiment was considered
the best drilled in Manila. They drilled
on a fine but small plaza at Cavite and
the way they perfected themselves in the
manual of arms was surprising to the
other companies as well as the natives.
oOlultIlI1S III Tie IllllpplllcS Is lOl ali
that it is cracked up to be and were it not
for my business and social relations here
I think I would nave remained longer
with the boys.
1.-THE natives are a dirty lot. They have
40 idea of sanitary laws, and do not even
have an idea of common decency. The
SDaniards there are no exception to the
rule. The air of Manila would turn a
strong mans stomach and to go into the
quarters of the Spanish or inSurgent
troops is a sure passport to deathly sick
ness. They die like rotten sheep from
zymotic diseases. 1t will take the Ameri-
cans a long, long time to teach the nat
ives the value of cleanliness. The insur-
gent army reminded me of a band Of
sheep and ave about the same concep-
ton of what military duty consists of.
1.-The Montana boys We're sore when
they learned upon their arrival that the
war was over. We had a little furry Of
excitement after we arrived and the Mon
tana boys almost went mad at the pros
pect of having a brush with the Span
iards, Filipinos or any other old thing.
On October 20 orders came to department
headquarters to supply the regiment with
five days rations. We were expecting
trouble with the insurgents and we all
knew what the order meant. The boys
yelled themselves hoarse but further or
ders never came and a more disappointed
lot of soldiers We're never seen.
Il came by Hong Kong, Shanghai and
Yokohama, and was accompanied to the
latter place by Chaplain c. G. Stull, who
got a 80 days furlough. We left Manila
on December 3. It Hong Kong 1 met
Perrin Irwin and DR.. and Mrs. Winston.
formerly of Butte, who sent their kindest
remembrances to Butte friends. 1 arrived
in San Francisco January 5, after a re-