Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-03-30

blOOdess victory is already known to
newspaper readers in the United States
Except for the sricf shelling of the rebel
works by the Boston and the Petrol
there was nothing especially dramatic
about the incident
After waiting on board the transports
in the outer harhor for what seemed 10
us of the rank ana lie an unnecessarily
and provokingly long time, as the boys
were ''spoiling for a fight, General
Miller demanded the surrender of the
city, which was refused, and then the
warships poured in few rounds Of
hot shot, and we landed, while the ma
tive warriors skedaddled The failure of
the natives to make a stand against us
was no surprise. All the fighting we
had to do was fighting fire, and this for
a time was rather sharp and exciting
work. but our men succeeded in saving
most of the property of the foreign resi-
dents. The native portion of the city
had been almost completely destroyed
before we reached it, and the German
consulate, the former American consul
ate and two other foreign buildings
were also destroyed The fire was not
unexpected, as the natives had threat
encd to burn the town and doubtless
would have succeeded but for our
prompt arrival and timely work. The
capture of liOilo is important not only
in that it places i'll our possession the
second largest city in the archipelago,
but cuts off one of the main sources of
supplies of the Insurgents.
The daily routine of garrison duty
is much the same here as it was at Ma
Mia, but our assignment to Genera
Miller's expedition has given us an OF
portunity to see much more of this il
teresting country than we would othei
wise have had
The immediate surroundings of Iloilo
are not attractive, the city being built
upon low, marshy land, though the eye
finds relief and delight in the wooded
hills not far distant. 1t is the principal
seaport of the group of Visayas islands
and has a fairly good harbO1. The town
is situated on a fiat strip Of ground be
tween the outlet of the Rio Jaro river
and the coast, much of which has
"made by filling in. 1t terminates
with IA sand spit, upon which the old
Notifications stand. Vessels Of 10 fee.
draft can make their way up the strea 4
or estuary to the rude wharfs. but
larger craft must remain outside There
Is in lloilo The customary public sQuarn,
or plaza with a cathedral and convent
and government house facing upon it,
but the prominent feature of the place
| IL q nd nyfu fpp
the shipment of the products Of this and
other islands of the neighborhood
There are some substantially built
houses, with heavy posts running up at
the corners, constructed of stone, with
| corrugated iron roofs, but the native
dwellings are mainly fiimsy structures
of bamboo, covered with the frouzy
thatch of nipa. Here, as elsewhere in
the archipelago, the bamboo, which has
E. multiplicity Of uses in domestic econ
| omy, is one of nature most valuable
gifts to these semicivilized people,
Raw sugsr, which appears to me to
| be Of an interior quality, is the princi
pal product shipped from this port
though there are exported considerable
quantities Of tobacco, hemp, rice and
9apan wood the latter being the raw
material of a valuable red dyestuh
which is extensively produced in the
Islands Of Panay and Negros. The viz
| gin forests of the interior of Panay
abound in great variety of valuable
woods, and these, together with the
vast and rich mineral deposits-coal
oil, gas, gold. copper, iron and possibly
mercury-known to exist here, await
Jnly the touch of the magic wand OF
| American enterprise to become the
sources of great wealth.
There is nothing especially pictur-
sque or striking about Iloilo, but we of
The western world campaigning here in
The orient find it all strange and inter
sting and each day unfolds new and
unique phases of life and scene. The
native people seem naturally mild and
imOffensive. and | doubt if they have
even Il remote conception of why they
are stirred up TO resist the humane rule
and improved conditions which our pos
session of the Philippine Islands would
bring them. Poor, misguided mortalt
following blindly vicious leaders, thci
unhappy condition strikes a chord Of
sympathy even while they remain bit
terly, albeit without reason, hostile to
US. GEORGE l.. MCMAsTER.