The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-04-14
Pennsylvania at Mnnila...Lorenzo
Milliken Writes a ".
VERY INTERESTING LETTER
TO tho Inteliisencer = Describes the
successlon of sleirmishcs Following
the Battle of February cab, Which
was Such q Glorious American
Victory = Tho Natives are Poor
Marlksmen-They're Short of Am.
munition.
munition.

Lorenzo F. MillIken. well known In
this city, who Ia with the Tenth Penn
Bylyania, writes the following Interest,"
ing letter to the 1ntelligencer:
MANILA, P. l.. March 7.-For more
than three weeks we have been in the
trenches around Manila, and the men,
brown. bearded and hearty, were never
before In better condition for q cam
paign In the tropics.
A line twenty-five miles long. extend
Ing from the front of Caloocnn. north
of Manila, to Cnvite. is now thoroughly
intrenched and manned by an army
OF $1,000 men. There Is no probability
OF another aggressive movement before
the relnforcements now on the way
here.
The fight Of February was de-
clsiye victory for the American army.
and could the advantage gained been
!. followed up the subjugation Of the rev.
olutionary forces would have been the
work of but few weeks. They have
had some time. however, for recovery
and they are assembling In our front
and becoming more defiant every day.
There is no doubt that their forces in
frc t Of our lines are being greatly
augmented day by day, for the woods
seem to be full OF them and they are
throwing up earthworks all along the
line. 9E6f
Z At one part Of the line they are two
thousand yards away. in the edge Of
q dense looking wood. The number OF
bugle blows given at daybreak gives
no h,S ho,
strong force. and they can be plainly
seen through glasses as they labor In
their works. A battery Of the Utah
light artillery threw q few shells Into
their line yesterday evening and as d
result they did not fire into our out
posts during the night.
There Is firing at long range every
day and night between ours and the
enemy's outposts, but neither side does
much execution. 1t is no rare occur
renee for a few Of them to crawl up In
the bushes between our line and the
wood and send us all to the shelter OF
the trench. Only, one man in our reg
iment has been hit since the first fight.
This man. Private Gilbert Cutie, Of
Company C, was struck In the left ell
bow while walking behind the line near
regimental headquarters.
On the left OF the line at Caloocan
and in the centre along the Paslg, they
have made several attempts to break
through.
(, They have advanced upon the Tenth
Pennsylvania in force but once. and they
were easily repu!sed by a few volleys.
When they get too troublesome in the
brush q voley or two usually sends
them to cover. They would make very
good buskwhackers II they were better
marksmen. but they will never have
the staying qualities necessary In q
stubborn fight. Whenever their posi-
ton was assaulted on February they
would lose their nerve at the beginning
OF every charge and before We could
get to them they would spring up and
run like sheep. saw dozens of them
shot down as they ran.
Their strongest, or what Is supposed
to be their strongest point at present,
is the town of Maloban. In the bay two
miles from Caloocan. The force in this
warships when our army Is ready to
advance.
One thing that the Filipinos have
learned Is that the Americans respect
n flag Of truce, and they send out COM
munications under the white flag until
they become monotonous. They are
evidently running short Of smokeless
ammunition, for even their sharpshoot-
ers have been using Il considerable
amount of black powder. Most Of the
missiles picked up lately are rude lead
limitations Of bullets. They are even
using INITIATED lead bullets of their own
make In the Mauser rifles.
At this writing the men are begin.
ming to feel the suspense Of waiting for
orders to advance. The commission OF
investigation will arrive tomorrow OF
next day and It Is thought that they
may In some way interfere with Gen.
eral Otis and possibly bring about some
way OF informally treating with the
natives.