The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-02-11
LETTER FROM F. A HUL1NG.
Who Is in the Twentieth Kansas at
Manila

The following is letter from Frank
A. Huling, with the Twentieth Kansas
at Manila, to his father A. S. Huling:
Manila, P. l., Dec. 25, 1898.
1t kind of makes a fellow homesick
not to get letters but once a month, but
1 have to stand it. There is only one
thing that this army life has taught me
and that is to be cOntented with any
thing. There are so many interesting
things about this town that I could not
begin to tell all. The town looks like
it was built in the time when Christ
was earth. There are some of the
most wonderful buildings here. They
are all of stone Che outside; the inside
is one solid mass of mahogany and
rosewood; something wonderful There
is canal that runs through new Ma
Mia and the bridges that cross it are
mahogany.
There is an old Manila, or what the
people call the walled city. 1t has
wall around it 25 feet thick, and L don't
know how high, with moat fifteen feet
deep. We are not allowed to go beyond
the city limits, because of being taken
in by the insurgents. Our guard lines
are only $50 yards apart. You would
be surprised if 1 told you that Christ
mas eve 1 was working in the trenches,
between the lines.
The regiment has been called out two
or three times with 300 rounds of am
munition and rations, since we have
been here. Spanish prisoners walk
along the streets the same as we do.
The natives salute a soldier, no matter
what the rank is. The insurgents firing
from trenches hold their guns above
their heads, showing only three inches
of their hands.
We have a beautiful place. We are in
the former Spanish barracks in the CEN
ter of the city; mahogany floor and
doors. We were just forty-four days
on the water. We left San Francisco
the 9th day of October and reached
Manila the LIST of December; and stayed
on board until the 18th. If the Ameri-
cans had had this island they could
have kept the world out. The bay has
a narrow entrance, and the town is
leaving San Francisco we sailed south
west, all the way, until we came in
sight of land, then turned south and
west along the coast around the end of
the island, and then went straight
north. The first troops that came here
waded ashore, between Manila and Ca
vite, where there is a forest. Dewey's
fleet is at Cavite, and you can see the
remainder of the Spanish fleet sticking
out of the water, Quite near the shore.
I am going to get "a piece of every one
of them.
Money lasts US a long time. Our dol
lar is worth two of theirs. Diamonds
are cheap, but gold is high. Watches
are high here, and revolvers costing
about twelve dollars sell for thirty or
forty here.
The other night was on guard in an
alley back of a custom house, not over
two feet wide. In such a place that
no one could use a gun with a long
barrel. I couldn't see my hand in front
of my face. Every one expects trouble
here. There was an old block house in
the insurgents hands, that has been
fixed up, and troops put in, and our
colonel got orders to get it by force or
other ways; and he has not come back
yet.
We drill an hour a day. Half an hour
in the morning, from half-past five to
six, and at night, seven to half-past.
The bill of fare for Christmas dinner
was boiled chicken, dumplings, soup,
tea and pie. Kind of high, isn't it?