Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-05-25
LETTER FROM THE PHILIPPINES.
Lieutenant j. e. Palmer Writes Interest,"
inriy OF His Experienced.

engineer, u. s. N, who is now III the
Philippines. Liout. Palmer was reap
pointed to the naval service in the
recent war after he had been out OF tho
service for about II years. Before the
war he was in the employ of the Joseph
Bancroft 4 Sons Co. A part OF the
letter is as follows:
U. s. S. Charleston, Patangas Bay,
Island of Luzon, z. l., March 2Sth,
1881 am now passenger on the
above vessel Oh my way TO join the Y.
S. S. Boston, having been detached |
from tho Solace on the 26th and ordered
to report for duty on the Boston by
Admiral Dewey. / understand the
Boston is a very comfortable and fine
vessel, being sister ship of the Atlanta,
and as know several OF the officers on
her and everyone agrees in saying she
is a happy ship. ought to have q
pIeasnnt time, but OF course | can only
form AN opinion after having been on
board sometime.
The Charleston is fine ship and 1t
is simply delightful ON her. | am 30
glad to get on regular man of war
after having been on such vessels as the
Iris and Solaoe.
The Solace arrived at Manila on the
god after passage of Alb days from
Hampton Roads, distance OF 11,626
miles, breaking all previous records.
When I reported to Admiral Dewey he
shook hands with me and was very
pleasant. He looked quito we'll and
seemed in good spirits.
/ mailed letter from Port Said,
giving an account of my,trip to that
place, so | will not repeat that part.
We only spent a few hours at Port Said,
long enough however to get ashore and
see the place. 1t was hard to realize
was in historical Egypt, but the sandy
| desert and a caravan of .camels coming
| in, and the curious style of dress OF
| the people soon made me know it. Our
| toll through the canal was $1,000
what an enormous sum. The canal is
sc miles long and runs through a barren
desert, not a tree or blade of grass or
a drop of fresh water, nothing but the
| glistening sand in the brightest sun
ever saw. Large hills of white sand
broke the monotony Of the level coun
train of camels slowly plodding along.
We were two days going through, being
allowed to run only five knots per hour,
and we had to stop at night. 1t was
cold enough for an overcoat at night,
but warm in the sun in the day time
and altogether the most curious climate
ever saw--everything was SO clear
and bright and glistening. 1t runs
through the ancient Bitter Lakes and
we spent one night in them. 1t was
Saturday night and we had Sweet
hearts and wives" which means cham
pagne flowed freely, everyone felt jolly
and we sang to an accompaniment on
J the Eiano and told stories until pretty
late We wore our winter clothes till
we got into the Red Sea, when it sud
denly became red hot and we could moi
get our linen suits on fast enough.
saw Mt. Sinai plainly, but We could
not find the place where Moses crossed
and Pharo was lost. We passed Mocha
!, and Alden and through the straits Of
Babel Mandeb, into the Arabian Sea
and Indian Ocean, and had fine rnr
over smooth sea to Colombo, Ceylon
March 10th).
We spent two days here coaling ant
. / spent the whole time ashore staying
at splendid hotel, the Gale Face.
spent most of the time riding arount
] curious city and the beautiful countr,
3 around it. 1t was simply red hot il
the daytime, and the first thing | die
! was to get a large pith helmet, so larg
. that cannot say that / put it on, blu
I rather got into it. They are absolutel
. necessary here, to protect whit
2 person from the intense heat of tn
sun. | never enjoyed myself more tina
y did at Colombo, everything was S
:, new and strange to me. The countr
y is so beautiful and interesting that
q is beyond me to describe it, 1t VIA
70 my first experience with jinricksha
o and was great novelty. The me
% who pull them are almost black an
'e entirely naked with only piece {
~ cloth about the size of a pocket hanc
is kerchief around their loins. 1t look
y quite curious to see young Englis
J. lady riding behind an entirely make
~ man. They charge quarter rupee, {
y eight cents of our money, per half no,
is and their endurance is wonderful; the
rs can go at q fast trot for hours an
le hours in the hot sun without trim,
Ve while the perspiration glistens on the
% black skins and runs off in streams.
~ Three American gentlemen gave me
- splendid dinner at the Gale Fa,
. Hotel, at which we had lots of ful
T., A dance was also given us afterward
~ so that we had a chance to meet ii
eo young ladies of the place, most
- blleul peluB uduSubolS Va IJnSiloH arr
:, and navy officers, and the goyerno
: Lord somebody, have forgotten h
-. name now. tell you we were treat'
d AZ royalty and paid a great many col
~ pliments on account of our success
IN IN the late war. After leaving Coloml
d, we ran across the Bay of Bengal throu;
~ the Straits of Malacca, passing Sing
i I've pore into the China Sea. While in t
" straits we experienced an awful da
'se 1t was hot, close and sultry, tho /
~, being completely saturated and we We
~ il' going with the wind SO that we got
y benefit from it. A terrific thund'
- storm in the evening improved thin
~ very much.
.h / understand the personnel b
III; III passed, SO that am no longer a pass
~, ts assistant engineer, hut full lieute
Vol ant in the line. | will remain. | ST
-, ~ pose, doing engineer duty. Man
", hurbor is very hot and disagreeal
shs place. There is scarcely any breeze
~ it, being cut off by the mountains. q
VI the shores are fiat and uninterestir
Nv The city is rather interesting, partit
na' larly the old portion, it being wal
a a in. All say it is far more pleasant do
epV among the islands, and l am glad
u have cotton out Of it. On Stature
and Sunday there was considera
fighting, which could plainly
inc from the ship.
fnr The army, assisted by the Hele
nc attacked the small town Of Malil
'eet near Maniial. Lnere was marc ng
nal lug lur Wills I, anu many OF our u
baatan and than tbau cot fira IN