The Portland daily press., 1899-08-11
CAPTAIN HERsEY.
Maine on'eer OF Resu ar Army speaks
ofthe Manila Campaign.

Capt. Mark l.. Hersey, quartermastar
18th u. .. infantry. hero Of the Santi-
ago campaign, who has seen serviro In
tho Philippines, and ID lust from Manila
is enjoying leave OF absence, and Is
staying with relatives out In Wyoming,
says ths Boston Globe
Capt. Hersey is Maine boy, was ap-
pointed TO West Point BY Congressman
Boutelle, and graduated from West Point
In 1887. Capt. Hersey IN q quiet, unas-
suming man. slight OF build. and, aside
from little stiffness caused by the long
journey fr,m Manila to Boston, is as
we'll as ever. There IL nothing about his
appearance that would indicate that he
had been through the yellow fever CT
the Santiago juneles or the tropical heats
and rains Of the far east We're II not for
the captains wife. who accompanied him
to Manila, Capt. Hersey would stiil be on
duty about Manila. Mrs. Hersey desilei
to return home, and SO the captain got
authority to accompany her to Boston,
with permission to enjoy So-days' leave
Of absence on his arrival here, and the
right to apply for 30 additional days II
he desired.
Capt Hersey left with his regiment on
the transport Sheridan. Feb. 10 last sail
ingf rom New York. Lieut.. Col. Jacob
II. Smith In command. They reached
Manila April IA. he left Manila for San.
Branoisco, June Is. on the transport To-
diana. serving as quartermnster and com-
.missary on the trip.
The headquarters Ct his regiment is at
fort Santiago, in the city of Manila. Up
to the time Of his departure from Manila,
Capt. Hersey says that the 18th regiment
had been in two engngmcnts, June and
~. In the first engagement the regiment
lost two men. During the second engage
met three men were killed, and one
officer and 10 men were wounded.
Tie first battle Was before the towns OF
Taitai and Cninutia. and the fecond fight
was Mt Las Pima and Paranaque The
18th was supporting Dyer's1barttery. 9th
artillery. Those killed were supporting
the gun commanded by Lieut.. Scott.
Its hard 20 tell just how many insur-
gents were In those engagements. said
Capt. Hersey, "bTt tt was estimated by
those on the fifiHg line as about 500 In
the nrst engagement and 8)u0 in the sec
ond. 1 never learned who commanded
the opposition, but they. were armed with
mausers."
When Capt. Hsrsey left the insurgents
were within five miles Of the city. 1he
18th Infantry Is stationed on the south
line, the American forces being distribute
cd north and south Of the city.
I'VE have always driven the Filipinos
before u.s." said Capt. Hersey, sibut they
are like files about q sugar harre). 1he
moment your lack Is turned they are
around again as thick as ever. Not
having force enough to hold the towns.
our forces push ON and the men we fought
today are back again tom brow In the
u ia dFOyQ a M
Some OF the towns about Manila have
been taken as many times as n cat is re-
ported to have lives
'sWe need l(O 600 yuen In the Philip
pines, men enough to garrison the towns
and hold them after we capture them"
"Mhht is the tono of tue people there?"
"Well, should say thnt the Filipino
didn't want us there. The feeling toward
us Is anything but kindly.
There are several daily Papers pub
lished IN Manila by Americans and one
or two Spanish papers. ALI this talk
about Gen. Otis must have cropped cut
since left. as nothing Of the kind was
heArd while was at Manila. heard no
criticisms against him.
sThe climatss Manila is much health
Ter than that cf Cuba. We have no yell
low fever there. and the thermometer
ranges from 20 to SO degrees.
II heard no kicking among the oops.
Their rations nre good; dried fruits, such
as dpples, prunes and peaches. have been
added to the rations. The beef we &
there is excellent, the equal, ! think, to
our own packing house heef It comes In
excellent shape from Australia and Is de-
iive-ed aboard our refrigerator ship In
the bay ats 12 cents or pound.
"ls Aguinaloo losing his grip on the
people theref'
"That's ta.d to cay. Ore can form an
opinion as well from what Is printed here
as from what appears in tine Manila
journals
els Manila good place for Ameri.
caus?'
"For the capitalists should say yes.
For the laboring man no. Labor is too
cheap. Why you can hire the best of male
sery ants for "a American money month.
There are vast coal fields there. Ameri.
can capital, aided by native labor, could
produce coal rs 90. 60 per ton, whereas IL
costs about $3.50 per ton. The country
Is fertile beyond any standard we have
in this country"
"what about the people?"
They are far from being the ignorant
men that they have baen represented to
be. They are not idol worshippers but
belong to the Catholic church, and are
well grounded in the tenets Of their belief.
They are an intelligsnt people, large
part Of them being abIs to read and write.
In my army experience have come In
contact with the Mexican greaser and the
Cubana From what saw and heard
while at Manila, have no hesitation in
saying that they ara the superior OF elthar
Of these people. They are men Of educa-
ton and refinement
.Ars they compstent to govern them
selvesf"
swell, the Mexicans have succeeded
very well in that direction. and / sea no
reason why the Filipinos shouldn't. mas
much as believe them far more inteili-
gent than the former.''
"What sort Of field is 1t for the mis-
sionaryf'
"weil. they might just as well send
them to convert the people of Spain,
there's just as much chance to make Gen.
verts."
Are the people priest ridden and do
the clergy exact exorhitant fees from the
people?"
Not knowing, cannot say. but the
priests l met at Manila-the jesuits,
those who have a control of the obserYa-
tori theTe--afe a very scholarly, high
minded set OF men, who do all In their
power to restore peace In tho islands,"