The Topeka state journal., 1899-10-28
WHAT WE HAVE.
III Square Miles Out of $4,000 In
Luzon.

AuzOn.
Chicago, oct. 2S.-The Tribune today
prints a summary of the situation in
the Philippine islands from it's special
correspondent there, Richard H. Little.
The letter which is dated Manila, Sep
tember IA, says:
Here are some figures, made seven
months and a half after our campaign
against the Filipinos began. Say it is
fifty-One miles to Angeles, we hold pos
session of the railroad up to that point.
We can fairly claim possession of the
land a half mile on each side of the
track. We have possession of the WaS-
on road, and, let US say, a half mile on
each side from San Fernando through
BacOlOr to Santa Rita eight miles, with
four miles to Guaga- We have road
from Malolos to Baliuagag, eleven miles
northeast. We can claim eleven square
miles here.
We have Manila, out as far as the
waterworks, five miles away. That
gives us, say, % miles around the city
Then we have the road and a haIf
mile each side down Is miles to linus.
Then we have Calamba and some other
points on the lake that General LawtOn
captured before he was ordered back.
These towns are not approached by
road, but by boat across the Laguna
de Bay, and we only control the land
they stand on.
Adding up our total possessions, we
find we have III square miles.
The island of Luzon contains $4,000
square miles.
Outside of Luzon the insurrection
seems to be growing. The insurgents
hold ports in Mindanao, the next larg-
est island to LuzOn in the Philippines,
and said to be intellectually rich in gold
and silver mines, iron and copper ores,
coal and other minerals, besides pos
sessing wonderful forests of hard wood.
No Americans have dared venture there
as yet, as General Otis has sent no
troops to the island. Englishmen and
Germans are prOwling about the island
getting all the concessions they can. 1t
is said several prospecting parties are
a work.
General Otis reports conflicts between
the ''robber bands and American sol
diers in Negros and Cebu. The Nine
teenth, the Eighteenth, the Sixth and
one battalion of the Twenty-third in
fantry are now in these two islands
fighting the ''rObber bands" who dig
trenches and occupy towns and make
night attacks after the fashion of the
insurgents in LuZOn.
A late report from Cebu is that some
1000 robbers were menacing our
forces and a collision was imminent.
The next campaign is going to be
different from the last We will get out
of the fiat, open country into noun
famous, thicl1ly wooded country. If we
do not end the war here we will have
to carry it into the high, rOck-ribbed
mountains of LuzOn.
1t will be no violation of a state
secret to say that the first object of the
of the railroad from the hands of the
insurgents. The insurgents ought to
be firmly convinced by this time that
we want the Manila and Dagupan
road, as we have fought along that line
seven months. They know we want it,
and they also know that we are going
to get it, for they are already tearing
up the track, burning the ties, and
burying the rails north of Angeles.
The country east of the railroad,
north of Angeles to Dagupan, is much
like it is south to Manila, except high
er and more broken.
West of the railroad are high noun
tains, that will offer the Insurgents
have in the low country. In the taking
of the railroad we will have cut off the
provinces of Zambales, Paggasinon,
Tarlac and Panpanga and Battaan
from the main part of the island, and
can lay claim to be satisfied with a
great deal more country than the pre-
else amount of real estate on which our
army is now camping.
From the railroad Aguinaldo's army
can hardly retreat anywhere but north
ward across the mountains to the fer
tile valley of the Rio Grande de
Cagayary.
The walled city, can not understand
why the army has so much trouble
with the railroad. When the officers in
the field notify the walled city, that
the rails have been torn up from the
section of track just captured and that
the ties have been burned and the
grade destroyed they get an order to
nix 1t. So after q few miles of "a il
road are captured the soldiers have to
scatter up and down the track and go
mining for steel rails. The Insurgents
bury the rails five and six feet deer
They observed that the Americans To-
crowbar, so they resorted to the ex-