Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-07-27
APPLAUDS GEN. OTIS
Private Soldier Who Refutes Vel
low Journal Charges.
SAYS THE PHILIPPINES ARE WEALTHY
Private b. o. Smith, of the First Cali
fornia, Passes Through Ottumwa,
Alter n Year Spent Fight.
ing Filipinos.

Alter Year Spent Fight.
ing Filipinos.
From Mondays Daily.
Directly in the face of tie hue and |
cry that is just now being raised by |
yellow journals throughout the coun-
try, there comes to Ottumwa an en-
phatic contradiction of the condemns
ton of President McISinley's war adj
ministratio in the person of Private
Benjamin o. Smith, member of
Company A, First California regiment,
Eighth brigade, who was in the city
Sunday enroute to his home at Louis
vile, Kentucky, after a years service
in the Philippines. Private Smith, Il
printer by trade, of good education,
enlisted at San Francisco April 90,
1898. and sailed for Manila on board
the transport City of Pekin, June ?,
and reached tn, islands twenty-eight
days later, just in time to participate in
the capture of Manila by the land
forces, August 4 and 5. He was dis
charged from the volunteer service on
the grounds of disability, April 20,
1899, sailed for home on May 2, and
after some time in the hospital at San
Francisco started for his birthplace in
Kentucky to join his parents, after an
absence OF many years, the last one of
which has been spent in the Philip
pines where Private Smith gained a
knowledge of the country and prevail
ing. military situation that does not
uphold the democratic party's attempt
at making president Mckinley's policy
in our new possessions vital point in
the coming campaign.
That truth. containing the cold, hard
facts. is stronger than political fiction,
was illustrated when Private Smith, a
| lifelong democrat, who voted for Bry-
an in 1885, said to Courier reporters:
THE soldiers in the Philippine Isl
ands. with the exception of a few sore
heads and some democrats, are unani-
nous in praising the action of Pfesi-
dent Mckinley, General Otis and the
war departments generally dur
| ing the existence of the trou-
BILE with Aguinaldo and his
savage followers. The volunteers are
well fed when in camp and most of
them expected to undergo hardships
before they enlisted. General Otis has
done everything possible to bring the
war to a sudden halt but he nor any
other officer can suppress the sayages
\ i lille they continue to pursue their
l,s,--,Ssseat iiiO... .s,,sts.a which 10 ~
Z. treacherous and crafty asIsbe 4 1neric.,n
. Indians form Of lighting. M l. fine
,.lthat more troops are neede1 Il, an
9 Philippines; still the regular arnv now
being recruited to replace tb, S,l,,r.
teers can not eliminate the S;,rat;on
in a year, and it is my opinnn thar
thirty years from now the nafves .re
liable 10 start an insilrrection or .,
any intervening moment WIZ, h.s
'Aggie' not been captured? lec,,,ss
there are a million roads and by N. IN .
in the islands known only to &, F;l-
ipinos and accessible by none other
/. than the natives. BY these ind fine,
trails the chieftain consults wit, he
IolioWers anu escapes .he afmy's
1.-THE volunteers are being sent Ion, /.
!, in the order they reached Manu. as
/, rapidly as the regulars arrive. Con.
! sidering. all things. there has notheer,
much loss to American forces thrSmaI,
!. disease; the prevailing cases of il ,eSss
e are smallpox, idysentery, malaria ano
{ drunkenness, the latter resulting For,
e a very Intoxicating gin made on sbo
islands from rice. 1T is cheap liG,nr
d compared to imported beer, which sn,.
a for % cents glass, American morS,,
! and from its effects occur ma;;y,
: deaths. but there is no way OF NJ.
n venting this pitiful condition. The u
t ucated Filipinos are anxious to 4,
j. American government established L
ii soon as possible. They look at it ven
philosophicalIy. To them there is pr4
t lection from the enormous taxes levie|
d by Aeuinaldo and the former injustice;
e of Spain.
n every precaution has been taken t
a purify the water. which is the creates
y source of trouble. ri is boiled ar,
h otherwise. sterilized before being give
to the soldiers. Many of the volunteer
are re-enlisting upon their arriva
home, a strong demonstration of thei
satisfaction with army life in the Pa
v cific and a hard blow TO the politician
who have been advocating the soldiers
4 lcalISe.
- Are the islands n valuable additio
: 10 this country? Yes. Large quaint
Z ties of hemp. all tropical fruits an
:, most everything thrives in lary
"a abundance. The islands contain und,
=. veloped minerals that alone will l.,
:. imburse the United States for til
{ s2o,ooo,ooo paid Spain. The soldier
: all believe that the islands lawfully b,
!. long to the United States, and they al
!. in favor of keeping them by a
y, means"
II Private Smith looks the typical so
: der, who has been living under troT
: zeal sun. His skin resembles the cor
=, per-culored face of an American India
- though perhaps IA tritle browner---a
"a most black. He wears the regulatio
- blue uniform and shows his hardene
I condition in every move. PERSONAL.
III Mr.. Smith ict nnt .,pyinI1g tn lponta