Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1899-01-18
OUR LETTER FROM MANILA.
A SOLDIER BOY WRITES AN IN
TERESTING LETTER OF CAMP
LIFE AND EXPERIENCE.
Our New Possessions.
The Routine of Drill and Guard
Duty Sports, and Letters Home
to KinsfOlkS, Sweethearts
and Friends.

MANILA, p. L., EXPOSITION BARRACKS, !
December 9, 1895.
EDITOR TELLER: AS have seen 10
account in your paper of our doings here,
will wIite you letter giving you i'll
brief an account of our daily life, and a
description of the country and its inhab-
itants as they strike one after living here
five months.
No one is competent to describe coun-
try or people without years of residence
and careful study; Therefore what write
must be considered in the light of my
short residence and limited opportunity
to study.
The first impression I received after
landing in the rain and marching three
miles in the mud and water to Camp
Dewey, and after the work in the trenches
before the surrender of Manila and even
after the surrender, was one of disgust.
The natives looked dwarfed and elfsh
beside our stalwart troops, and the whole
country seemed like a swamp. There
was little or no business going on, the
city seemed ancient and dilapidated, as it
really is, and there was nothing to allie
viate the general feeling of homesick-
ness and condemnation of the country
Thousands ofletters were written home
condemning the country and belittling
its resources, when the only thing they
had to base their conclusions upon was
a large city and its vicinity ravaged by
war on the land aud hostile fleet in the
harbor to cut off its commerce by sea,
and their own homesickness, shared at
first that opinion; but observations since
has caused my opinion to "about face"
The country is very rich agriculturally,
and some people claim minerally; but as
l have seen no evidence of ofnineral wealth
shall confne my remarks to the agri-
cultural products.
Manila and vicinity is great swamp.
Intersticed in the suburbs are rice fields,
and outside of the suburbs for miles are
a succession of rice swamps. Camp
Dewey, five miles from Manila, was To-
Gated in peanut patch. The whole
Eighth Army corps camped in it, and
still there was room.
Every kind of tropical fruits grow here.
The marketable products of the islands
include tobacco, hemp, sugar, coffee, rice
oranges, bananas, cocoanuts, mahogany
and other hard woods, camphorwood,
spices and many other products of tropi-
cal, well-watered, productive countries.
have seen very fair Indian corn of the
flint variety that was raised here.
One tobacco factory near our quarters
employs three thousand five hundred
people, mostly women.
There are Englishmen here, who have,
even under the Spanish rule, made thous-
ands of dollars.
With these fine harbors, of which there
are several in the group, and their Won
derful productiveness, richness and beau
ty, these islands form one Of the most
valuable possessions in the world, and
their retention was one of the grandesi
things that the grand old republican party
ever done.
The inhabitants of the islands consist
mainly of natives, .half-castes, Chinese
and Spaniards. The natives consist O
many tribes. am informed there are
no less than thirteen different tribes on
this island (Luzon) alone.
The first thing Americans will have tc
settle will be the government.
That they can govern themselves is out
of the question at present for two reas
ons: First, because the Aguinaldo gov
ernment is composed of only ono tribe
second, the people are restless of any au
thority, and as soon as there was no pow
er against whom they could make com
mon cause they would las they hav'
already done) rebel against their owl
government.
Nevertheless, the people of Aguinaldo'
1
government are undoubtedly the mos
powerful and educated of any of tn
tribes or federations, and as such are en-
titled to a voice in their own civil govern
ment and representation in the army
In Manila there may be said to b
three distinct classes. The natives an,
Chinese coolies form the laboring an,
serving class. The half-castes and Chi
nese shopkeepers form the tradesmon o
middle class. The Spanish, Englishnel
and other foreigners form the aristocrati
class.
The clothing worn by the classes her
is very light, The natives mostly g
barefoot; the men on work days wea
only pair of pants with no head cover
ling. In the interior the native 60 naked
The character of the natives will com
pare favorably with any other seni-civil
lied tribes. s,hey are, ! believe, homes
as rule, slow to act, but reveiigeful am
cunning. Iu their habits of industry, a
well as in face, they resemble the Chi
tnese.
1 There is large field ready for the haI
-. t.s..... Co. tt.a a,x,er.sfaf missionaries