The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1899-10-14
'ENADA, MISS, SATURDAY, OCTOBER ID, 189
A LETTER FROM
THE PHILIPPINES.
A Hardy Boy Tells About the Fighting
Around Manila.

Fernando, Philippine Islands,
August II, 1899.
NM Dear Mother:
While am not SO busy, will write
you q few lines to let you know how
am and what the war is doing. left
Manila about 10 days ago on the Manila
and San Fernando railroad for San
Fernando. We arrived at San Fernan-
do that afternoon, and commenced put
ting up telegraph lines out to the diff
ferent outposts along the firing lines;
sometimes wading through mud and
water knee deep.
had not worked but two days when
they put me at little telegraph office
about two miles from San Fernando on
the Mexico road, the same place | am
at now, about 800 or 1000 yards from
the insurgents. My Office is in a little
shack the insurgents used to live in
before they were driven out.
All the houses out here are built OF
bamboo they do not use any nails in
the houses, but tie the bamboo togeth.
er with the splits Of bamboo like you
see in the bottom of chairs at home.
They are covered with the leaves OF
palm trees Just like we make fans; they
don't leak. Ny shack is only about one
or two hundred yards from our trench
es-you know they all fight in trenches
over here. They dig II ditch about
four feet deep, and get IN it and then
shoot from the trench. The insurgents
would shoot at our pickets every once
and awhile but never hit any one.
You could hear the bullets whistling
by. We were here only two days be-
fore they commenced preparing for an
advance.
Mexico isa little town about one mile
and half from here, and the Ameri-
cans were very anxious to take and
burn the town. The advance was made
Aug. 9th, commenced at five A. M. and
lasted until two P. NJ, just as fast as
our boys could shoot. Cur men had a
line about four miles long. with three
batteries OF artillery. There were two
three-inch cannons at my post and one
FFotchkis gun, Il one FOUNDER which
shoots five times they were only about
three or Ave hundred yards from the
insurgents trenches. The insurgents
trenches are about ten feet deep, anC
covered over with bamboo and dirt anC
our boys commenced firing just at the
break Of DAY and it sounded as If there
was u thunder storm. Then the big
guns opened up and commenced shell
ling the trenches. You can't imagine
the noise it made. Just think OF thirty
thousand rifles shooting at the SAINT
time and keeping it up about 8 hours,
and then the artillery all the time
The insurgents bullets just riddled my
shack, and the captain told me to gel
down in the trenches. I went out and
smoked a cigarette, and heard the
operator at the other end OF the line
calling me, so had to 60 back in there
and stay all day. tinally got so used
to the bullets that they did not bother
me any more than mosquitoes.
You know the insurgents have Mau.
ser and Remington rifles, and you have
no idea what sound their bullets
make-they sound worse than wind
whistling in the winter time; as they
hit the bamboo trees, popping and
cracking like wild fire.
tell YOU right At irss it makes a
man kind Of shake, but he gets used to
it. After the advance was made the
natives left, and our soldiers right af-
ter them. The line men OF the signal
corps went with them putting up wire.
The last heard of them they were
about seventeen miles north OF here.
There is about one hundred and fifty
miles of railroad here; and we had
captured only sixty>three miles up to
the advance, but now we have about
eighty-three miles. We burned three
towns as we went along. We have
i've railroad engines and the insurgents
have about twenty-three. We are get.
ting pretty close to the end OF the
track now, though. and guess we will
soon have the balance of their engines.
l have not heard the exact number
of killed and wounded yet, but the
nearest estimate they can get is sixty
Of our men killed, and eighty wounded,
and eight hundred insurgents killed.
They cannot ascertain how man
wounded, as they take away as many
of their killed and wounded us possible
to keep US from knowing how many
they loose.
| suppose there was at least !, 500, 900
shots fred from our side that one day
that is the nearest they can guess at
it. tell you they made quite a noise.
We also took about two hundred Of
their men prisoners. One Of the
soldiers found $4,000 Ia gold in one
house, and several found smaller
amounts; one fellow found a belt
hanging on the wallo a little shack
with four hundred dollars in gold in
IT, Don't wish that bad been me,
though.
There are plenty of bananas here;
can 60 out any, where and cut nice
ripe bunch Of bananas and hang them
; up in your shack, and you know the
rest. We have fine rations here, as we
get nice fresh beef every day, and
sometimes mutton. We get all our
meat from Australia. We had some
of the incest roast beef for dinner.
ever ate. Here is a list Of what we
have to eat, beef, mutton, beef soup,
beans biscuit, rice, apple pie. stewed
apples, salmon, prunes, boiled, stewed,
: baked and fried potatoes, coffee and
tea, and az much sugar as we want
Sometimes we get three or four tried
oysters. Now who can complain ol
that. Every thing sells very high
that is ON anything from the Unit
ed States, the cost 10 about twice a.
much here as 1t 10 in the states
Whiskey sells for five and six dollars