Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-12
FROM CAPT. BOXERS.
An Ottumwwa Captain in the az U. q.
W, Writes from Manila.


Mrs. A. E. Eckers, of No. 100 North
Cherry street, is in receipt of letter
from her son, +. w. Eckers, captain
in the Thirty-second United States
Volunteer infantry, who recently de-
parted with his regiment for Manila.
The communication is in the form of
diary, and gives detailed account of
each day of the voyage and also an in-
teresting account of the walled city of
Manila. OF the latter place Captain
Eckers says:
Manila has a population of about
100000 and very few are Europeans or
Americans. The Pasig river divides
the city from east to west and on the
south side is the old walled city while
on the north side is the more modern
part. The walled city is very old and
the walls, which are from Is to 40 feet
high and about fifty feet thick, are
covered with moss and foliage and in
some places are crumbling away. The
whole thing is surrounded by a moat
which is flooded whenever the tide
comes up the Pasig. Drawbridges
bridge the moat at the great black en-
trance but, of course, are never drawn
up. The palace inside the walls is
used for the general headquarters of
the chief officers of all departments.
''The city appears to have been
gay place when the Spaniards were in
the heighth of their glory. There are
number of large four and five story
buildings which are empty and will
probably be used for us TO store our
property in when we leave the city.
The business part of the town is strict
lly cosmopolitan and one can see any
kind of life he desires. There are
Germans, English, Chinese, Japanese,
Persians, Americans, and merchants of
many other nationalities. The streets
are well paved and are kept very
clean.
s'The population of,Manila is divided
into two classes, the rich and the poor,
there being no middle class. The resi-
dences are either very fine, or else
what we call shanties. There are no
glass windows in any of the houses,
kdhe window panes being made of pearl
in many cases. They use this materi-
lfal because of the terrible winds -hers
which would break the ordinary glass
used in windows. The roofs are made
/ of tile, slate, iron and wood, and the
caves extend ten or twelve feet from
the wall. Most of the houses are made
/ of wood. few of stone. The poor
err class live in bamboo houses with
ithatched roofs and no windows. The
natives wear as few clothes as possible
and very few wear hats. This is the
case with tie poorer class, the well
Ito do observing about the same man
ner of dress as the people of any 9TH
er country.
There is no such thing as bread
wagon, grocer's wagon, ETC., here, as
! all of the carrying is done by Chinese
| coolies, the heavy hauling being done
by caribou or water buffalo. They are
called water buffalo because they re-
quire SO much water. They will lie
down and die if they do not have two
or three buckets of water thrown ov-
er them every few hours. If they get
this they are a very economic draft
animal as they do not eat much. The
| carriage here are very small and are
/ drawn by ponies, little larger than
I our Shetland ponies. Cab hire is only
10 cents per hour, American money
! The Sheridan stopped at Honolulu
on the voyage and Capt. Eckers was
among the members of the regiment
that visited that city. In his descrip-
ton of Honolulu and the visit to the
4 island he pronounced it one of the
iipfettiest sights that he witnessed
4 during the voyage. The foliage of the
island he describes as something mag
nifcent IT has always been great
| puzzle to SCIENTISTS says Capt. Eek
ers. why the population here has de-
creased so rapidly. The only way
4 they have ever accounted for it is due
ITO the mixed races. Taking the past as
a basis it will not De many years until
they Will be extinct. Up to the time
the first white people came TO the is
Hand they had been strong, healthful
race, but since that time the residents
have experienced some terrible epidem-
4 les OF smallpox, Indian cholera and
4 leprosy. There is considerable leprosy
/ in the island now, a separate coioney
being maintained by the government
lin one of the islands for people thus
afflicted. The government has provid-
I ed very literally for them and they
have prosperous settlement, al
/. though entirely cut OFF from the out
| side world. The disease is confined en-
4 ,irely to the natives and no white man
4 has ever contracted it." Capt Eckers
after describing the city of Honolulu
VERY minutely and the prospective inn
/ provemenss that are to be made in the
harbor by the United States govern
ment in twenty miles from Honolulu,
says there is every inducement for a
1 person TO invest money in that coun-
try. The climate is healthful and the
Thermometer never reaches above so
nor goes lower than 60 degrees above
zero. He says there is absolutely no
sickness among the whire population.
He enjoyed the best of health during
the entire voyage and did not even eX-
4 perience sea sickness with which many
of the soldiers were affected.