The San Francisco call., 1899-07-13

t San Francisco and get travel allow
Lnce.. Can they not be mustered OUT mere
and receive travel pay, paycar 10 pc at
tached to. the train ana the men palI Waea eh
route and ordnance turned over at van
in portland? O. SUMMERS,
Colonel Commanding Second oregon Reg
iment.
Governor Geer sent the accompanying
telegram indorsing Colonel Summers
request:
In Difference to the unanimous wish OF
the Oregon regiment, I indorse Colonel
Summers request for mastering ts !! g,13f5 out IN
Governor Of Oregon.
Word was next sent to Mr.. Scott Of
the Portland Oregonian informing him
of the plan decided upon, and word
came back that the people OF oregon
favored the wish of the volunteers pc
ing carried out, and then the dis
ting1Iished party retired to await word
from headquarters.
"Of the conditions in the Philippines
I can say but little said Colonel sum
mers. but if l had time l could say
much of the conduct, the bravery and
the fortitude of the boys from Oregon
A general idea of our labors during the
campaigns may be gained through
knowledge of the fact that in twenty
eight days we had twenty-five engage
ments. We had fOrtytwo engage
in which the regiment took part. The
Oregonians had the distinction of con
stituting the only two flying brlgades
in the field. Stripped to the underShlrt
of blue and carrying nothing but. our
guns and ammunition we made rapid
time and rendered, as we have been
told and know valuable service.
"Our hardest battle was at Mala bon,
where forty seven of the regiment were
wounded and nine killed. The total
number of our killed was siXty-tWo,
wounded eighty-six. A fact to be re-
GREETED is that we could not bring back
the bodies of the boys who fell in bat
tie 1t was found that the embalming
process was a failure, and consequently
the bodies must lie in their graves Tor
six months, after which time they VIII
be taken up, hermetiCally sealed and
returned, perhaps on a separate trans
port.
In conclusion 1 will say this much
of the conditions in the Philippines.
While it is true that Lawton has sue
ceeded in breaking up the last OF the
large bodies under command of Aguin-
aldo, there are still thousands of rebels
in the field, and time alone will con-
quer them. 1t will require a large
body of troops in order that captured
territory may be held and cities evacu-
ated by the Filipinos garrisoned to in
sure against their return.
The death of General Luna was ac-
cepted fayorably by all who heard it.
Doubtless he was the most dangerous
man in the rebel army, and his passing
was but little regretted. Just how
the noncombatants among the Fflipinos
look upon the rebel forces it is hard to
tell Whether they believe them to be
martyrs or professional insurrectiOnists
is not known. The large majority Of
Filipinos do but little thinking, and
have come to accept war as natural
condition, but all have learned to know
and respect at least one thing-the
fighting capacity of the American SOL
dier."
This is a proud day for me-" said
Governor Geer, for l feel that our
boys are coming home covered with
glory. The people of Oregon will ever
honor their brave sons who enlisted at
the first call and sailed away to Manila
to do their share of the fighting. They
will be royalty received when they re-
turn to their homes. At present all are
uncertain as to just how the muster
ing out of the regiment viii be con-
Quoted or where Until we hear from
the adjutant general at Washington
regarding the communication we have
forwarded no further plans will be
made The talked-of plan of mastering
out in this city and calling upon the
people of Oregon to subscribe sufficient
funds with which to charter a train to
carry the boys to their homes has been
temporarily dropped, but in the event
of adverse news from Washington
something must be done, and it is not
improbable that this plan will be
adopted. All we can do now is TO await
developments"