The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-01-17
CHRISTMAS BOXES
STOLEN FROM THE
BOYS AT MANILA
Despicdble Thefts That Rob Vol
unteers Of Good Cheer Sent
From Their Homes.
BY CORPORAL FRED A. HEALY.
Special Correspondence of The Call.

has been renovated, remodeled and put
under the charge of a competent ply
stefan and large corps of assistants.
These are only few of the works ac-
complished by this department.
The Board of Health embraces on it's
staff members Of nearly every COM
mand stationed here, but the three
men who control its destinies are Major
+. s. Burns and Drs. H. A. Young of
the Utah Battery and w. S. Talbot Of
the Nebraskas.
The latest thing in the First Cali
fornia Regiment is athletics Of all sorts
and descriptions. A week ago Satur-
day football game (Rugby rules) took
place between members of the Eighth
Army Corps and the English residents
OF Manila. The .Englishmen won by
score OF to after a warm game. The
boys were got together by Major Hugh
T. Slime of the Second Battalion and
the defeat was ascribed to their ignor-
ance of the rules under which they
played. The scene Of the fray was the
Lunetta campus, and the crowd, the
carriages, the gold bedecked officers
and the fashionably attired Spanish,
English and American women made it
quite lively scene, which, notWith-
standing the martial air given by the
number of soldiers present, reminded
one very forcibly of Thanksgiving day
at Central Park.
Father McKinnon is the principal in
joke which may or may not be on
him. Some time ago the good father
went to Hongkong for his health. When
he returned he appeared in good ply
steal condition and uniform that
fairly laid over anything that was ever
before seen in the regiment. Father
McKinnon wanted to live up to his
uniform, so he decided to have his car
riage painted. He sent the vehicle to
Chnn hnrrnJvnd he hnl
ing to General Hughes, the best cura-
meta in Manila, for use in the mean
time. The coachman must have had
an esthetic eye himself, for he was no
sooner placed in charge Of the new rig
than he hitched up, drove off to the
mountains and has not been seen since.
Father McKinnon in telling of the in
cident says:
And he was such a good fellow, too.
I'm sure some one must have led him
astray."
The remarks of General Hughes are
not fit for publication.
All sorts of Christmas boxes Of all
sorts of shapes with all sorts of good
things therein have come down to us
from all sorts of people. But, unfortu-
nately, they have IN many cases passed
through the hands of one sort of peo-
pie before reaching us. This sort of
people l have no name for, as l don't
WISH W QlSBTdCG d lIl6l by putting MIN
In the same category with those who,
accepting the offerings Of loving hearts
at home for the delivery to men to
whom such remembranceS are the best
and in many cases the only pleasures
they experience, open the packages and
appropriate the contents to their own
use. 1t is not the loss of the sensual
qualification Of eating that makes the
crime so despicable; but imagine how
some poor fellow must feel when lie
sees his comrades all about him open
ing their presents, while there is never
a token from home for him, and he
thinks the old folks have forgotten
their boy. Unfortunately l don't know
who are the guilty ones, so I cannot
send their names home for publication.
Illness is still on the decrease among
the troops and the doctors now hope
that when the sickly season comes
around the boys will be so thoroughly
acclimated that the proportion of
deaths will not be nearly so large as
was at first anticipated. Many of
those whose constitutions, weakened by
fever and dysentery, have refused to
recuperate under the baneful influence
Of the climate, have applied for dis
ability discharges and will be sent home
on the Valencia, which is scheduled to
leave between the 10th and goth of the
month.
The people at home have been very
kind in responding to the call for read
ing matter if I can judge by the num-
Der of letters l have received inform
ing me of shipments made to the regi-
ment. So far nothing has turned up,
so l am afraid the magazines and nov
els have gone the way of the jellies and
jams.
l wrote in a previous letter concern
ing the hospital which is in course of
construction on Corregidor Island.
Major Owen and DR.. tombstone have
gone down to take charge of their new
post, and 1t will soon be ready for the
reception of patients.