Abilene weekly reflector., 1899-10-26
OUR BOYS EN- ROUTE.
". c. seaton Writes Of Experiences
m the Home Journey.

The following letters by Prlvat'
Seston Of Co. L tells Interestingly 0
the soldiers experiences on the home
ward trip;
HoNG KoSG, Sept. 6. early in th'
morning we could see many light
houses on either side as we were near
ing the is,and of Kong. We we're un
able to see the island until very neal
it owing to the narrow channe
through which we were compelled te
pass. The island Of Hong Kong has
for its main city Victoria. The city
is verv narrow as the mountains
which compose the island slope almost
to the waters edge. Our first i'm
pressions at seeing the massive build
ings were that they would make fine
quarters for troops.
The boat was anchored at 7 O'Clock
and soon little boats were around US
much like mosquitoes in Manila. For
s cents Chinese money we would be
rowed ashore. As we have been u.s.
ing the Chinese SO much Of late we
were quite accustomed to their ways.
1t was indeed relief to be where we
could see no Filipinos. We saw In
dian. English police doing duty over
the city. Hardly a moment passed
but what we encountered six or eight
Chinos who act as pony in pulling
a small carriage, "rickshaw. For five
cents Chino money we could ride a
long distance in one Of the little bug
gies, always on trot. ! did not see
a horse on the island, all work done
by Chinos.
We spoke to a soldier who told us
that a favorite resort was up the
tramway. We got into a cart which
at times wen. almost straight up. We
went as far as we could ride, then
walked until we were about 1900 feet
above the sea level. At this place
was signal station. At the head OF
the railroad were the quarters OF the
English troops. From the top OF the
mountain one can see the whole OF
Hong Kong. What beautiful place
for an artist!
We talked with the English troops,
who are enlisted for eight years.
They use the Lee Maxim rifle and
came here two years ago from Wales
They wear Khaki uniforms as 40 we'
Everything seemed to be very nice
and comfortable for them.
What fruit | have seen consists OF
bananas and apples, and here | ate
my first persimmon. For dinner |
was served 25 different dishes cost
inc S5 cents our money. Great dis
advantage is experienced owing to
the value Of the many different coins.
Victoria is run strictly by the Eng
lish. am told thatthe plague still
exists in certain parts OF the CITY,
About ten white men recover while
one dies. 1t works the other way
with the Chinese, The buildings
here are nice and the streets are
clean.
Sept. S.-All last night they were
loading the ship with ballast and
in the morning it steamed to the dry
dock on the opposite side of the island
I was on guard and could not leave
the ship. 1t was pulled into the
dock and the gate closed. Large
props we're placed on either side and
the water pumped out. We had ex'
pected to see from five to six inches
of sea weed and barnacles but instead
only small places had to be scraped
with chisels. After the boat was
scraped it was given three coats Of
paint.
The dock is owned by aprivate cor
poratjon and a large sum is paid daily
for dockage. From the small amount
OF material that was collected upon
the boat 1t would seem that we went
into dry dock simply to use time as |
learn the more days the more money
for the ships while troops are on
board. "What did Columbus do
when he had no eggs on board!"
"Had the ship lay too"
By riding in the "rickshaw" from
Victoria here it cost the value OF DO
cents American. While up on the
mountain side we lost our path in the
darkness and would pass many burn.