Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-12-25
LETTER FROM MANILA.

script ion of the country and people
about Manila it will be of interest to
our readers;
ceived your long looked for letter last
night, but as I was on guard on the
top of one of the trenches, the mud
horrible and the rain pouring down
and no shelter, could not very we'll
answer it right away. The mosquitoes
were something wonderful. [ did not
expect to hear snch music in this
country, but they sang lovely, never
heard the like in the States, and such
a variety of tunes. That is one thing
that 7 have found that beats the
States-mosquitoes (of course except
ing New Jersey.
You should see my gun today. actu-
ally I am ashamed to look at il, rust
from one end to the other and a little
Philippine soil mixed in. During the
rainy season we have been very quiet,
we had to be, in fact the whole coun-
try was like a lake. The country
could get along with one-tenth the
water that falls. The sun can be
shining and in five minutes after it
may be raining hard and keep coming
for ten days and there still be water
left for another ten days rain.
will try to describe the country
for you. In the first place it is green,
and so is any one who would stay here
any longer than he had to. There are
all kinds of tropical trees and fruits,
bananas, mangoes, lines and cocoa
nuts and even monkeys. The bamboo
tree is the worst of all for US soldiers,
for it has thorns all over it and after a
days march trying to get through a
bamboo grove means the loss Of near
ly all our clothes. The natives use
the bamboo for everything. Their
houses are made Oft, and plows, har-
rows, hunks, chairs, etc. They have
bamboo guns, swords and carry their
water in the bamboo tree itself. Their
boats are made from the palm tree,
the wood of which [ know is like iron
I know, for I tried to cut one down
while in Cuba and it broke the ak.
The only things they live on here
are rice, shrimps, fish and [ guess
snakes, as they look like snakes, also
the roots of trees and even the inside
of the banana tree, which they cook
in earthen pots as they have no stoves,
at least have seen none in the coun-
try yet.
The richer class dress neatly and
nicely, but the poor have only what
they wear on their backs and that is
not much. The women wear loose
waist with big sleeves which are 81
most always rolled up over the shout
ders, and a skirt of some bright color
that is tucked up in the back, then
about two yards of black cloth to cover
the front and tucked in the back of
the dress. They wear no shoes, or if
any, wooden ones. The men generally
wear loose shirt outside of pair of
white pants, that is, that were white
years ago, no hat--SOme tie hand
kerchief over the head, but most of
them go bareheaded.
All have coal black hair, the men
wearing theirs short and the women
theirs long, some hanging clear to the
ground, all thick and coarse. The
children up to eight years of age wear
nothing. You can see them anywhere
about the streets of Manila with moth
ing on. That is another good thing
about this country, you can save mon
ey here with no clothes to buy for the
children and hardly any for the grown
up people, and that mostly made of
mosquito netting, and the food, rice
for breakfast, rice for dinner, rice for
supper, nothing but rice.
Yes, I like this country. You had
better come over here. No cold
weather, and if you want to get dinner
and have no matches, just set the
victuals out in the sumo bother
about fire. Another good thing here
is that you don't need a bed. The
floors of the houses are made of strips
of bamboo and laid half an inch apart.
You don't want any bedclothes-just
lie down any place in the kitchen Or
parlor, it's all the same.
The houses stand on stills six or
eight feet high and have a bamboo
ladder at the door. Don't need any
tables or chairs and spoons, knives
and forks are unheard of here Just
put pot of rice and bowl of shrimps
on the floor. All sit down, dip your
hand into rice, roll up little ball in
your fingers, dip it into the shrimps
to moisten it, then eat. Continue the
M otion until you have enough. Don't
wash your hands, but wipe them on