Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-01-27
LETTER FROM MANILA.
Harry Donovan Writes on the
Condition Of Affairs m
y. y. the Philippines. y Al

" 3. . y
the Philippines. .. e..
MANILA. r. J.. DC. 1, 1888. BY
this mail have sent some pic
lures. one u large picture Of a native
bull cart. 1t Ia good type OF the
method OF transportation for things
whose size. shape ar weight make 1t
impracticable for the coolies tOcarry
them. The picture is quite compre-
hensive. shO wing the water buffalo.
the primitive cart, the native driver;
the children and the bamboo house.
The children in the cart are not bad
looking, but taken as a whole, the
Filipino children are depraved lot
of youngsters. This fact makes me
believe that the task Of Americaniz-
ing the people here, or even making
good foreign citizens Of them, is
really quite stupendOus. For, as
obedience. decency and honesty are
not bred into the natives. several
generations must paas before good
results are obtained. They have
some traits of character quite similar
to the Southern negro. and In some
respects they resemble the American
Indian. At present regard them az
being far more formidable and
harder to suhdue than our Indians
ever were but because of their ha bits
of industry believe they will
eventually make much better citizen
than the Intians.: Many Of them
are not half civilized, and a vast
number In the interior parts Of thu
Islands are rude savage%; but con-
trasted to these are the better class
III the Filipinos aud half-castes.
Many of them are wealthy and well
educated. All seem to have q won
derful natural bent tor music.
We are in the midst at the cool sea-
son now Nearly every afternoon
we have shower which frequently
lasts through the evening, but the
early mornings are often fine, and
were it not for the narrow, dirty
streets In the city. and the we'll nigh
impossible roads Of the suburbs and
surrounding country. one might de-
rive great enjoy ment from riding or
driving.
Ihave before me your letters Of
Oct. 20, (receive'1 today Dec. y
From this date you will see that a
letter goes from Minnesota to Manila
in about ak WEEKS time, more or
less. The papers and periodicals
which you have sent have reached
me regularly and in good order. We
have some fifteen or sixteen men in
the detachment on duty at these
headquarters, hailing from various
states and regiments, and all manage
to find something OF interest in the
papers and magazines.
General Macarthur receives a
triplicate file of the San Francisco
Chronicle and we clerks and the
orderlies get the the benefit Of one
file. However, all the San Francisco
papers are 50 full Of glowing &C.
counts of imaginary or greatly
magnifled deeds of valor performed
by soldiers In the First California
volunteers. that they are nauseating
to soldiers from other states. and to
any one here who knows what the
different regiments have done
and are doing. Honor to whom
honor is due and justice to all. are
my sentiments. The First California
is fine regiment-One of the best
here (among the volunteers)-no
better than the Thirteenth Mime
sofa. or the First Colorado. and no
better drilled than the Tenth Penn
sylvania. They are good regi-
ment, but they are not the only regi-
ment ON the Islands. and we grow
weary of having the San francisco
papers try to convince US that the
safety of the Union is solely de-
pendent ON these boys from the
Golden state.
Did tell you that l had the pleas
ure of writing General MacArthur's
report of the operations Of his
Brigade. Aug. 10. In the advance up
Oh Manila, etc.? From his penciled
drafts. wrote his entire report, and
recommendations for rewards; al
well as making the "Return Of
Casualties" for that day. Then too
1 made copies of all orders and menl-
oranda OF instructions In accordance
with which the movements Ut his
Brigade for that day were conducted.
These were made part of the re-
port, one copy of which was SUBJ
mitted to the higher au thorittes here,
and one sent to the Adjt Gent raj OF
the Army. Lieut.. Cbas. B. Paga-
dorm OF the Twenty-third Infantry
made q very fine map Of all the
ground covered. have studied this
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