The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1899-01-20
From Fred Nelson.


MANILA, p. l., Dec. IL, 1898.
We arrived here on December /,
but did not land for several days as
no buildings large enough were avail
able. The third battalion came ashore
on the 9th and Company "I'' was the
first to march onto the cascos or flat
boats. A few days after we got in /
received your letter written last fall.
1t came ON the Newport as did also
Earl Chastain. got u chance to go
and visit the ship and Doc was look
ing fatter than ever and said he was
not seasick day. Neither Bert
Mitchell nor | was sick and never
felt better in my life than on the voy-
age over. am still as well only |
am getting lazy. This is the LATEST
country there Is on earth. No one
will hurry aud it takes "A week to get
"A days work done. But then you
can hire native servant tor dollar
a month to do all your hard work and
steal everything he can get his hands
on. Lots OF the boys i'm regiments
that have been here some time have
regular servants and most of them
have monkeys intend to have both
when we get well settled down.
All wagoning here is done with two
wheeled carts and water oxen with
native or Chinese drivers, and you
can imagine what IA time we have had
getting the quarter-master's stuff
moved. | am now in the quarter.
masters department, you understand.
You can't make the drivers under
stand and won't move when they
do unless you lash them. Something
funny occurred when we uuloaded
the cascos here. A gang of coolies
were working at 1t under a fatigue
sergeant lie had little whip and
they were all working Ike iiends
when AN officer came along and took
the whip away and ordered him not
to whip them. In half an hour there
was not cooie in sight for they all
left when he quit whipping them,
thinking apparently that he wanted
them no longer.
The thiru battalion is quartered in
the old spanish custom house, and
the second and third headquarters in
the old treasury building. They are
all on the second floor. The quarter
masters department is across the
street in All internal revenue Office.
The natives come in here and try to
buy stamps of us. All our regiment
is quartered in fine places. The first
battalion occupies fine cigarette
warehouse and has electric lights
am writing this during my rest
7 We all have q rest from 10 a. IN. to .
p. m, and between those hours every
one has to stay in the shade and rest.
There are between II, 900 and 10000
Spanish soldiers here who are prison
ere, but they run at large. They are
quartered in the old city ON the other
side of the Pasig river. The old city
Is surrounded by great wall thirty
feet high and thirty feet thick with n
moat outside and draw bridges. All
around under the wall are great
barred cells in which the Spanish
kept their prisoners. In some of
these were found half starved prison
ers whose shackles had worn through
the flesh on their ankles, and in some
human skeletons.
Cigarettes are As for 5 cents, cigars
30 cents TO n dollar per hundred. Ev-
eryone here, men, women and child
rem, smokes. We got our money
changed to Spanish and got Sl0.l5 for
30, and have to wear money bags to
carry it in.
There is very little sickness or fever
here. don't wear many clothes and
manage to keep cool most of the time.
Everyone has to sleep under mos
quito ret, as the mosquitoes, lizards,
reaches, etc, are thicker than CHG
gers in Kansas IN June. We play
billiards at night, 20 cents AN hour
The city Is under martial law and all
must he in by 10 o'clock. The Span
ish soldiers and natives are happy
and are on the best of terms with us.
Lots of the Spanish soldiers want TO
join the United States army as they
think we receive princely salary
Our $1,000 makes S31 81 in their money