The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1899-05-17
ALFRED DOLE'S LETTERS
TELLS OF LIFE At CANITE
BEFORE THE WAR.
Interesting Happenings In And Out
of Camp-Red Cross Nurses We're
Nuisance.


Alfred Dole wrote two very inter-
esting letters to his uncle, President |
Dole, prior to hostiltes with the Fill
pinos. AS the letters since the war be-
gan have already been published the |
following will fill a gap to those who |
have read the others, he says:-
About 3 o'clock January ., we were |
ordered to pack up everything and be |
ready to go on board ship at II next |
morning. 1t was rumored that we
were going to sail for the southern
part of the group under sealed orders. |
At If next morning our baggage had
not gone on board for some reason or
other, so our company did not move.
At in the afternoon | got pass and
went to the Red Cross hospital to say
Goodbye" to Frank orbusier At 3
| was back at the clirtel but no orders
came to move, although all our bag
gage including our cots was piled on
the river bank. That night ] had the
pleasure of sleeping on the soft side
of a Lakewood floor. At last our or
ders came to move at II in the morn
ing of the 4th. We went on board
big casco with + Company and were
tOWeU out To Ilp DGuluS. Olt VI lllI
five steamers which were to take us
to our destination. After going on
board we lined up on one side of the
steamer and dropped our knapsacks.
AS there seemed to he no especial
place to go to sat down on my KNAPP
sack and read novel, the "Cloister
and the Hearth" Late in the after
noon we were given a place on the
deck below to put our llnapsacks.
haversacks, canteens. rifles and belts.
but it was as hot as a furnace room
and we could not possibly think of
sleeping there. We had our first meal
on board-the second that day,-about
| ) o'clock While we were on the Bru-
tus we were fed by the steamship
company. and the food was by far the
| best we have had since ] have been in
! the service. When got ready to sleep
! that night | hunted all over the ship
| to find four square feet of deck to live
| on: failing in this ! crawled over the
| side into a casco filled with quarter
masters stores and curlcd upon Il
! three. by four shoe case. just as |
was comfortably settled the head of
the native family which occupied the
/ bow of the boat. which was their
I home as wen as their means of ltveli-
hood. discovered me and offered me Il
couple of bananas which | gladly aC-
cepted. Having eaten these | again
sought repose on my shoe-case. but
before five minutes had passed the ma
tive came again and invited me in to
dinner with the family. | accepted
and we all sat down, Hawaiian fash
ion. around Il bowl of rice and plate
of fish. which simple meal | enjoyed
4 I 4, Ia hnlI
my end of the conversation very well
as / speak neither Spanish nor Tagalo.
but whenever was up Il stump |
would nod my head and look wise,
which served the purpose to certain
extent. After half hours visit with
my dark skinned friends again turn
ed in and slept off and on until first
call in the morning.
There were four companies on the
Brutus besides the quartermaster's
department, commissary department,
hospital corps. band and the colonel
and his staff. The latter is not very
large but it takes up lot of room for
its size. As a result of all this per-
son couldn't turn around twice any
where without humping into two or
three of his neighborS. The second
night | slept on the hurricane deck
with my feet hanging over the side.
About in the morning it began to
rain. so | went below and got my pom
cho. but the rain stopped before | got
back. The third night | slept on a
hatch on the lower deck. On the
fourth night my bed was on the hur-
ricane deck again. and the fifth and
last night on board found me on the
hurricane deck again, but on the
other side of the ship. TO tell the
truth didn't find the deck especially
soft in any of these spots.
On Sunday, January s, the last full
day on board, X Company was vaccin-
ated again, as there had been an in
crease i'm the cases of small poX among
the soldiers ashore. On Monday the
regiment was suddenly called ashore
as there was danger of trouble with
the insurgents. Its Il mystery to me
why we ever went on board. Nobody
really seemed to know what we were
there for. Up to the present time the
regiment has been confined in bar.
racks, ready to be called out at an in
stant's notice. Only five men were
allowed passes from company at g
time. At present the trouble seems
to have blown over. and this is the
only regiment which is still confined
in quarters. On Tuesday the 10th
went on guard and had the pleasure
of looking after five and twenty sol
diers in all stages of drunkenness. On,
of my own guard got full, and befor,
| got through with him | had to run
him i'm also. In the middle of the
afternoon a guard was sent down t.
Gen. Anderson's headquarters, and
was relieved from the prison guaro
and given that tried to sleep on {
siN-inch bench by the gate, but be
fore morning had nearly frozen stiff
: AS ! had to wake up every two hours
to post the new relief didn't ge
much sleep during the night. Abou
noon there was a call To arms, but ;
few minutes later il was discovered
TINT the snnre WINS Cnmsnl by n lrlnl,