The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-07-20
FROM CHAS. RICE.
Another Topeka Soldier Who Thinks
Kansas Boys Have Had Enough
Fighting.


Oscar Swayze, County Treasurer Phil
lips and other court house officials are
in receipt of a letter from Charles F.
Rice, corporal in company H, Twentieth
| Kansas, in which the state of mind of
the majority of the Kansas boys is
probably portrayed. The letter is writ
ten on the reverse side of one that was
sent to Corporal Rice by Mr.. Swayze,
as the boys have been short OF writing
materials lately.
It is dated at San Fernando, May 49,
and in the letter Mr.. Rice says:
4 have been threatening for some
time to write all of you, but the faci1i-
ties, and inducements for correspond
ence are somewhat limited so I will
send you a novel souvenir in. the shape
of some Shawnee county letter paper.
(Excuse the above interlineation: the
bullets bothered me slightly
You mentioned sending some papers,
etc, but it would be Christmas before
thew would arrive. and 1 may be in
! hades before that time, so don't bother
| We had little in that line to complain of
| up to about two months ago, but since
/ then it has been somewhat difficult to
| obtain toilet articles. table. delicacies.
| clean laundry, writing materials, etc.
/ 1t has not cut very much ice whether
we had money most of the time. If a
| fellow could keep in sight of our former
| colonel and keep his light from being
| put out or his tire from being punctur-
| ed he was doing exceedingly we'll.
! although we swan rivers nearly
! every day, we would have been glad to
/ get a good clean bath. There were two
| exceptions-the Bagbag and Rio Grande
| are as pretty rivers as you ever saw in
| a level country. The rest of the streams
| have been nasty and dirty and the
i most of them salty from the tide water,
| so that you can see we are not very
| high up in the world. However, we are
| only about five miles from the noun
| tatns at present, the same mountains
| which we saw on the afternoon of No
| vember 81, 1888, but we were on the op-
| pOSite side then
There are a good many things which
| can tell you when l get back to Gods
| country. that I do not care to write
/ for various reasons. Suffice it to say
| that we get a good deal of amusement
! from reading in the home papers of
| rather recent date that is is expected
| that the war will be over in a few days,
| or that the backbone of Aguinaldo's
| army is broken, or showers of arrows
| fell on the right. But the best cores
| pondent OF the whole mess is Creelman.
| If I could spin as good and airy ones
! as he does, 1 would follow the news
! paper business as he is doing. The
| most of the official dispatches concern
! ing battles which We have been engaged
! in, are very reasonable and accurate
| but those saying that the volunteers
| to a man want to stay and would
/ riot if taken off the line, and that they
| voted to remain in the service six
| months longer-Wen, I guess you can
| imagine that we are dead anxious to
! stay out here scra piping goo COOS while
! the regulars enjoy themselves in the
| rear. 1t is very conso1ing, however. to
| read the dispatches from Major Gen
| era1 and Governor General ElwelI S
| Otis that he has everything well in hand
| but cannot understand why he cannot
| send the volunteers home on the return
| ing transports as we understand he has
| been ordered to do
You can go on all you please about our
| covering ourselves with honor and glory.
! We have all that we want There are
| thousands of other soldiers that are
| Just like we used to be. DESTROYS of be-
| ing in just about one good battle
| There is tmuchO combatto' left in the
! amigo Filipinos,' and there is plenty of
| honor, glory, wormy bareback, dead
| horse, strong bacon and other things
| left. We have all we care for. If they
| will just take us home we will not ask
! to be carried on anybOdy's shoulders
| or driven in carriages decorated with
| flowers. I am afraid the majority of
| the regiment will seriously object to be-
| ing made a show of at Topeka.
| You may think I am getting to be
| quite a kicker but when it is the in
| tentiOn of the authorities at Washing
ton to have us sent home, and it is
| baked by a would-be great man here
we desire to enter an objection A ma
! jority of the volunteers did vote to stay
| six months after the declaration of
| peace, but there was a proYiso that
| we should receive travel pay as a boun-
| ty. This part of the proposition was
| omitted in the dispatch to Washington.
| There is little danger of a mutiny if we
! should be relieved.
| You need not expect US to bring
| back any native wives. I never stood
| in very well with the girls at home, but
| for myself I prefer them to the Filipi-
| no damsels.
'I am glad to hear of the success of
| the f1ambeau club Give my best re-
! CARDS to all my friends, and tell them
| that we hope to be back and enjoy the
| cool refreshing breezes of Sunny Kan
| sas' some time next fall"
CHAs. F. RICE.