The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1899-11-29
HE REDWOOD GAZETTE.
BY AIKEN & scHmAHl.
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 90, 1899.

gave our SOlulcIS @W ueu luey mus |
tered into service. They were only
good for short range firing and the
noise caused by the expss on of
the powder and bullet wer< 50 loud
that the Philippines called t. EN- the
small cannon The natives were
armed with the Mausers, riff s that
killed at much longer range. It
did not take the natives long to get
on to this fact, and the result was
that the death rate in our army was
larger than it would have been had
a long distance rifle been given to
the soldiers in the start. Had the
natives been good marksnen the
loss would have been much larger.
When the Krag Jorgensen rifles ar
rived at Manila they were dealt out
to the troops so that each company
had about %, and these were scat
tened over the firing lines. They
were quite a surprise to the natives,
they wondering why the American
bullets went so much farther than
they used to 60.
Dan. likes the machine gun along
with the soldiers. He says that the
Maxim guns in use with the troops
would send bullets into the enemy
at the rate of 1000 per minute, and
keeping swaying motion did fear
full work. At times. says Nc, you
could almost see the air filled with
dismembered limbs OF the enemy.
caused by the machine guns doing
their deadly work.
The Filipino carried two u;i,ferifs:
One vas his insurgent uniform. and
the other was his native cotume. In
changing from one to the other all
that was necessary was to change
the coat, and When he got into our
territory it was remarkable to see
how quickly he would drop the in
surgent coat and don that of a pa
cifico. He is a treacherous char
acter and while he is talking about
himself being a good Filipino his
wife would probably be few rods
away ready to band him his rife as
soon as we turned our backs. 1t is
fact that the death rate to oarl
troops, On account of this kind of
treachery, was quite large. the ma
tive being worse than the American
Indian. ng1 .|'
The insurgents brcu yht down the
Bolos from the mountains to fight
against us, with the understanding
that they were to share in the rich
spOils OF war, in case we were
whipped. The Bolos fought with
bows and arrows exclusively; and
the insurgents jollied them up to
take the firing line. They did mt
remain there long, except those who
were planted there forever. They
soon ascertained that American
bullets were superior to their bows
and arrows. The Maccabeebees. of
course, were friendly to the Ameri-
cans. and fer time were the sole
police of the city of Manila. Their
work as policemen continued up to
the time that Aguinaldo gave orders
to burn, destroy, murder, etc..
everything foreign. when the
Thirteenth Minnesota relieved the
native police, and the first night
our boys had as interesting time
as we will ever experience in our
lives. Boys in the hospital left
their beds and came out to join their
regiment and protect the city against
the incendiaries and murderers, and
you know how we'll we did it. The
are doing good work
over there now. H 5000 81
Speaking Of sanitary conditions
Me, says the water in Luzon. like
all warm countries, was warm, and !
caused q great deal of sickness !:
among our loops: There is plenty
Of fruit on the island, but the bows ]
were compelled to be careful about
eating it, for the reason that some of
it was bad, and caused sickness.
etc. The officers prohibited the ]
boys from eating the native chick
ems: on account of che putrid matter ,,
the chickens lived on after the war
between the states and the natives |