Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1899-06-01


last week by Chas. Davis, Of Eureka,
from his brother, Fred, who is now in
the Philippines. His parents live in
Coral:
MANILA, +. l., April ., 1899
DEAR BROTHER AND FAMILY
suppose you think that ! have forgot
ten you, but | have not. | meant to
have written on the way over here but
thought ! had better wait until ! got
here and then tell YOU about the trip.
1t was an unhandy place to write on the
transport, we were packed in like sar-
dimes. We were 80 days on the water
and ! was glad to get on land once
more; it was IA longer trip than ! want
TO take again right away. | want to
90 back the other way when | return;
it takes about % days by Frisco. We
got here about 10 O'Clock the 10th OF
March. We were nearly all sea sick
the second day out from New York; it
was ten times worse than | thought it
would be. | did not eat anything for
five days or want TO see anyone else
eat. 1t was 10 days before | felt any
where near well. We saw quite "a
number of ships; saw land about II
days out, an island belonging to Spain.
We stopped at Gibralter four days
The rock was great sight, had can
mons all over it. Ships of most every
nation were at anchor in the harbor
We could see Spain across the bay.
We left at three o'clock in the after
noon, saw "A whale about five miles out.
The Mediterranean Sea was very calm
all the way through. About three
o'clock one morning we came in sight
of Port Said and the town looked rs if
1t was set in the water as the land Is
very low. We anchored about noon.
The people were mostly Turks. Two
warships, the Raleigh and Princeton,
we're in the harbor The sailors came
on board at night and told us about the
Some of the soldiers and
sailors from our boat went ashore to
see the town. The boat pulled out at
one o'clock and they were left. We
saw great sights going through the
canal. Saw camels, black goats and
some cattle. Negros would run along
the side of the canal without many
on; we would throw over
clothes and they would swim out and
get them. The boat was not allowed
to run only five miles an hour so they
could keep along with the boat, some
of them following us ten miles. 1t is a
desolate looking country. nothing but
sand. Went through two large lakes
arrived at Suez City at nine o'clock in
the evening, waited for the men TO
come on the train from Port Said
some came, the others are there yet
guess. We stopped at Colombo and
Singapore only long enough to coal
and were glad when we pulled into
Manila Bay. The bay is IA large one.
Dewey's gunboats were spread out all
along the coast. We anchored near
Dewey's flagship, the Olympia. We
could hear the cannons all the after
noon and after dark we could hear the
rifle shots. Two of the gunboats used
searchlights on the enemy's trenches.
and once in while would swing il
around the harbor; it would nearly
blind you About 10 o'clock next day
we left the boat and went ashore in
scows that would hold 200 men each,
marched to field where we waited
until three o'clock, and then marched
through the streets of Manila and
about two miles north, put US on guard
duty and we have been doing nothing
else since. We are on two hours and
of four hours at night, and put in two
hours in the day time. We were on
our nerve when we first commenced,
had orders to halt everybody, If they
would not halt, shoot. Guess some
shot and hollered afterwards The
negro sharpshooters annoyed us some
but did not get any of us. A bullet
struck about two feet from me when
| was boiling coffee, but of course I
''dodged" it. The negros use the
Remington and Mauser rifles mostly,
some have Springfelds. The Rem
ington shoots brass bullets and if you
get wounded with one OF them it causes
blood poison, nearly always. The vol
unteers that are here have Springfield
rifles. The enemy breads them more
than any gun, for when "A Springfield
bullet hits person it makes a hole in
hlm large enough to put your arm Ia.
The volunteers are mostly from the
west and are fine soldiers; they have
done most of the lighting. We don't
know what we will do yet. The last
battle they drove the negros 70 miles
into the mountains. The captain gave
us orders to stay near camp. We can.
not 60 to town without pass. The
guardhouse is full OF men now that
went without pass Manila is a great