Evening star., 1900-04-12

miles from here by land and sixty by sea-
The volcano Mayor (or Albay, as 1t is also
called) lies between the two towns, and the
Ian land road Is an exceedingly difficult one.
therefore, we took to the ship and went
by sea as being quicker and easier. We
sailed from here at 10 p.m. on February
and were In Tabaco harbor at am
next day. We found it a lovely town, well
built, apparently. and quite large. The
British flag was flying from three buildings
ensign down, and we could see the garri-
son getting ready for US. There being no
wharf pier, as usual in this country we
had to make the landing in small boats
There were five of these, and they were
lowered and loaded on the side fatherest
from the land. All of Company G (SimonsO
and part of Company 1 (Stedje's) with
the colonel and his staff, 122 men in all,
were in the first landing party, and the
boats were to be sent back at once for the
rest of Company l and all of Company E
(BettsD and Company F (Garwood's) Koch
Ter had his guns in position to shell the
defenses when the ball opened, and every
thing went on like clockwork.
Rebels Were Waiting for Them.
There were some well-built trenches to
the left Of the town fanked on either end
by groves of palms, and it was here that
the insurrectos were waiting for us. The
boats hung on to the side of the steamer
while she started ahead at good speed
turning around and going as near the
with the boats, at the same time bringing
Koehler's guns to bear. The Filipinos
opened on us before We got to dry land, and
we were obliged to wade through water
waist deep before we could be sure of our
footing. We had the trenches directly in
our front, about 400 yards away. with a
rice paddy to cross before we could reach
them. Have you ever seen a rice paddy ?
1t Is peach, especially when you want
to get across it quickly and are con-
scious of not having complete change Of
clothing with you. The ground is first
plowed up and then watered. planted and
watered several times over. The rice grass
grows rapidly and soon hides the mud and
water, which are never less than ankle
deep for man of ordinary weight, and
frequently are waist deep In the dirtiest
kind of black mud.
Everybody was thoroughly wet and thor
oughly dirty when We scrambled and floun-
dered out on the far side and took the
trench, at the same time clearing the palm
groves on either flank All this while the
Filipinos kept up their fire. But they gen.
orally shot high, and We cleaned up the
town and drove them back two or three
miles, leaving l. Company on the outer line
to keep them away and turning the rest Of
the command in as firemen to put out fires
that had been started in number of build
ings. The net results were forty-two dead
Filipinos and eleven prisoners, with one
American wounded in the fleshy part of the
arm. Among the dead Tagals were a cap
tain and first lieutenant, the latter for
merly an officer in the Spanish army.
EnElishman Was Uneasy.
1.-THE English flags we had seen were over
the warehouses of large English hemp
firm and the residence Of their agent. He
had 100000 worth of hemp stored in his
warehouses awaiting shipment, and was a
trifie anxious, fearing the insurrectos would
burn it up. They only succeeded in burn
ing one house, very fine residence belong
ing to an old Filipino who had advised
them against fighting and was anxious to
have the Americans come in. He and his
family were carried away to the mountains
by the Tagals as were also all the Span
iards and other Europeans except Fuicher,
the lone Engiishman. whom they left alone,
through fear of an English gunboat now
at Gubat, on this coast. The town had
been stripped Of everything Of value that
could be moved. and in the large and hand
some church even the marble fonts had
been carried away and the altar stripped
The priests. as a matter of course, are all
In the mountains with the army. said to