The Holt County sentinel., 1900-11-30
In the PHILIPPINES.

Through the cour,esey Of Frank Lynch,
We are PERMITTED to make the follow
ing extract from letter recently re-
ceived by him from b S friend, +. l..
Payne. son Of \. B. Payue. of this city.
who Is now a member of the :l2d u $.
lnfantry, now doing duty in the Phil
lippine Islands:
Oct. s, 1900.
On board the L. S Transport,
Thomas Kind friend: 1 will endeayor
To write you few lines this aft ,rnoon
How wish were in Oregon this after.
noon. Ii i. Sunday here. but Saturday
with you. We dropped one day after
crossing the lS0th, meridian We wrnt
tn bed Tuesday evening and awoke next
morning Ia discover that it was Thurs
day.
We remained in Honolulu three days,
owing Ia a crippled boiler of the ship.
Honolulu is one OF the mos beautiful
places have ever seen. The city proper
is built upon flat piece OF ground near
the ocean, and just back of the city the
mountains rise far above the clouds.
The business part of the city is rot
much, hut thc-e are many beautiful
buildings The post oilicA is TO years
old. There are several large buildings
in the course of construction.
The capitol buildings, with their sur
rou, ding parks, are something elegant.
The residence portion Of the city is the
finest ever san anywhere. The houses
are not so beautiful. hut the yards. with
their flowers. shrubs and grasses and
tree palms of every description. furnish
a scene well worth noticing They have
a church there that will compare with
any in the large citie. Of the United
States II is built Of polished stone
and il very beautiful.
heard the native brass band one eve.
min, and the music furnished by it was
II the h'gh class kind, and .layed wi n
ease and simplicity.
The last day was there, |, together
with twn of my companions, climbed to
the top uf one nf the mountains 1t
took three hours uf lard climbing.
through grass, brush and briars, and
over rocks. II was the hardest climb
ing had ever attempted, and will here.
after prefer the high hills OF old Mis-
sour. The beautiful sights We saw up
there fully rtp,id us for our trouble.
We were $500 feet above the city. and
you could see everywhere. IL rained on
us while up there. but MT very hard.
The rainfall in the valley was heavy,
and during the rain, a rainbow was
formed. making lovely scsne. Think
OF being alb we rainbow, and looking
down at il
was offered employment there at 30
per month, room and board free, by an
English planter, to act rs an overseer
on his plantation. He employs Japs and
Chinese to do his work. | am told that
it costs great deal to live on the is
lands. | was talking with some stone
masons and carpenters, and they receive
from 81 to 50 per day. There is mar
row guage running around the island,
and through the largest plantations. The
trainmen receive from 1925 to $40 per
month; telegraph operators from sl25 to
Sl75 per month. There are four blocks
OF ruins where they burned the houses
several years ago, when the city was WIS.,
Ited by the plague of leprosy. This the
twentieth day out from San Preside,
Cal We next stopped at Nogasaki, ia
pan, to coal. In the harbor were ships
from nearly every nation, the Oregon,
Brooklyn, and three other U. S. ships
being among them. am fat and well,
and erjoying myself. We have received
no pay from Uncle Sam yet Will pos
sibly go ashore tomorrow and be paid
some.
There are about 1900 men aboard this
transport, some for service IN Cnlna ana
the rest for the Philippines. Our Sun
day services here on board are SO differ
ent from that held on land. 1t is con-
Quoted by the Y. NJ. c. 4. On the quar-
ter deck we're 10 ladies, wives and
daughters of the passengers aud officers.
We had long song service and prayer,
another song and scripture reading,
PRAYER. sermon and payer. From where
am sittirg can see about % men
playing cards, that many writing and
that many more reading. This is all in
sight of the preach r We will reach
Luzon in about fifteen days. Give my
best regards to all inquirrng friends.
Yours Truly,
ERNEST L. PAYNE,