Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1900-04-12
QUARTET DE EsPANA,
MANILA, p. l.,
Fphruarv - 1900

| MANILA, L. l.,
February II, 1900.
DEAR K Your letter dated De-
cember 10th, 1899, came to hand on the
first of this month-nearly two months
on the road to this far away island. 1t
was the first letter from my old home
and beloved native land, SO you can i'm
agine how much pleasure the peruSal of
its contents gave me. The arrival of
the monthly transports bringing news
from our native country is looked for
ward to with much pleasure by all the
boys Of our battery and regiment. When
the mail arrives in the city and is sent
TO the quarters Of our battery all the
men rush towards the mail carrier and
surround him at once, so he is compelled
to retreat and get in some small room
| and from the window distribute the
mail Many of them are compelled to
| leave without the much and long-loOked-
! for news from their home folks, but on
! the other hand some have read letters
! from friends and sweethearts, and how
| happy they seem to be, reading again
and again these short but sometimes
! loving letters from far across the dark
blue sea. Such is life, happy today and
y,
| ing at the time your welcome letter was
handed me of my home and friends in
| the old burg so many thousand miles
away. and how you all had spent Xmas
| in the dear old town. My mind carried
me back to my boyhood days when |,
| too. enioyed Xmas on the banks of the
! old Potomac little thought at that
| time | would eat MAS dinner 1000
/ l, Co hot
| do YOU think had for dinner on that
nsverto-be forgotten day The bill OF
| fare was not large or select one. Still
it was good enough for soldier who be-
| longs to Uncle Sam. 1t consisted Of
roast mutton from Australia, much bet
| ter than Ayers embalmed beef canned
! fruit from Baltimore, corn beef from
| Chicago and sweet potatoes from Homo
! lulu. bread baked by Chinaman and
| bootleg coffee, and this grand dinner
was served in Spanish kitchen by
prisoner of the Spanish army.
will now tell you about my trip from
! that little md-oCean island rightly
| called the Paradise of the Pacific. left
| there on the 30th of November with two
batteries of the 9th Artillery and five of
| the 18th L. S. Volunteers on an English
liner chartered for transportation of
troops to the Philippine Islands. About
seven hundred soldiers were on the ship.
! Still we had room enough for all, good
accommodation and enough to eat Of
| the kind, but of very poor kind. Some
of Ayers embalmed beef must have
! been saved for that trip. | threw mine
| in the ocean, and came to the conclu
sion to live on salt meat, the result was
! that | was never sick one hour during
! the entire voyage of twenty-One days.
! Some Of the men were sick all the time,
no doubt from eating this meat The
trip was long and tiresome, but quiet
and peaceful one-not one rough day
during the long trip something unusual
for the great Pacific Ocean. Twenty
long days passed away before we sighted
land. Many Of the men stood for hours
on the upper decks looking for it. The
desire for the sight of land was so great
that many Of the boys shed tears of joy
upon seeing mountains and trees once
more Our old ship was slow but sure.
and it took long time TO make the vey-
age, but still she landed us safely in the
old historical city Of Manila. | believe
in the old maxim, praise the ship that
carries you safely over.
The scenery at the entrance to Ma
Mia Bay was fine indeed, so different
from our country Many things attract
ed our attention as we came nearer and
nearer the old city, but at last we beheld
the wrecks. that our Dewey and our gal
liant men Of the Navy made of the boast
ed Spanish Navy. Many wealthy Span
ish people sailed out in all their glory
| to see the Yankee pigs run on that mem
Orable but never-tO-be forgotten day
| their Joy was suddenly turned into sOr-
row. Now these naughty dons pass by
| the American soldier with sullen and
! downcast look, how they hate the Amer
| leans Still they are fed and kept in
! clothing bythe government treated bet
| ter than we are. The city is guarded
night and day by armed soldiers, and it
| is dangerous to walk the streets at night
without arms. The priests are Stunned
and hated by the poor Filipinos. and not
without good reasons-if they were only
! given a chance there wouldn't be many
Of them left
The fighting is about all over, occa-
Sionally a few short battles. | have been
! in two battles since | arrived here, which
| took place about twenty miles from here.
! Some of the 9th is sent out two or three
! times a month on the firing line in order
to give them some idea how to fight the
| Filipinos. We have them scattered
! throughout the island in bands OF fifty
! to five hundred. They all seem to be
! short of ammunitiOn-never fight more
! than an hour or two towns and villages
are robbed and many innocent people
are shot without mercy. War is indeed
cruel and | hope this useless shedding
| of so much innocent blood will soon
cease. These poor devils are so ignorant
| and know so little about scientific fight
| ing that it seems almost a shame to
slaughter them by the wholesale. They
have no cannon that amount to anything
aud our rapid-firing guns are so success
fully used upon them that often very
| few of them escape. The infantry drives
! them from their towns and the cavalry
| hunts them day and night. Hundreds
are captured and sent here as prisoners
of war. And should this war continue
much longer, these poor ignorant natives
will certainly be eXterminated. Gen.
Otis, | think, should have ended this
cruel war long before this. but for some
political reasons this fight has and is con-
tinued month after month, costing the
poor misguided taxpayers of our native
land millions upon millions of good solid
gold, much of it made by hard manual
labor. Many lives of good men are sac
rifced and hundreds Of poor unfortu-
nate American soldiers are losing their
health monthly in this unhealthy trop-
ical climate; and still this unnecessary
war goes on and on. and so few promi-
nent men Of our country seem willing
TO lift their voices or use their influence
against this rascally fraud of war.
The officers here have picnic and many
wish to see the fake go on. Gen. Wheel
er left here in disgust and he could tell
the American people terrible story,
but it is extremely doubtful whether he