Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-05
SUPPLIED WITH COMFORTS
A Washington Boys Experience in the
28,h Infantry.
Insurgent Army Scattered - The End
Regarded ms Natural
Resources of LuzOn.

boy who Is fighting the battles of his coun-
try in the Philippines member of Com
pany H. 18th Volunteer Infantry, has writ
ten an interesting letter to friend in this
city in regard to military life in the Phil
ippines and the progress of the instruction.
1t is dated Bloody Bend, Luzon. December
- 1899, and is in part as follows:
L am now quartered with my company
at Bloody Bend, about fifteen miles from
Manila. and am in the very best of health.
remember your advice in regard to regu-
lar habits and am trying to live up to it.
The weather has been very fine, and the
climate is almost perfect. The days are
warm, but there is constant breeze blow
Ing and the shade is plentiful The nights
are cool, it being a necessity to use a
blanket. There is not near much sick
ness here as some people think Take our
company, for instance; We have 1O6 men,
and out of that number three are unfit for
duty, only one of these being in the hos
pital.
A Soldiers Daily Life.
I'VE get up in the morning at $50 and at
$50 We have breakfast Guards are put out
and changed at s, and at $50 there is a
one-hour drill. At 1890 we have dinner
and another drill at q At O'Clock we
have retreat, which is followed by supper
We go to bed at $50. Our food is good and
we have a regimental bakery and get very
good bread. Once day we get beef, which
is fine. 1t is from Australia. and when we
get 1t from the cuartermaster it is frozen
as hard as ice. Our coffee is also very good
and we can obtain condensed milk from the
commissary. We also get dried fruits and
rice once day.
Insurgent Army Pretty Well Scattered
up to the present time we have had no
trouble to speak of-only a couple of small
SEirniSheS ya fo 6,
'hyke' in about two weeks, and no doubt
will run into some warm places. We are
on what is called the south line All the
fighting is going on the north line, where
LaWton was killed. The insurgents are rum
ming from the north to the SOUTH and when
they get between us and the rest of our
forces north it will be a fight to a finish
as they will be in a trap The next big tight
will probably break up the rebel army, as
they are pretty well scattered now, and
lots of them are only too willing to surren-
der If given a chance. Aguinaldo is way
up north and has no troops with him He
has been chased nearly to death lately and
Will no doubt try to escape from the island.
Where We are now was the hotbed of the
rebellion, and the towns of Bacoor and
linus were their principal strongholds The
people here are of the Tagal tribe and
speak almost pure Spanish. Three-quarters
of mile from here is the house where
Aguinaldo was born and which he used for
his headquarters until he had to vamoose.
Some Island Customs.
'The native houses are all of bamboo and
matched with palm leaves. They stand on
four or more uprights about five or six
feet from the ground. All hauling Is done
by the water buffalo native of these ISL
ands. and for absolute slowness I never
saw anything to beat 1t. The old Ana
costa horse cars was lightning beside these
animals. Their horns are sometimes six
feet from tip to tip, and in appearance they
resemble a bull very much. The men here
are extremely lazy, and nothing seems to
rouse them like cock fight. Every Sun
day they all can be seen coming down the
road. ROSTERS under their arms, bound for
Bacoor. where all the fights come off Last
Sunday there were no less than forty-two
fights, and if 1t were not for darkness there
would have been that many more. Every
man has fighting chicken, and seems to
spend most of his time in eaching II to
fight The women do most of the work
They gather the rice from the rice. paddles
and also do all the house work and cooking
Their principal food is fish and rice. They
also eat lots of fruit. Bananas, oranges
and cocoanuts grow wild all over the island,
and we eat lots of them ourselves.
Natural Resources.
The ground is very rich. and think that
in time the Philippines will turn out to be
very valuable. There are gold, copper and
other metals back in the mountains, and
there Is no telling what other advantages
will turn up.
The Bay Of Manila is one of the finest
harbors in the world, and can be protected
hnely. and 1t is wonder to me how Dewey
ever got into the bay as he did. I have
seen the effects of his bombardment and
am glad l wasn't a Spaniard when our fleet
started in to shoot. The old church at Ba-
coor. which was put up over a hundred
years ago. is mass of tumbled-down
stones. owing to American craftsmanship
and the harbor bottom Is covered with
pieces of Spanish ships. The wreck of the
Reina Christina is still in sight, and is a
good warning to other nations to keep on
the right side of the fence
Il guess Washington will undergo a good
many changes before l get back, and 1 will
be like regular 'hayseed.'
We spent very good Xmas. Some of the
boys from Washington got boxes from
home. and We managed to get up a pretty
good dinner.
Il must bring this to a close as 1t is near
drill time. and | will write a more interest,"
ing letter next time. With love to all, 1 am,
ETC."