West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1900-09-13
IN THE FAR orr PHILIPPINES.
A kingwood Boy Writes of His Army
Life In The Orient.
ORME, IsAND OF LYErr. Iuly ~.

Il
yet no Filipino bullet has ever done
me any injury outside of making me
dodge and feel little nervous on
few occasions.
l had intended to write you some
time ago; but neglected TO do so,
and now | will try to make up for
my neglect.
This island on which we are sit
ulted is about three hundred miles
south of Manila, and about one hun.
dred south of the southern end OF
Luzon. We came to Taclobon, a
town on the coast of the island on
the tenth of April and marched in
land about thirty miles to town
called Lagami, which was situated
right in the heart of the insurrecto
country, and went into quarters there
in large stone church. There we
waited for reenforcements about ten
days, and at last they came and we
moved forward towards the rebel
strongholds in the mountains about
twenty miles further west. Arriv-
ing there we Immediately attacked
the place and after four hours fierce
fighting We took the place and drove
the "niggers" out and scattered
them in all directions
The main stronghold being bro
ken up the niggers scattered out in
small bands, and the next six weeks
was spent in hunting down these
small bands and putting them out
of business, at which we succeeded
admirably in closing and now things
are moving along we'll and the mig :
gers are accepting the thing as their
Uncle Sam sees they need them.
We came from Lagami to this town
(Ormoe) about a month ago and
have done nothing since except a
little guard duty, as this place has
always been very quiet place and
welcomed the Americans when they
landed here. This town has pop
ulation of about 10, 900, has cable
communication, and that fact alone
makes it very important place.
The Fourth of July passed with
out the usual noise and buster, and
for once in our lives we did not
have the pleasure of hearing the
Fourth of July orator declare that
we were the greatest nation on the
earth and could lick the "stuffing''
out of any other country on earth,
but we are silently thankful to the
good being that the rations were
holding out well and that the beans.
hard tack, bacon and coffee would
ever remain to cheer the heart and
stomach of the hungry, stability
dressed soldier of liberty ? etc. etc.
| see that organization known as
the "rumor board" still exists in
Kingwood, as | received letter
from a friend there few days ago
notifying me that l had my fingers
shot off and that l had the "yaller
fever" and other ailments too nu-
merous to mention. Well, in re-
gard to my fingers being shot off,
l had at last accounts FIVE on my
right hand and five on my left, so
if | am satisfied with 1t every one
else should be. Then this shooting
fingers off is way in which some
homesick lads have tried to get a
discharge from the army, of course
1t is all done accidently, but there
is never any one to prove it by, so
they do not work Uncle Sam that
way. And as to yellow fever there
never has been a case in the
island, so l am safe there also, and
that shows how well some people are
posted in regard to matters so far
away from home.
The climate here is much better
than / thought for, as the reports
concerning heat and its bad effects
have been greatly exaggerated. OF
course there is no use to deny that
1t is hot for it is, but the sun does
not have the distressing effect that
IT does in some parts of the States.
The nights are cool and delightful,
and one seldom finds it too hot to
sleep at night, but Of course there
are exceptions. We arc quartered
in the OLD Government building and
always sleep under our army blank.
cts, and sleep comfortable.
1t is now the r7sh of July and as
yet that famous rainy season has
not commenced, and We have good
showers just about the same as in
the States.
Up in the mountains it rains
about the whole year round, but no
body cares about making their home
up there as there is plenty Of bot
tom land.