The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-07

A savannah Marines Experience in
AEulnaIdo's Country.

AgulnaIdo's Country.
A Savannah boy who Joined the marines
and went to the Philippines. has written
characteristic letter to one of his
friends He wrote from Cavite. the scene
of the first lighting in the islands.
Il promised to give you a descriptive ac-
count of this part Of Gods green earth-of
the islands asa possession and Of the in
habitants in particular" he said. I'm the
first place, the islands as whole are the
ground floor. or. more properly speaking,
the basement of hades. There may be a
beautiful and allurlng spot somewhere In
the rustic hills, but we have never reach
ed that bad eminence by which we might
see and be satisfied. What object the good
Lord had in building such country, and
peopling it with such people He alone
knows. The simon-purel natives are the
most God-forsaken, pinch-featured, semi
dwarf specimens of humanity l ever be-
held. The men will not average 100 pounds.
The women weigh less, and they are
homely in every feature 1t is an every
day occurrence to see young women and
younger and older of both sexes, sitting
! fiat on the ground, their heads bent for
ward-almost touching their knees-and o
monkey parting The hair-or wool-as the
case may be-in earnest quest of anything
lively.
II thought Cubans bad enough to salts
fy even Satan himself but the native Gu
ban is an much superior to the native FIJI
ipino as the white is to the black race IN
the United States. The most of
ghe country that | have march
ed over-or, / should say under,
we ha i'm Tor m 10
our belts, many times while trying 10
frightened the dad-gasted Eilipinos out OF
gunshot-we are sleeping every night.
when we can Sleep fully armed and
equipped Some real war-loving fight
ing fools may consider this glorious, fas T.
mating. or fun, but I'm tired. / get awful
tired splashing round In the mud and
bitches. Sometimes up 10 my neck in a
ditch. l have had to pull myself
out by the rank grass and brush
and what makes me so tired is to have
these internal BYlipinos shoot so close
while doing my best to get out of the
mud, that the water and mud spatter in
my face and all over my beautiful clean
clothes. Talk about clean clothes-that is
a thing of the past-out then we only
need soap and water TO keep the skin
clean, for we have little use for clothes.
l have not seen the face of a white wo-
man for over three months. / tell you
am tired OF THIS 700 lShneSS, ana nope 10
be sent back to Gods country anyway by
July, 1900 l have had summer enough,
but | would be willing to brave a July trip
in order to get back home-yes | would.
| should have told you in reference to the
natives and their mode Of living. They
have none of the Injuries, nor even the
comforts of life, from our standpoint
Their houses remind one Of a~tumb,ed~
down negro hut in ante-belium days. They
have few cooking utensils, merely a pot
and a pan and rude sort of mortar.
either stone or wood, In which they hun
rice. They i've on nothing, and the chill
dren eat the scraps. / have never seen
either a IA dog or monkey in the Philip
pine Islands.
IF you know of any one dead
anxious for a place In the ranks
OF the United States marines send him TO
me. / Will pay his transportation-give
him my place, and throw in all the glory
| have had or ever expect 20 win in
these mud fats. Tell the boys to stay at
home and saw wood" don't truly be-
lieve we will ever be able to make these
people understand what civilization and
a comfortable, decent living means from
the simple fact, they are not made OF that
kind Of stuff, but do not care to moralize
at this time. At some future time, / ex-
pect 10 give my political and individual
opinions. but | am not now in a position
to say just what I should like to.