Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-01-18
THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL
Progress of 47th Regiment on Its Way to
Philippines

Mr. F. Penrose Smith of this city, known
as Sergeant Smith, recently received
lengthy letter from First Lieutenant Geo.
w. England of the 47th Regiment of United
States troops, now in the Philippines. The
letter was written while the command was
on its way to Manila, and was dated ION
the Red Sea, December 1, 1890"
From it the following extracts are taken:
1--WE. have seen many wonderful things!
Our trip through the SueZ canal was an in
teresting one You know the canal runs
through desert, with not a sign of yege-
tation-nothing but sand everywhere We
passed several caravans that were crossing
the desert, and many small villages, in
both Egypt and Arabia, just such as one
sees shown in Bible Illustrations. One of
the amusing sights was to see the Arabs
running along the canal, watching for
something TO be thrown overheard. Our
boys would throw an old shirt or pair of
trousers into the canal and in an Instant
the Arab would strip and dive into the
water, secure the article and swim back to
the bank, where he would deposit his prize,
and quickly run after the ship, following it
Tor miles in perfectly nude state. We
had once about twenty of these naked
Arabs and Egyptians following the ship
within twenty feet on either side
This canal is wonderful piece of work
1t Is eighty-siX miles long and about 300
feet wide, averaging about 80 feet in depth
We met five vessels in the canal one of
which was a passenger ship bound from
Australia to America-Our dear home land.
We nave seen so much of interest that we
can scarcely remember half of the wonder
full panorama. Just now we have sighted
two whales, about 600 yards off our star
board bow. They are blowing. water sey
eral feet above their heads every few mo-
ments, in true conventional style They
frequently disappear below the surface in
sportive mood, apparently, only to appear
again like huge logs.
Men Have Every Comfort.
our good ship is ploughing southwark
through the Red sea, and feel it won't be
long before We will be landing on the
shores of the far-off Philippines This is
doubtless the finest troop ship aloat. The
men have large, commodious sleeping quar-
tiers. There is plenty Of room for all We
nave two drills in 'setting-up' exercise
and two inspections daily. Between these
drills the men spend their time on deck
they have three well-cooked meals each
daE-in fact, there is everything to make
the trip pleasant one The best proof of
this is. there has not been any kicking.
t" amount to anything. Each man, on an
average, receives daily one pound of fresh
meat and vegetables, one eighteen-ounce
Loaf of fresh bread, and plenty of coffee
and sugar Yesterday, Thanksgiving day.
| furnished each man, for dinner one and
a half pounds of turkey, mashed potatoes,
cranberries fresh bread and coffee They
had about the same as they would were
they at home.
The monotony of our Journey when far
at sea is broken occasionally by the an
pearance of q steamer on the horizon a
scfooi OF porpoises near by, shark and
frequently sportve whale. The solitude
OF the boundless sea is appalling and fills
one with awe and reverence for the AL
mighty Force above it ALL
Seat Occupied by Napoleon.
Il neglected to speak of some very inter-
estlns scenes 1 have visited, consisting of
historical places. churches and natural seen
cry. sat in the very seat which NAPOLEON
the Great used in the palace al Malta This
chair Is 400 years old and is found in the
council room. l visited the cave of st.
Paul. built at Malta on the bav that hears
MS name. II was during the Roman rule,
A D. os, that st. Paul was shpwrecked
on These waters, and the date of the con-
version of the Maltese to Christianity.
We are practically isolated from the
United States and have not heard a word
about the Philippines nor from home since
we left You can thoroughly appreciate
our position.
our regiment is in perfect health and
everybody seems enjoying the trip immense
~ we are now ploughng the waves of the
Indian ocean. 1t is very hot here but the
good winds fro m the northeast make it
bearable. You can imagine the. weather
when l tell you we are in about 10 degrees
north latitude and only 700 miles from the
equator
by the way, here Is little incident
which occurred While we lay at anchor at
Malta We entered the harbor shortly after
daybreak The harbor is very narrow but
quite long, and was crowded with shipping
We anchored directly alongside of the
spanish passenger steamer Isle de Luzon
"nich started in the afternoon for Bar
ceiona She was used as a transport for
spanish troops during the Spanish-Ameri-
can war. As she moved off from her an
chorage beautiful young woman stood at
the door of state room looking at the
Americans The boys raised their hats and
cneered The young lady responded by
coming 70 the rail and splitting at u.s.
our entire regiment disembarked and
was taken ashore without arms for drill
England showed her cordiality by sending
her boats and launches from the battle
ships in the harbor to, hep land the repi
ment. 1t was an act of courtesy We highly
appreciated both officers and men, Once
ashore the regiment was marched to the
parade ground and reviewed by the gov
ernor general of Malta and other high Off
Gals or both army and navy. The boys
according to the governor generals ex-
presslons, made a very, fine appearance in
their new Khaki uniforms. He said he never
saw finer body of men,
Exchange of COurtesies.
THE same evening an English regiment
sailed for South Africa. We gave them a
rouslng send off, and in return they gaze
three great cheers for the Americans
The next day we visited the ST Johns
Cathedral. l could spend days admring
Its beautiful sculpture and masterpieces of
art: Here Is an original Angeio-'The
Child Jesus The walls are literally hid
den with paintings tapestries, ETC., by the
most renowned masters. The floor of the
cathedral is entirely iniald mosaic work
Nearly all the European countries have
each erected a chapel within it's walls. The
sanctuary Of the two side affairs are sepa-
rated from the body of the church by |
communion ratings. eight feet high One
of them Is bronze and one is solid silver,
Their history is interesting Napoleon dur |
ing his victorious career, took the island, !
carrying away booty Of enormous yalue
At that time what ts:new a bronze railing |
was solid gold Anticipating the approach |
OF the army, the good frfars began paint |
ing the ratings to disguise their value. |
and had scarcely finished the work when |
the enemy were upon him.