The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1900-12-27

doning the city which had been confded
| to his care"
In the face of this it will be claimed
probably, that the hour for beginning hos
tilities, fixed by Gen. Miller, in notify
ing the Consuls, .'5 n. H., Sunday. the
| 18th Instant having been anticipated and
the first shots fired ut $50 a. m. of Feb.
IL, that the coniiagration was forced upon
them. Gen. Miller says: ut was not
contemplated to make an attack before
| the hour named to the Consuls, but the
! insurgent forces having begun acts of hos
tllity, military necessity required that ac-
ton should be taken and followed up.
Such action certainly made no difference
regarding the destruction of property. as
II was q matter of common report that
every preparation had been made by the
forces of the insurgents at lloilO TO set fire
TO the city at the first hostile shot" And
in another letter he says: Il have no
doubt il is owing to the premature at
tack that any of the buildings are saved.
The plan was one of total destruction by
fire"
Effort may be made to controvert these
statements and to show that citizens not
unfriendly TO the American cause were
compelled 10 leave their dwellings unpro-
tccted to save their own lives, and that
the United States Government thus be-
comes responsible. Gen. Hughes laughed
at this view in discussing the matter with
me. The delay in landing our troops,
perhaps unavoidable. was very unfortu-
nate. inasmuch as it conveyed to the in
sUrgents the impression that we We're
afraid of them. an impression it has taken
much time and blOodshed to remove, but
which is now largely allayed.
A HEALTHY LOCALITY.
Citizens complain that the town of 10
lilo has not been fairly treated by the
chrOnclcrs. Foreman speaks of it slight
ingly. as does Worcester, though. as he
explained to me. Il man sick as he was
at the time of his visit is not likely TO
speak well of anything: and Stevens re-
fers to it as n good place to get out of.
ON the other hand American officers who
have lived here most of the time for two
years speak well of it. Gen. Hughes says
it is one of the healthiest places he ever
lived in; Maj. Sternbcrg prefers it as a
residence to any place in the Philippines,
and similar opinions are expressed by
Capt. Witherspoon. Custom House Officer,
and Maj. Cardwell, Surgeon of the hos
pital: in fact all the other officers. includ-
ing the medical men. Though the site
is fat and marshy, there is no malaria
here: the breezes, almost constant from
one side or the other, may be the salutary
influence which prevents it; and DR.. Card
well tells me that he has had very few
eases of typhoid.
10 Dc sure, ram Is the Cnle1 source OF
the drinking water, but it is usually fill
tered through porous stone and is very
wholesome; while the cost Of living, for
an American, is less than at Manila.
Swarms of lOcusts were observable
about the time of our arrival, and | saw
several sacks Of them captured by the ma
tives for food. The taste of them is said
to be not unlike shrimps, but l was dis
appointed i'll being unable to verify this.
With eggs, toast, butter, bananas, guava
jelly and coffee for breakfast, and from
four TO six courses for the other two
meals, the hotel people seemed to think
that an American ought TO endure with
out the luxury of stewed lOcusts. But it
is probably mere prejudice that prevents
the American palate from relishing them.
They disappeared in a few days.
IMPORTANT COMMERCIAL CENTER.
Iloilo akssts IN Ms location and facili-
ties as commercial center. TyphoOns
seldom occur so far south as 1910, and
the channel, which is two and a-half
miles wide here, forms a safe anchorage
for the largest vessels. A moderate
amount of dredging would enable them
to come up to the dock; as the bottom of
the river is soft mud, the necessary eX-
penditure would not seem to be great.
Gen. Hughes has in contemplation an
aqueduct Is miles long to supply the town
Win water. ana dlSO the tOlStTuCllOA VI
railroad to Capiz. In view of the APP
preparation by the Commission of $1,000
900 for roads and bridges in the Visayas,
work has already begun on the streets.
A tramway has just been laid along
Gale Marina, In front Of the Pay De
partment, over which naked-lmbed ma
tives are pushing dump cars full of stone
and earth brought in praOs from Guima
ras, for road building. There is no doubt
the natives will have greater opportunity
for labor under the policy being inaug
urated by Judge Taft's Commission than
ever before; and they will have better OPP
portunity for education also, as soon as