Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1900-09-08

Miss MattiesDeatrich,
Collyer. Kansas.
DEAR SISTER AND ALL AT HOME:
/ take great pleasure in answering
your kind and welcome letter which
1 received few days ago, and was
overioyed to hear from you all, and
that you are all well at home.
This leaves me well and doing fine
at present.
1 am enjoying good health now al
though when 1 first came here l was
sick for a few weeks. The change in
this country is what made it. But it
it was nothing much to speak of for
most all the soldiers had a little taste
of sickness.
This tropical climate does not agree
very well with American people but
nevertheless all the boys in my COM
pany are enjoying good health now
and have been since we have been
here on Mindanoa Island. When we
were on Luzon Island it was a very
sickly place. 1t rained almost all the
time. and of course our marching was
ndI anu udI u uuOt fCIy anu
to make things pleasant for us the
enemy kept US on the go night and
day.
1 am going to write full account
of the doings of the 10th Regiment aDd
of the battles we have been in since
we left Preside, Cali. We left on the
23rd day of November, 1899, and of
course you know we left California on
the transport Indiana. and the trip
was very nice for everything was
strange to us all.
We arrived at Honolulu, December
3, and stayed there three days, and of
course 1 put my time to good use and
saw everything there was to see. 1t
is very pretty place, but cannot ex-
plain how pretty it is. 1t would take
an artist to do that for he has names
for pretty places, but anyhow it is
grand place, with quite a good manv
Americans, Japanese and Chinese
there.
l visited the palace where the queen
lives, it is fine building. The art
building is grand.
We left Honolulu, December 6, for
Manila and arrived in Manili bay De-
cember 20, and went ashore December
%, marched straight to Camp Alma.
eight miles from Manila, and stayed
there one month. While there we
were doing guard duty and making
maps of the surrounding land.
While out on one of our marches
we were compelled to stay in an old
church yard for one night. 1t was in
a town called Taytay. We found the
bones and bodies of lot of dead peo-
pie. The enemy was to come that
night. but did not for their own good.
Then we came back and went in
camp one week at Sunatte that is in
Manila. Then we went on board the
transport Francisco and landed at
town called Segaspi. 1t is on the
south end of Luzon island. We landed
there the 7th of February. and we
town called Darago. The night we
got there all of Co. Fl went on guard
and stood guard all night in the
heavy rain.
We linked" out on the 14th of Feb
ruary for about miles and came I'M
der fire of the enemy for about two
hours and half. We only lost one
man in the engagement but the Fill
pinos lost over hundred killed and
wounded. But our boys fought the
real American way and the heavy rain
did not bother them in the least. We
took three days hike" and it only
took two days to finish the job. We
.shiked" eleven miles to town called
Segow and fought the enemy back to
Dearago, fighting two days steady 1t
was hard battle but we did not loose
a man. The Filipinos were lying dead
in the roads and trenches for a dis
lance of eleven miles After we re-
turned to quarters the insurgents that
were left went back to the trenches
that we had driven them from and
we had to go out again the next day
and drive them out. After that we
split the company up in squads and
every day the squads would go out
and find small bands Of insurgents
and our boys soon put them out of
the way and broke their trenches to
pieces. On the 9th and 18th the in
burned the town of Darago.
They did not burn the whole town,
Just fine Catholic church and big
but the Americans did the
rest. When we arrived at Darago we
found the streets full of dead negros
and Chinese It is said that the in