Evening journal., 1900-04-21
LIFE In THE PHILIPPINES
AS EXPERIENCED BY A Will,
MINGT0N BOY

THOMAS R. RIGBY WRITES AN IN
TEREsTING LETTER OF HIS SOL
DER LIFE IN FAR AWAY
CLIMEs.
Thomas r. Rigby formerly OF this
city, now a member of Company X,
Twenty-eighth Regiment, U. S. v, sta
toned in the Philippines. has written
the following interesting letter TO a
friend in this city:
Perez Dasmarinas, Manila, p. l.,
March z, 1900.
Dear Friend james,.
! thought / would write you a few
lines and tell you my experiences while
in the Philippines. / left the United
States on November 4. 1899, for Manila
We arrived at Gibralter on January 10,
and left there for Malta on the seven
teenth. Gibmlter is the strongest fort
in the world, having a gun for every
year in a century It is situated off
the west coast of Spain, and we all got
passes to land on Spanish territory, but
as soon as we got ashore the Span
iards hissed us and followed us all
about.
The English governor of Gibralter
later sent us an invitation to visit the
fort, which we did, and all the English
soldiers took us around the fort and
we had a good old time. The British
navy yard saluted us when we entered
and left the yards
We steamed through the Mediterran-
can Sea TO Malta, where we arrived
on January 23. On the way we passed
on the east of the African coast ant
about fOrty-five miles from where the
Beers were fighting. At Malta we CAV,
a street parade in honor Of the Queen
of England. We remained three days
and sailed for Port Said, at the moutl
of the Suez Canal We arrived there
on December 6 and here is where yot
see the Hindoo fakir do his tricks. Thl
India people are very slick. They come
out to the edge of the boat, and If yOl
! throw money in the sea they dive fo
it and get il nearly every time. The.
have a peculiar boat they call
Il "cascO.' Here IS where l saw my frs
b banana, cOcoanut and orange trees
2 The scenery is beautiful
We went through the canal to Alden
a distance of l6 hours run, and entere
the Indian ocean and stopped at Co
e Jumbo, India Here we saw the Turk
p, and the Borneo people. They have
t funny way of travelling the street.
and all they wear is a piece of calic
about the body, and they look like vii
men. They show you all about tn
q town for ten cents an hour. A sma
p l-bOy will pull you all over the town
q wagon covered by an umbrella. an
q will take you as fast as you want to g
n When we crossed the equator In th
Il Pacific ocean bound for Manila, il wa
J. awfully hot. We arrived at Manil.
- December "a, and landed on Christina
v day. The stars and stripes floate
5 everywhere. / saw wrecks OF Spanis
n vessels that Dewey destroyed. / wa
stationed in MANILA ten days and the
left for BacoOr, Island of Luzon. O
January we left for linus, the iirir
line. and engaged i'm battle at H..
n O'Clock and continued until 2 p. 1
e We had one man killed and eigl
4 wounded, but we killed over one hun
n dred. We camped for the night. al
y the next day for Dasmarinas. viii,
y we took without any firing
We left Dasmarinas January 10, al
= took another town. Palaparan. Whi
IL we were eating dinner theenemy open'
fire on us from a nearby hill, viii,
was a surprise to us. The insurgen
numbered about 900 men, while we HI
Or but four hundred. We charged up,
r them and killed $50 men and wound
h. 120 more. We were lucky, as none
es us was hurt. We are now doing ga
IN rison duty and expect to remain he
re under the rainy season. Your friend
Thomas r. Rigt
Co. X, 2Sth Infantry. u. S. v, Mani
ID