Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-12-13
LETTER FROM CHINA.
J. Fleming Writes to an ottumwa
S Friend.
WAS in The BIG FIGHT AT PEKING,
Fleming Was Stationed at Matow, Chi
ma, and Expected to Go to the Phil.
ippines-Interesting News of the
Far East.

2
c. l.. Firkins, of this city today re-
ceived a letter from j. Fleming, a
private in Co. &c" Fourteenth Uni
ted States infantry. Mr.. Fleming is
known to many residents of Ottumwa,
and he is son of Mr.. and Mrs. John
Fleming, of Belknap, who are among
the oldest residents of that place. Mr..
Fleming also has two brothers in OF
tumwa, Jacob and Oscar, the former
conductor and the latter a brakeman
on the Burlington out of this city.
The letter was written from Matow,
China, and it will be read with inter
est by people residing in Ottumwa and
vicinity, where the relatives of Mr..
Fleming are well known. The com.
munication follows
breads china's Winter.
"Your letter has just been receiv-
ed, and I will answer it now. as we
are soon to move, and it will proba-
bly, be long time before l get an
other chance to write you. Where
the regiment is going we ''buck pri-
Yates" do not know. We were only
told that we are going to move, but
the supposition is that we will go back
to Manila. If this is the case we will
not have to pass the winter in China,
which would be very hard on us, after
staying in the Philippines, where the
weather never even gets chilly. The
boys all expected that we would get
to go back home after this expedi-
ton, but guess they will hold us
for while"
Eggs Very Cheap.
CAS- to my health, it is of the best.
eat nearly everything see. And
by the way, you should see me eat
eggs. In fact, you should see all the
boys eat them. There isn't fellow
who goes out to cook eggs but cooks
at least ten. and many take more
than that. 1t seems that the Chi
nese have been saving their eggs for
a year or two, judging from the guam
titles in which they bring them to us
each morning. We give them SO cents
per hundred for them and they go al
most go crazy with delight. They get
down on their knees and you would
think they would crack their heads
by butting them on the ground. They
also bring fine fruit to the camp, such
as pears, apples, grapes and peaches.
Campaign in China.
I'VE have had great campaign in
China. Words fail to tell of our ex-
periences. Several times have been
tempted to take my old gas pipe, Gas
the guns are Ycalled) and blow my
head off but have pulled thru safe and
sound. There were times when I
thought my day had come. l could
see men falling on all sides. 1t was a
great sight. How the shells would
whiz and how the bullets would sing.
Thru the Great Iron Gate.
"The column finally reached Picking
on August Ia, and with a little steady
fire we soon put the 'Chings' on the
run and took the first walls. On the
18th, a day which | shall never forget,
as it happened to be my twentieth
birthday, we started to go thru the
we'll constructed iron gates to the I'm
perial city, and everything moved like
clock work
THE battery would blow open a
gate and then the infantry would
drive the 'Chings' back until the bat
terry could get in position to blow
UP another gate, and SO on, until we
had entered five of these gates when
orders came to withdraw the Ameri-
can forces. That ended our career as
far as fighting was concerned The
regiment camped in a. large grove in
Picking, but after being there a week
our company was ordered to Matow,
where we have been located for the
past six weeks.
Give all the boys my regards. l
don't think it will be long until l will
be at home again. will close, as it
will soon be my time to go on guard. .