Lancaster enterprise. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1891-1905, 1900-10-20
AN INTERESTING LETTER.
Capt. Sawyer Writes From and
OF the Philippines, the War
Conditions, the Climate
and the Products.

y
these people SO we'll. We landed
in Manila on December q, 1899,
and went into camp on the Lu-
meta. On the 1st of January we
marched to Sampoloe, five or six
miles distant, and marched back.
The regiment left, and left me in
command of the camp. | had to
round up the sick and the strag-
glers, and send all the baggage
of the whole regiment over to the
government warehouse in Manila,
and at the same time organize
and send forward these men as
they came in. This threw me in
contact with hundreds of the class
of teamsters driving "bull carts"
(caraboa, or water bulfalOes) q,
caramates "a two o-wheeled top
vehicle), and so forth. On the
5th | joined my command, and
took command of my company,
and was at once sent out on the
firing line and placed in com
mand Of the outpost. On the 9TH
we marched to linus. My COM
pany formed the advance guard.
That was the day of the bloody
battle of linus. The next day we
went to Dasmorinas, driving the
enemy before us. On the night Of
the 10th we went to Silau. On
the 11th we marched over the
mountains to take Taal, and
fought the battle of Talisoy. |
was again in command of the
advance guard and bore the
brunt Of this attack. We were at
tackled from ambush across a ra-
vine where we could not recon-
noitre. l charged across this
ravine and drove them out of
their rifle pits. The next day we
marched to and took Tananan.
The 18th we fought the battle Of
Luta and took Lipa. The 18th
we took San Jose; on 10th we
took Botongas and Banan, fight
ing all the way, and releasing
800 Spanish prisoners. We went
back to Lipa, and since that time
Lipa has been my headquarters,
and l have marched 1000 miles.
l have secured the country in all
directions for 20 to 80 miles. |
then commanded expeditions
varying in length of time from
one to seven days. l have cover
ed almost every foot of land in
this territory; been to almost
every house; slept on the bare
ground, with not as much as a
handkerchief under me; seen and
talked with thousands Of these
people and been in many fights,
captured prisoners, arms, ammu-
milton, horses and rice. Now, |
know these people as well as any
man can learn them in eight
years living among them as |
have described. Lipa is a large
city. Here some Of the wealthiest
people live. | have talked with
and mingled with them, and l
know them, too, as we'll as we
can learn them in that length of
time. And what | have written
is based on this experience.
The newspapers have eXagger
ated the bad climate. | have
never seen the thermometer nine
ty in the shade. The wet season
did not start till the 18th Of Au
gust, and it is not bad now. The
sun is not as hot as it is in Amer
ica. No sunstrokes here; nobody
uses fans. 1t is perfectly delight
full in the shade; it is cool al
night. There are very few insects
of any kind-hies, fleas, etc; nc
gnats, few mosquitoes, no snakes
to amount to anything, no taran
tulas, no centipedes. The malaria
; fevers are not one hundredth part
as bad as in South Carolina. Fe-
yer yields readily to quinine. The
greatest trouble here is stomach
worms.
Cotton will not grow here
therefore here is a market for on
cotton. Corn, wheat, oats, etc,
do not grow here. Here is
, market for all our grains. Rict