Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1900-07-26
A Letter From the philippines.
linus. P. /. Anril ~ 1000,


days ago. 1t found me well and glad
to hear that you were all well and enjoying
yourselves. You see by this 1 am back with
my company. l left Manila one month ago
today. got tired of my job, it was too easy
SO came out here. Things are quiet just at
present around linus. Our regiment is scat
tered all over the province of Cavite. ) COM
panies are in San Francisco de Malabon, in
Cavite Vlejo, in Bacoor, and companies
and the 4th Infantry scouts in this town.
Duty is pretty stiff here now. We do outpost,
main guard and patrol. A detachment of 20
men from my company take hike of or 7
miles every morning through the surrounding
country, so we manage to keep pretty busy.
| The hot season is about on Then will
come the rain, but l guess we can stand it, as
we know what to expect now. My regiment
has been here one year and two months, SO
we begin to know this country pretty well. 1
was out on the hike this morning. We went
as far as Aguinaldo's house in Cavite Viejo,
about az miles from here. Co. NJ of our
regiment is stationed there at present.
hardly know what to tell you about the con-
dtion of things. Some think the main part
of the fighting is over, and great many think
that as soon as the rainy season sets in the
rebels will open up again. There is fighting
going on every day somewhere on the islands
and some of the boys are getting ambushed,
killed. wounded or captured almost every
day. No one thinks of going outside of the
outposts without being armed. The mountains
and outside districts are full of bands of arm
ed Ladrones, or robbers, who were formerly
there are several considerable bands of rebel
soldiers on the island yet that have never
been broken up. This town is the worst hot
bed of instruction on the island, and there
are hundreds of natives here that pretend to
have great friendship for the Americans, but
would cut our threats if they only dared, but
they haye great respect for an American SOL
dier with a gun. Aguinaldo was born and
raised near here and all the natives are well
acquainted with him, and at heart are his best
friends. The natives have been having great
times here lately. Easter week they had re-
ligious professions almost every day and
festas every night. They are all Roman
Catholics and know no other religion. They
had one great parade Good Friday represent
they went out in the rice field where they had
Him buried and resurrected Him and brought
Him into the church in great pomp and cere
mony. They have wooden images represent
ing Christ and the Virgin Mary. The natives
almost to a person are very bitter against the
Spanish friars, or priests. They have been
robbed by them and have suffered such in
dignities at their hands for SO long that they
are utterly tired of them. The natives, at
least the Tagalos, are very quick to learn and
try to ape American customs and manners.
They did not know what bicycle was when
we came here. Now person can see hun
dreds of natives riding bicycles on the streets
of Manila, and it is common sight to see a
small child dressed according to their ideas
of American styles, but sometimes they come
wide of the mark and cut funny figure.
The weather. class of the men, the dudes
and handles around Manila most all dress like
Americans with coat, vest and pants. When
we came here the fancy part of mans dress
was shirt of fine native cloth and perhaps
starched bosoms with the tail worn outside of
their pants. The women are slower in adopt
ing new styles. l have only seen perhaps a
dozen altogether dressed as Americans. We
see great many using knives and forks to
eat with. Before they all used their fingers,
| everybody dipping into the same dishes and
almost always sitting cross legged on the table,
but generally they all sit around on the floor,
which is used for table. They have Gus
tom here which enables them to save fuel.
Tonight one of them will have a fire and the
neighbors all cook by it. Next meal some
one else has the fire and so on. You see the
small children here riding the same stick
horses and spinning the same tops as back
home.
| You wanted to know if thought these peo-
pie are capable of self government. Most
emphatically NOT. You must take into con-
sideration that Aguinaldo represents only a
small portion of the inhabitants of these is
lands. A great many of the Tagalos, his
own people, are bitterly against him, and be-
sides, four-ffths of the people are bitter enc
mics of the Tagalos, and if the government
was to abandon these islands now it is my
opinion that it would not be months before
the Tagalos would incite bloody war for the
purpose of exterminating the other tribes, and
they would have great advantage for they
would hold nearly all the principal seaports
and are weather. and more civilized, being
in fact the only tribe that would be able to
furnish themselves with arms and munitions
of war, thus placing the others at their mercy,
which think would be lacking. If the u.
5. does not hold these islands it will be one
of the greatest mistakes it ever made, and it
would only be few years before we would
| find it out.
| Well, / must come to close
| Your Brother.
E. E. GRISsoM,
Company d, 4th Infantry, Manila, P. L.
The above Mr.. Grissom is a
| hrother-in-law of Mr. r P;chaa