The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-02-27
CAPTURED BY rIlIPIN0S.
Experiences of Nen frem the Yorktown,
Captured Nenr Baler.

FfaU touieTs weekly
Rynders. Of the Yorktown. : nd Privates
| Brown and Single. of Company L. Four
tenth Infantry are ths first OF the Amer
leans captured by the Filipinos to be res
cued. When they appeared at company
headquarters in town there was this dif-
ference in their attire. Brown wore a
ragged old straw hat and Single a ragged
old campaign hat. Single, moreover. had
a Spanish dagger and a spoon. which he
calls mis- mess kit" The remainder of
their wardrobe was a pair OF khaki tTous-
ers and blue shirt
once they were dressed and shaved they
were the heaithiest looking men in tileir
company. Hiking hundreds OF miles In
the train of Filipino bands. as long as 4
did not kill them, hardened their tissues.
Every meal ON commissariat beef re-
freshes Sheir memory with some addi-
tIonal anecdote Of their wonderful ex-
periences
Yes" Brown said. they marched US
from Mariquina to Byambang over the
mountains. / guess the distance must De
100 miles. Anyway, it's three or four
hundred. Some OF the officers wanted our
shoes more than We did, and We had TO
nike harefoOted
The first proposition the Filipino Of
ncers made 10 Us was TO join their army.
1hey said they'd make US captains and
we'd get thirty pesos, which is less than
half OF what Uncle Sam pays priva,es
Tor carrying a hrag. We told EN- We
wasn't built that way. They said We
needn't night. but Just drill their men.
We said that they could do their worst
TO US. but We wouldn't do that. either.
Yes, and they dlu have one OF our men
VINO was captain. Ills name Is Howard.
and he's a nice thing he is. He deserted
from the CALIFORNIA; and went over early
IN the game. He tried TO let on 10 US thai
he was only acting as interpreter under
fierce. We found out though. that he
drilled their men and had been in some
fights.
AT first the guards used to call US
names and loStle us But We learnt 'eIn
better One night, when we were quar-
tered with lot Of Spanish prisoners. the
guards got altogether too fresh and We
sailed in and wiped up the floor with
EN-. The Spanish was like brothers.
Inc next day We was taken before a
little rOund-faced Gugu general. We told
MN Americans fought when the names of
their mothers was taken In vain. Instead
OF hanging us ne grinned a Gugu grin
they're polite little beggarS-and told us
TO hit any Gugu that called US a bad
name and he would back US up. After
that they never said anything worse than
Observation-Disclosures That's eXaSperat-
ing enough when a Gugu says il as you
lag behind the guard on account of your
sore feet. They took good care though,
you bet. not TO get in the way of our
fists. If there is any one thing the Gugu
Is afraid OF it's a white mans fists.
when We got TO Byambang, there was
lot of Spanish prisoners and four more
o. our boys, and We heard that our
troops was closing in. We talked 1t over
and concluded that We was dead tired of
mixing and We wouldn't hike another
inch up north. We never had had much
hope of getting back to Manila alive any
oil n nrarlN~ sI..V r.. IL
came to the squeeze and they couldn't
take us any farther they'd make way with
US. IL was no use to prOlOng our misery.
So when the Gugus got ready to evacuate
the town We told EN- we'd 'hiked our last
hike If they wanted to carry us, all
right. They was too much pressed saw
ing their own skins for that. Gee! but We
was nice-lOoking objects when we went
to meet the American troops coming into
the town. Mebbe a man in a blue shirt
and khaki didn't look good Army cof-
fee, bread. and beef. is what we missed
W ere loading to the muzzle on EN- every
meal. Out with the Gugus ii was rice,
rice, rice all the time"
And what do you think of the Filipino
army as an organization" l asked
Brown.
ITS not an organization. It's just some
GuguS and some MauSerS. The most that
we saw together was 5000. and they didn't
have guns. They are divided into bands
all over the place. Every band looks out
for its own bacon. A soldier who loses
his rife is shot Not all their rifles are in
the hands Of their soldiers. We saw
MauSers stored in several places. There
must have been two or three hundred In
one place. They don't intend that we shall
capture a lot at one haul. Only soldiers
who are trusted implicitly are allowed
rifles. Recruits get none until they have
proved that they won't Intentionally make
a mistake and get taken prisoner. Their
officers amt what | should call very gen
tie with the men. They don't have any
awkward squads They put the recruit
right in and drill him with the company.
Ia he makes a little mistake the officer
gives him cuff If he makes big mis-
take the officer pulls him out Of the line
and lays the whip on his back till he yelis
Most of the soldiers. especially the re-
cruits, are pretty sick of their job"