The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1900-11-15
HIKING IN THE PHILIPPINES.
Experiences of Americans in Chasing the
Ladrones Of Panay.
ILoILo, ISLE DE PANAY, z. l.,

ILoILo, ISLE DE PANAY, Z. l.,
Sept. IS, 1900.
That slang term linking" is used by of
ficers and men alike in the Philippines
No one speaks of going off with n march
ing force, but refers to it as going on a
hike" No one says that he has been
with military expedition in the interior,
but states with all seriousness that he has
been with hiking party after rebels. The
word hike is often spelled "hique." Ii
seems to have a special Significance. A
march does not express all that the word
hike does. Hiking is known to involve
marching, accommodating, skirmishing,
fighting, mountain climbing, sun baking,
and all that goes to make II campaign
hard and trying. On some of these hikes
we get good drenchings in the rain, fol-
lowed quickly after by baking in the sun,
which brings OH fever promptly. | have
known men to come off duty full of
strength and reserve power to awake in
the night with a fever attack of sufficient
force to thoroughly weaken them, so that
they have to be carried on litters supported
by four natives the next daS. On the fol-
lowing day the wOrnOut fever-stricken
man will often recover as quickly as he
fell a victim to the dread disease, only to
have another attack inside of a month.
This chasing the ladrones, rebels and
bandits over the hills is quite an expert
ence. There is very little amusement in
the occupation, but one is pleased with
the knowledge that he is serving his coun-
try. The free-booters are numerous, but
party of our men Of say, % can readily
put to flight force four times this num-
Der. A few days ago we saw a force of
300 insurgents and cut-throats marching
in column about a mile from our position
near Passi, Island of Panay. We We're
in two sections and advanced on the col
umn by sections, one section advancing
while the other fired. We had previously
deployed, so that the fire from the column
did not have any effect on us. 1t is only
when troops are in mass that these rebels
can hit, and they never catch us in that
Our fire on the enemy brought
down many. Then reinforcements APP
peared on the hill, and we retreated by
section as we had advanced, all the while
pouring our fire into the enemy. We Sc
cured Il good position in Il protected point
and then kept up a steady fire until the
big force of insurgents scampered over the
hills and away. Had we had full com
pany, or even a complete platoon. we could
have captured or destroyed this force
We have secured many recruits for the
new Filipino American army by enlisting
men who were formerly of the Spanish or
lnsurgent army, but who are now willing
TO take the oath of allegiance to the
United States. BY this process the lines
Of the enemy are weakened, while those
Of the Americans are strengthened. Thse
new native soldiers are drilled, clothed and
equipped, and are used as spies, guides,
guards, police and scouts, and are very
useful to us. Campaigning in the Philip
pines is by no means child's play, but all
IF the soldiers enjoy the work. and when
it is over with will be glad that they have
earned their colors faithfully and helped
to restore peace and order in this land of
riot and OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES