Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1900-04-13

4
ton. We fed our horses on the grow
ing rice along the route. At Carrang-
Ian, however, the trail was so difficult
and mountainous that we had to pack
rations on our horses from San Jose,
20 miles over an almost impossible
trail. | made one such trip. A detail
was sent to San Jose after rations and
| was in 1t. We rode down, and led
our horses back. 1t took two days.
My horse had hox of hard tack on his
| back and / led him. We forded the
Rio Grandc II times along the route,
many places SO swift that if had not
been supported by my horse / would
have been swept away. The men were
starving in that town and they killed
the caribous and ate them. To add to
our difficulties, 1T6 bolomen walked in
to town one day, unsuspecting the
| Americans presence until they were
N"'NN" ~ ''p ou'I'oSl. lucy were
soon surrounded. and surrendered with
out n fight, and we were obliged to
feed them l was SO weakened by hun
ger and exertion that became dcs-
perately sick with malarial fever.
For four days | laid in Tho gloomy
quarters and thought certainly would
die. / could eat nothing, and could
not walk, but only crawl, and il rain
ed most of the time, and the place was
such desolate God forsaken hole that
didn't care If / ever got well. I
drank water in vast quantities, and
by the time we left ] was able to ride
again. All the other men were sick,
tco, and eight had to be carried on
litters all the % miles back, and two
subsequently died in our troop. Had
1t not been for the captured bolomen
who made rude bamboo litters and
carried the sick men back on their
shoulders there would be many. and
many grave in Carranglan. That
was my most terrible experience. The
captured bolomen afterward enlisted
as scouts in the service of the United
States; certainly a curious spectacle,
but American army rations and plenty
of pesos We're powerful argument.
But we failed to capture Aguinaldo
and started ON our return trip to Ma
Mia. Our route led us over through
Bulucan province after General
Pillar, who was having things his own
way there, and with 200 men had
chased a battalion of the 35th volun-
teers out of San Miguel. We struck
the rear end Of his retreating forces
and had fight in which three insur-
gents We're killed and two Americans
wounded. But he and his army es-
capped into the mountains where we
could not follow him, and we returned
to San Miguel, then to Balinig, or Bal
iwag, then to Maloos, where we took
the railroad to Manila. That was the
end of our northern trip or ''hike," as
the soldiers call an expedition.
Luzon is beautiful island and it is
only the lack of proper government
that has prevented its becoming one
of the finest countries on earth. 1t is
not white mans land, however.
There is something alien about it, that
prevents the American from sympath-
izlng with it, and causes eternal mis-
trust with the, natives. ] neither like
nor trust them. Perhaps it is because
they have been shooting at me for the
last seven months, but would no
more trust them than snake. But
they are very clever and intelligent
people nevertheless. As general
rule the insurgents will not fight unless
they have n great advantage, and when
hard pressed they scatter and separate
and hide their weapons, and put on
white clothes, and as you ride along
the road they sit In their sllacks and
look at you, smoking Il cigarette; OF,
perhaps come out by the roadside,
take off their hats, salute the officers,
and offer the soldiers drink of water
or n very bad cigarette. "Mucho
amlgol" Thermpidity'with Which they
change clothes, hide their guns, ana