The National tribune., 1900-08-16

As soon as friendly natives announce hav.
ing seen a band In the mountains an Of
hcer Of the post and from Is to 25 men
| fit out an expedition to move on the ma
tives. In hopes Of capturing them with
! over the hills is hard work, for the guer-
rillas go light-weighted, carrying little
more than rifle or bolo. and living alto
eether on the country. Our men have to
carry little more than this. so when 1t
comes to game Of run the natives win.
They are fleeter of foot and more used
to getting over the rough country; they
stand the heat of the burning sun better,
and have several other advantages of the
climate over our men. In spite of these
advantages, however, the bandits are al
ways scattered, killed or captured. DC
casionally they turn in their flight and let
us have volley, but usually they are too
intent upon making good their escape to
bother their heads about pouring lead INTO
the sky. But this guerrilla-chasing tells
on the men. We cannot use horses, for
horses cannot get over the rough coun-
try occupied by the bands in the noun
tains. All work must be done afoot, as
a rule, and marches of from 10 to 10
miles per day after bandits, with the sun
coming down like a fiery ball all day, is
severe work. But this was to be eX-
pected when we joined the army, and
do not know of any one who has COM
plaincd. The men carry no blankets, for
they are too heavy, and they sleep upon
the ground. We take rations at the start,
but after a few days out begin living on
the country like the natives.
SOME OF THE WORK IN QUARTERS.
Although our pieces look soiled and out
of condition when in the mountains,
every rifle and article of equipment Is
kept in frst-class condition while we are
at our post quarters. inspections are
held crery day, and all rifles examined to
see if the bore is clear the sights IN good
condition and the bayonets polished until
they shine. All mess kits are opened at
the weekly inspection, and every piece Of
the outfit must be there and polished, as
rust will create disease in this climate.
All cantecns must be clean, and every
thing in ship-shape order.
INsTRUCTING PEACEFUL NATIVES.
Another feature of the work involved
in the regular duties of n regiment III the
Philippines relates to the instruction ot
the natives. In some places the best young
men have been selected for police and sol
dicrS 1t has always been considered
risky to drill the native with the rifle i'll
the manual of arms, for fear he may turn
his training to good account for himself
against the Americans some day. On the
Isle of NegrOs one batch of natives which
had been drilled by a United States Army
officer finally took to the hills, taking with
them their rifles. But these instances are
rare. However, to avoid trouble, the
drilling is usually done with damaged
rifles. The officers and the non-commis-
stoned officers of the forces in the cities
and towns attend to this duty, Ia king
turns at drilling certain selected natives.
These natives make good police, and
they take interest in their work. They
require little or no sleep, often remaining
on duty all night after being in service
all day. They do not expect high wages,
but work for from 20 to % cents per day
and take care of themselves. Their equip
ment for regular service consists of
spear, or boIo, and for purposes of drill
they are permitted to use discarded rifles.
They are a great aid to the soldiers for
outpost work. and many a weary detach-
ment has made use of numbers of the ma
tive police with which to post guards for
the town for the night. In the event of
fire these native police are competent
to quell riot and disorder and help great
deal in the directing of tearing down of
bamboo shacks SO as to prevent the
spread of the fire and in compelling ma
tivcs to bring water in bamboo buckets.
There is no fire apparatus available, OK
cept in a few cases, such as in large
places like Manila and IloilO, they have
old-style hand-pumps of Spanish make,
every one of which is badly out of order,
as is everything Spanish. l have seen
these hand-pumps brought out many
times, and they always fall to pieces for
lack Of a screw, or fail to work owing
to lack of fabrication of bearings, and
while repairs are i'll progress the fire CON
sumes The building, and then the fire de-