Evening star., 1901-09-07

a H.
geanf in charge tied the trembling native
| up for the night securely, as he thought,
legs and arms. Upon examination in the
morning hte knots were found intact. The
prisoner had adroitly slipped through them.
"Mucha hard luck" the native guides
| would only say when the prisoner was
mentioned. This expression, which is Visa
| yam, is pronounced exactly like oms but
means that he was very much excited and
afraid. The guides were under the impress
sion that the soldiers had killed the pris-
| oner. They imagine that the American's g
principle pastime is the taking Of lives.
II any part OF the tales told of the volun-
teers that preceded us is true they have
some grounds for this belief, as it is said
that they would take shots at inofensive
natives while on their many "hikes."
Hike" is the general term used by the
soldiers for marching an expedition.
1t was originally introduced by one of the
western volunteer regiments and l believe
had its origin in Missouri
Fooled by n Filipino.
We had disastrous visit of a young Fill
pino about ten days ago. He was a
bright-looking fellow with sparkling black
eyes. He applied to the commanding Of
fcer's clerk for position as servant, say
ing that some other soldiers had referred
him to this place. He gave his residence
as Francisco.
He was told to go to the quartermaster
sergeant, who might find some work for
him to do. AS he was very modest in the
matter OF salary, the sergeant engaged him
to do the drudgery around the kitchen.
He performed his work we'll for several
days and became fast friend Of two OF
the soldier cooks. OF evenings they would
take him around the town to act as an in
terpreter.
He persuaded one of them to even give
up his bunk to him, over which hung two
new Krag-Jorgensen rifles and one hun
dred rounds of ammunition, the property
OF these men. Well, one morning the cooks
awOke to find their Filipino assistant miss
ing and, of course, the rifles and ammuni-
ton. Not trace of him was found
He evidently had confederates to whom
he handed the property at the back part
of the building. noise was heard by a
soldier who lay In a tent near by, having
met with serious accident by falling from
tall cocoanut tree, and he thought of call
ling the guard, but was afraid of ridicule in
case the noise was caused by some of the
numerous pigs, goats and dogs which de-
vote the night to prowling.
On each side of the building there was
a sentinel posted and how the rascal ever
got out with his booty is a mystery 1t
carelessness on the part of the cooks
The cooks will have to pay for the prop
erty on the next rolls, and they had to ac-
company an expedition that started the
next morning in quest of the thief. which
returned unsuccessful after two days in
the mountains. The Filipino possibly never
left the town, which was thoroughly
searched.
The loss of these rifles and ammunition
has made us uneasy, we are surrounded
by mountains and as the guns will carry
fully 1,SOO yards, couple of good shots
could annoy very much, as the noun
tains are impossible. The young Filipino
has no doubt rejoned the insurgent ranks
and has probably been made general for
his deed
From all accounts there are quite a band
Of insurgents in the mountains between
this place and Baybay, which is fifty miles
distant. There is said to be a movement
now in progress to drive them into trap
by detachments which start from several
points ct once, and it is hoped that the
expedition will forever rid this beautiful
island of instructions, and that the ma
tives will once again tread peaceful paths
and the island become more prosperous
than in the past.
The volunteers told us that the island
was very healthy and we have found it
So 1t is quite hot during the day, but the
shade is always cool. The nights are cold,
so much SO that blanket Is necessary
and often two. This Is remarkable Cors:d-
ering we are but a short distance from the
equator.
Many Natives WelI-tO-DO.
was under the impression when l .anded
here that the majority of the people We're
as poor as Job, but 1 have found out cif-
ferent reliable and intelligent native
Informed me that there was large num-
Der of wealthy people in the community
and that all of them had a snug pile
laid away for rainy days He told me
that there was more money In this town
than in the larger towns. ihls eAplalns
why we cannot get the women u WASH
TO, u.s. They have got too much money.
AS write l can see the women going to
church They make a pretty picture IN
their quaint gowns. The senoritas Of the
better class wear patent leather SHOES with
they dispense with shoes and stockings and
use only a light slipper, which they slip
their bare feet into, and which is always
coming off.
for their Sunday stockings, as they have
besieged the writer with requests for the
rubber bands used by the Offices One SOL
der has a pair of silk garters which were
presented to him by a foolish girl and for
which he has been offered $40, but he says
he IS holding out for a hundred. He said
he offered them to the senorita for kiss,
but she got so indignant that he will not
venture to be bold again In hurry.
Another DeluGe of GrasshOppers.
We were visited by the third deluge Of
grasshoppers on the 18th, and 1t looked for
awhile that they would eat up all the vege-
tation In sight. They would strip tree
of it's foliage in few minutes They filled
the streets a foot thick. AS fast as one of
their number would die tney would eat IL
up The natives eat them, and say they
are very edible, but we will hardly culti-
vate the appetite unless abandoned by the
commissary department with its rations
| made in America"
A small commissary has been opened here
and it is daily besieged by the natives beg
gtng to purchase anything at any price but
it is against the law to sell to any one but
soldiers The natives cannot understand
why a public store will not sell to every
body.
The canned goods keep in excellent condi-
tion and have as fresh a taste as when
canned / was surprised to find evaporated
cream keep 80 WELL The only stores have
noticed which have suffered from exposure
and climate are tobacco (Which molds) and
candy put up by a New York firm. The
candy has evaporated fully one-half, and
has a stale taste. 1t Is surprising, but
notice that the soldiers buy more candy
from the commissary than any other ar
ticle The hardtack issued to the soldiers
here is an excellent article, being as light
as a soda cracker. They are different from
the hardtack of '62 on which the old vets
lost so many teeth.
The commissary here Is not fitted out
with scales. making 1t difficult matter to
issue rations to small detachments as 1t
is guesswork all the way through. sit re-
minds me- said an old sergeant, "of the
| way they used to weigh pigs in Arkansas
10 MI on of