Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-02-12
ARE GREAT COW ARDS.
DR.. Harry j. Watson Says the Fill
pino is Not Brave.
LETTER FROM THE ARMY SURGEON
Anxiously Awaits News From Home
Cannot Get 1t Thru the Newspapers
Because They Cannot Afford to Pay
Cable Tolls.

Gable Tolls.
Attorney Chester w. Whitmore, of
thls city, is in receipt of long and in
terestlng letter from Dr. Harry ]. Wat
son, formerly a resident of this city,
put who was some months ago an.
pointed surgeon in the regular army.
Dr. Watson has many friends in OF
tumWa, who will be pleased to learn
that ne likes his position and is enjoy
ing himself in the Philippines. Elk
tracts from the letter to Mr.. Whit.
more follow:
Spanish Fort"
Batanga Province, Luzon,
December II, 1900.
Friend Whitmore:
l am now camping in a tent on Lake
Iaal. This place gets it's name from
the old fort built by the Spanish navy
years ago. 1t is only poor affair but
IRON its position a hundred men could
Keep off as many thousands.
l am with Company 81" of the Thir-
ty-nlnth U. S. Volunteer Infantry, in
charge OF Captain Long, formerly re-
porter on the Burlington Hawkeye.
we nave here 81 men, a captain, sec
ond lieutenant and myself. We have
Deen here about month and are still
busy getting our camp into shape. We
are building bamboo platforms under
all the tents to keep the men from
coming into contact with the ground.
we have very good cots to sleep upon.
and they, when rolled up, make a con-
venlently small bundle, so that they
are very useful articles.
have very little sickness at pres
ent, and what have is largely malar-
la, as this company was stationed for
some months in a malarial district,
and quite few of the men suffered ac-
cordingly.
The location of our camp is on
high hill. On one side of us is the
river at the mouth of which is the
city of Taal. Taal is pretty place
and had population of many thous-
ands but last July the insurgents fired
on the Americans there and as re-
suit certain parts of the town were
burned down and today it is not in
very prosperous condition. Taal has
the largest Catholic church on the is
land outside of Manila and it is said
d.
dollars. Last Saturday was Filipino
feast day and the people turned out in
large numbers to attend the service.
The Catholics deserve great credit for
the way in which they have taught
these people over here the Catholic rel
ligion. They attend church regularly
and pay much attention to the wor-
ship. believe the priests who have
labored here SO long could help us a
great deal if they would, but that of
course is question of state.
The old city of Taal was destroyed
by volcanic eruption in 1850. In the
middle of Lake Taal is small vol
cano, active, but not to any great ex-
tent. In 1850, however, it did much
damage, and the natives say that
many lives were lost at the time.
The natives in this vicinity are near
ly all fishermen and farmers and the
largest fish dealer says he pays our gov
eminent $1,400 per year for the right
to use nets on the river. Some large
fish are caught around here, and can
assure you that they are very good to
eat. The farmers raise corn and
fruits. Hogs are in abundance but do
not equal our Iowa's Pride, as the ma
tives do not feed them like our peo-
pie do.
The natives subsist chiefly on rice
and they seem to flourish on it. We
md that as rule they are strong and
muscular. They adopt squatting
position when doing the most of their
work. They have few tools, and what
they do have are very crude and of
primitive nature. The "bolo" seems
to answer every purpose satisfactor-
lily, and with this weapon they even
build bamboo houses to perfection.
The trouble with the insurgents
over here is that it is hard to distin-
guish between the good and the bad |
ones. Our government requires every |
man to buy schedulac, for which he |
pays ten cents. This is simply re-
ceip. for his registration. If you cap
ture a native he Immediately presents
his schedulac and says he is an 'ami-
go" the Spanish word for friend. He
may or may not be so, and that is
where all the trouble comes, for if a
fight is on, he may go to the Filipino
side when thru if he is not captured, |
wounded or killed. He can hide his
rife and get it again, so that unless
he is caught in the act it is hard work |
to decide whether he is friendly or
hostile.
In travelling from place to place here
we generally use the small native pom
ies, which are so small that ones feet |
often touch the ground, but they are
very strong, and prefer them to the |
American horse. They can be more
easily kept in food and require less
care and attention than the American
variety.
I get newspapers from Manila, but
they don't contain very much of in