The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-04-08
FROM
PHILIPPINES

Following Is a copy of a letter received
by Frank Johns, from his FREUD Robert
Whtenack, formerly Of this city but now
on board the L. :. 5. Quiros,
L. s G. Qllro'. Solomangn,, P. L.
February IS 1901.
Mr.. Fr,n1 N. Johns,
Wilmington, DsI. U. :, A.
Doar friend,
Your kind and welcome letter of
Dec 1lth received some tlno ago. hut
have mot had an opportunity of answer
| Ing it previous 10 this. At the present
time we are lying weather bound Ia the
| above named port and having plenty OF
rain and some pretty cold weather. Moth
ing of tho cold weather of home, for the
| thermometer Is seldom below 8, degrees
but for thisicnuntry that is cold enough to
make follow move around o keep warm.
We left Cnvite over month ago aud
have bsen pretty much on the go ever
sinc,, cruising along the northern and
western coast Of Luzon, from Subig bay
to Appari. We have been trying to get
| to..A ppari for two week, but this is as far
a we have been able to get SO far. Tho
| seas are running pretty high and this ship
| Is not very big so we have tough time
of it while buckins wind and sea. There
| ARE very f0W harbors on this coast above
Iiugayan Gulf and we have to lay here
! anu Wulu tOF tHo hth'uCi w uioac'uto.
| There Is no town here only u department.
of supplies tor Inc army and Il few shacks
or,,' Nipa huts.'
The town proper lies three miles inland
| so. you SEQ we do not go ashore. Manila
is about the only place | go ashore
and as wo are generally in there at inter
walls of 30 or 10 days am always glad to
500 the ship start for "homs' rs wo call 1t.
| But this Itimo ws nesm to be Out for u
| a lr,, aI,ty and i,,u ofl 7
glad and then iu others am not. The
longer we stay away the mora money l
| will have and that is what am hore for
! So guess " Is beSt to stay out llttle
while longer. The ship being small we
cannot carry i,aymaster with us AMI ns
there arc about Il Or 16 small vessels in
tho same fix we nli have tho one paymaS-
ter in the Navy Yard at Cavlte and when
We go thors We can get our money. All
tho large ships such rs the Brooklyn, Ore.
gon, Yorktown etc. carry Il paymasicr and
soma of them two SO they can ge5 money
wherever they may be. But for all the
drawbacks like. tho Gunboat best. We
do not have the strict regulation Of big
ship and yet 1t Is + lenty strict enough to
suit my ideas. Thank goodness my time
will soon expire 10: am gottns anxious
to SEQ the folks AZ home once more.
Since | came out hero , hnvo done n
SlCWt Gbai "a aiSuh" anu hh'o
bsen in several ships. | arrived i'll Ma
Mia Bay Feb lst. lS!E on the U. 5. $.
Buffalo and on the 4th WAS transferred to
u. s. 5. Boston. On the Boston W. went
to lloilo and bOmbarded and took that
place. Went south to Xlmboanga and
0ame back to Cobu. Lay nine weeks in
that port whom tho BustoL was ordered
home. Ga going from Ceh.l 10 Manila
We we're transferred to the u. S. 5. Ben
nington, on the 9th Of Juno to 90 TO the
L. ) 5. York own thon in llolo to take
| the placs of men lost at BlGra. Went
aboard tho Yorktown june 18th. In July
we csnls TO Manila and then to Lin gayan
Gn( back to Manila aud then to Hong
| Kong on tho llth of August. stayed II
days came to Manila and went sonth to
tho Zulu Archipelago, where wo stayed
eight months. during that time visited
b rnoo and Islands Of the Archipelago
Joio and Mindanao.
On tho Eth of Fob. 1890 wo left tho
York town and went aboard the gunboat
Albay, one month on the Albay and then
to this ship on tho 23l OF March and have
been here ever snce. cruising clear
around Luzon and stopping at all sorts Of
| little places We have not had had any
fighting in this shin and do not expect to
have any.
Hoping this will find you and all the
folks in good health rs it leaves me. and
wi h kind rememberances to all the boys
and iuqurng friends. | romalu,
| Yours sincerely,
| Robert A. WhitenuCk.