The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-07-24

Captain Murray Baldwin of the 10Th
Infantry, now on his return To duty in
the Philippines on the transport Grant,
will be remembered by a number OF
Honolulu people. Captain Baldwin was
originally quartered here in 'gS with the
18th Infantry and has looked upon
Honolulu as an oasis in the path OF
duty ever since, although while here
the captain, only lieutenant then, had
several experiences the reverse of pleas
ant.
During the long to be remembered
reign of Brigadier General King one OF
the young officers details was fifteen
mile ride every two days with a squad
of men, who were posted Waianae way,
70 stop the depredations of the New
York regiment, who We're awaiting
themselves too literally of the cordial
invitation to help themselves to fresh
fruit, by wantUm destruction.
Lieutenant Baldwn's instructions
We're to order his men to promptly shoot
down any New Yorker who would not
halt Immediately upon being challenged
and the feeling was very bitter between
the regulars and the volunteers. the
former feeling that they We're generally
| included in the bad name that the sold
iery was getting owing to the depre-
datiOns of the 4,ew York men.
Many will remember the accident
during the same period, when a hack
drove into a live wire on King street
resulting in the death of the hackman
and two soldiers. 1t was in connection
with this accident that Capt. Baldwin
experienced the closest call that he has
yet encountered in peace or war. The
captain and companion We're driving
in a buggy Immediately ahead of the
hack for some distance and turned in
to the sidewalk to speak to a brother
officer The hack passed them and had
hardly got ahead when the horse step
ped on the wire and fell dead. The
hackman attempting to help the ami
NAL received the. shock i'm his turn as
did the soldiers Fastening to his rescue
But for the fortuitous hail of the broth
er officer, Baldwin's buggy would have
maintained the lead with the same in
fallibly fatal result.
Captain Baldwin saw twenty months
of duty in the Philippines and nas a
store of interesting anecdotes of the
manners and customs of the Filipino
at home.
The native is the most stolid Of in
diVidualS and the most uninteresting
person on earth to talk to- as a years
daily intercourse will never cause the
slightest CLEAN of interest or intelll-
gence to tighten up an anything but
prepOSSesSing cOuntenanCe. Several OF
the officers are well up in the native
dialects and have tried unavailingly to
produce a change of expression by a
deXterous twist of the conversation.
The natives are slow to move but
once firm in their convection, are UNI
alterable, fact that readily explains
the logged resistance of the present
war.
Children dress at five years old, when
they do dress exactly as they will when
how IA YstNv ha
nading the streets and alleyways, hirt-
ing the long train of their dresses and
smoking a lengthy Manila cigar with
ease and apparent enjoyment.
Filipino beauties, in the opinion of the
military, are a polite fiction of the press
As far as the Spanish are concerned
there are many charming bellies in Ma
Mia, but even a twentieth part Of real
native blood WILL so claim the officers,
effectually spoil the female face divine,
from an American standpoint.
The manners and customs of the Ma
Mia restaurateur seem to be imbued
with anything but cleanliness. In Del
monico's at Manila, the dinner consists,
as do all Spanish dinners, of many
courses, and in the Philippines one
knife and a pewter fork Between
courses the knife and fork are wiped
by the waiter on a cloth that originally
may have been white. but which
a steel gray color and a greasy, clammy
consistency. The American of expert
enCe waits for the removal of the
| course and then makes wild dive for
the knife and fork and holds them
| triumphantly out of the reach of the
would be wiper, So confirmed has tins
! habit become that Captain Baldwin
when dining with friend at the Pa
lace Grill in San Francisco, after the
soup was served, made a wild grab for
the cutlery much to the establishment
of the waiter and his own embarress-
ment.
! a narrow escape from the sweep of
an insurgent bolo was averted by the
| Captains skill i'm the saVate, the
| French manly art of self defence The
| Filipino made the cut during police
/ raid and at close quarters with the Of
| ficer, who was unarmed. a blow from
the fist while it would have reached the
! insurgent, would not have saved the
officer from the cut but the danger was
averted by a well delivered kick in the
| pit of the stomach and a spring back
wards just i'm time to miss the down
ward sweep of the knife though not too
quickly to miss the vicious swish of
what Captain Baldwin designates as
an uncommonly close shave.
! The daring of the insurgents was eX-
! empified at target practice one day.
The range was placed in a supposedly
perfectly safe position while the Of
hcer in charge sat comfortably on a
stool watching the firing and the red
! flags of the sand men, or markers pro-
| claiming a hit. Suddenly all the red
| flags were hoisted at once and the little
body of markers, forsaking their shell
ters, ran at full speed toward the FIR
| ing line shouting as they came. The
| Filipinos had quietly crept up to short
| range and were potting the unfortunate
markers who, exposed TO the insurgent
fire on the one side dared not leave
their shelters for fear of their comrades,
bullets on the other.
Captain Baldwin is one of the few
officers whose constitution has seemed
to assimilate with a tropical climate.
He has been fortunate enough 10 escape
days illness and on his transfer to
another regiment when obtaining his
step, asked to be sent back to the Phil
lippines rather than Fort Assiniboine
where his company was bound. He re-
ports that the Hawaiian boys also have
universally stood the climate remark