Evening star., 1901-10-10
Experience of United States Troops
in Philippine Mountains.
A HIKE THAT WAS MADE MEMORABLE
FruitIess March Over FIinty Roads
and through Rivers.
SUFFERINGS OF THE MEN

A soldier now on duty in the Philippines
sends to The Star the following account of
recent expedition against a camp of in
surgents presumed to be located at an ac-
cessible point in the mountains near Con-
solacion. The brigands were not discov-
cred, he says, but the march was trying
one, causing the men great suffering.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
MAILBAG, Leyte, p. L., August 20, 1901.
We changed station from Consolation to
this place the 9th instant. The station is
on the opposite side of Lion bay. about
twenty-one miles from our former camp.
We have excellent quarters with modern
conveniences. The family of Senor Scaria
formerly occupied them, but upon the death
of the father, at the hands of the insurrec-
tos, they got hard luck (scared) and
moved to Manila One of his sons resides
here in a smaller house He is presidente
of the town and is at the head of every
thing. He is twenty-five years of age and
is what we would term In America a sport.
he has number of dances week at his
house, runs high limit monte game there
also nightly, and superlntends the cock
fighting each Sunday afternoon.
The presidente must be immensely
wealthy, as he has large warehouse here
packed with hemp and the whole town be-
longs to him. He is nice fellow and has
done everything in his power to make us
comfortable. He charges only SO per
month in the way of rent for two large
houses which We occupy He could have
charged $100 just as WELL but he was anx-
iouS for US to come.
Une of our houses is of brick and is said
to be the largest on the island. 1t is fully
as large as the White House. 1t was built
for family that has never used II. Every
thing about it was made by hand. There
are many fine carvings on wood which
must have taken years to complete.
The night we abandoned Consolation the
insurgents fiocked into the town and made
quite haul. They scared the presidente
badly and he fed here for safety Detach-
ments were sent from here, but they found
the old camp quiet
We have hiking parties out all the time
and the men are in a miserable condition.
Nearly all of them have bruised feet with
poor shoes to protect them. 1t is hard to
get shoes to supply the wants as two of
these mixes wear out pair of shoes. These
1orceu marches have appeared to be useless,
as nothing has been accomplished but an
insurrecto who recently surrendered tells
me they are very effective in keeping the
insurgents away from the bay towns. which
are their base of food supply. He says If
the hikes are kept up continually they will
have to surrender as they cannot obtain
any food in the mountains
The writer returned yesterday from a
hike of two days, the last half of which
Will always be remembered. We went from
here by small steamboat to Sogod Nuea-
va, a small town about nine miles from
Consolation. At that place we left de-
tachment of ten men to bring hack con
pesos belonging to the insurrectos and
which was surrendered to the United States
by Lieut.. Col Mariana Pacheco. of whom
l will write later on. He turned over tho
money in person.
There were twenty-five of us left. We
sent our rations by boat and struck out
along the bay at rapid gait. The dis
tance was only nine miles but I would
rather walk thirty miles on good road
The tide was up, which made 1t necessary
TOT US to wade most of the way Four small
rivers were encountered which we had to
swim with all our clothes on. Several Of
the men were unable to swim and we had
to carry them across.
we arrived at our old camp at Consola-
clon ABOUT IN the afternoon, thoroughly
soaked and tired. Our Filipino acouaint
ances gave us royal welcome inviting
US 10 their houses to dine and bringing the
poys plenty of dry clothing. Our trip so
1 1aI nau peen comparatively uneventful.
The only interesting sights to me were the
large hooks OF bats which cried like chill
oren- They alighted in trees in a limnv
manner, holding by their wings apparentiy
ana oi9 not appear to be scared by our ri
mes We shot one to see what it looked
like, and L must say it was an odd-lookjng
creature. 1t did not fall after being killed
as Its claws and huge wings held il. and
down. A.
Hat Resembling a Puppy
The body resembled a puppv exactIv
with hair 1t about half an fnch In
length. The wings We're sleek and meas
ured FULLY three feet. 1 understand the ma
tives are very fond of them as food. as
they have given to the soldiers two chick
ems In exchange for one of them. The
sight of them nearly turned my stomach.
We rested on hard bed that night in
consolation and were up and on the march
by sunup the next morning. We did not
know where we were going, but most of
the boys believed they were going back
home direct.
In haff an hour We struck a river which
we had to swim. This soaked us good for
starter, and from that on until We entered
our quarters at ii o'clock that night it
was nothing but rivers and rain
At Sogod Veho, a small village Lieuten-
ant Ansell, who was in command, called
for the presidente and demanded two guides
to be detailed from the police force There
was only one private at the station and a
lieutenant. 1t was beneath the dignity of
the latter to act as guide, but our lieuten-
ant pressed him into service and he start
ed off in bad frame of mind. During the
day Lieutenant Ansell made him climb CO.
coanut trees and throw down the nuts for
us, which must have made serious inroads
upon his pride.
We now learned our destination which
was no other than the camp of the noto-
rious Caple, and which was said to be
about ten miles away In the mountains.
The lieutenant had vague information of
where the camp was, and which he tried
to replenish by questioning the guides. but
without success. He next hailed a fishing
boat near shore containing five men but
they would tell nothing. Four Of the men
were made captives and the lieutenant
pointed his pistol at the head of the fifth
an old man, and demanded to know where
Capiles camp was.
The old fellow thought his time had come
as his face had the most agonizing look on
1t that l ever beheld. Down on his knees
in the water the old fellow dropped and
raised his hands for mercy Nothing could
be got out Of him, so the lieutenant walked
off and left him, much 70 his surprise ana
joy.
We started from this point for the moun-
tains with our captives as guides. The
trail was steep and precipitous for about
five miles, and when we reached the ton
Of the first mountain our little Command
was pretty badly winded. The rain had
ceased and the sun came out strong. We
lost many a pound through perspiration. A
rest was taken and the men examined Six
were found to be unfit to continue the
march and they were ordered back to the
bay to walt for us.
After a rest of about ten minutes we