The Savannah morning news., 1901-02-04

than the ordinary man could invent in
weeks Of careful study.
When the regiment finally gets back to
Manila there will be a time Of general
overhauliug The men will have new is
sues Of clothing for the home coming.
The baggage which has been in storage
will be inspected. Most Of il will have
been ruined by the excessive moisture.
The heavy wooden clothing which the
men had in the states ana which they
have not used since a few days after
they left the Pacific coast is almost GER
t3inly gone. When it all has been gone
over and the deficiencies made good
comes the work OF getting it all on the
transport for home. That usually requires
a week and when it is done the regi-
ment is ready to embark. 1t took nearly
a month to occupy the north coast of
Mindanao and it viii take as long TO get
the men away from there. Tawi Tawi
and the Sulus are further away and
there are some posts on the east coast
of Luzon and the islands east of Il that
will probably require more time. SO few
ships are available as transports about
the islands that even if the new men
could all be landed al Manila together
1t requires nearly as long TO get the old
men reconcentrated there.
At all posts that can be reached by
water the same process will be carried
out. Garrisons pear sea ports will march
to them and their baggage will be haul
ed in wagons or in the bull carts of the
natives. To the north Of Manila there are
many posts from which the men will
ccme on foot as they went in. Their bag
gage will come out in wagons, the wagons
which are ordinarily engaged in taking
in the supplies of the post. 1t
needs no wise man to see that all this
will require time. When Gen. Schwan
distributed his brigade over Cavite and
Batangas provinces just south of Manila
early last year, II took more than a month
to complete the occupation. Water trans-
portation was available for very little Of
Il and the men were obliged to march
1t will take them nearly as long 10 come
out in spite OF their eagerness to come
| home.
This is only the baldest outline of some
of the work the quarterma sters will have
to do in exchanging the army in the Phil
ippines. 1t is a task larger than any
shipping concern in the world could I'M
dertake. The army distance tables allow
eight thousand miles for the journey
across the Pacific. Most of the men in
the volunteer regiments enlisted from
places east of the Mississippi river Very
many of them were from points in the
extreme east. If two thousand miles is
allowed as the average of land travel per
man 1t makes journey Of say ten thou
sand miles Homecoming and outgoing
there will be seventy thousand men to
make the journey That means I'm all
seven hundred millions of miles of travel
The best travelling a man can do in @
world when distance and speed ore
considered, is between New York and Chi
cago. The distance is practically a thou
sand miles and the time required Is one
day This stupendous army travel will
be equivalent to $4,000 trips from New
York to Chicago and back. If three days
be allowed for the round trip 1t would
require a million and fifty thousand days
or more than two thousand eight hundred
and seventy-tive years OF constant travel
without rest or delay to accomplish it.
OF course, there will be some men who
will desire to take their discharges in
the Philippines and stay there. There is
work of one sort or another for a good
many of them. especially now that civil
government is being established through
out the islands. If the same Inducements
TO re-enlst that were given in 1899 are
offered probably several of the new regi-
ments can be raised among the present
| volunteers. But most of the men want