Evening star., 1901-03-21
1o1
How Women's Wiles) Make Traitors
of Uncle Sans Soldiers.
DESCRIPTIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
IT
Interesting Personal Notes of Pa
iiieS3
trIots and Others.
GOSSIP OF THE ORIENT

occasionally there is cable from Ma
Mia giving an account of the trial and
conviction of some American soldier for
treason to his country. The sensational
papers, of course, place these reports on
| first page. with glaring headlines, which is
proper In way, as it will warn the young
recruits what they may expect should they
turn against the flag. The general public
is probably under the impression that there
is large number of such cases, but l am
pleased to state that such is not the fact.
They can be counted upon the fingers
In every case the cause of the desertion
of these traitors can be traced to the in
fuence of some dark-eyed senorita. They
allow their passions to overcome their
love OF their country. The majority of
them have Spanish blood in their veins
The first American traitor was a Califor-
MA volunteer, who, for the love of a Fill
iplho mald, deserted his flag and joined the
insurgents. His old comrades swore ven-
geahce against him and were soon on his
trall His l1feless body was found after an
assault fairly riddled with bullets He
had on the uniform Of an insurgent Of
ficer
There has never been a case of an Ameri-
can soldier deserving to the insurgents
side for the reason that he thought his
country was prosecuting an unholy war
A woman has been at the bottom of each
and every case. These traitors are ending
fornia.
MIR. VafIle Was Valuable.
In the return Of Mr.. +. w. Vailie of the
fost once Department to the states the
1s!ands have lost a valuable and efficient
oIncer Ihe soldiers have lost friend who
worked night and day for their interests
he was superintendent of the posts in the
Philippines.
was at Cavite when Mr.. Vaille and
two assistants landed from the second ex-
pedltlon. General Anderson furnished a
building and small rough sign was nailed
up on the door, ~. s. Post Office" No
fixtures were brought from the states and
the commlssary department was drawn
upon for boxes and barrels. Tons of mail
We're handled in this crude way Soldiers
who had had experience at home were de-
tailed as assistants, and the mail was de-
hvered promptly to the satisfaction of ALL
When an expedition started from Manila
representative of the post office went
with it. establishing branches in the cap
tured territory.
The enormous mail which arrived on
every BOAT was source of much wonder
to the Spanish authorities. A Spanish SOL
d1er averaged a letter a year from home
whereas the American soldier was heart
broken if he did not get at least one letter
each mail. Since Mr. Vaille's arrival at
San Francisco he is credited with the
statement that General Otis had told him
that the authorities did not wish to cap
ture Aguinaldo; that it preferable he
should stay in the bush, because if CAP
tured he would pose as a martyr.
do not think for moment that Mr.
Vaille ever made such an assertion Cen
eral Otis would hardly whisper such a
thought to himself in private
Consul WiIdman and Aguinaldo.
The late RounsevilIe Wildman, consul
general at Hong Kong, who sank with the
Rio de JaneirO, in San Francisco bay made
the statement in his last interview at
Honolulu, H. l., that Aguinaldo was dead
When it is considered that nothing authen-
tic has been heard of him for a long time
there must be some truth in the rumor
as Aguinaldo is or was verbose little
man and always wanted the center of the
stage.
Being trained newspaper man I sun
pose Mr.. Wildman has kept a complete
record OF his dealings with Aguinaldo pro-
viding they are not at the bottom Of the
bay. These memoirs would make Interest,"
ing reading, as it will be remembered that
Mr.. Wildman was considered Aguinaldos
miral Dewey to take him over to Cavite in
May, 1888, to organize the natives
When Agufnaldo began to show his teeth
Mr. Wildman made a trip to Manila to
see him and bring him to terms, but his
mission was unsuccessful, and he returned
to Hong Kong very much disappointed.
the suave and polished Malay he had
known in Hong Kong was a different being
In his native bush.
Army Chaplatns.
The army chaplain OF the regular est ab-
hshment during the years Of peace was
not considered a necessity by the men in
the ranks, and it took strenuous efforts on
his part to gather enough men in his fold to
hold the services required by regulations.
During war times the chaplain becomes q
necessity, and If he be a good man, with
his work at heart, he will be Of great bene-
fit to the men. The volunteer chaplains
who went first to the Philippines per-
formed all manner of duties. They gem
orally collected and delivered the mail to
the men of their regiment. which was no
easy task as their station would probahly
be a great distance from the post Office
Some of these chapains performed great
and lasting work. One of them 1 have in
mind is Father McKinnon, formerly chap
lain in the 1st California Volunteer In
fantry. Previous to the capture of Manila,
and while the American troops were up to
their middles in mud and water at old
Camp Dewey, Father Mckinnon obtained
permission from the authorities to visit the
archbishop In Manila to see how the situa-
tion was.
He made two unsuccessful attempts to
enter the Spanish lines under a flag of
truce but was greeted with such a hot fire
from the enemy that he was forced to re-
turn to our trenches.
The Spaniards' Bluff
His third trip was successful. He entered
the city August II, 1898, two days before
the assault, and was entertained by the
bishop and the governor general. His OBJ
ject was to persuade the Spaniards to sur
render without further fighting Accord
ing to Father McKinnon, the bishop IA
vored his appeal, but the governor general
would not listen to N It. For the honor of
Spain he stated that ne would have to
make a fight. He knew that he did not
have ghost of chance ,nes, to resist an Amer
sacrifice some lives in order to keep before
the public that mueh-advertised honor.
Upon Father McKinnons return to our
trenches he reported the result Of his trip
with the statement that he did not think
the resistance would amount to much more
than bluff. y"
The people Of Manila were in bad straits
for food at that time, as deserters to our
side reported that they We're eating cats
and dogs.
The writer took 81 trip through the b,si-
ness section Of Manila the day after the
capture, and as he was after food took