Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1901-04-22

from Los Banos, PHILIPPINE Islands,
under date of Dec. last:
"The last time l wrote you l was
somewhere in the China sea on board
the Sumner, on the way to this fertile
land. The next day after my writing
you we encountered a typhOon, and
the sea was very rough all day, and
when the evening came on things look
ed so dubious that our ships captain
turned around and faced the storm and
just held our own all right. | must
say it was a very dangerous position,
but no one was scared except a couple
of missionaries that we had picked up
at Nagasaki They spent most Of the
night in praying for the salvation of
their souls and for the rest of us poor,
unfortunate sinners. We had lots of
women or board too, but they were all
army women and nothing scares them.
"The next morning the sun came out
and the sea Gained down and we went
on our way rejoicing. 1t was my first
experience in a storm at sea and it is
a novel sensation quite different from
what anyone ever experiences ashore.
Just to illustrate the severity of the
storm I will say that the U. S. horse
transport LenIaw was behind us and
caught in the same typhoon, and out
of three hundred head of horses that
she had on board only one came out
alive A horse ship in storm is
something awful. In due course of
time we came in sight of the famed
island of Luzon, and to give you some
idea of the extent of it will say that
we steamed along the coast for a day
and a half before we came to the en-
trance to Manila and that is only
little over half the length of the isl
and. Very few people in America have
any idea of the magnitude of this
country. Why this island Of Luzon
alone is as large as California and
there are twelve hundred more, but
of course this is the largest. These
islands are a country by themselves.
All along the shores were mountain
ranges and they were thickly covered
with verdure and looked very pretty.
We reached the entrance to the harbOr
at noon and it is wide entrance,
and right in the center of it is quite
a prominent island. 1t is Corregidor
island and we have a big hospital and
lighthouse on it. We also keep one
company of infantry stationed there.
From Corregidor to Manila is %
miles straight up the bay. We steamed
slowly in and saw all of Dewey's
wrecks. Way off to the south along
a range of hills probably 80 miles
away we could see columns of white
smoke ascending to the sky. Old
timers told us (Which we afterwards
learned was true) that it was the
troops on the south line burning in
surgent villages. 1t was our first
glimpse of war in the Philippines.
cat Manila we found lots of big
on which thes rare fabrics we're
ships at anchor from all over the world
and flying all flags of different ma
lions. Several of the big white trans
port fleet were there, amongst them
the Hancock which had brought us
from America to China and had re-
turned to San Francisco and brought
la. Looking at Manila from the bay
it is one of the prettiest cities [ have
ever seen. 1t is all white and green,
great big white buildings of Spanish
style and build and fine driveways all
ined with palm trees. We went ashore
he next morning and camped on the
Lunetta Ca fine driveway to await our
assignment to line or station wherever
we might be. We remained there two
days and we put in all the time ex-
ploring the city and in meeting old
acuuaintances that we had not seen
since we left Cuba. 1t is a grand city,
about the size of San Francisco, and 1T
does a big business. You see all nation
alities on the streets but the far east
ern style predominates. 1t is full OF
soldiers, for there are three regiments
stationed in the city all the time doing
stores and you can buy anything here
that you can in Chicago. Along the
bay is the famous drive called the Lor-
Meta, and it is beautiful. 1t is three
miles long and 100 feet wide, and on
both sides palms and fern trees. Along
the whole course are monuments of
some Spanish grandee, all cut from
the finest of Italian marble. 1t is
along this famous drive that society
turns out every evening, and you see
all styles of carriages and some of the
prettiest women in the world. The
men all dress in white in this country
and all the ladies wear light and airy
costumes. You never see dark dress
here and the predominating colors are
pink, cream and yellow. There are
hundreds of Spanish girls and the
prettiest ones are half Spanish and half
something else. Everyone seems half
something in this country. There are
lots Of rich Filipinos and many OF
them are half Spanish. All delight in
wearing pretty clothes and diamonds.
And l must not omit our American
x,royoa11 She is here in all her glory