News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1901-05-08

Letter From a former ElmOre Boy.
Mrs. Angie Perry of Lyndonville
has just received a letter from her
nephew, Newell Shontell, dated Port
land, Oregon, April 8, 1901. Mr..
Shontell is son of Benjamin Shontell
of Gilmore, Vt, and was born in Nor
ristown, Vt. Sept. 5, 1879. His father
used to work in this office. The let
ter is published by request,
"Dear Aunt -
received your kind and welcome
letter and was glad to hear from you.
1 am very glad to get home from
the Philippine Islands and China.
On the 18th of February enlisted in
the 18th Infantry. The day that the
Maine was blowed up l expected TO
go to Alaska but | did not. On
the 7th of May we were ordered to
San Francisco and we arrived there
May 8, 1898. We marched to the
Presidio Barracks outside of the city
and camped in tents, where we stayed
till the oath, then going on board
the transportSidney, sailing the 255h
through the Golden Gate" in COM
pany with the transports Pekin and
Australia. The Pekin carried IKE 1st
California Volunteers, the Australia
the I'd Oregon Volunteers and the
Sidney the 14th Infantry and officers.
On reaching the Hawaiian Islands we
stayed there two days, at Honolulu.
Next we went to Guam in the La
drone Islands, staying two days and
took as prisoners four officers and
five soldiers.
June 30 we reached Manila Bay,
landing July 2 at Cavite, Marine
Barracks. We we're a tired lot of
Soldiers, being huddled together like
sheep on the transport for % days,
with not halt enough to eat and poor
at that. We had old canned beef
that had been lying around for years,
1 should think. hope never again
to suffer as l did on that trip. Au-
gust 5 We had our first battle with
the Spanish, midnight battle, last
ing two hours and a half. Shot and
shell few thick and fast but we re-
turned their compliments so fiercely
that they soon quit. Our next battle
was Aug. 13, lasting four hours, at
the taking of Manila. After we went
into the city, we were in an old Span
ish Barrack called Malato, where we
did garrison duty and kept the In
surgents from the city, being called
to arms number Of times.
On the night Of Feb. IA, '99, the
first shot was fred, killing an Insur-
gent officer. The fight went all
around the city of Manila. We were
in the trenches and had hard work
to hold them. Our other battles
there we're nothing to what we did in
China, where we were ordered Junp
10, sailing on the 18th of June 1900
on the transport Indiana. Landing
the 25th, we boarded the train bound
for Tientsin. We camped in and
near the missionaries houses. We
were in two battles before we came
to the walls of Ppkin. A bngleT in
my company-Co. E, of the 18th In
fantry Regulars-was the first on the
walls of Pekin, July IA We relieved
the missionaries on the inside walls
of Pekin. There are five walls; a
wall around the Chinese city, the
Tartar city, the Imperial city, the
Forbidden city and the Sacred city.
where they keep their losses or Idols.
We stayed in China ii the middle OF
November, when we returned to the
Philippines, doing garrison duty and
patrOlIiog Manila.
This ended my military duties, as !
received nv discharge from the army
Feb. IT, 4901, when | sailed for San
Francisco on the transport Kilpat-
rick, arriving there st. Patrick +
Day. | came here March 20, glad
enough to get home.
NEWELL, SHONTFIJ,