The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-20
WALLER'S MARCH
SUFFERINGs OF MARINES REToLD
BY COMMANDER.
EXPEDITION WAS FRUITLEsS.
MEN BORE THEIR HARDSHIPS
CHEERFULLY.

A Wild and Uninhabitab1e Country
Explored at Heavy COst-Marines
TOiIed Through Mountain and
jungle and Crossed TOrtuOus Riv-
ers Swollen by TorrentiaI Rains.
Their Rntions Gave Out and Ten
Men Died of ExhaustiOn-HeroeS
Wept and Some Laughed Hyster-
icaIIy When They Found They
Were Safe.
Washington, March 19-The Navy
Department has made public another
report from Maj. Waller, recounting in
detail the stirring events of his tragic
effort to cross the Island of Samar
Maj. Waller begins with a statement
that Lieut.. Williams, Seventh Infan-
try, who had just returned from a
twelve days trip in a fruitless search
for a trail, and Capt. Pickering urged
Samar on account of the difficulties.
But he decided to make the attempt, in
view Of the commanding generals evil
dent desire to find the trail and run a
wire across, starting with fifty men on
Dec. 26 for Lanang.
The rivers were much swollen and
it took a long time to get the boat
through the rapids. Trails were picked
up only to be lost again and the rain
came down in torrential bursts. The
river the men were following curved
almost to a circle, and the banks held
crossed the river every few minutes,
and the men began to develop water
sores and chafes. The knowledge
that they made four or five miles in
direction for each twelve miles of
march was depressing. On the thir-
tieth reduced rations were issued.
No sign of human habitation had been
seen, except a lonely fishing shack.
There were not even birds. 1t took
the whole of the 31st to reach the
mountain pass. All the elements SEEM
ed to be against the men. Descending
the trail was again lost. The men were
suffering from sores, from cuts made
by thorns, and from fostering bites of
leeches. They could get no fires and
ate raw bacon. A raft was built,
but sank with one man on it.
Had n Feast of Potatoes.
Starting down the river, word came
to Waller that many men could not
keep up, so he decided to forge ahead
for relief with thirteen of the strong
est men, leaving Capt. Porter in com
mand of the main body. Another eff
fort to build a floating raft failed.
Waller finally came upon a clearing,
where he found shack and some
growing vegetables. The lenses of his
field glass started fire, and two days
supplies of potatoes were cooked.
Word from the rear was that the men
could make only three miles a day.
There was only enough bacon to fry
the potatoes. The natives were report
ed to be threatening Porter, and alto
gether the expedition was in a bad
way.
Two natives were captured and
pressed into service as guides. Finally
the Spanish trail was found, but
simultaneously large boat was dis
covered and the start was made for
Basey.
Their Sad Condition.
The report says:
''The men, realizing that all was
over and that they were safe, and
once near home, gave up, some quiet
ly wept, others laughed Historically.
One sergeant turned to me and said ::
I don't think we would show up well
at drawing room My heart bled for
these men when 1 looked at them.
Most of them had no shoes, cut, torn,
bruised and dillapidated, they had
marched without murmur for twenty
nine days, and had accomplished what
no white troops had done before, they
thought not of it, but of each other.
They spoke of me, my age, and, to
them, well known injury to my foot,
and they wondered how l had stood it.
My shirt was in rags, my hat was a
hat by courtesy. Torn as they We're,
with eyes suffused with leech bites,
felt that appearance made no differ
ence, we were through"
at Basey, Waller was taken sick
with fever, and suffered also from his
injured ankle. He says that the ex-
petition was of no value except to
show that the mountains can be pene-
trated and that there are no insur-
gents there.
Concluding Maj. Waller says that
he was the only one of his party able
to move on Feb. 8. Ten of the men
died of exhaustion and one in the
hospital All of the others, except
Capt. Bearss, Lieut.. Halford, Lieut..
Lyles and Maj. Waller himself either
were or had been in the hospital at
the date of the report. The length of
his march was $50 miles.