Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1902-10-21
FROM THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.

fhUm lHE PHlLlPPlNE ISLANDS,
The following letter was received
at this office from r. w Baker, former
ly member of Cones 4th Regt. Band
MALABANe, MINDANAo, p. L.,
Aug. 81, 1902.
Editor Pilot, Wausau, His
DEAR SIR On account of the heavy
rains which occur almost daily here,
stopping all duty, | will take advantage
of the leisure time and write your read
! ers the promised letter. 1t is very hot
here and also very wet, and as We are
camped IN tents, the majority of which
leak a great deal, we are not as COM
Portable as might be. The rains seem
TO have livened up the Moros and they
are daily becoming bolder and more
vicious in their actions toward our
troops Since the battle of Bayan, .on
May 2d, the Americans have made no
| aggressive movements against them
and in consequence the MoroS begin TO
think that we are afraid to advance
any further and so they are very Saucy.
Nothing of any serious account hap
pened until on the night of Aug. 18th,
when a party of Moros rushed one of
Eceeded Ia 'boloing" the guard detail.
The outpost was about 800 yards from
the main camp and was occupied by a
sergeant and three privates of q Co |
| The night was very dark on account of |
| fog and the Moros crept up in the grass !
and while the sentry was at the further
end of his beat began TO slash and cut |
at the remaining three men who were |
sleeping in small tent. The men |
caught like rats in trap made brave |
defence but were at a great disadvan |
tage. The sergeant and one private were |
soon killed and the other private was
| speared in the eyes and had his arm |
cut off. The sentry fired or the MoroS |
and alarmed the camp. The lst Sergt |
of q Co. started with a detail to help |
but was ordered back by the command |
ing officer Capt. Pershing, of the 18th |
Cavalry, and so the outpost called for |
help in vain. Il is not permitted for an |
enlisted man to criticise the actions of |
his superior officers, but this act of the |
sptain met with expressions by the /
men in camp that would not LOOK well /
in print. The tent that was occupied |
by the detail was cut into ribbons and /
the men badly mutilated The seHtrV |
after firing at the Moros retreated to
camp badly wounded and is now await
ing trial--''for not allowing .mself to !
be killed. | suppose. Since that time /
the Moros have hred on the camp every
night and the men are sleeping on their
arms, the outposts doubled and strong
skirmish line thrown ont to prevent the |
Moros from rushing The camp The
men at this post are ready to go up the
trail at moments notice, and ammu-
milton, rations and heavy guns are
being rushed up to the camp in readi-
ness for another advance against the
Moros Maj. Gen. Chafee is on the
way here and as soon as he arrives the
advance will no doubt begin and before
this letter reaches you, another battle
will be fought The Moros are clming
in from ali parts of the island and max
ing their headquarters at a strong fort
about S miles across the lake from
Camp Wears. They are from 10000 to
Il 900 strong and have a good strong
fort and will make a hard fight Our
present troops are u Co. 9th Inf, 4
Co llth Inf, s Co. 10th Inf, 2 troops
10th Cav, battery light artillery and
4 heavy guns, in all about 5000 men
This renewal of hostilities will keep
our regiment in the field for some time
longer. We expected to leave here for
Iloilo and Manila about Sept. lst, but
will be here for several months longer
If any men of tbs regiment enlisted to
get experience they are net being dis
appointed, for with battles with the
Moros, cyclones and earthquakes, long
hikes up the mountains in the rain and
mud, living on hardtack, bacon and
coffee and sleeping in wet clothes, they
are surely getting it. On July 20th it
began TO rain and kept it up steadily
until the 26th, and ended with cyclone
that cut sWath through our camp
blowing down all the officers tents
and scattering hunks, clothing, tents,
etc, all over the woods Luckily no one
was hurt beyond few bruises. Last
night while the band was playing con-
cert we had an earthquake shock that
lasted for at least 80 seconds and caused
quite panic. 1t had been very hot all
day and the air seemed very heavy I
About 1:15 p. IL the first tremor was
felt but was not heavy enough to cause
any excitement. The band was playing |
Grand Stand overture and Just be-
fore reaching the end heavy rumbling |
was heard and all at once the ground |
began to roll and heave just like the |
ocean. Men, music, instruments and |
stands were thrown down and tae piece |
came to sudden stop The men were |
terror stricken and would get on their |
feet only to fall down again. | shall |
never forget the expression on the |
mems faces and suppose mine was just
the same. The air was full of heavy, |
grinding noises and the racket in the |
native village can not be described |
All the boxes in the commissary were /
tumbled down and the bamboo shacks /
were all wrecked. If our quarters had |
been of stone or brick [ think the loss |
of life would have been very large but /
as we were quartered in tents no one |
was hurt by falling stone or timbers /
The shock only lasted about 30 seconds |
but it seemed like several hours. The |
ground cracked open in many places /
and water and sand spouted out all over |
the ground. About 100 yards from our /
quarters is walk that ends at the edge /
of a small inlet from the ocean and is /
built of solid masonry. This was all |
broken up and the springs where we |
get our water, turned from nice clear /
water to mud and has not yet became |
clear The water at the falls of the /
Madeline river II miles up the trail has /
disappeared and from a river of con /
siderable size has turned into nothing 1
but small stream that person can 1
lump across As the cable e other parts /
Of the island Is put out Of commission /
we don't know what damage has been
done in other places bat hope all got of
rs well as we did here. One lad broke
his leg while getting out of one of the /
shacks down at the village and is the I
only one that was hurt. The band +
failed to finish the overture but played
out the lest Of the program as soon as
things has quieted down There has
been three slight shocks since one at
/ p. m, one ~ 2 a m and one just be-
fyra rrrtarf n4nf4srf fEi1 fTha
men are quite uneasy as the majority Of /
them have never passed through such /
an experience before and are afraid the
old volcano that is about miles inland /
win begiu business and cover Us with /
ashes, lava, etc.
SUNDAY, Aug "a /
| Iwill try an5 finish this letter today and
get i sent away before the end comes.
Z