The National tribune., 1902-10-23

value for any purpose o.her than for
curios. = .-ezi-1.s-. = s--s--
call to mind Chaplain who got into
serious difficulties by imbibing this spirit
of taking things that were in fact cap
tured property and belonged to the Gov
ernment. He conceived the idea that one
of the ancient cannon of small caliber
on the wall would be splendid thing to
send home to the University of his State
as a war memento. So he selected enc
more than 100 years old and with the aid
of Quartermaster's clerk undertook to
let it down from the wall to carriage he
had in waiting. Unfortunately the guard
saw them and they were held W.
Innocent man that he was, be knew lit
tie about guards and the heiI.ous sin of
taking United States property; but he
soon learned, for he was threatened with
court-martial, and it took good deal of
fine work ON the part of his friends to pre-
vent it. 1t was currently stated that the
final argument brought to bear to have the
matter dropped was a threat to call to
the witness stand officers of the Com
manding Generals staff and prove by
them that the custom of helping oneself
to captured property was a cOmmen one,
from the Commanding General down.
They could have proved it, too, if the
officers summoned had told the truth.
Fortunately for them the matter was al
lowed to drop, and the Chaplain was not
tried.
The poor clerk, however, did not get
off so easy. He was convicted and lost
his job. But he got something else imme-
diately after. He took the smallpox and
was one of the first and chiefest orna-
ments of the pest house, finally coming
out alive and returning to the United
States.
THE VOLUNTEERS WELL BEHAVED.
will venture to say that no army
ever entered a captured city and behaved
better than did the volunteers in Manila,
and that no army ever went through an
abandoned country with less of pillage and
destruction outside that necessary for mill
tary purposes than they did the follow
ing Spring. What was done that was
out of the way was by the few and not
by the many. 1t was discovered that
enterprising men who had leisure, and this
generally means special-duty men, were
gathering up water buffaloes in the fields,
driving them to Manila and selling them,
but this practice was soon stopped. An
officer going out from Manila to Caloocan
met some privates with three of these
carabaos. He gave them a note to carry
to my Lieutenant, who had guard sta
ton on the road, and when this note was
presented it was found to be an order to
take up these animals and all others that
irresponsible soldiers were endeavOring to
take to the city. After that these Snug
glers took to the swamps and fields in
passing the post; but the business did not
last long, because the supply of animals
in the immediate vicinity of the city was
soon exhausted.
When Pasig was captured the upper
reaches of the river where it debouches
from the Laguna were full of tame ducks,
whose eggs we had been accustomed to
buy at three for 10 cents. There were
thousands of these fowl. The soldiers on
the ground had a few meals of them, and
soldiers from the city off duty came up
in canoes and took loads of them down
to sell to the Chinese, for beer money,
suppose. L know one night my con-
pany had about six dozen of them tied
by the heels and the men were expecting
fine breakfast, but we were ordered to
move during the night, and as we marched
away the ducks Quacked US a joyful good
by.
l always restrained looting and preda-
tory conduct, but / had a great deal of
sympathy for the men in their efforts to
get something else to eat besides the field
ration. l wanted something else myself,
and an occasional chicken or duck tasted
good. Whenever We remained in a town
few days the inhabitants began to drift
back, after discovering that we were not
savages, and then we could purchase
chickens, eggs, mangOes, bananas and
other things. l never knew case of
their being despoiled of these things by
force.
THE UBIQUITOUS AMEGo.
These returning inhabitants complicated
matters very much, for with them came
the ''amegos" who gave US trouble. Our
strict orders were not to interfere in any
way with the freedom of action of these
people, it being the policy to show nom
combatants that they were in no way mo-
Tested and that the Americans were to be
trusted and relied upon. Advantage was
taken of this fact by Aguinaldo's soldiers
Of the militia class, as l have explained,
those who lived at home and fought cnly
in the vicinity of their own towns. Off
GERS, also, of these regular forces dressed
as citizens and visited our camps at will.
gaining all the information necessary for
their frequent night attacks upon us, in
which they were Joined by those who
''amegoed" with us regularly in the day
time.
When lusty young fellows used to come
about our camps when we were acting as
railroad guard our men would occasional