Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-12-24
A SOLDIERS LETTER.
Things by an American On
Ger I'm Mindanao, Philippines.


stationed on Mindanao island, in the
Philippines, has written an interest,"
ing letter to relatives in Atlanta. Ex-
tracts from the letter follow, says
the Constitutions:
Eve are not 10000 leagues under
the sea, but we are nearly that from
all the rest of the world. Our island,
Mindanao, is called the most health
full of all the Philippines, water con-
sldered the best, and we are said to
be out of the cholera belt. You know
we have just been ordered from Mala-
bang to camp No. z. 1t is a short
march of six miles, but as this was
our first experience we made very
slow time. In fact, we were two
hours on the trail, but I did enjoy
every moment of the time. The trail
up to Camp Vilckars has been made
by the soldiers. 1t is supposed to be
% miles. The brush, ruins and trees
have been cut away a hundred feet
on either side, and the road itself is
Is feet wide. There has been world
OF work done, and two worlds more
to do. l have been told that a large
sum OF money had been appropriated
= to construct the road from the sea
up to Lake Lanao, where there are
thousands of Moros, but it is abso-
lutely impossible to get any of these
people to work and our men have it
all to do. This is, Notwithstanding
our long stay in the West Indies and
at Luzon, the first time / have ever
truly seen tropical country. Ma.
ture is perfectly glorious, green,
grand and beautiful. In this part of
the island you find all the huge hard.
wood trees, mahogany enough to
make all the old and new furniture
we wanted, vines, trees, ferns, palms,
birds and monkeys in unlimited guam
titles. The first monkey I saw I
looked for the old italian and hand
organ, but since then 1 have seen
hundreds, 90 or more PLAYING i'm trees
in full view of my tent. 1 think the
monkeys are the only inhabitants
who seem to enjoy their station out
here, but they have fun enough to
make up for us, and they play like
folks. There is any quantity of fine
game right around our camp: fine
hunting. I had shot at big deer
and boar, but missed both, as it was
SO dark. We have some fine hunters
In our company. We have had in a
few days three fine deer, and thew
have just brought in a big boar. How
all the men do enjoy it; fine eating. it
is. Nothing half SO good in the ho-
tells in Atlanta. We also have wild
chickens; did you ever hear of that
before? When you awake in the
morning you might think you were
in Newman, Ga, from the amount OF
growing one hears
II thought we had certainly run
into plenty of Moros on account of
the roosters, but 1 was very much
mistaken, for these chickens be.
longed to God alone; man had no
claims. / have been so anxious to
hunt them, but the forests are so
thick, such jungle, you run a great
risk going hundred yards from the
camp. Our camp site is very pretty;
looks as though some years ago it
was the bed of a stream. The trail
up to Camp Vilckars bounds us on
one side. On all others we are walled
in by most dense tropical forest. =
We have 30 tents pitched; looks like
pretty little city. Our inhabitants
are 120 in number. The officers are:
Capt. Wilder, Mackal and myself. a
doctor, one hospital and signal corps
man. Our social life, you will imag-
inc is not very gay; haven't had a
german as yet, but truly camp life
is very attractive. But heavensi the
earthquakes. That is one thing this
island is heir to which I am not at
all partial. My first shock came one
evening when 1 had gone out to shoot
wild boar just back of our kitchen.
They came up about night hunting
food. I shot and when l found nv
self rolling and bouncing around over
the ground like tennis ball, I
thought all the boars on the island
had concluded to give me might
off, vainly endeavored to get on
my feet, but could not, and we have
had these awful shocks some several
times a day. A lot of damage has
been done; rivers have changed their
course, springs have dried up, and
parts of mountains split off. The
cable to Zamboango has been broken.
so we cannot hear from. the outside
world. No city could have stood the
shocks we have had. / must not
fail to tell you how strange ;t
seems when we are So very naor ~.