Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-22
SAMAR EXPEDITION
Account of the Horrors Through
Which American Marines Passed.
THE SURVIVORS RELATE THE STORY

Soldiers IN the Philippines Endure AW
full Tortures-DetaiIed Story as Pub
lished in the Manila Times Recently
Worse Than at First Reported.
A story of terrible experiences ant
IN some cases death is told by Roscoe
| Conklin in the Manila Times, of TIE
| United States marines who took part
| in the Samar expedition some week.
ago in the Philippines. Some account
of this trying occasion reached Ameri
ca by telegraph, but the story as pub
lished in the Manila paper, a copy o.
| which was sent to the Courier hy DR.
! Harry j. Watson, United States army
surgeon, contains details which show
the affair in its true light with all o
| its miseries. The account is as fol
| lows:
| Cannibalism and murder were the
! revolving crimes against nature which
for two days appeared to he the sole
escape from the maddening fortunes
of hunger and ultimate starvation
| which the poor, emaciated marines
| suffered as no one can imagine on the
disastrous Lanang- Basey hike" il
| Samar, which must now be set dowr
in history as equaling or SURPRISING
| the Balangiga massacre in disastrous
! results. This assertion is made on the
| strength of statements of survivors il
Tacloban. An officer who participated
in the terribly misery, which was shar
ed in common by SO many, in an inter
view sums up the net results in these
words:
Physical Wrecks.
what are the resultso Ten dea,
| in the mountains: forty u more il
the hospital in Tacloban; a number
of whom will have to have their fee
amputated on account of gangrene
caused by poisoned sores: others in {
state of imbecility, all wrecks who
will probably never be fit for active
duty again"
Amputation Necessary.
Already one man has died as a re
suit of the poison inflicted by the trop
ical leeches. Others are in a deplor
able condition and some will lose theil
eyes, their faces being spread owe,
with cancerouslike eruption which
is accompanied with most agonizins
pain and itching.
Amputation of arms and lower limbs
may in some cases stay the burrowine
progress of the leeches, but in other
cases it is said that only death car
put an end to the sufferings of the
men.
Officer Tells the Tale.
In brief interview a plain, unvar
| nished tale of the tragedy is told b,
one OF the most gallant of the surviy
| ors, an officer whose modesty forbid
the use of his name in this connection
| He says that there were one hundred
and thirty-five men in the expedition
which was headed by Major Waller
commanding officer of the various ma
rines stationed at Basey. Other Off
GERS of the expedition were Captain
Porter, Lieutenant Williams and Lieu
| tenant Halford of the marine corps
aid Lieutenant Lyles, Twelfth in
| fantry, whom General Smith sent tt
arrange cooperation on the part O.
the army at the various posts through
which the expedition was to pass.
There were few incidents of mo
ment as the expedition marched
through Balangiga and around thu
coast to Lanang, except that the col
umn was fired upon and a sergeant
was shot through the shoulder.
Story of the Trip.
Lanang was reached December 27
| greatly fatigued from the long ant
| tiresome march from Basey. Here
| it was decided to take sixty-tive of tn
most hardy of the men, the officers
above named, fifteen native portadore
and four days rations. 1t was pre-
posed to march overland through
what is as wild section of mountain
jungles as any in barren, mountainous
Samar, that wilderness of rocks, jun
giles and swamps wherein SO man,
brave Americans have been put t
death at the edge of native bolos tina
it is now looked upon with superst
tious dread as bewitched by som
hoodoo 1t is claimed that no Amer
cans had ever traversed this territor
and that some army officers declare
that the trip could never be made.
But the expedition hoped to make
record. So the next morning, Deccm
Der 2S, barotos were taken and the re
duced party proceeded up the Lanan
river twelve miles. Here, owing t
cataracts and rapids, the barotors ha
to be abandoned and the party pre-
ceeded to the headwaters of the rive
the indescribable difficulties of tn
country preventing an advance {
more than a few miles a day.
No native guides could be found t
accompany the expedition and afte
the headwaters Of the river wer
reached the party plunged into tn
jungle blindly, hoping to find tra
that would lead somewhere, it did no
: matter much where, so that it FINAL
took them out to daylight and some
thing to eat, as the four days ration
had long since been consumed, til
men were exhausted from the peril
of the trail and many laid down an
declared they could go no further.
No trail of any description could b
found.
The forests were still virgin to tn
foot of the white man and as wild an
) barren as at creations morn.
Even the beasts Stunned the plac
and not monkey or parrot tina
S might have served to stay, if not sati;
fly the pangs of the terrible hunge
e that was gnawing their vitals, coul
: be encountered