Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-02-28
GIRLS ARE CHEAP.
Matezo Young Women Sold Into Writ
ualIy Slavery for IS.
dubuque Times.l


c. e. Smith has received an inter-
esting letter from Charles Long. who
enlisted at the local recruiting station
last fall and is now connected with the
United States signal corps in the phil
ippine Islands. MIR. Long was clerk in
the bridge gang in this city before his
enlistment and has many friends here
who will be pleased to learn he is in
good health and doing nicely. The let
ter follows;
I wrote you letter when l was in
Frisco, but sailed in n few days for
Manila, and did not get any answer
that is if you answered it. This leaves
me in the best of health. Will be sta
toned here for some time j guess, this
being division headquarters for the de-
rartment of the Visay4s. that is the
southern islands. / am very near the
equator. 1t being perpetual summer.
Bananas, cocoanuts, lemons, oranges.
coffee and rice in abundance. The tim
Der is full of monkeys and birds of bril-
liant plumage: wild animls are scarce,
the caraboa being the only one. and
that may be regarded as a domestic an
imal, as 1t takes the place of a horse.
All of our eatables come from Austral-
ia, that is all emergency rations. the
beef being about the same as the beef
in the state. The weather here Is fine,
not as hot as II gets in the states IN the
summer and the nights are good for
sleeping-gets cool at shutdown. John
+. Wallace's brother is the chief signal
officer here. He is all right to get along
with.
We are allowed one woman servant
and one man servant. but they are not
much good to you as they lay In the sea
all the time and when you want one of
them you have to chase down to the
sea with club and drive them up to
the shack, and If you leave they are
gone again.
They are nothing but lot of savages
and 1t will be long time before they
have peace over here. for If you attempt
to withdraw the troops they would start
in at the same old game again. AT
present there is not much trouble. But
there are troops everywhere The Mac
abebe, tribe that the Filipinos were
fighting, have joined the Americans,
and do the most scouting. Everyone
that does not come in the lines is
promptly shot when captured. 1t does
not make any difference whether a wo-
man or who. All executions are public
and its big day every time there is a
hanging. Women and kids turn out
and>go to see the poor fellow shuttle off.
They are nervy and Will walk up and
take their medicine without whlmper.
Everyone here is stuck on this island.
this being a very healthy place. 1t only
costs about five cents per day to live
here. Everything grows wild here.
do not blame Uncle Sam for holding
onto them as they are certainly fine
islands. All the women here want to
marry an Americana, but as am too
young to get married do not think that
want any of it in mine. You can buy
a Matezo girl here for SIS. They are
very pretty women, but 1t looks like
slavery to me.
The work here is light, have only to
work two hours each day. This is about
the best thing that ever struck. Am
going to finish the rest of my life IN the
corps. 1 have been made a non-com-
missioned officer, with good chances for
better still. l Will go from
here to Gibraltar on the south OF Spain
% go thru an international signal code
hat is being now introduced. VIII be
here about six months. Cannot say
now soon l will leave here, but when
you answer this please write me and it
will forwarded. l may go soon and l
may not. at least when the cable boat
leaves Gibraltar we sail for the United
States and will probably be in the
states for awhile. I tell you this is fine
business. / never saw any of the world
before and as there Is no one depending
On me man may as well see it. OF
course you run some risks, but they are
very slight. Yours truly.
CHARLES LONG.
3acolod, Negroes. Philippine Islands, U.
S. Signal Corps, Dec. 30, 1901.