The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1903-09-23
SUMTER BOY IN THE PHILIPPINES.


Trip 60 San Francisco and From Thence
to Manila-lmpressions of the islands
and Natives.
10th Company Coast Artillery,
Quartet De Espana, Manila, P. l.,
July 29sh, 1903.
EDITOR THE SUMTER HERALD
It has been my intention for some
time to write your paper letter, and
as it is my first letter to IA paper, [
hope it will not find its way to the
waste basket. AS a good many of
your readers know [ ain soldier, it
will not be necessary for me to tell
about that. l will only give a brief
description Of my trip from Charles
ton, S. c., to Manila, P. l. About the
first of last December my company
received orders to move as soon as
possible to the Philippines. We left
Charleston about noon January %,
1903, on a special train for San Fran
cisco. The trip was enjoyed very
much by every member of the COM
pany. There is nothing Of impor-
tance to say about the country in the
Gulf States, until we are in the
northern part of Texas. Our route
was, I think, a very beautiful one.
We passed New Orleans at night,
Houston Sunday morning. Houston
is very nice city, or at least think
so from what saw Of it. When we
were about one hundred miles from
Houston our train happened to the
first accident cf any importance.
The pisten rod on the left engine
gave away and we were delayed
about four hours. The boys spent
this time IN chasing prairie dogs and
watching the cowboys tend their
herds. The northwestern corner of
Texas is very rolling. New Mexico
and Arizona are nothing but salt
fields and mountains. These salt
fields are a wonder. They are FIVE
thousand feet below the sea level.
The ground is covered with a layer
of salt about an inch thick which
extends for miles and miles in every
direction. Our train was about two
hours crossing this valley. When
we were about half across these
fields we passed salt refinery; it
was the most lonesome place I ever
saw. There wasn't living thing in
sight, except few Mexicans and
mules. I was told there was no
water within one hundred miles of
this place except what is brought in
by rail. [ saw my first mirage on
this field. One cannot form an ac-
curate opinion of a mirage from a
written description, as they are more
beautiful than natural water and
trees. It is more like a painting than
a reflection; one can even see the
ripples on the supposed water. AS [
haven't words to describe this dread
full but beautiful valley we will hurry
on to the mountain we see in the dis
tance. About an hour has passed
and we hear the whistle shrek in a
most distressing manner; the next
instant all is dark and one almost
suffocates, the gas is so strong, and
we find we are in a tunnel. In few
seconds we are on the side of a
mountain which is covered with
cactus and small trees. We COM
mence to ascend to the clouds; in an
hour or two we are about seven thou
sand feet above the sea level, pass
ing along at about forty miles per
hour with the clouds all around US.
We have supper and watch this
beautiful scenery for an hour or so
and then we find it too dark to see
to any advantage, so we take trip
to the land of Nod to awaken in the
morning to find ourselves in one of
the garden spots Of the States-Cali-
foruia. Everywhere one looks the
eye is met with the smiles of water
falls, flowers, and fruit. The noun
tain sides are covered with thick
mat of grass, which is studded with
beautiful trees and flowers, and in
some cases at the base is small
river of clear water, with hundreds
of cattle on it's grassy shores. All
this is very beautiful. but I think
the homes of California are the most
beautiful of all. The houses, though
small, are beautifully built aud
painted. Every one has lawn in
front which is covered with grass
and flowers, and some have large
shade trees about the yards. The
orange groves are very beautiful,
Gtl0 GlSSS al . pioUGC0 III SIOS6NS e~1o
all are about ten feet high and very
bushy. Every tree has blooms,
small fruit, and even full ripe
oranges on them. The lemon groves
are about the same as oranges. The
pineapple groves are the most ragged
thing one ever saw; the trees resem-
BILE bear grass very much. They are
about three feet high and each has a
big yellow apple in it's top.
AS we near Frisco the orange,
lemon and pineapple give away to
small truck farms which are full of
all kinds of vegetables. We arrived
in Frisco on Jan. 28th, went into
camp at the Presidio. Every one
was at liberty to go anywhere they
wished, and you may imagine We did
all that could be done to have as
good time as possible. We were
there three days which we enjoyed
very much. On the 3lst Of January
we went aboard the U. S. Army
Transport Thomas at noon. Among
the cheers of hundreds Of people we
cast off at one O'Clock. The cheering,
though, was all on shore as the ones