The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-07-03

time he is giving the officers very lit
tie worry at drill.
Scarcely Ever Gets Drunk.
Nor does he cause them concern in
other directions. For one thing. ne
scarcely ever gets drunk. Capt. Ira
Keithley, in command of the two COM
panies Of the Constabulary now at st.
Louis, has not had a case of drunken
ness in his command for months.
TO be sure, they drink" said Cant.
keithley, but they don't try to get
away with all the liquor in sight, as do
many white soldiers on pay day, with
the result that they find themselves in
the guard house when they wake up
next morning. They are temperate
without being teetotalers, and / have
yet to see a member of the Constabu-
larry even approaching the state of in
toXication."
Neither ShIrkcr Nor GrumbIer.
Then. too like the Jap, the Filipino
is neither a shirker nor a grumbler,
for which relief his officers are duly
thankful
When the four companies of Scouts
arrived in st. Louis they were detailed
to erect a lot of native Filipino huts.
tc be occupied later on not by them
selves, but by others of their coun-
trymen. They did this work in addl-
ton to the duties incident to the reg
ular camp routine, with the result that
for several weeks the men worked
steadily from reyeille until taps at
10 O'Clock. The soldiers knew that it
was stretching things a point to detail
them to building the dwellings, and the
work was hard, but no kicks were
made to the officers, and the mon
CONS VINO are natives reported no
dissatisfaction.
But If we'd had some of our reg
ulars on the detail they'd have kicked
as hard as the proverbial army mule
said Major William II. Johnston, COM
handing the Scouts. land many would
have tried their level best to get on
the sick roll. My men have had plenty
of opportunity to shirk, but during tine
last week only two men were in the
hospital, and they were the only two
who applied to be sent there. There
are AL men in my command. We al
ways count on one-twentieth of
command being incapacitated for duty.
In this case one-twentieth would be
twenty-five. so you get some idea both
of the pluck and the physical stamina
of the Filipino soldiers So far as |
have been able to determine. the sick
list is invariably smaller among them
than among Americans
FiIipinOs Good Soldiers.
II have had good deal OF expert
ence with soldiers during my service In
the regular army" continued Major
Johnston. but ! must say, i'm justice
to these Filipinos, shat I've never COM
manded better soldiers. They are mod !
els OF what the ideal soldier should be |
-amenable to discipline on the instant |
free of the petty vices usually ASSOC
ciated with the enlisted man. equipped |
with a keen mentality that enables |
them to grasp the full significance OF |
a command as soon as issued. and. |
believe, intensely loyal to the govern
ment.
Take the case of the company OF |
Tagalogs here. The Tagalogs were al |
ways against the Spaniards and ,hey |
fought us as we'll The company Is /
made up o. FORMER insur- /
gents under Aguinaldo. Yet every |
mothers son of them would knock the |
hat off the head OF countryman who |
did not uncover when the star Spang-
led Banner was played as readily as I
would any of the men in the Maccabees I
who have invariably sup
ported the recognized form of govern
ment, whether Spanish or American.
Maize Fine scouts.
nave seen more than one Scout do |
this trick in the Philippines. and
have also seen many brown-sklnned |
civilian engaged I'm the same task. The !
average Filipino is far more observant |
Of these small things that bespeak pat
riotism than the American. Let a band |
strike up the national anthem I'm Ma |
Mia, where It is now we'll known, and |
the crowd uncoveps. In America nc I
who Uncovers, except In war time Is |
the hundredth man. Indeed. the Fill |
Pine thinks so much OF The Star /
SpanRled Banner that II has been de- /
clared n part OF the Filipino church's /
mass by the ecclesiastical authorities. |
and when 1t Is played the congregation |
rises to its feet and remains standing I
until the last notes die away"
The Filipino soldier not only takes
q keen interest IN keeping his camp