The San Francisco call., 1904-03-16

Judging By the samples which ar
rived from the Philippines yesterday
on the army transport Thomas, the
native Of Americas Oriental posses /
sions is entitled to serious considera-
tion from a military point of view.
The Thomas brought the Provisional
Battalion of Philippine Scouts, COM
manded by Major F. de L. Darlington.
which has been ordered to the st.
Louis Exposition, there to go into camp
and remain for the purpose Of showing
America-at-home and the rest of the
world what manner of man it is in
whose future Secretary of War Taft
has so much faith
Wearing Uncle Sans uniform and
bearing. some Of them, honorable scars,
gained in the defense Of Old Glory, the
Philippine Scouts look soldiers from
their neat little feet TO the wiry black
hair that covers their well shaped
heads. Well drilled and under perfect
discipline, what they lack in size they
make uD in intelligence and it is easy
TO believe the glowing accounts given
by their officers of the value of the
little soldiers, both as police and in
fantry.
The Philippine Scouts were organized
/ in 1901, when Congress, appreciating
the services rendered by the Maca-
bebes, authorized the enlistment OF H.
600 natives as scouts. The Macabebes
had been loyal to Spain and when the
islands passed to America they were the
first to assert loyalty to the new flag.
Fifty companies were organized. They
We're recruited from half a dozen diff
I ferent tribes. The hereditary enmities
of some Of these tribes promised to be
a source Of trouble, but the fears prov
! ed groundless. Before everything else
! the native Filipino seems to be a sol
der and. once in uniform, can be de-
pended upon not TO allow personal feel
/ ings to interfere with military duty.
FROM FOUR TRIBES.
The companies that arrived on the
Thomas are: Fourth Macabebes,
Lieutenant Boss Reese commanding;
! Twenty-fourth Ilocanos, Lieutenant
( Dougherty commanding; Thirtieth Ia
galos Lieutenant Dworak command
ing. and the Forty-seventh Visayans,
Lieutenant King.
4 lieutenant Reese is the officer who
: killed San Miguel, the last of the bad
natives. and in rounding up this trou-
blesome insurgent and his followers
4 the Fourth Maca bebes rendered nota-
I bic service
All of the 412 scouts who arrived yes
terday have done good, active service;
all have been under fire and all have
proved loyal to the American Govern
! l.
gent and ladrone bullets. The Maca-
bebe company was originally part of
/ Batson's battalion and has a distin-
guished record. The Ilocanos served
with credit in Samar, fighting a num-
/ Der of battles with the insurgents un-
der Lulkban and Guevara Four men
of the Thirtieth Tagalos on one occa-
sion. in Laguna, attacked and over
came an armed force of forty ladrones.
1 The Visayan company served in An
4 tique and Iloilo and had many brushes
with insurgents
The officers of the scouts, all white.
are nearly all former on-commissioned
/ officers of the United States army.
/ They have all had their baptism of fire
and have been untiring in their eff
4 forts to make model soldiers of their
/ charges.
! The commander Of the battalion is
Major F. de l.. Darlington Of the First
Infantry. Lieutenant ]. c. Brady of
4 the Fourth Infantry is quartermaster.
/ Lieutenant w. c. Johnson, the adJu-
tant is a graduate of the University of
Vermont and a crack baseball player.
Most of the officers have seen service in
Cuba. China and the Philippines.
The Philippine Scouts have their own
band, and it is one of the best in the