The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1909-09-17
INTERESTING LETTER
From Leo bloomsbury in Regard to a
Trip From Manila to II. Brady,
Michigan.
Fort Brady, Mich, August 20,

will tell the oys of Lawrence
county, KY, of my voyage from Ma
nilla, p. l., to Fort Brady.
We, the Twenty-sixth, babe fare
well to the archipelago on June Is.
AS the Sheridan easily moved off
from the pier at Marneles, the quar-
antine station, three long whistles,
signal for homeward bound, sound
ed and the band struck up the old
sacred hymn, Home Sweet Home"
No one but those present could real
ize its meaning, By three p. m. the
old water dog had turned her nose
IOrthward and was blowing through
the briny deep for Nagasaki, Japan,
cur first stop. We lost sight of the
extreme northern part of the Philip
pines the next day at two p. m. ....
We arose the morning of the 18th
and found ourselves coasting along
in few miles Of Formosa Island
(which belongs to Japan at present,
acquired by them from China several
years ago as a war indemnity At
'Gusk on the 18th we sighted the
south end Of the japanese group, and
anchored in the bay at Nagasaki at
10 D. m.
On the morning of the 10Th we
saw things that many of us had
never seen before, and l must say,
scenes that will never vanish from
my memory. have seen people liv-
ing under various expressions, but
lever did | see the chains of pow
crty binfling to such an excess as
| saw there; but III the midst of all
this, under burdensome oppression,
saw the happiest people in the Asiat-
ic regions. They receive about ten
cents a day for their labor and halt
Ct that goes to their Government
The women work at hard labor just
as the men do. Our transport took
On $500 tons of coal there, which
was loaded by Japanese women with
little hand baskets. They can mo-
have modern machinery for anything
that they can possibly do by hand
n they did thousands of their lab
orers would starve to death. In tn,
city of Nagasah the Government hat
erected large pot, perhaps fifteel
feet in diameter, in which rice i
cooked and given those who can no
9 Lossibly earn their subsistence.
visited one of the ancient Bud
e dhist temples which was gram
piece Of architecture and cOntaine
many pieces of sacred plumber.
= also visited the japanese Y. NJ. C. A
l. under American management. Their
vas only one American among the 81
E,embers. He was the secretary, bu
!. was away at the time of my visi
s Nowhere was l ever shown NOR
g courtesy. The only conveyance ther
i is the rickasha, a twO-wheel car
Il which will carry only one person
! GTawn by a japanese. The street
" are about six feet wide.
n On the 22nd we hoisted anchor an
It were off for Honolulu, H. l. For thil
J. teen days we travelled through win
s and rain, but on the 9Th of July W
e sighted the Hawaiian Islands. w
l. reached port in time to see the fire
Il works of the celebration. HOnolul
} is lively little city and presente
|. Tany phases Of American, Chimes
ard japanese life.
At 6 p. m. on the 9Th we starte
on the home stretch. You could hea
the sounds of JOY on every side
even the prisoners in their cells WEI
! singing.
If On the 14th we glided through I'll
y Golden Gate and anchored in tn
d bay, and in a short time my fee
were on American soil again. An
Is then we left Point Richmond on OF
e 3COO-mile trip by rail, which was tn
II II ost pleasant of all. We came ovC
If Tie Santa Fe Railroad to Chicag
e through California, Arizona, New Me
d ico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Ill
k n"is, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Micl
Is igan, reaching the Sioux on tn
hight of the 23rd.
We have a beautiful post her
My best wishes to my friends
es cd Kentucky. Leo bloomsbury.