New Britain herald., 1922-01-20
COLONEL CATLIN
 ADDRESSES HEY
R. Q. I. C. Commander Tells of
 Philippine Islands

an interesting talk by Colonel George
 Catlin, commander of the k. e. T, C,
 unit at the local High school lils
 subject was "The Philippines"
 He said that 1t will be just twenty
 years ago February twenty-second,
 February 22. lao2. that he went there
 In commaIA of n volunteer company
 of the ltnNed States army, Before
 going to the Philippines he was sent
 to Fort Niagara, There were 300 men there. without uniforms. untidy and,
 apparently, very poor material for a
 company of United States infantry.
 But, you can not always judge a man
 by etXernal appearances, and they
 turned out 10 be very fine soldiers, he
 said.
 The men were divided into com
 panies and no sooner had he received
 his full number of men, than he started to make n-commissioned of ncers. That was one great mistake
 which I made" he said. If I had waited I might have seen better ma terial develop. It was then that
 learned to wait awhile before making commissioned officers. We had been told to wait until we were sure of our men before we made under of- fcers, but like all young lieutenants, l thought I knew more than my su- periors."
 Various Types of Soldiers.
 The speaker mentioned several of the old army types of men. His de- scription of the appearance of each of these was interesting.
 They arrived in San Francisco, and the gaities of the city got the better of some of the men, but they at last embarked on a ship which was of- ficered by Russians and manned by | Chinese. While at sea it was neces- sary to give the Chinese sailors anti smallpox vacination. This was no easy matter as the sailors thought that they would be badly mutilated But. by persuasion. they submitted. Bringing About Discipline. Before leaving the ship I called my men together and talked to them. Like all young officers l had been un- necessarily strict with them, and l l realized that if didn't change some- thing was likely to happen. l told them that I had been treating them like recruits, but from then on they 1 would be treated like old soldiers | After that the spirit of the company was strengthened" he said.
 When the ship anchored at Manila they were met by their colonel and his adjutant, both of whom were over six feet in height. The company was taken through the city to the North llne," a section of the front where new troops were broken. There was nothing but prairie in front of them, and in spite of Lieutenant Catlin's or ders not to shoot, the outposts fired a great deal during the night
 In spite of all precautions. malaria. affected a large number of the men. At that time it was thought that the disease came from the damp ground and the tents and cots were raised a few feet from the ground in an at tempt to ward off the sickness.
 Among the interesting stories which MT. Catlin told, was one about an at- tack upon a small town iii the vicinity of his headquarters. His company re- celved orders to attack the town from a certain direction, several other com- panles having been ordered to sur round it on other sides. Just as dawn was breaking they arrived at their po- sltlon. On the convent terrace ahead of them were the camp fires of the enemy Catlin did not think of the other companies. He was about to give the order to fire when his ser geant suddenly exclaimed, My God. they are Americans" It was true. a nT of l companies, hoping to gain extra credit had arrived at the place ahead of llme, and due to the lucky exclama- tlon Of the sergeant, his company was saved. 1t was then that he learned the value of cooperation.
 Promoted to Captain.
 From lieutenant he was promoted Lo captain, and soon after he left the volunteer and stayed with his regular company. With the regulars he saw large amount of service. "One diff terence between the regulars and the volunteers was that the former had l certain amount of brutality" he said
 The colonel told, in a very interest ng manner, about a surrender which le witnessed, about an attacking ex- oedltlon of which he was one of the eaders and about the capture of arge number of rifles, the only ones which he captured.
 Saved By Luck.
 lie told about Filipino ambush in Vhlch he was saved by luck alone. HIS company was marching in single He, lieutenant leading the .expe ltlon, and he at the end of the col nm. They marched in this manner or two days, until Captain Catlin's erVes nearly collapsed. He went to ne head of the column, and about wenty minutes after they ran into filipino ambush.
 How he led his company against a