The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1922-11-01
WRITES OF PHILIPPINES

Lieut.. Leland Bolt Tells Of Some Elk.
periences as n Soldier In the Phil
Iipine Islands.
Giving some Of his observations on
lifo in the PHILIPPINE Islands, Lieut..
Leland Bolt, who has been stationed
there for the past year Or so, has writ
ten the letter below to his father, Mr..
l.. S. Bolt, of this city, paragraphs OF
personal nature being stricken out
Since writing this letter Lieut.. Bolt
has been transferred at his own re-
quest to service in China. The letter
follows:
TT. Mckinley, p. l.,
September 90, 1922
Dear Papa:
have few moments to spare so I'll
write you a few lines this morning.
For the past week typnoons have been
raging around Manila and 1t has been
raining quite often. Our beautiful
weather has given way to wind and
rain. The rain was needed very badly
though, for the rice had begun to suf-
fer quite bit, especially on the up
lands. I know you would be interest
ed to sec these natives plant and cul-
tivatc their crops. They use the old
Caribao for all their work. 1t is
kind Of water animal very large and
powerful. The natives get out in the
fields in water uD to their knees and
work all day. They remind me of old
Silas cleaning out ditch in the bot
toms, except they probably do little
more work than he did. Perhaps the
hardest part is transplanting tho rice.
1t is first planted in patch like wheat
then reset in rows about six or eight
inches in checker formation. Aftor
being reset all that is necessary Is
plenty Of water. This land over here is
Just rs rich as it can be and would be
worth fortune in the States, but dur
ing the dry season 1t is hard as n
brick There are few truck farms
irrigated; otherwise nothing in tho
form Of vegetables could bc grown dur
ing the dry season.
For the past week we have been
quite busy getting everything ready to
transfer our men to Corregidor, the
Artillery station holding the entrance
to Manila bay, said to be one Of the
strongest fortified stations in the
world. They are reducing the number
| of white troops over here and substi-
tuting PhilliDinos for them. Also that
dark cloud at Camp Stotsenberg, the
Ninth Cavalry, consisting Of negroes
and some Of them the blacklist you ever
saw, due to the tropical sun plus their
original color, are being sent back on
the next transport. don't think the
natives will make very good cavalry
men for most Of them do not like our
horses. The native horses arc very
small, just little ponies, and they are
afraid of large ones.
There are quite few of the negroes
married to the natives and they don't
want to carry them to the states sc
they want to be discharged over here
The white people here do not favor
this idea, as it is very hard for ne
gro to compete with the native labor
and the negroes can't live on rice like
these natives, SO 1t would be only ;
matter of time till they would have t.
be provided for in some way. AS lont
as they are in the army they get plen
ty to eat, but anyone stranded Owe
here without good job is rather mare
up unless he can live on rice. Som,
! Of the negroes who came over In th'
) early days were discharged here AM
are doing we'll. One runs a restauran
which is quite we'll known as Tom
Dixie Kitchen. Another has quite
reputable shoe shop, namely Casey
Hospital for Stick Shoes.
Best wishes to all,
! LELAND.