Seassa is situated ninety miles south of Jolo. Few of the men liked to
be on duty there. At first entrance of our troops they had to go into
camp, as there were no barracks. Barracks were built later at Seassa and
Buangior by the soldiers stationed at these places. The captains of
those companies were mean and cruel to their men, and worked them very
hard. Some men were almost killed by the hard work at these barracks and
in the swamps cutting timbers for their construction. Some while at work
in the swamps had mud slashed in their eyes and almost put out. The mud
poisoned them. Some had their feet poisoned by the black mud. The
captains made the soldiers do the work, instead of hiring natives, and
kept the money appropriated for this work and used it for their own
benefit.
A soldier had no opportunity to report such frauds. If he wrote to the
department commander to report anything without the permission of his
immediate commander he would be court martialed. And of course an
officer guilty of such conduct was not generous enough to permit a
private to report his conduct to a superior officer, and thus the
privates were ill treated by some unscrupulous officers.
The hardships of the service were greatly increased or diminished
according to the honesty and unrightness of the officers in command. A
private is only a tool in the hands of his officers, and can be managed
just as they please as long as the private remains in the service. I
always thought it better to obey all orders, agreeable or disagreeable,
and serve out my time of enlistment and get a good discharge, and then
be free and independent. I enlisted merely to get the experience of army
life, and to know just what the service really is. I found out to my
satisfaction all about the army that I cared to know. The army is all
right when its officers are all right. But many of them fall far short
of the standard--officers who will not give a private justice as he
should.
A few soldiers deserted the army. I cannot blame a man much for it. Some
had good cause. But to desert the army in the Philippines and attempt to
get away from the islands is almost impossible. Any one leaving there
must have a passport to present when they attempt to go on board any
vessel, and then if the passports are not properly executed they cannot
go on board.
I know of a few soldiers trying to get away, but the farthest point they
reached was Hong Kong. They would be caught very easily.
The one who reached Hong Kong was apprehended by English officers and
returned to Manila and delivered to the American authorities.
One man who enlisted in Manila was discovered to be a spy for the
Filipinos, securing all the information possible for the advantage of
the Filipinos, and conveying it to them at every opportunity. This spy
had gone with a company to which he was assigned, to Bungio for duty.
While at Bungio he induced two other soldiers to desert their company
and go with him to the Filipinos, promising each a commission in the
Filipino army. He was an officer in the Filipino army, and a very
dangerous man, resorting to all kinds of schemes and treachery to
accomplish his purposes. Having pursuaded two soldiers to go with him
they seized a small Morro boat, and with their rifles and a good supply
of ammunition they set out in the darkness of the night headed for the
island of Mindanao. Ninety miles of water lay before them and their
small boat. They encountered a rough sea, lost their bearings, and
finally the boat capsized, and they lost their clothing and one gun
after a battle with the sea for three days. Instead of reaching Mindanao
they drifted on the Island of Jolo, about twenty miles from the town of
Jolo, almost starved to death. In preparing for their trip they had not
thought as much about rations as about ammunition. They fell into the
hands of the Morros, who carried them to Jolo and delivered them to the
Americans, who placed them in prison. Two of the poor fellows' feet were
blistered all over by marching over the hot sands, having lost their
shoes when the boat capsized. These two were unable to walk for some
time. They were tried and sentenced to terms of imprisonment from five
to six years. This was the common fate of all who tried to desert the
army and get away.
I was on duty on several islands and in many towns in the Philippines,
but Jolo suited me better for service as a soldier than any other place
I was in. I was on duty in Jolo for thirteen months, and know a great
deal about the place. Most all the soldiers who did service there liked
it. Sailors enjoyed their visits to Jolo. Quite a number of sailors told
me that they had been in a great many towns of the tropical countries,
but that they would rather live in Jolo than any of them. The most
undesirable feature of the town is that there are no pleasure retreats
except to go to the mountains and among the Morros, and besides, we
soldiers were confined very closely within the walls and on duty. The
town is very small. A man can walk all through in less than an hour.
I have known of recruits on going into Jolo express their delight at the
idea of doing duty in such a fine place, and wish they could stay there
the three years of service for which they had enlisted. But in less than
two months, seeing the same things every day, they wanted to get away,
and would have given anything for an opportunity to go to another post.
Everything became monotonous, and seemed somehow to be wrong.
This seemed to be the common experience of all. The town is beautifully
laid out with broad streets, which are set with beautiful shade trees
that are green winter and summer. A person can walk all over town the
hottest days and be in the shade all the time.
Three small, but very nice parks with beautiful and delightfully
fragrant flowers and shrubbery lend a charm to the town.
I have been walking out in the town at night, and would smell the sweet
odors from the parks for two or three blocks away. This was not
occasionally so, but all the time. The soldiers enjoyed sitting in the
parks and on the piers at night, taking in the cool sea breeze after a
hot day. I have seen as many as three and four hundred soldiers sitting
out on the piers before going into quarters.
As in all other parts of the Philippines, chicken fighting is a favorite
sport in Jolo. Outside of the city wall is built a grand stand and pit
for chicken fighting. It is all enclosed, and ten cents (Mexican)
admission is charged unless you have a chicken to enter. Some fine
chickens are entered in these fights, and a great deal of money is put
up on them. Gambling is not prohibited, and chicken fighting is engaged
in every Saturday all day long. The natives will gamble away the last
cent they possess before they will stop. A suburban town of Jolo is Buss
Buss, nearly half as large as Jolo, and built out over the water on
bamboo poles driven into the mud, and left projecting above the water.
The houses are then built on these poles.
Buss Buss is built over shallow water, running out over the water for
one hundred and fifty yards. The houses are all built of bamboo. This
seems to be a Chinese town. Many Chinese live there and engage in
business in Jolo. Chinese are engaged in various kinds of business in
Jolo, but all live in Buss Buss. The Chinese and Morros are not
friendly, and it is probably due to this fact alone that caused Buss
Buss to be built.
Major Sweet was in command of the post at Jolo for some time. He would
not allow more than one hundred Morros inside the city walls at one time
for fear of trouble with them. The Morros supplied our forces with
vegetables, fish and fruit, which they brought in and sold to us. To
prevent the town from filling up with Morros a strong guard was
stationed at the gate, which was closed at six in the evening and opened
at six o'clock in the morning. The Morros would be crowded around the
outside of the gate every morning waiting for it to be opened to go in
and dispose of their produce. Frequently there would be twice as many as
were allowed inside at one time. When the gate was opened they would
rush for it, but not more than one hundred were allowed to pass inside.
When one disposed of his produce, etc., and returned to the gate he was
allowed to pass out, and another from the outside could pass in, and so
on until all had been in and passed back.
Not far from Jolo, out towards the foot of the mountains, is a coffee
field. There are several others on the island besides that one. In these
coffee fields a great many Morros work all the time gathering and
cleaning coffee, etc. The method is like all others of theirs, very rude
and poor. They dig out long troughs of wood and place them in running
streams in such a way that the water will run in at one end and out at
the other. Into these troughs the unhusked coffee is poured, and then it
is tramped under the feet of the cleaners until the husks are all
broken off and float away with the water. The coffee is then taken out
and sacked and dried out for shipping. This is the only method I ever
saw in use for coffee cleaning.
Tropical fruit is everywhere abundant. The bread fruit tree grows in
Jolo to a great size. The fruit is about the size of a cocoanut, except
it is of a flattened shape. It is covered by a thin soft hull easily cut
open with an ordinary pocket knife. The first time that I ever saw the
fruit I ate half of one. I thought it as good as anything I ever ate. I
believe it will alone sustain life. Cocoanuts and bananas grow in
profusion. Cocoanuts are cut and dried, then exported. Oil is
manufactured of the dried cocoanuts, which is of excellent quality. We
used it to oil our rifles all the time we were stationed in the
Philippines. Chinese and natives caught quantities of fish, which were
cut up and exposed to the sun several days to dry. The fish get almost
black in this process of drying and smell badly before they are dry
enough to be sacked and shipped. I saw a great deal of this business,
but never learned where it was shipped to or what use was made of it.
Hemp is produced from a native plant growing wild in the forests, and
looks something like the banana plant. It is baled and exported in great
quantities. Natives bring in small bundles of it from the mountains. Red
pepper grows abundantly in the woods on the high and dry lands. It grows
on a small bush, which is loaded with the pods, which are very strong.
The natives in all the islands make a beverage of the dew which
collects in the cocoanut buds. This dew and water stands in the buds and
is collected early in the day. It is called tuba, and is liked by all
the soldiers. I drank but little of it. I saw soldiers get drunk on it,
and be crazy for a week. It is like all other beverages of the islands,
but little is necessary to make a man drunk.
About twice every month we went out on a practice march for one day,
only leaving about one company on guard. Every man would carry his
dinner, and have almost a picnic, enjoying it much more than at other
times and places, when we would be marched out in double time several
miles and have a hard fight. We went out on these practice marches up
the beach and returned across the mountains, stopping to rest frequently
and and gathering and eating cocoanuts. If any Morros were around we
would give one a cent of Mexican money to climb the trees and get
cocoanuts for us. The trees are hard to climb, but a Morro seems to
climb them very easily. He will tie a piece of hemp just above his
ankles and go right up a tree by jumps until the top is reached. Having
secured the cocoanuts we would cut a hole in them and drink the icy
water in them. This water is very nice and cold, and is particularly so
to hot and tired soldiers.
When we would start out on what was a practice march most of the men
would think we were going out to fight, and would not know differently
until we returned, for it was generally known only to the officers where
we were going or what the object of the march was. Sometimes we would
have a long, hard march, and always through the woods and forests, for
there were no roads. In the forest marches we frequently chased monkeys,
of which the forests were full. We saw more monkeys in Jolo than in any
other island we were on. Sometimes when three or four monkeys would
discover us they would make a great noise, and, jumping from one tree to
another, keep in one direction, and all the monkeys within my hearing
would join in the procession, and keep up the noise and jumping. The
trees would appear to be full of monkeys over us, all jumping in the
same direction, and making a great noise. We amused ourselves and added
to their trouble by throwing stones at them until they passed out of our
line of march, which was frequently half an hour. The wild ones are hard
to catch. Young ones, too young to climb well, were easily caught, and
some were captured for pets.
Natives would catch them and sell them to the soldiers.
The Sultan of Jolo was fortified about ten miles across the mountains
from Jolo. He lived in his fort with his army. My last practice march
was made for the purpose of viewing the sultan's position, and to know
something about his forces if we had to fight them. It was about ten
o'clock on the morning of the 13th of May, 1900, when our commanding
officer in great haste issued orders to get ready at once. We all
thought we were going to fight that time. We were formed into a
battalion as hastily as possible, under the commander's orders, who was
present on his charger, and directing everything. We were soon moving
out to no one seemed to know where, except our commander. No dinner was
taken with us this time, only guns and as much ammunition as we could
carry. We marched about five miles before halting for rest. It was very
hot, and several soldiers fell out overcome by the heat. Some doubtless
fell out to avoid a battle, as they thought. Two men just before me,
whom I knew were great cowards, and who feared that we were going into a
battle, decided that they could not face an enemy. I heard them talking
about falling out ten or fifteen minutes. Their minds were made up to
fall out and avoid fighting; one said that he would fall out if the
other would stop to take care of him. This suited them exactly, and out
they went, and were left behind. Our march was continued until we
crossed the top of the mountain, and from the other side we could see
the sultan's fort and trenches below us. It was then about three
o'clock. We rested and looked at the sultan's fort, and looked over his
position carefully. This was the object of the commander in marching us
out there. He was expecting to have to fight the sultan, and decided
that we should see his location and know as much as possible the
conditions we would have to meet in fighting his forces. Returning we
arrived in Jolo in the night.
Our commander expected the sultan to attack our position, and wished to
know just what to expect of us, and how quickly we could get into
position to defend the fort. To ascertain this, and also to keep us in
practice, a call to arms was given every month, when every man would
get out and string around to the port holes in a very few minutes. Every
soldier went as if he expected to have to fight. There were five
companies of the Twenty-Third Regiment in Jolo while I was on duty
there. Besides these one company was stationed in the Astoria block
house, one company at Seassa and one at Buanga. These companies did not
have as hard duty as the companies in Jolo, but every three months a
company was sent to relieve one of these posts, and the relieved company
would come into Jolo, where it could have the same duty and drill that
the other companies had in Jolo. The companies at each of the three
places just mentioned were relieved every three months.
Company E, of which I was a member, went to the Astoria block house
about two months before we left Jolo and the Philippines. My company was
doing guard duty at the block house when orders were received for
recalling one battalion of the Twenty-Third Regiment, called the depot
battalion, made up of sick men and those with less than six months' more
service under their time of enlisting.
Those who had less than six months to serve were given the opportunity
to stay or to return to the United States. I was not slow to accept the
chance to return and was truly glad of the opportunity.
The transport Warren came to Jolo for the battalion on June 15th. The
transport had come by the Island of Negros and Cebu, and took on board
a battalion of soldiers who were going to return to the United States.
The "depot battalion" was made up of sick men and those who had short
times. It was several days before we left Jolo. The men who were going
as sick and disabled were examined by the physician. Those he believed
could not endure the climate long and be able for duty, he recommended
to be returned to the United States, and those who could endure the
climate and proved to be healthy, stayed, unless they were of the class
of short-time soldiers.
A man could not stand the climate of the Philippines many years unless
he was very healthy and acquainted with tropical climates.
I do not believe the Philippines are a white man's country. I have heard
doctors tell soldiers that if they stayed there, that five or six years
would be as long as they could live.
Two friends and I had decided that when we served out our time that we
would return to the United States by another route than that taken in
going over, and thus make the trip around the world. We would go through
the Mediterranean Sea to London and then to New York. But when the
orders came that we could return on the government's time, and by a
different route, we decided at once that we had seen enough of the
world, and that the route taken by the transport would be long enough
for us, and satisfy our thirst for travel.
The soldiers who had been taken on board from the islands of Negros and
Cebu landed at Jolo, and went into camp, where they remained for eight
days awaiting preparations of the soldiers at Jolo.
I was transferred from Company E to Company K on June 18th, and with
those who were returning to the United States went into camp outside of
the wall of Jolo in a cocoanut grove, where we stayed till the
twenty-third day of June, when we boarded the transport Warren and
sailed for Manila. Manila was reached on the morning of the twenty-sixth
of June, where we stayed until the first day of July. A great many
soldiers were added on at Manila, many wounded men and fifteen dead
soldiers were put on to carry back to the United States, where the dead
were sent to their relatives for burial.
While waiting a few days for all preparations to be made I obtained a
pass and entered the city for the last time and viewed everything that
was so familiar to me when on duty there.
It was during this short stop of only a few days that we heard of the
trouble in China.
Three regiments of United States troops were immediately ordered to
China: the Sixth, Ninth and Fourteenth Infantry then at Manila. The
Ninth Infantry went on board the transport Hancock, which was lying
alongside our transport, the Warren, and sailed just before us on its
way to China.
A rumor was circulated that our transport was sailing to China, and that
we were going there for service. A great many very foolishly believed
the report.
July first the Warren sailed from Manila bound for San Francisco. The
first day out from Manila, late in the evening when supper was eaten, I
ate very heartily, and went on duty in the stern of the transport. The
sea was rough, and gave the transport a rolling motion. Shortly after
going on duty my head commenced swimming, and I was ill. A soldier told
me that I was sea-sick. I had never been sea-sick and knew nothing about
how a person felt. At last I vomited freely, and in less than an hour I
was all right, except the swimming sensation of my head, which lasted a
while longer. This little experience was all that I had in going over to
the Philippines and returning to the United States.
The fourth day from Manila we arrived at Nagasaki, Japan. The following
morning the transport was ready for inspection, the crew having worked
most all night preparing for it. Every man on board and everything had
to be inspected before we were allowed to enter the harbor. Nagasaki has
a fine, deep harbor, where steamers and war vessels coal and take on
supplies. Many large ships are in the harbor at all times.
The bay leading into the harbor is between hills which are almost
entitled to the name of mountains. It is apparently a hilly and rough
country to the traveler entering the bay to Nagasaki. On the left-hand
side of the bay on entering is a large marble monument standing on the
side of the hill. This is a monument in memory of Japan's first king. Of
course I did not read the inscription, it being in Japanese; but the
monument can be seen at a great distance. I learned about it from a
resident of Nagasaki. While in Nagasaki I also learned that the Japanese
are the hardest working, or rather the most industrious people, and
receive the least compensation for their work of any race of people. Ten
to fifteen cents per day is the regular price of labor. Several hundred
are constantly employed in coaling vessels that enter the harbor. The
coaling is done in a peculiar way. A line of men pass baskets filled
with coal from one to another while the empty baskets are passed back to
the place of filling by a line of children standing close enough to
reach out one way and get a basket and pass it on to the next one
standing on the other side; thus a continuous chain of baskets is kept
going until the vessel is sufficiently coaled: the filled baskets going
one way and the empty ones in the opposite direction. Men, women and
children all work. Apparently no one is idle.
The lot of woman is extremely hard. A mother will fasten her child to
her back and work all day with it there; sometimes it is asleep and
sometimes it is yelling, but it is all the same to her. Children there
do not receive the attention they get in America, but are handled
roughly, and soon have to work, beginning work almost as soon as they
can walk.
Hundreds of small boats, large enough to carry two or three people, are
always ready to carry passengers to and from the ships and the landing
for ten cents (Mexican). They are not allowed to charge more.
These small boats are provided with sides and a roof like a small house,
into which passengers can go and close the door.
When you get ashore there are hundreds of little vehicles called
jinrikishas, which look something like baby carriages with only one
seat and an umbrella. The Japs will come trooping around jabbering to
you to ride. You get in one and a Jap will get between a small pair of
shafts and trot away with you, and go that way as long as you want him
to for ten cents an hour. The traveler can go anywhere he desires in one
of these vehicles. They do not use hacks and vehicles as Americans do. I
never saw but one horse in Nagasaki. It was working to a dray, and was
almost worked to death. The Jap's back seems to be his most convenient
method, and almost the only one he has, of carrying anything.
Another soldier and I walked through the city looking at everything we
could see. We soon discovered that almost every one was poking fun at
us, all because we were walking instead of riding in jinrikishas. It
seems that everybody there rides in them everywhere they go, and it
appears funny to them to see anyone walking the streets. Peddlers are
the exceptions, it seems, to this rule. A great many peddlers are seen
walking the streets to vend their wares, and they have a great many
articles that cannot be bought in America.
Every Japanese house has a rug or carpet on the floor--these are very
nice articles. The funniest thing of all is the custom of stopping
everybody at the door and have them take off their shoes before entering
the house. They will not allow any one to enter their houses without
pulling off his shoes. The reason of this, to my mind, is the fact that
the rugs and carpets are made from grass and are very heavy, and catch
dirt very easily.