The Japanese are industrious, good natured and friendly people. They
treat every one kindly, and every one invited us to go into his house
and chat awhile. Our greatest difficulty was to understand them. They
appeared to be anxious to do anything they could for us, and considering
everything as I could see it in our short stay, I believe I would like
to live among them.
A great many Europeans are residents of Nagasaki. It is a fine town, a
great deal of business is done there. The city is spread out along the
bay back of the city, and all around the bay, except the entrance to it,
are large hills, and on these a great many large guns are mounted. These
natural barriers enable the Japanese to make the city a strongly
fortified place. The government of Japan is good. Laws are rigid and
strictly enforced. Theft is regarded as a very grave crime, and is
punished with severe penalties.
Men with whom I talked in Nagasaki seemed to desire to leave the
impression that Japan was well prepared for war, in fact better prepared
than most any other country.
The transport Warren sailed from Nagasaki July ninth for San Francisco,
taking the northern route of the Pacific Ocean. This route is claimed
to be about two thousand miles longer than the southern route over which
we sailed in going to Manila. The ocean currents and winds make a great
deal of difference in which route a vessel is sailing in, and the
northern and southern routes give the advantage to the vessels. Ships go
the southern route from San Francisco to Manila and return the northern
route.
After a few days out from Nagasaki we found colder water, which
continued most of the way to San Francisco, only getting warmer a short
distance from San Francisco. After getting out into this cold water the
temperature of the atmosphere also fell, and every man who had an
overcoat or even a heavy uniform put it on. Those who had only the thin
uniforms called khaki worn in the Philippines, suffered from cold.
It was cold and disagreeable for all on board except the officers, who,
as usual, fared well at all times and in all places.
There was a casual detachment of discharged soldiers numbering one
hundred and thirty-eight on board, two hundred and forty-one officers
and privates of the Twenty-third Regiment, sixty prisoners and
twenty-one passengers, a total of four hundred and sixty men on board
besides the crew. The transport Warren is a large vessel, and all on
board had plenty of room.
Those men who were not thoughtful enough to start back to the United
States with their heavy uniforms looked somewhat pitiful crowding around
the engine rooms and boilers, and getting anywhere that offered some
protection from the chilly air and sea breeze. I was fortunate in not
being one of that number. I had plenty of warm clothing and fared well
returning. I was on the lookout for myself, and provided myself with
everything I desired, and had to call on no one for anything. My rule
was to look out for myself all the time I was in the army, and usually I
had everything I desired. If I wanted anything to use I always went
where I could buy it, and never borrowed from the soldiers.
I always thought that was a good rule for a soldier; I noticed that
those who did that fared much better than those who did not practice
that rule.
I never liked to loan my gun and belt to a soldier when he has all those
things of his own. But some soldiers would keep their guns polished and
oiled, and set them away and borrow guns and belts from other soldiers
to do guard duty with. These received the appellation of "orderly
buckers" by their comrades, and were too lazy to walk post and perform a
soldier's duty. Duty on the transport in returning to the United States
was very hard on those soldiers who were well. Almost every soldier was
on the sick report, and called by the soldiers the sick battalion. The
few who were put on duty had it to perform every other night. I was one
of the latter, and I considered it pretty tough too. Cooks on the
transports were assigned for one year to cook for the soldiers. They
were as filthy as hogs with everything they cooked. They cared nothing
about how the rations were prepared nor how nasty they were, just so the
cooking was over with as quickly as possible. They had no sympathy;
anything seemed to the cooks good enough if it did not poison him. On
our return we had plenty to eat if it had been cooked decently so that
men could eat it. The reader may say that it should have been reported
to the officer in command. This was done, and reported also to the
officer of the day, and the next day after the reports were made we were
given cabbage for dinner, and every man founds big worms in his plate of
cabbage. While the officer of the day was passing by one soldier had the
nerve to show him what was on his plate; immediately the officer of the
day went to the cooks about it and that seemed to end it. One soldier
found something in his plate that looked almost like a tarantula.
Some of the officers and a great many privates had a monkey apiece.
Great care was taken of them by their owners. Two large monkeys belonged
to some of the crew. These and the smaller ones had the whole vessel to
run through and nothing escaped them--they were into everything. Finally
the commanding officer gave orders for all the monkeys to be taken up,
but the order was not carried out and he had the doctor chloroform the
two large ones and throw them overboard. That made the crew very mad and
sounded the death knell to all the monkeys on board.
That night the crew very quietly caught every monkey and threw them
overboard--not one escaped. It was then the officers' turn to be mad and
they did everything they could to learn who destroyed their monkeys. One
old captain who had lost a monkey offered a reward of ten dollars to
know who threw his monkey overboard, but he failed to find out who it
was. I never heard such a fuss about as small a thing as a monkey
before.
We arrived within one or two miles of the Golden Gate on July 30. The
transport stopped and the whistle was blown for the quarantine officers
and a pilot. We could not see land, the fog was so heavy, until we got
to the Golden Gate. The sight of land sent a thrill of gladness through
every one on board, especially the soldiers who were beholding their own
country, where they were soon to be discharged, and once more be free to
go and come at their own pleasure. Just before night we went to the
quarantine station on Angel Island and remained until morning, when
everything was taken off the transport. On the first of August we went
ashore at the Presidio wharf, landing in the evening.
We were not received as royally as we had departed, no big reception was
awaiting us, although I am quite sure the soldiers would have enjoyed
one as much as when they were departing for the Philippines. I suppose
it was thought that when we went away that we would never get back.
When we boarded the transport for the Philippines several thousand
enthusiastic people witnessed our departure and a great display of
patriotism was manifested. When that portion which returned when I did
were landing only one woman and a little boy were present to show any
feeling of rejoicing that we had not all perished in the Philippines
from the awful climate and the Filipino bullets. This great patriotic
display being over we went into camps at Presidio and remained there to
rest and await further orders, which came in a few days, as soon as
arrangements for transportation over the railroad could be made; and
then Companies I and L went to Fort Douglas, Salt Lake City, Companies K
and M were assigned to Fort D.A. Russell, Cheyenne, Wyoming. August
sixth we left San Francisco and arrived at Fort D.A. Russell in the
evening of August ninth. Companies K and M were under the command of
Captain Delair, who is a good officer. Captain Devore had command of
Company K, to which I then belonged and I remained with that company
until discharged.
Captain Devore was a very good old religious kind of an officer, very
strange and different from any other officer. The most that he believed
in was to keep clean. He was very fond of seeing brooms, mops, picks and
shovels in use. He liked to see work going on. He seemed to be too
economical to eat as much as he needed of government rations. He would
never allow any of the company's funds to be spent for any purpose, but
was all the time adding to the fund.
The company was allowed twenty pounds of sugar every ten days. Of this
Captain Devore would take off one pound for company funds. This is only
one example, or illustration, of many ways of adding something to the
funds of the company.
The company cook was preparing prunes one day for dinner when the old
captain came around inspecting everything; the cook told him that he
was cooking prunes. The cook was then asked how the men liked them, to
which he was answered that the men would eat all that were being cooked
and then not have more than half enough. The old captain said there were
too many for the company--that six was enough for anyone. He further
said, "I don't eat but two or three and that is as many as I want."
The company was always kicking about him. He was never pleased on
inspection to find something cooking. He liked to find the stove cold
and the cooking vessels all clean, then everything with him was O.K. He
would give a man who had had a number of summary court martials an
"excellent" discharge and some soldiers who were good duty soldiers and
never had a court martial would get "only good." I have noticed that if
he likes a soldier he will always get "excellent." He seemed never to be
governed by a soldier's record. I had "very good," all I cared for, as I
was so happy to get it.
I left the army November 11, 1900, en route to Dallas, Texas, where I
remained a few days and went to Pleasant Point, where I spent several
days with two of my brothers, John H. and Juney H. Freeman. Here I met
many friends whom I had known before enlisting in the army and again I
was free to join them in their sports as I had done before.
December twentieth, I started back to Georgia. I took the route via New
Orleans, at which place I stopped about thirty hours and took another
look at the old town. I wanted to look at it once more and compare it
to the time when I was in camps there. I satisfied myself and proceeded
on my homeward journey to the old red hills of Georgia, which I had left
five years and two months before.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's A Soldier in the Philippines, by Needom N. Freeman