THE PHILIPPINES.

Am Interesting Letter from a Soldier Boy Campaigning in the Far East.

(Continued from last issue.)

Daet, Luzon, P. L, March 12, 1900.

It took us about three hours to get the wounded and sick to the boat and to get three days rations off. The major immediately appointed me his adjutant so I went with them. We reached San Jose about 1 o'clock and Capt. Kendrick had not appeared. A letter was picked up here that some one had dropped in their flight. It was without signature and in the native tongue. It said that the attack on the south column had been a failure, so those who had made that attack would hasten to reinforce those who were to attack our north column. Of course this made all of us anxious and we were ready to "hike" hands to reach the north column who we feared might be in a close place. Here at San Jose was a good example of the methods of the insurrectos to make the natives fight against the Americans in the belief that the latter would kill them and destroy their property anyway. The night before Major McNamee had occupied the house where Col. Legaspi, the Filipino

governor of No and So Camarines, had had his headquarters. When our troops left San Jose at 7 a. m. this was a beautiful residence in perfect repair. When we marched in again at 1 p. m. it was a wreck not by fire, but the panels were split from the doors, the furniture was in the street broken, the floors were torn up and the house as completely demolished aB could be in so short a time. We reached Ciao at 4 p. m. and camped for the night in an old church. All the towns we entered were completely deserted. At 6 the next morning we took the north trail and found evidences of the enemy before us. Twice we came upon barricades across the road, newly built, but abandoned for some reason. About. 9:30, after passing over an exceedingly rough mountain trail where most of the way we had to march single file and crossing eleven mountain streams we came upon Captain Kendrick's column, companies A and B at the little town of Lalud. Here the previous afternoon they had had a fight in which they lost two killed and one wounded and had buried, when the town was taken, thirteen of the enemy, and that

many more must have been mortally wounded, who crept away into the ravines at the sides.

Companies A and B after leaving Neuva Caceres found they could not depend on their guides and after the first day had been lost. The trail was blind and Captain Kelly took the lead and1 with a compass and his knowledge of pathfinding took them in the right direction. On the morning of the 1st of March they came out on the right trail again. They were without rations and for several hours had had no water. So they did not stop at noon but went ahead where the guide told them they would strike a stream of good water. About 2 o'clock, as the advance guard approached a place where the trail narrowed and descended, presumably a cat to cross a canon, they discovered bolo men on each flank and in a moment shots were fired from across the ravine. They now discovered breastworks nearly hidden by the brush just on the opposite crest of the canon. A and B companies were deployed each side of the trail and a brisk fire was kept up for twenty minutes. It was noticed that there were frequent puffs of black smoke from the breastworks on each side of the trail and they were thought to be small cannon, and so it proved. About this time Capt. Kelly took 40 men and waiting a few minutes for Capt. Kendrick to pour three volleys into the breastworks, he charged, across with a yell and gaining the opposite crest he saw the last of that insurgent band striking the trail at the other end of the village. Here we found them the next morning. The enemy had an excellent position and had built breastworks of green stalks of hemp about two small cannon which were so placed as to command the trail descending

into the canons. From these they shot scrap iron, old nails and old bolts. But they didn't get the right aim. Their thirteen dead were close to the guns for

the Krag bullets had gone through their breastworks. These men were the best specimens of Filipino soldiers we have seen, they were all uniformed and had

artillery insignia on their collars. Col. Legaspi was in command but he escaped.

Charles C. Pulis.

(Continued next week.)