USA > Nebraska > The first Nebraska in camp and field, by first Nebraska boys > Part 5
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
The most noticeable thing was the absence of glass. In place of it, in the residences, very thin pieces of shell were used, ent into panes abont six inches square, giving the windows the appearance of a lattice.
Two streets, besides the river and canal fronts. were paved with rough granite blocks, but the rest were filled broken stone.
There were two street car lines in the city, but they were not for the convenience of the pub- lic, or, if they were they failed dismally in their object. The cars were nearly as large as Amer. ican cars and were fairly comfortable, but they were pulled by horses, in the more crowded part of the city by two, but in the outskirts by only one. The little Filipino horses were used, which could not pull the cars except on level ground, so at every bridge over the river or any of the canals, which were the only high places in the city. an
64
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
extra horse was kept to help over. The cars stopped half a block from the bridge, the extra horse hitched on, and then all three started on a rn for the top. Often the start was not long enough and the car would stop half way up. Then the driver would put on the brake and the passengers get out and push it up, or if there were not enough passengers for that, the driver would let the car run back, dragging the horses, and try it over again. The driver would stop at any place and wait five minutes for a passenger. and many times the horses would stop and kick the car. The driver would wait patiently for him to stop, then get out and lead him a ways, while the pas- sengers would start the car. If a man was in a harry he always walked, if he had plenty of time he took the car.
Besides the stands in the houses the women would sit along the streets cooking some abomin- able looking mess which they sold fora few cents, and it was a common sight in the morning to see a native with a whole cooked hog, lying on a board on the street corner selling small pieces. It was eprions and at the same time disgusting to watch them buy. One would come along. take a piece, turn it over and over, and then jabber something to the owner, who would reply; then another ex- amination and more jabbering, and in the end pro- bably he would bny, or perhaps lay it down and take up another piece. By the time all the hog was gone it would take a statistican to teil how many had handled it. Every morning one could hear the long drawn, peenlar ery of the vendors walking along the street hawking their wares; some, men with a basket on either end of a pole carried across the shoulder; some, women with
IN CAMP AND FIELD
their loads on their heads. The men have a peeu- liar trot when they carry a load, and although they are small they can carry more than an average sized American can lift. The movement of the trot is so smooth that they can carry two buckets of water by means of a pole across the shoulder withont spilling any.
Chinamen with bolts of cloth, handerchiefs, shawls and almost every conceivable thing, would bannt our quarters until driven ont, and on pay days we almost had to fight our way back from the paymaster, through a mob of insistent natives who would crowd in front of us with something to sell, but after we had been there a short time we were careful about buying from them. for they are the most inveterate robbers that overy lived, na- tives and Chinamen both. It seems that they have no regular selling price for their goods, it is what they can get, and it was a maxim with ns that if you beat a Chinaman or Filipino down to half what he asked he then cheated you. It was amusing to go shopping-at least till we got tired of that kind of dealing. It took at least two hours to buy a handkerchief. We wonld go into a shop and ask the price, to which he would probably an- swer a half dollar, then we would offer hin half of that and of course he would say no, so we would start out, when he would follow us and throw off five conts. Then we would langh and stick to the first price. After a lot of talking, during which we would start off many times, thirty cents would probably be agreed upon.
This propensity to trade was inherent, not acquired, yet they would give the soldiers credit, first by simply having them write their names on a piece of paper, but that gave rise to so much
-
66
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
frand and they had so much difficulty in collecting ou pay day, on account of fictitious names. that they adopted another method. Every volunteer had to wear around his neck an aluminum tag about the size of a quarter, on which was stamped his number, company and regiment, for the pur- pose of identification. On presenting this the native took the number and gave credit to the owner, for if it was not paid they would go to the captain of that company and he would see that it was paid. But while this protected the native it was often the means of causing some innocent sol- dier a little trouble and occasionally gave rise 10 some amusing incidents, for instance, after one pay day three fellows in a certain company who never drank nor smoked received bills from a na- tive of from two to six dollars apiece for beer and cigars, and they had to pay it, too. But after they had gotten over their anger, and everybody had fun enough over it, the fellows who had played the joke paid them back their money.
The people, as may be supposed, are Catho- lies, and very faithful ones, 100. Every morning as we went out to drill at 7 a. m. they would be seen coming from mass, and they were very jeal- . ous about letting the American soldiers into their elmrches. They are also intelligent and very quick to learn. In a short time after we had en- tered the city little boys would be drilling with sticks for guns by onr mannal and whistling our bugle calls and the airs the band played. They are fine artisans and can make almost anything of which they have a model, and that with very in- ferior tools. Some fine engraving was done on gold rings which they sold to us as souvenirs. The ring was a plain band on which was an American
-
67
IN CAMP AND FIELD
eagle, with an American flag on one side and a Filipino flag on the other, and on the inside was the inscription, "Manila, Angust 18th 1898." The majority of them are better educated than we supposed before we knew them. There are many schools in different parts of Manila, besides a seminary. Some of the better class of natives are well versed in the classics and sciences, and nearly everyone can read and write, so many do, in fact that it pays to publish newspapers in their lau- gnage. They nearly all read these daily papers and they read aloud to themselves, so that where there are six or eight in one room it sounds like a bee hive. One thing that characterized nearly all was their desire to learn English. So anxious were they that they would even pay the soldiers to teach them, and if they knew a few words of English they would always use them A little in- cident will illustrate one of our surprises, The evening that we entered the city two boys who were looking for water met a native a little blacker than the ordinary, and by signs and the Spanish word for water made known their wants, The na- tive smiled and answered in good English, "Yes, I will show you some." He led them back be- hind a honse and showed them a barrel full of rain water, at the same time saying, "You are probably a little suspicions so I will drink some first." Surprised, they asked if many Filipinos spoke English. "A few," he replied, "we are not alto- gether an ignorant people."
But while they were not ignorant they had the love of ease characteristic of all people in a warm climate, but to no greater extent than the Spaniards. When we entered Manila it was a sleepy old place, an air of romance and poetry
68
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
pervaded the atmosphere. It was the Spain of Washington Irving's Alhambra. From noon until three o'clock no business was done, (except by the Chinese), the stores were closed and the streets deserted, except for a few American sol- diers, but in the evenings the narrow walks were crowded with a jostling, loitering, chattering, gayly colored crowd, and in the streets was a noisy jam of native two wheeled carriages, darting and squirming, the drivers yelling at each other and at their horses.
At the table, too, they contrasted strong- ly with the American. Instead of hastily bolting their meals, they take their time and then dally over their wine and cigars. Probably while they don't make as much money as the American, they live happier and longer. The reader must not imagine that they had no business. They had, and attended to it, as the boys used to say, "when they were not resting." One of the principal industries, or in fact, we should say, the principal industry is the manufac- ture of cigars and cigarettes. Though the output is great, yet it does not seem to be too great, for everyone smokes, men, women and children. We have seen girls smoking who were so young that their mothers had to light their cigarettes for them.
If any one firm had the monopoly of selling clothing to the Filipinos it would not get wealthy fast. A snit of clothes for a man costs from one dallar to three dollars, for the better class, and consists of a high buttoned coat of white duck and a pair of trousers of the same material. Some- times one can see a coat of European ent with a white shirt and European shoes. This is onty among the better class, but the majority wear a
69
IN CAMP AND FIELD
pair of white duck trousers and European shoes and an undershirt, over which is a very thin, finely worked shirt worn outside of the trousers. Some of them wear heeless slippers and some wooden shoes with a piece of leather into which to put their toes. The coolie class simply wear an undorshirt and a pair of trousers rolled to the
knee, and go barefooted. The fashionable hat is a Panama, in the style of our felt crusher, but the poorer class wear cheaper straw hats made double. or any nondescript kind of felt. The dress of the women is more simple, just roversing the custom of more fashionable countries. It consists of a
low necked waist ont the same size all the way down, with wide sleoves reaching to the elbow, and a skirt with a long train which is tucked up undor the waist band, the whole of bright colored cloth. This, with a pair of wooden shoes the
same as a man's, or slippers without heels com- plete the costume of the poorer class. The bel-
ter class dress the same except that in addition they wear over their skirts a piece of velvet reaching to their knees, and around their nocks a wide folded handkerchief. All go bareheaded.
What we have said about Old and New Ma-
nila may have aroused a query in the minds of many, and will need some explanation. Manila is divided by the Pasig river into Old and New Ma- nila, or rather the river runs between them. Old Manila is the part within the wall, and is situated on a V shaped point of land between the beach and the river. The lower part of the V is left ex- posed and on this is a fine monument of Magellan. Within the wall are most of the government build- ings, the governor general's palace, the arsenal, the seminary, etc. Here also is the finest cathed-
70
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
ral of any in the city, and that is saying much, for both New and Old Manila abound with them, all made of stone and of fine workmanship. One in particular, built after the plan of St. Peter's in Rome, is a magnificent structure.
'The city wall on the river side of the city runs along its margin, and in some places overlooks the water. In the center of the wall there are dungeons, dark, unhealthy places, with water continually dripping from the ceiling. The only means of admitting light and air is by two or three barred windows, narrow at the ontside but growing larger within. Many of these are now filled with oll ammunition. On the sea side the wall is not so close to the beach, but there is room for a lovely driveway lined with ferns and tropical trees and shrubs. One end of this drive terminates in the Innerto, the park of Manila, just outside the south wall. This was evidently once a beautiful place, but now shows the r. vages of war, and that neglect of everything beantiful that accompanies war The shrubs are broken and the trees torn with shot. Beside this park, on the bank of the Pasig,is the ruins of a once fine botanical garden, but like the Lunette it too shows evidences of the ruthless hand of the destroyer war. The grass has grown to a tangled mass. and the statnary is broken and shattered. O, war will you never take your blasting hand from this gem of the eastern ocean? Nature showered her richest gifts npon this little island, but the god of war seems to have marked it for his own. O, shame, that the Inst of gold should devastate such a paradise. The people are not a war like people, they fight, not because they love war, but they believe that God put them in this
-
IN CAMP AND FIELD
garden of Eden because He intended that they should have it.
After we had got settled we began to take up the regular round of duty. At first, as we said, the guard duty was arduous on account of the large number of guards furnished by our regiment, and the small number of men able to do duty. When, however, we became better acquainted with the city, and the guard duty was reduced to a system, and the boys began to return from the hospitals, the work was easier. At this time each man had to go on guard about twice a week. Then we drilled an hour in the morning. from 7 until 8 o'clock, and had the rest of the time to ourselves until 5:30 p. m. at which time we had retreat, or evening roll call, with occasionally a dress parade. For the benefit of those who are ignorant of guard anty, a little explanation may be necessary. A certain number of guards are selected from each company each morning. These gnards were obliged to look neat and wear a prescribed uni- form. The guards were divided into three reliefs, for the purpose of relieving each other, so that each man was on duty two hours and off four, but during these two hours he must walk his beat con- tinnally. Many were the times in the small hours of the morning that these guards had to walk their beats with one cyo behind them, and it was always more more or less dangerous. Very few days passed without a guard being caught un- awares and badly ent by some native. One night especially, we remember, soon after entering the city, a Spanish officer offered some natives $100 for every American killed. There were some as- saults on the guards that night, but in every case the natives were frustrated.
72'
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
A stranger would have had a hard time to discover, from the way we went dressed in those first few weeks in Manila, what the U. S. army uniform was. We had each been issued a suit of white muslin, and we already had our brown can- vas campaign uniforms, but very seldom would one see two dressed alike. Some wore an under- shirt and a pair of brown tronsers, some wore an undershirt and white trousers, while others bought white duck snits; some wore hats and shoes and others neither, and still others wore parts of the outlandish costumes of the Filipinos. This was for two reasons-one was that they had no better and another was that they did not care. A casual observer might say that we had an easy time, as we had nothing to do all day. Snch a one has never been thousands of miles away from home in a strange land. It was then that we began to get "blue" and homesick. The monotony was terrible, and to add to the depression we would be com- pelled to see the ambulance come daily to the quarters and take away our friends, perhaps the last time we wonld see them. The rest of us would think "poor fellows," and then wonder when onr turn would oome. It was awful to think that we had to stay there, possibly to die like rats in a trap. How horrible to be sick so far away from home and friends, to be cared for by cold indifferent hands instead of the loving ones at home. But thongh fevers every day claimed their victims, yet they could be treated by medical skill, but that most dread of all diseases lurked in every well breast and detied all the efforts of medi-
eine-homesickness, the bane of army life. One evening a Nebraska guard caught a soldier in the act of jumping into the river near the mouth. He
View of the North Wall of Manila, looking up the Pasig River.
73
IN CAMP AND FIELD
called the corporal of the guard who took the man to the guard house. When questioned he could not tell what regiment he belonged to, nor what his name was; all he could talk abont was going home, and he begged the guards piteously not to keep him for he had chartered a ship to take him home, and said he must swim ont to it. The next day we discovered that he belonged to the 14th U. S. Infantry and accordingly took him there. Insane through homesickness! Is that having an easy time. Nearly everyone was aware of this dread disease-for we did dread it-and did every - thing possible to avert it. A friend of ours who had the reputation of being one of the jolliest, best natured fellows in his company, said to us since we have been home, that the times when he played the most pranks and appeared the hap- piest, he felt the worse, but knew that he must not give away to his feelings. Yet his bright ways and cheerful laughter and funny pranks kept many a fellow soldier from pining away.
O! the jokes that used to be played! At other times they would be considered rongh, but there everybody entered into the spirit of them, and they served the purpose. When a fellow went to sleep he did it almost at the risk of his life. He was liable to be awakened by a firecracker ex- ploding in his bed, or a monkey walking across his face, or by being dumped from his cot into a d tch of water. Sometimes one would go to sleep in the daytime only to be pulled out of bed by his toe or nose, or maybe he would be wakened just in time for retreat, only to find himself tied to his bunk and his comrades standing around langhing at him, and waiting for "assembly" to blow. Probably they would untie him in time for retreat
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
and probably they wouldn't. These are some of the important things in the history of our regi- ment, because they kept us from getting home- sick. Of course it could not be expected that we lived in peace and harmony all the while. That would be impossible with so many men. There were often fights, but it was often remarked how quickly the cloudy skies cleared. No one ever h .ld any malice, and it was not uncommon to see two fellows who had just had a fight, walking around arm in arm, and talking as though they had been friends all their lives. The spirit of brotherhood and common object was too strong to permit any enduring enmity. This spirit is pre- dominating in the army. The members of one company, or one regiment, will stand together in all things against others. A man with a miform ean go any place among soldiers and be well treat- ed, and very few soldiers will refuse to give their last cent toward helping another. It is this spirit that canses friendships formed in the army to en- dure as long as life itself.
One of the principal diversions, especially after pay day, was cards, and poker, too, I am' sorry to say. Boxing also helped pass away the time, and some of the companies even organized literary societies, but they did not flourish, be- cause the boys were too restless to do any work with pleasure that required patience.
Many of the boys made friends with natives, and would spend their evening with them, learn- ing Spanish or listening to their music, for the Filipinos are fine musicians.
Two members of a certain company were in- vited to a native house one day and were aston- ished to see that the floor was of rosewood, while
IN CAMP AND FIELD
the furniture was of rosewood, chony and mahog- any. A better acquaintance with the city revealed the fact that most the houses were similarly Inx- urionsly furnished, many even whose owners sold fruit and cigars on the street to get a few cents each day for rice, upon which they live. It can partly be explained by the fact that those tine woods grow there and are cheap, but that reason would not account for the fine tapestries, statu- ary and bric-a-brac in their houses also. The natives also had quantities of fine jewelry which they offered for sale cheap, some of which we bonght and which was pronounced fine gold by jewelers in San Francisco.
Another way we had of spending our time was by visiting the warships in the harbor. Every First Nebraska man was welcome there, and the workings of the ship wero explained to him cheer. fully. We do not mean to say that members of other regiments were not treated well, but on regiment had a better "stand-in" because we guarded all the territory near where the sailors landed, and when they were noisy we would not arrest them and cause them to be sent ont to their ship in disgrace, but would take them to our qnar- ters for the night. The 13th Minnesota, however, who patroled the district we guarded, would arrest anybody that they could, and were consequently nnpopular. To visit those ships, and examine their guns and machinery, was a source of wonder to ns from the great plains, and we seemed never to tire of it, but before we got back to the United States the most of us had all the experience with ships that we wanted. A member of the Califor- nia regiment remarked one day that he used to find a great deal of pleasure in sitting in the Cliff House
ยท
76
THE FIRST NEBRASKA
and watching the waves roll in, but that now he would leave San Francisco and go where he would never see the ocean again; and a member of our regiment said if he ever got married and his wife suggested a trip to the seashore he would get a divorce from her on the ground of insanity.
Pleasures, as the reader may have gathered, were few while we were enduring this enforced idleness, and everything that promised a moment's diversion was eagerly taken advantage of. Many things that would seem foolish here in Nebraska we considered highly anmsing there. We would talk to any native that came along, or look at everything that they had to sell, even though we had no intention of buying.
At every meal the native boys and girls came in crowds with little buckets, and would wash our plates if we would give them what we had left after eating. Of course we would give them that, but much prefered to wash our own plates, for obvious reasons. When there was a crowd of these boys and girls waiting, we would stand on the sidewalk and throw pennies into the pools of water in the street, and watch them seramble. They would come ont all covered with unnd, but when the sport was over, would scamper off and soon come back with clean white clothes.
We wore white uniforms a great deal, in fact. we had to wear them on dress parade and guard mount. In the United States it would have cost us all our pay for laundry, because while we could wash our own clothes we could not iron them, and to tell the truth it was too much work any way. But the price of laundry was so small that it was not much of an item, It only cost ten cents to get a uniform washed and ironed, and the work was
77
IN CAMP AND FIELD
much better than we could do, for the Filipinos are a very clenn people. Their principal object in life seems to be to bath and wash their clothes. Every morning there would be crowds of them along the river washing cloths by dipping them in the water and pounding them with flat sticks, while others would be swimming and washing their hair. The women are very proud of their heavy black hair, white teeth and small feet, and take seruputous care of them.
It might be just as well here to remark a few incidents to illustrate the character of the F'ili- pinos In trading one can place no reliance on their promise, as a general thing. For instance, one day a soldier wished to get some shells but had no money, yet he did not wish to wait until pay day, because he was afraid that others who had money wonld either bny the best, or when the Filipinos found that there was a demand for them they wonld raise the price, so he thought that he would do the same as he would in America-con- tract for them and bny them when he conld. Ac- cordingly, after spending half a day searching he fomid some fines ones, and after a great deal of haggling, a price was agreed npon, which he prom- ised to pay next week, and to make sure he wrote his name, company and regiment on a piece of paper, and laid it on the basket of shells, which the Filipino agreed to keep for him. As soon as he got his money he went for his shells, only to find that the native had sold them to some one who offered him a little more. We learned after- wards that this same principle ran through all their business dealings. Yet it was because they needed money. They were reduced to sore straits at the time we entered the city, and after
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.