Demorvatic: atc
Bellefonte, Pa., Jan. 19. 1900.
WHATEVER IS IS BEST.
I know as my life grows older
And my eyes have clearer sight,
That under each rank wrong, somewhere
There lies the root of right;
That each sorrow has its purpose,
By the sorrowing oft unguessed ;
But as sure as the sun brings morning,
Whatever is, is best.
I know that each sinful action,
As sure as the night brings shade,
Is somewhere, some time punished,
Though the hour be long delayed,
I know that the soul is aided
Sometimes by the heart’s unrest,
And to grow means often to suffer—
But whatever is, is best.
I know there are no errors
In the great eternal plan,
And all things work together
For the final good of man.
And I know when my soul speeds onward
In its grand eternal quest,
I shall say as I look back earthward,
Whatever is, is best.
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
WHEN HE MARRIED.
The postmaster smiled a little when he
passed out the mail, but Luther Wilkins
did not notice. He was trying to remem-
ber whether it was a yeast cake or a pound
of cheese he was to get at the store.
He went out of the post office still pond-
ering and ended by forgetting both articles,
his attention being diverted by the sight
of two boys playing marbles on the side-
walk. This was the first sign of spring
Luther had seen, so it was no wonder that
his memory played him false.
After he had gone home and eaten his
supper he thought of the mail in his over-
coat pocket. He brought it to the table
and sat down to examine it. There was
the weekly county paper,a poultry journal,
an agricultural monthly, and, last of all, a
letter.
‘Well, now,” said Luther, picking it
up, “‘I wonder who’s been writing to me.
I don’t know when I’ve had a letter.
He looked at it eagerly, held it nearer
to his eyes, then farther off. He removed
his glasses and then polished them in
nervous haste. After replacing them on
his nose he picked up the letter again and
scanned it narrowly, then he looked over
his glasses as if at some person and then
said:
“I swam!”
He sank into a reverie, out of which he
roused himself with a start to study tue
envelope with renewed interest.
“Mrs. Luther Wilkins,”’ he said. ‘‘Mrs.
Luther Wilkins. And I an old bachelor
who never so much as hardly thought of
getting married! Mrs. Luther Wilkins!
Why where is she? And who is she?
“Well, I guess I’ll see what’s in it.”
He inserted the point of his knife under
the corner of the envelope flat; then he
hesitated.
‘“What business have I opening her
letters?’ he asked himself. “I never did
open other folks’ letters, and I guess I
won’t begin now.’’” He rose to his feet
and carrying it to the mantle-piece leaned
it up against the clock.
He settled himself to his papers, but
thoughts of Mrs. Luther Wilkins kept in-
trading on what he was reading about
patent nest-boxes, and underdraining, and
the news of the village.
Thereafter, during all his waking hours,
Mrs. Luther Wilkins was often in his
thoughts. He wondered what she was like
and he thought of the kind of a woman he
would wish her to be, and enjoyed himself
very much in imagining how it would
seem to have her meet him at the door
when he came in from the fields, and how
nice it would be not to have to get his own
meals.
At first he was a little cynical and told
himself that the imagining was much more
satisfactory than the reality would be, but
after awhile he changed his mind, and
would sigh heavily when he came into his
lonesome house.
The letter by the clock, too, began to
trouble him. He had a devouring curi-
osity to see what was in it, and besides it
did not seem right to keep it so long be-
fore delivering it.
One evening in June Luther put on his
best clothes and walked three miles to see
an old schoolmate who had an unmarried
cousin living with him. It seemed to him
that Eliza Elliott fitted in exactly with his
idea of Mrs. Luther Wilkins.
He came home quite early very much
disappointed. Eliza wouldn’t do at all.
He worked doggedly for a month, trying
hard not to think of the disquieting sub-
ject. It was no use, and toward the end
of July it was observed that Luther was
becoming very neighborly. He spent
evenings at different neighbors’ houses, he
accepted invitations to tea, he went to
church regularly and to all the Sunday
school picnics. And still he could not find
a suitable owner for the letter.
“I must be terribly fussy,’’ he sighed.
“I’ve got acquainted with about all the
women in town; they’re nice women,
every one of them, but somehow they don’t
suit me. I guess I’ll have to give up
beat.”’ ”
It was ove cold, raw day in early Novem-
ber that Luther sat at a window making
clumsy attempts at mending a pair of very
ragged socks. Happening to glance across
the street he saw a woman out in Ham-
mond’s yard. She was busy raking up the
fallen autumn leaves.
‘‘Letitia Hammond,’ Luther commented.
“Bill Hammond’s sister. We don’t see
much of her lately. She don’t even go to
church; there’s so many of Bill’s children
to look after, and Bill’s wife is so took up
with her clubs and things. It’s hard on
Letitia, but she never finds a word of
fault.”
The sock he was mending fell to the
floor, and the wooden egg inside it struck
with such a loud bang that the cat started
in his sleep. Luther did not notice.
He was standing at the window staring
out.
‘* ‘That is best which lieth nearest.’ *’ he
said solemnly. ‘‘What a fool I have
been.’’
He found his hat and left the house, al-
most running across the road. He took the
iron rake away from Letitia gently. ‘‘That’s
too hard work for a little thing like you,*’
he said.
Letitia’s blue eyes were full of wonder,
but she yielded the rake weakly.
‘‘You’d better go intv the house, too,’
said Luther, ‘It’s cold out here.
No one had been thoughtful of her be-
fore for a long time, and Letitia couldn’s
understand it. When Luther returned
the rake she asked him to let her do some-
thing for him.
He carried her his best pair of socks.
She was horrified at their condition and
mended them in a very artistic manner.
Luther looked at them in wonder and
reverence. ‘‘I’ll never wear 'em,’’ he said,
when he was at home again. ‘‘I wouldn’t
have let her doit only I knew is would
make her feel better, and it gave me a
chance to see her, too.
He found that it was an easy matter to
invent excuses for seeing her, and finally,
some time in the winter, he asked her, in
fear and trembling, if she would be Mrs.
Luther Wilkins.
At flrst she thought it would not be
right to abandon her brother’s children,
but her scruples melted away before the
warmth of his eloquence. Then she con-
fessed that she was tired.
‘It is so long that I have had to take
care of other folks, and it will seem like
heaven to have some one to take care of
me.”’
So it happened that in a little less than
a year the letter to Mrs. Luther Wilkins
was given to its rightful owner. ‘‘Circum-
stances over which I had no control have
prevented you from getting it before,’
Luther said.
“Why, it’s nothing but an advertise-
ment of some new preparation of cereals,”’
she said when she had opened it.
Luther looked blank.
“I see how it is,”’ she said, after a mo-
ment’s thought. They sent to the grocers
for lists of their customers, and then sent
these circulars to their wives.”’
“‘Let’s keep it,”’ said Luther, softly. ‘If
it hadn’t been for that—’’
‘Yes, we’ll keep it,’’ said Letitia, blush-
ing.—Susan Brown Robbins in Boston Globe.
Fighting Men in Khaki.
Why the British Regiments Do Not Wear Their Gay
Uniforms in South Africa.
Khaki may prove to be the winding
sheet of the Boer republic. Khaki is the
dust colored cloth of which the new service
uniform of the British soldiers are made.
When the British fought the Boers in
former years, the soldiers of the queen went
up against their sharp eyed foes clad in the
glaring hued clothes which made their evo-
lutions at Aldershot such brilliant specta-
cles. They wore scarlet tunics crossed by
white bands, bright helmets with waving
plumes, huge bear skinshakos and other
gay trappings, all pleasing enough for pa-
rade, but entirely unsuited for war.
But since the days of Laingsnek and Ma-
juba Hill England has discovered that the
fanciful toggery which wins admiration on
a line of march at home isnot the thing for
a battlefield. So things have been chang-
ed. Nowadays when the British soldier
goes forth to war he stows his gay uniform
in the home barracks and gets into khaki,
which is durable, comfortable and unob-
trusive to the eye.
Perhaps this explains the apparent fall-
ing off in Boer markmanship. In former
wars the burghers opened fire at long range
and did terrible execution. Against the
dull green veldt you can see a scarlet tunic
along distance. The Boers were in the
habit of picking out individual soldiers just
as they would pick outa mark at a shoot-
ing contest. The ‘‘rooi battjes’’ made line
marks. ‘‘Rooi battjes’’ is Boer for red
coat.
But in this war the Boers have not done
so much longdistance shooting. Instead
of distinctly marked lines of red they have
been confronted with indistinet lines, of
soldiers who were hardly to be recognized as
such at 1000 yards, because their uniforms
were so nearly of the color of mother earth.
As a consequence the Boers were surpris-
ed and grieved. Gladly did they welcome
the Gordon highlanders, who went into ac-
tion wearing their kiltsand tartans which
they had insisted on retaining. The fatal-
ities among this regiment have been great.
What a fine mark the Hussar would have
madein his peace aniform with its wealth
of gold braid, scarlet facings and nodding
pompon !
But all that finery he has left at home.
His stout calves have been wound with
putties; he has put on khaki riding breeches
and his khaki tunic has never a facing or
a color in sight. Even his white helmet
has been covered with thin khaki, and at
1,500 yards he melts mysteriously into the
background.
Nearly all the regiments sent to South
Africa have been uniformed in the same
way. Many of the officers, too, have adopt-
ed uniforms partly of khaki. The war of-
fice is now talking of putting all the officers
even the generals, into khaki. The high
rate of mortality among the officers who
have faced the Boers during the recent bat-
tles have brought about this result.
A writer in a London paper recently con-
tributed some sensible views on the subject.
He said :
‘Does the man in the street reflect that
we are paying too heavy a price just now
for the paraphernalia of regimental orna-
ment? Tartan and tunic make a brave
show at a review or in a march through
London. At the Pacific theater every
night you may see in the biograph the
swinging stride of the Gordon highlanders,
with their kilts and bare legs and what the
Kaffirs call vheir petticoats. A throb of
pride runs through the house at the sight
of them. Yes, we are right to feel proud,
but why, in the name of sense, are they
dressed like that when they face the Boer
riflemen? Every man in a tartan is a liv-
ing target for the most expert marksman in
the world.
‘‘Every officer goes to almost certain
death because he wears a uniform that can
be easily distinguished, waves a useless
sword and stands in the most exposed posi-
tion even when his men are lying under
cover.
“Truly wonderful and terrible is the
conservatism of our race! You would
think that in such a deadly business as
war, when it the utmost importance to
husband lives, the practical Briton would
make his soldiers as inconspicuous as pos-
sible. No such thing. Livesare sacrificed
for the sake of a bit of gold lace or a bunch
of feathers or a regimental color. Some-
body has suggested that an officer in action
should be dressad like his men and carry a
carbine or a rifle. Why not? Would his
orders be any the less obeyed, his example
any the less stimulating? I read that the
officers of the guards, lately dispatched to
Africa, are not to be decorated targets. It
is time. Alas, these uniforms and their
appurtenances are the veritable trappings
and suits of woe!”
Aged People at Rebersburg.
Rebersburg has a large number of aged
people. The octogenarians are Mrs. Kate
Bierly, 89 years; Mrs. Hettie Gramley, 84
years; Mrs. Rachel Corman, 84 years; Mrs.
Annie Fehl, 82 years; Mrs. Sallie Brungart
80 years; Mrs. Hannah Dubs, 81 years;
William Walker, 84 years. The septuagen-
arians are ex-Judge Samuel Frank, 79
years; Mrs. Reuben Meyer, 78 years; Levi
Strayer, 78 years; Mrs. Sallie Weaver, 77
Joseph Miller, 77 years; Elias Stover, 77
years; Mrs. Abbie Miller, 76 years; Mrs.
Daniel Brungard, 75 years; Mrs. Susan
Miller, 75 years; Ephraim Erhard, 74
vears; George Weaver, 79 years.
J ) 8 ’
EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS.
Captain Edward W. McCaskey Describes the Vicissi-
tudes of Army Life. '
The notes of army life at Calamba, with
dates here given, are from the private let-
ters of Captain Edward W. McCaskey,
quartermaster of the Twenty-first U. S. in-
fantry.
CALAMBA, Oct. 17.—Plenty of work on
the bay this a.m. More contraband stuff.
Very mixed cargo. Stuck on bar, wouldn’t
go in or out. Bad surf to get little boats
alongside. But we're getting it in, rice,
rations, sugar, potatoes, heans, onions and
canned stuff. Must hustle wood and more
Chinos. Some trouble on front of E com-
pany this morning. The rebels are getting
too bold; need another warming up. New
rebel trenches and gun places. They are
getting in closer daily. Our two new Gat-
lings due here Friday. We need them, for
we must give them a ‘‘go’’ very soon. Sent
up all the Santa Rosa prisoners under guard.
Captain Hall went with them. Plenty of
people at landing who would be glad to
“pull” them.
Oct. 19.—Some firing. Plenty of rain.
Long night, awake and fever. Had wire
late in afternoon to seize two tugs and four
cascoes smugglers. Went through surf, got
Napidan, and corralled them all. Have a
gang at work scrubbing floor and walls of
Spanish hospital where there were infec-
tious diseases. We are going to move our
offices there next week. Want to get it
clean enough upstairs by tomorrow even-
ing to burn sulphur for a day or two. Chi-
nos, Filipinos, a whole block of them, must
go. Very filthy place. Filthy is hardly the
word for this stinking hole. Some of these
places haven’t been cleaned for ages, and
there is nolimit to their vile abominations.
Hope we’ll get through the job without
losing any valuable lives. Raining again,
and the laborers chill and shake so that
work goes slowly. One or two companies
entirely out of wood today. Must find some
even if I take down a stray house to get it
dry for them.
FILIPINO ARTILLERY.
Oct. 20.—They report 1,000 rebels and
six guns to reinforce their lines. Filipino-
Spaniard claims hospital as his property,
wants as to get out and stop making it fit
to live in, and pay him for trespass, etec.;
wants galore but we can’t listen to him.
Must go through it today with soap and
lime and sulphur and carbolic acid, after
getting the worst off yesterday. Another
load of sick men to go to the city in the
morning. Rebels seem to be massing near
sugar house. We can shell them there
Waiting for the Gatlings the better to hold
our hill and the bridge. Boat in the night
They couldn’t get ashore for the surf. Reb-
els made attack at 10 p. m.; hot time till
11; not so warm at midnight, and quiet
again later. The attack was made by a par-
ty slipping around Cristobel and working
in near the village across the lower ferry.
Drove in the outposts there and fired hard
into hospital, provost prison and plaza. M
and F formed up and gave them 10,000
rounds Krags. Artillery hurried down from
upper ferry and shelled everything down.
Napidan ran in close and warmed up. C
was in it on right, and E on left, rest of
line firing volleys now and then. Rebels got
a number of shells and solid shot well plac-
ed here in town. A big one burst over Maj.
Wittich’s house, and several near the com-
missary, just back of headquarters, which
was their target.
QUITE A FIGHT.
Oct. 23.—Quite a fight this morning. We
got up at 3:30, breakfasted at 4 a. m., load
out 4:30. The scrap lasted from 5 to 10:30
a. m. I hauled out ammunition three
times, trot and gallop. Awful hot. Had
two pony carts and light wagon. Gatling
and team, and four-line team. Kept all
well filled up with ammunition. Close in
it, too. Mitchell, of I company, was killed.
Several men wounded. One of my wheel
mules was killed, and fell on Hawley, rid-
er and driver of the Gatling, hurting him
somewhat. We drove the rebels three miles
returned at noon. The Gatling eats am-
munition very fast, also the mountain gun.
The big three-inch gun has heavy stuff.
The ground was rough, and there were
natural positions everywhere for the rebels.
We took their last trench and barricades,
and then came back. They are there now.
The fight put back our regular work, but
we will get through with it tonight. When
the ammunition is to go, you strain every
nerve and muscle to get it up in time to
where it is needed. It must not get there
too soon, for they can’t carry any extra
freight. Too hot. But when they run short
and need it the case is very desperate, and
it must get there no matter what breaks.
To-day we smashed a wagon and two carts,
and lost a mule and two ponies.
COLONEL CRANE TURNS UP.
Oct. 25.—Boat in at 11 p. m. Inspector
General Crane has been here for three days;
good man. Mail in and very welcome, in-
cluding twenty books and stacks of papers.
They will be of interest to many people.
Thanks for all. Pot shots all the time. No
heavy firing. Many wants everywhere,but
I’m getting them filled. Thesun has been
quite hot today, and has dried up the mud.
It’s just the sort of time the rebels play
ball.
Oct. 26.—Rather quiet night. Some rain
and black as ink. Want to geta road
through from this hostile village by lower
ferry to C company’s Gatling gun. We may
have to help them over there very sudden-
ly and soon. Can run cart or ponies out
that way with sacks of ammunition. Time
important, a mile less distance, but can’t
use it in wet weather. Wood question get-
ting serious. Scarce, and our cooks burn
it by the cord on open fires and in stoves;
must shave them down some. Want to get
a couple of cords out to advance companies
if these sly hustlers in town don’t get it be-
fore we can carry it out. Have to sit on a
thing here now to hold it. Casco crew just
up from chow, hungry. Got a lot of rice.
Attack expected on Barnos and here to-
night. The 37th will be ready to help out
and if it comes, the artillery will be in it.
Want to get ammunition up as soon as I
can before it opens. Sent two Filipino la-
borers in a canoe to Banos with message to
Capt. Parmenter. Have not reported back.
Rebels may have got them or they may
have changed to rebels. Long range shoot-
ing when I was out on the line to-day, our
men replying about one to three shots.
Hot day, not much air, just the sort they
like to open up on us because we get so ex-
hausted when we drive them hard. Forty-
four recruits in boat coming up today.
General Wheaton got in unexpectedly this
afternoon, and a campaign is being worked
up.
Oct. 26.—Just paid off the hands, some
thirty odd, and some bulls and bancas and
other small items. Pay by the day. They
fear we will be killed, or they, or that we
may pull out suddenly. Pay in Mexican
silver, half value of ours, thirty cents a
day and chow. Bosses, banquerors and
good men in particular lines get a peseta
(10 cents) or media (5 cents) extra. Rent-
al of a large house is $20 to $30 per month;
big banca same, smaller 50 cents per day;
bulls 50 cents to $1 or more per day. It’s
too hot now for men to work, even these
fellows, does them up. They get chills and
and fever and headache, same as we do, call
it ‘‘calenturay mucho maio en Cabezo.”’
When they shake they say, ‘‘Paubre (poor)
Filipino, mucho paubre y frio, mucho frio
(very cold) mucho malo’ (bad), ete.
When the bullets sing they get down in a
ditch and will not work, and when the big
guns are at it, they shake and say, ‘Mucho
bhombom !”’ But they like the noise. Just
fixed up some reading matter for Walter.
Will try to get it out to him this evening
before the pop party begins. They gener-
ally try it about dusk and dawn, and often
in the night if warm and dry. Won't fight
in the wet unless cornered. When in a
tight place they fight hard, use bolos, throw
them sometimes. We keep them a mile
away, or as near that as we can. They are
now crowding out about the sugar mill on
St. Thomas road, but we are ready.
Oct. 28.—O. K. here. Same to you all.
Still rather quiet. Very wet, too much
rain. Work going slowly. Small scrap on
C.K. and D. at 9:30 last night. We all
turned out, and the battery got ready to
throw shells over the line, but it soon
quieted down. On the alert for a while,
turned in and got some sleep. Odd shots
during the night, more at dawn. Rained
hard since then. That will cool them;
makes the work harder, too, and the Fili-
pinos shake with chills and fever. They
burned straw stacks and nipa shacks on
our front last night, may have thought we
were sneaking up to attack them. More
rain, then more sun, and awful hot between
showers. When it is below eighty degrees
the workmen are shivering, and I must
wear blue shirt and coat to keep off the
chills.
A PITIFUL CASE.
Some poor starving women and a sick
child were just in trying to get food. They
are rebels and their men are prisoners of
ours. Hard to see them dying by inches.
We cannot give them help or food unless
they pretend to be amigos and work for us
when needed. Can’t stand it sometimes !
Just bave todig up a little stuff or buy
them some rice. Still raining hard. Just
heard that our boat has five sacks of mail.
Bueno ! Hope to get some good home news.
Must go to Manila to help settle up affairs
of Major Howard, who has recently been
killed. I was working under him in Q. M.
business.
PEOPLE STARVING.
Oct. 29.—Sunday, on board ‘‘Seattle,’”’
some 36 officers, guard and three rebel spies
newspaper men, and crew of mixed Chinos
and Filipinos. Rain every hour or so, but
a good breeze and I hope a fair trip ahead.
Sun out hot now and then. Pulled two
cascos all the way. Stopped at Pasig and
Pedro. There are people all along here
they say, dying for want of food. Reached
Manila at 3 p. m., and reported at once to
division headquarters. The 33d regiment
just coming ashore.
GETTING DIZZY.
Nov. 1.—Hot and gniet. The hands are
getting weak and dizzy. Have to make it
an early noon and allow a long time to
them for dinner and smoke and siesta.
Work again at 2 o’clock and late this even-
ing. Our guest, the Spanish officer, was
late governor of Mindao and a major of in-
fantry. He seems pleased to be with white
folks again, gets better fare than he has
had for the past two years. He didn’t
know until last Christmas that the Span-
ish-American war was over. He has a wife
and two girls in Spain,and four boys buried
there. Ican’t talk very well with him,
am a little too slow. Mix up Spanish,
French and English when he goes fast.
Just got very sad news for my little boy,
‘Thomas Jr.”” His father, ‘‘Thomas Sr.”’
was an amigo, and talked some English,
and his boy (Jr.) has been working for me
about headquarters for ten weeks, cutting
wood, looking after the horses, and other
things. Bright little man, built like our
Jack. Poor little fellow, and poor women
folks and children! The murderers have.
I suppose, got away to the rebel lines. I
will get their names and descriptions and
try to have them trailed and brought to
trial. The old man was weak and couldn’
make a fight, and the fiends cut his throat.
I am sorry for the family. I believe they
killed the old man because he was friend-
ly to me and because his boy worked for me
here.
Nov. 6'—Heavy storm and a quiet night.
But few shots. Boat in late, unloaded in
the storm and the black darkness. Some
recruits and Chinos. The rain, we were
told, was to hold up about November 1st,
but we have had plenty of it since then.
Two more escaped Spaniards go up on hoat
to-day with the sick and the prisoners.
Issued the twenty-two Chinos to the com-
panies. Great dicker about selection, and
some companies get a worse deal than oth-
ers. Very hot from 9 to 2, and then a
heavy rain, poured in sheets. More Chino
slave business. Enough of that at any
time. I have 52 in the regiment and 12 in
the hospital, to round up. and settle their
rows, and arrange in squads so that work
and chow go along peaceably. Hong Kong
and Canton will not eat or live or work to-
gether. The different districts seem to
hate each other cordially. Squads finish-
ing up their work, tired and wet. Poor
people ! Tough job for thirty cents.
100 DEGREES IN THE SHADE.
Nov. 7.—Sun hot to-day, 100 in shade.
Working small gangs and getting small re-
sults. Rained later, looks now like an all-
day downpour. The companies will soon
be shifted to afford relief to those that have
borne the brunt of it for the past six weeks.
The long strain, and wet, and the four
fights they have had, are telling on them
and it is no wonder that so many are break-
ing down. New moon last night, partly
under a cloud. Rained bard most of the
night, let up at dawn. We have been in
this island for almost six months and the
rain has fallen more hours than it has not
fallen, that is, more wet hours by far than
dry. The dry times, with bright sun, are
good for colentura,hot head and fever. We
take it as it comes. They call this ‘‘the
wet season,’’ and it’s well named.
CAN’T AFFORD COFFINS.
The mother of my second boss died this
a. m., and was buried. I had to get out a
pass for him *‘(Francisco No. 1?) to use a
burial box, and enter the cemeteria with-
out inspection. They don’t bury the box.
Boards are too scarce. They wrap the body
in a mat of rush or grass work. No priest
here. He is out on the rebei lines. Carry
on pole on shoulders of two men like any
coolie burden, and two more carry picks
and shovels.
Rebels are making stronger defences on
a part of theirline. Suppose we must make
another fight out on the right. It looks
as if they would open on us from about
1,200 yards this time. The last two at-
tacks were at 1,000 and 1,700 yards, and
then we rushed them. Plenty of amigos
in white in town to-day. Wonder what
it means. They will probably skip before
the scrap begins. The artillery horses and
mules just went by at a round trot. They
are huge, powerful animals and are kept
in good condition.
Nov. 9.—Fairly quiet during the night.
Fine sky till eleven, then heavy black
clouds. Heavy, cold rains since 3 a. m.
Get into woolens and shiver. We looked
for an attack last night or to-night, and
then we were going for them to-morrow at
dawn, but this rain will change the plan.
The mud is so deep that it would be hard
to move the artillery at all, and our plans
require to move fast. Rained all day. Sun
shone for about two minutes at noon, then
rain again and ever since. Our cook has
made a fiddle of tin and strung it up, and
is playing ‘‘Massa’s in the Cold Ground.”
It’s dreadful, but he’s getting some fun out
of it, and he doesn’t have a very jolly time.
So I don’t growl.
Nov. 12.—Sun out, very hot, everything
damp and muggy. Private Roach, of L
company, has just died, and I am ordered
to get his body off to city by return boat.
Sent a man on horseback to beach, to go
off and hold the boat. Do not know where
boards can be gotten to make coffin. Peor
fellow ! It was sudden; went sick yester-
day morning, hospital in afternoon, uncon-
scious in night, dead this morning. May
he rest in peace ! Must get up more wood
to-day and make an issae of it. Companies
on far lines need it badly. Very many
sick. Heavy rains for four days and nights
and chance for more agua. Long rains and
hot sun bring out fever strong. Plans
making for a heavy fire from our whole
line at dawn, and all the artillery to work
fast. If therebels develop we are to go at
them; if not, we are simply to hold our
trench line and fire at any one to be seen.
Have just been all over the line fixing up
for move of troops and artillery in the
night. Both fords are passable, and upper
road will stand heavy guns and wagons,
the lower one light carts aud ponies with
pack and foot soldiers. Expect a stir to-
night on our right, and we go back at them
at dawn. Companies are to exchange posi-
tions Tuesday a. m., if this Fourth of July
goes right to-morrow. There is some shoot-
ing at intervals, and suppressed excite-
ment. Artillery men have just loaded
their chests at Q. M. storeroom. Finished
work and paid off hands. Must go out
over ground again to show 37th their places
and how to get there, then fix up small de-
tails, saddle ponies for mounted messengers
4 a. m., and Gatling team 4:30, etc. It
seems hardly right to devote all Sunday to
preparations for a battle, but that’s our
business just now.
ANOTHER FIGHT.
Nov. 13.—Rather quiet as I write but
we’ve used up plenty of ammunition since
dawn. Up at 3a. m., breakfast, and out
by 4 o’clock. Mostly artillery at mile and
mile and a half range firing over our lines,
and some heavy infantry work. Last night
was beautiful tiil 2 a. m. We lay down,
but waited nearly all night for the rebels
to attack. Helped Crawford some in tower
to-day, watching shots and giving warn-
ings by telegraph. Found a new rebel
trench on higher ground; guess we must
go after it. Our companies are growing
small, and many men are so weak that
extra violent effort does ther up quickly.
A, Band C companies, of the 37th, also
getting smaller daily. Lucky that we did
not make an attack to-day over bridge to-
wards Cabayo. They were massed out
there, as we have since learned, and ready
to warm us at close range in a sort of an
ambush, while they fired from sheltered
positions. Our fire has done good execu-
tion. The rebels on our front are spunky
until we go at them with a yell ina charge.
They can’t stand that. But at long range,
and trench and picket firing they give us
trouble. Ran out supply of ammunition
this p. m., and arranged to move com-
panies’ stuff in the morning.
COMFORTABLE CONDITIONS.
Nov. 15.—Fire scant, wood scarce, wet
and cold. Hundreds sick, hospital full,
sick boat will be called to relieve pressure.
Have on two suits of underclothes, a
sweater, and shoes not so very wet, gum
coat soaked through, more wet inside than
out. Think I'll turn in. Poncho like a
sieve, soaked through and full of mildew.
Clothes green, musty and foul smelling
like a damp cellar. When will it let up!
Rheumats rather better. Not soaked
through yet, but the day is young. Whole
town flooded last night. Havesmall gangs
on tram, and ditch, and rations and wood.
River away up ! Can hear it roar over the
rapids nearly a mile away.
Nov. 16.—Paymaster in during night.
There may bea warm time when our men
and the 37th get to celebrating. They
have had a hard time here, and may go it
rather wild. Many natives are sick with
fever and these horrible chills. Too much
work and the cold rains. Some cascoes in
bay smuggling. Case of smallpox in plaza.
Hope it will not spread. Place is fairly
clean now, and we are trying tokeep it so.
Vino jags make men wild. It is a very
poor kind of drink, cuts the insides and
kills. My two white bosses are sick, and
four Filipino bosses also laid up. Even
they go down under the rain and mud and
hot sun. To-day I had 28 on duty. Just
paid them off, also the washer women, who
were in good humor. We pay five cents
Mexican per piece, and have a great count-
ing. Send a dozen for 20 cents, and get
back ten pieces. Washed in cold, dirty
water, little or no soap, never boiled.
Smell ! imagine it! Captain Larsen, of
Napidan, in jolly as ever. Fighting on
the north and at Dagupan. Sad news that
Logan is killed. I knew him at West
Point. He landed the Sunday I was in the
city, two weeks ago. Very short career
here in Luzon.
Nov. 19.— Sunday very hot: mud dry-
ing up again. Frequent shots. Report in
last night of proposed attack, and there
were some signs. We got all hands ready,
and moved the guns, and then waited all
night, but no fight developed.
Hope we get some new troops here soon.
The constant strain day and night of
six months duty in the trenches
on the ring line, in this almost
incessant rain and mud, under trop-
ical sun, is telling hard on our men. Our
sick list is now nearly six hundred, and
growing daily. Heavy firing to northwest
last evening, toward Imus, probably ten
miles out. Many natives are dying. This
seems to be a bad season. Too much agua
(water) and mud. We eat regularly and
smoke and work, and sleep when we can,
at any odd time, frequently in all our
clothes, just ready to jump.
BUCKLEN’S ARNICA SALVE—Has world
wide fame for marvelous cures. It sur-
passes any other salve, lotion, ointment or
balm for Cuts, Corns, Burns, Boils, Sores,
Felons, Ulcers, Tetter, Salt Rheum, Fever
Sores, Chapped Hands, Skin Eruptions;
Infallible for Piles. Cure guaranteed.
Only 25 cents at F. P. Green’s drug store.
The Goodyear saw mills at Galeton
cut 58,135,426 feet of lumber in 1899.
Their wages account to the mill men was
$66,000. The mills employ 175 men ex-
clusive of those employed in the woods and
on log trains, and the amount of lumber
shipments exceeded the amount sawed by
3,500,000 feet.
What Our Circulation Is.
Something of Interest for the Perusal of Farmers.
Per Capita Money in the United States.—A Tabie
Which Shows the Scarcity of Money in the Agri-
cultural Regions.—One Reason Why the Alleged
“Prosperity” Cannot Reach the Farmers Under
the Present Republican Party.
Just at this time when the McKinley ad-
ministration and the Republican party are
forcing a currency bill through Congress
that will inevitably further contract the
currency of the country, making money
scarcer and dearer and the comparative
price of farm produce lower, the table be-
low is, to say the least suggestive. Some
idea of the pernicious effect the class legis-
lation fostered by the Republican party has
upon the agricultural sections may be
gained from analysis of this table. It
shows the per capita circulation of money
in the various States. It will be seen that
in the northeastern States, with their pro-
tected interests, have successfully sapped
the agricultural sections. The table was
made when the per capita circulation of the
nation was $22.40.
Rhode Island $98.59
Massachusetts. 86.17
New York........ 74.81
Connecticubiil.. i... niki 1.14
OAHIOrDIN. cece ies 47.84
New Hampshire.................0....on 0 45.04
Vermont.......... 40.15
PennSylvanin................. .i...iniiiiiiinioieiinis 38.83
VOUDC. 5 ciire hoster istonrsnsidhnensinivennss isisisinid 36.10
Marviond....c.o ia 26.600
District of Columbia...................... ....... 25.75
Pelaware.......... i iis 25.58
New Jersey... nieetiniinn inion 22.44
OOIOTARO....c.0inciinnsivininsiincninsnics niin ioissiisn 19.57
MORIANA........niivicini eran ssiois ressiosin 18.95
IHIneIs. ce. aa 17.25
OBI0u: acini bli Sr hi ign 15.91
Mehig.. neither ire pie et ieee 14.85
Iowa.......... 13.70
Minhesota..............o.ceeee. Ll 12.92
Missouri... 12.50
Wyoming... .............. 12.41
Wisconsin. 11.44
Arizona.. 10.30
Kansas.......... 10.16
North DAkotn. .... cotton cissmisi cision 10.12
Washington...... 10.06
Kentucky..... 9.46
Nebraska... 9.36
Utah....... 8.67
Oregon... 8.32
Indiana.........iiiinnini 8.25
BORN DalOt..c.iconscinineri inners ssniorssincesnsnane 8.12
West Virginia... 7.91
Louisiana...... 7.05
Nevada...... 6.65
EHS 6.50
Idaho......... eieerss 5.87
New Mexico............... 5.63
Texas............ 5.61
Tennessee. 5.12
Florida... 4.28
Oklahom 3.34
Georgia.. 3.18
Sou Ha ) 2.90
Sinloeinet ii i
North Carolina..... 2.43
Alabama........... 1.91
Arkansas......... 1.50
Thus it will be seen that the bleak hills
of Vermont and New Hampshire show 400
per cent. greater per capita circulation than
the great agricultural States of Kansas and
Nebraska and 700 per cent. more than
Texas.
It is not surprising that special legisla-
tion has made the northeast a rock-ribbed
Republican section, but what is to be
thought of agricultural Iowa, which has
400 per cent. less than Connecticut and 700
per cent. less than Rhode Island ?
The policy of the Republican party
since men like Lincoln passed from control
has been to build up a favored class in the
manufacturing centres at sections. Sooner
or later this fact must become patent to
every farming community, just as it has
long since heen understood and appreciated
by the favored sections.
Jumped Their Bail.
Nine Men Leave Philadelphia. Charged With Im-
personating Election Officers, Making Fraudulent
Returns and Ballot Box Stuffing.
PHILADELPHIA January 8.—The nine
men who were indicted last week charged
with impersonating election officers,
making fraudulent returns and stuffing the
ballot box in the Thirteenth division of the
Seventh Ward at the election for state
treasurer in November last, are fugitives
from justice not one of them answering his
name when the case came up for trial in
quarter sessions today. The bail of each
defendant was immediately forfeited and
warrants for their arrest were issued. Up
to late tonight none of the accused men had
been apprehended. The defendants are:
Samuel Salter, deputy coroner of Phil-
adelphia; Joseph G. Rodgers. lientenant of
capitol police, Washington D. C. ; Clarence
Messer, formerly employed in the copyright
bureau of the treasury department Wash-
ington; William Cook, Harry McCabe, and
James T. Sheehan, also of Washington,
and John Siberman, John Scullen and
John Hanna, of this city. The three last
named disappeared when the frauds were
first discovered, while the others were un-
der bail. :
Shortly after the bail of each defendant
bad been declared forfeited, Coroner Du-
gan received a special delivery letter con-
taining the resignation of Salter as deputy
coroner. The resignation was dated last
Saturday, but the envelope showed that it
had been mailed in this city at 11.52
o’clock this mornin.
The non-appearance of the men for trial
produced a small sensation in political cir-
cles. District Attorney Rothermel and his
assistants were fully prepared to go on
with the case, and there was not the slight-
est suspicion that the defendants would
flee until their names had been called, and
they did not respond.
trict attorney was satisfied that the men
had fled this jurisdiction he immediately
asked Judge Bregy to declare forfeited the
bonds of the defendants. Counsel for the
defendants were in court and made no
move to resist the application of the dis-
trict attorney and the judge granted the re-
quest. The bondsmen for the six defend-
ants who were under bail were:
For Salter, $1,800, Edwin H. Vare, of
this city; for Rogers, $1,800, and Messer,
$1,800, Representative John F. Slater; for
Cook, $2,500, Rankin, $2,500 and McCabe,
$1,800, E. P. Mackin, of this city.
The district attorney announced his in-
tention of immediately bringing suit
against the bondsmen for the recovery of
the amount of bail. There is every indi-
cation that the defendants have fled from
the city. None have been seen for several
days and all efforts to locate them have
thus far proved fruitless.
The frauds for which the men stand in-
dicted were exposed through the agency of
George Kirkland, of Washington who
acted as minority inspector in the division
named presumably in the interest of the
alleged guilty ones but actually in behalf
of a newspaper. There are sixteen indict-
ments against the men. It is also charged
that Lieutenant Rodgers brought a number
of repeaters to this city from Washington
who acted under instructions trom him and
Deputy Coroner Salter.
As soon as the dis--