Filipino Leader who is causing such trouble

Under date of Dec. 9, Sergeant C. O. Arland writes his aunt, Mrs. Malt. Anderson of Mt. Horeb, a great many interesting things about the city of Manila, saying in part;

Old Malvar is the insurgent general that is holding out there and he is a good one.

My military career is fast drawing to a close and before this letter reaches you I will he a plain civilian, in looking back many years over my soldier experiences 1 have nothing to complain of, and in a great many things I am very grateful, in fact I am lucky to be alive and well at the present time. Do you remember, Aunt, my old company? it was A Co., 1st infantry, and when we left Presido, April 20, 1898, there were just sixty-one of us. How many of those sixty-one do you think there are living now? Well, there are just fourteen, and I am one of them. Just think, nearly three-fourths in three years and a few months, it is the steady drain that counts, for most of those men have been killed or died of disease here on the island of Samar, one or two at a time. They have been on Samar now over a year, and have lost a good many men there. But 1 am very lucky, for I will be discharged here now in a few weeks and I am just as healthy and strong as I ever was in the United States and I weigh as much as I ever did. Of course last summer when we were in the Batangas province I had a good many close calls, but you know a miss is as good as a mile away.

Batangas province is the worst spot in the islands today, and they have just sent a new general there to see what he can do. There are several regiments operating there and all ports are blockaded. Old Malvar is the insurgent general that is holding out there and he is a good one. He has been fighting the Americans since the first outbreak of the insurrection, Fob. 5, 1899, here in Manila, and he is still at, it, and several prominent American officers have lost their reputations and a great many soldiers and several officers have been killed in trying to defeat or capture him. When you read, Aunt, of Malvar surrendering, or being killed or captured, you may truthfully say, ’The war is over in the Philippines.’ Till then, however, there will always be trouble.

"Four of our infantry regiments are slated to go home aa fast as transports arc available, for they have been here three years, and that is considered a long enough tour of duty in the tropics. They are not the same men though, that left the United States three years ago, for those regiments like all others here have had their depleted ranks filled up a couple of times by receiving fresh men from America. Those regiments to go now are the •Ith, 17th, 20th and 22d.

"One of them, the 4th, is one that. I had the honor of serving under its banners a few years ago. and you remember it was getting ready to leave Fort Sheridan when I was visiting you three years ago. It is the first, to go. and it will return on the Grant, which is expected here the 12tn. There are five new regiments coming out to take their places, and they are composed of young men, and are all enthusiastic and will want to look for fighting and glory at once. After they are here during a hot season and have been down with the fever, and have been touched up by the prickly heat, and a few viler things, they will not he nearly so ambitious.

“You have heard and read a good deal of Samar, and the trouble there, but let me tell you that Samar will be a very good island in the future. It has been treated to a flre-and-sword policy, and a war of extermination that the natives will never forget.. There are lots of troops at work there, and they are going over that island like a scourge and killing everything in sight, and burning towns and villages as they come to them. It was an unlucky day for the insurgents when they massacred C. Co., 9th infantry. for vengeance has been swift and it in hard to say the number of Filipinos that have been killed. Tbe Americans there take no prisoners, and of course you understand what that means. Samar is a very fertile island, and It is one of the great hemp producing provinces. After we get it cleared off and a new class of people we will have splendid results from there.

I am enjoying life here In Manila and expect to get along very nicely after leaving the service and taking up some civil pursuit. Of course Manila is not to be compared to an American city, and it is as much different from an American city as day is from night. The best city In the United States to enjoy life in is San Francisco, and I have heard a good many men that knew say it is the best in the world.

“I must tell you a little about Manila, the way it is at present, and how it used to be, for it is changing and every change is for the better. It is fast filling up with Americans and there are wonderful improvements going on all the time. Business is fast increasing and this is certain to become the great commercial city of the east.

"There are two classes of American society here. They are the military and the 'civil’ government people. Nearly everyone here amongst the Americans is connected with one branch or the other, and it is hard to tell which is the leading one. The civil government has the most money to spend and draws the largest salaries (from the insular funds) but the military has the most power. They came together in a grand clash not long ago over deporting a man, and the military won. It was the supreme court of the islands on one side and Gen. Chaffee on the other. Gen. Chaffee said a certain man had to leave the islands and return to the United States. The supreme court said he could stay, and so they referred the matter to the home government at Washington and they decided in favor of Gen. Chaffee. The civil government people-say, 'See what we have done! Wo came here and started up a whole government!’ And the army people reply. 'Your civil government would not last over night if we were not here to protect it.’ And such is the case, it is the army that keeps the insurrection down here, not civil government by any means.

Social life is confined mostly to the principal office holders here, who draw salary enough to bring out and keep their families here. There are hundreds of fine young men here who are drawing salaries all the way from $75 to $l5O per month, who never get a chance to speak to an American woman. The reason is that there are not American girls enough to go around, and there are about ten men here to every woman. They are coming out pretty fast now and every steamer brings quite a number. Why a man here who has a speaking acquaintance with an American girl is envied by his fellow men and one who is lucky enough to be invited to dine with an American family is looked up to in reverence. But lots of those young fellows are commencing to send for some girl they knew in the dim and misty past and as soon as she arrives they are married at once. There are always several marriages the day an American steamer arrives and then for the next two weeks there is a decided lull in matrimonial circles. Most all those young fellows hold good clerical positions here in the city and all pay is good here for anything in that line. The American woman does more towards the civilization of these islands than anything else. Her refining and good influence is felt in every circle, and it is admitted by everyone that the more American homes are established, the quicker will the islands become Americanized.

"The school teachers were a blessing, and there are now 850 of them here, and the schools are crowded all over the islands, and there is a strong demand for more teachers. They are going to increase this number to 1,000 and then that will not be enough. Of course amongst the lady teachers there were a great number of them got married after they had been here a short time, but that must be expected, and even so a good many of them retained their schools. One thing about the teachers is they can go any place, no matter how many insurgents there may be there, and they are always are treated with the greatest respect and never molested. A government (soldier) engineer who is overseeing or constructing roads can do the same thing. Those two classes and none others, are safe at all times and places In the islands. The insurgents know that, they are both a blessing to the country.”