Rensselaer Journal, Volume 11, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 September 1901 — FROM THE PHILIPPINES. [ARTICLE]

FROM THE PHILIPPINES.

Eph Hickman Writes to His Parents Here. Cagayan, Mindinao, P. I. \ July 8,1901. My Dear Father and Mother: • ' "V'.- . . t * * .-j As I haven’t heard from you for a couple of mouths past I thought I would drop you a few lines to let you know that I am well and hearty so far, and I hope when this reaches you it will find you all the same. lam still in the hospital with my eyes, as my left one don’t seem to get any better. I don’t know what they are going to do with me yet. I have been in the hospital seven weeks to day, and don’t know when I am going to get out. But I don’t think that my eyes will ever be as good any more, especially in this country, as they are too weak to stand the sun. The sun is so much brighter here than it is there. But it isn’t shining very much now, as the raining season is setting in and it’s cloudy most of the time. It startß in raining every day about 4 or 5 o’clock and just pours down all night. I tell you it’s something fierce. But as I’ve been in the hospital all the time I’ve been over here, I have’nt had to go out in it, or do any guard. I am holding my weight pretty well so far. I guess I weigh about 148 or 150 now, about as big as ever I was but I have’nt been out on any marches yet in the Hills. But I would like to go out and have a little scrap. But I don’t think we will have any now, any more as most all of them have surrendered to us. As civil government took effect the Ist of July, which make the laws the same as those in America and they have to live up to them. But they are such a darned ignorant set of people that they don’t know what they [the natives] do want, They’ve got nothing to fight with and further more they dont know how to fight, an they are too dumb You can’t talk t,o one of them. He won’t try to learn English, so what are you going to do. I am getting so I can talk some ripan ish. The most of them can talk Spanish. I know lam getting tired of seeing them. I don’t know what I will do before I get out of this country, iflhaveto stay here a couple of years. Be a nigger myself, I expect. Well, I supose you all had a fine time the 4th over there. Well, I did not have such a nice time, but we had a swell dinned at the hospital. I’ll send you a bill of fare of what we had. Well, the order is out now to reduce the army to its regular size, down to 60,000. May be I will stand a chance for a discharge and spend the next 4th at home. I hope so any how. Well I will close hoping to hear from you soon, so I remain your son in the Philippines, E. JTickman, Troop O. 15th, U S. Oav., < Oagayan Mindinao, P.I.