traveling through western texas and the plains of new mexico is very mountainous and lonely. villages of prairie dogs here and there seem to be about all the living things that the traveler sees. these little animals burrow deep in the ground, thousands of them close together, and this is why it is called a prairie dog town. i was told that these little dogs live mostly on roots and drink no water. i give this as it was told me, and do not know how true it is. one thing which i noticed was that we would travel two or three hundred miles and not see any water courses.
the section that i was with was detained about three hours at el paso, texas, on account of some trouble on the road ahead of us. many of us took advantage of this to look about the city. a considerable change of temperature was noted, it being much cooler than at new orleans. before the next morning we were passing through new mexico. it was cold enough to wear an overcoat, but as we only had blankets every man had one drawn close around him, and was then shivering with cold. this cold weather continued until the rocky mountains were crossed, and we began to descend the pacific slope.
crossing the deserts of arizona was disagreeable.[pg 15] the white sand from a distance looks like snow, and is so dry and light that it is lifted about by the wind. some places it will drift several feet deep. the railroad company kept men employed all the time shoveling sand from the track. nothing but some scattering, scrubby bushes grows in the deserts. almost any time looking from the cars there seems to be smoke away off in the distance. this is nothing but the dry sand being blown about by the wind.
where the railroad crossed the deserts they are from one hundred and fifty to two hundred miles wide.
the first place we stopped after crossing the rocky mountains was in the city of los angeles, california. the good people of los angeles had a bountiful supply of oranges and other nice fruit, which were given to the soldiers, who enjoyed them very much. some towns where we stopped the citizens would put two or three crates of oranges in every car of our train.
the country was beautiful, orange groves and orchards of different kinds were numerous and fine.
california is the most beautiful country i have seen in my travels from georgia to the philippine islands.
the oakland ferry was reached about ten o'clock on the morning of the first day of june. our regiment commenced to cross at once over to san francisco. a detail was left to take our supplies from the train and load them on boats, all the balance of the regiment going across. my first sergeant was unfriendly to me and included[pg 16] me in the detail as a mark of disrespect to me, although it was not my time to be placed on detail duty according to the system of rotating that duty.
our detail worked very hard for about two hours and seeing no prospect of dinner we crossed over into san francisco to find something to eat. we found our regiment just ready to enjoy a grand banquet prepared by the red cross society. it was prepared near the piers in a long stone building; long tables were piled full of all that a crowd of hungry soldiers could wish for, excellent music was furnished while we did full justice to the feast before us. the red cross has spent a great deal of money since the commencement of the spanish-american war; it has accomplished much toward softening the horrors of war by caring for the sick and wounded, providing medicines and necessaries for their relief, and doing many charitable acts too numerous to be enumerated here. many men to-day enjoying health and strength were rescued from what must have been an untimely grave had not the work of the red cross come to their relief when sick or wounded. the army physician frequently was a heartless, and apparently indifferent man about the ills of his patients. while at camp merritt i was sick for a month. the physician pronounced the malady fever; he did not seem to care about my recovery or that of any other man; his chief concern seemed to be that of obtaining his salary of one hundred and twenty-five dollars per month. beyond this his interest seemed to cease, and if a sick soldier recovered he was considered lucky.
[pg 17]
there were many sick men in camp merritt in the months of june and july. we were stationed there for five months.
twenty-five men, myself included, volunteered to be transferred from company "a" to company "e." this transfer was made on the sixth of june, and was done to fill up company "e" to its full quota for the purpose of going to manila on the transport colon, which was to leave san francisco on the fifteenth of june.
my company, now company "e," was being prepared by captain pratt, and was drilling for the last time in the united states before going to manila. i unfortunately became ill and had to be left at camp merritt to go over later. it was sad news to me, for i wanted to go over with this expedition.
one battalion of the 23d regiment was left at camp merritt, which included my old company, to which i was assigned. we stayed at camp merritt until about the middle of august, when orders were received to go to manila. by the time everything was packed and ready to strike tents a second order was received, not to go to manila, but to go to presidio, in san francisco, and await further orders. about the 10th of october, to our great joy, orders were read out at parade in the evening, that we would start to manila on the seventeenth. the men were so glad they threw up their hats and shouted for joy. we were glad to leave the cold, foggy and disagreeable climate of san francisco, and delighted that we were going to manila, which was then the central battle field.
the bad climate, incidentally mentioned, of san[pg 18] francisco seemed to be only local, extending along the coast for only a few miles.
i have been in san francisco when it was cold enough to wear an overcoat, and going across the bay to oakland it was warm enough for a man to be comfortable in his shirt sleeves. the distance between these two points is only six miles. the native citizens of san francisco, and those who have been residents for many years and accustomed to the damp, foggy atmosphere, are very healthy.
but this climate was very detrimental to the soldiers in camp merritt, and fatal to many.
while stationed in camp merritt i spent a great deal of time in the san francisco park, which contained one thousand acres of land.
a great variety of wild animals and many different kinds of birds were there, and i found in it a great deal of interest and amusement. crowds of people were there every night. many people were there for the purpose of committing some crime. people were frequently being sandbagged and robbed, or sometimes boldly held up, and money and valuables secured.
i knew a great many soldiers who were robbed, sometimes they received bruised heads just by loafing in the park at night.
no reflection is intended to be cast upon the police whose duty was in the park; there were a great many of them, but they did not know all that was being done in the park, and it was necessary for a man to keep a sharp lookout for himself if he wished to escape uninjured.
the date of our departure the red cross gave a[pg 19] fine dinner for all who were going to leave the camp. this was the custom with that society when any soldiers left there for the philippines.
all those who left while i was there partook of a splendid dinner just before leaving.
this society, in addition to the dinner given to us, had several hundred dollars worth of provisions put on board our transport, and all marked, "for enlisted men only on deck."
at three o'clock in the afternoon of the seventeenth day of october, 1898, we sailed on board the transport "senator." the provisions put on board for us were well cared for—by the officers, who took charge of them and guarded them so well that if an enlisted man got any of them, he had to steal them from under a guard. actually had to steal what belonged to him by gift, and if caught stealing them he was court martialed, and fined enough to buy his rations for a month, but the fine money was not appropriated in that way.
we had a rough voyage, not on account of the weather, but because the transport was so packed and crowded that a man did well to walk from one end of the ship to the other. we were crowded like a cargo of animals bound for a slaughter pen.
a private may think all or anything he pleases, but he does not have an opportunity to say very much about anything. he must obey the commands of his officers.
our officers on the transport had everything to suit themselves, and the private had to do the best he could and try to be satisfied, or at least appear that way.
it would take two-thirds of the deck for half a[pg 20] dozen officers to have room. they thought themselves so superior to the privates they did not want to be near them. our ship had fifteen hundred men on board.
we reached the port of honolulu, after several days' sailing on rough seas, october twenty-fifth; five days were taken to coal for our long voyage to manila. honolulu is a fine city, about 2,190 miles from san francisco. located as it is, away out in the pacific ocean, makes it the more attractive to a georgia soldier who was on his first sea voyage. there are some fine views in and around honolulu. as our transport steamed into the harbor of the city i thought it a grand sight. from what i could learn i had but one objection to it as a desirable place to live—leprosy is too prevalent. a small island is used for the lepers' home, where all who are afflicted with this most loathsome of diseases are carried, yet the fact that those poor victims are in that country is a disagreeable one and makes one shudder to look at the island. no one is allowed to go there, except on business, and they have to get passes from the authorities to do so. i had no desire to visit the place.
honolulu is a very good city, with some of the modern city improvements, such as water works, electric lights, street railroads and ice factories. these are the results of emigration, people of other countries going in with money and experience. the natives are called kanakis. agriculture consists in the cultivation of rice, bananas, cocoanuts and coffee. it was there where i first saw bananas, cocoanuts and coffee growing. a lieutenant, with[pg 21] about twenty-five men, including myself, went out about six miles along the beach. we went to the diamond head, six miles eastward from honolulu. this is an old crater of an extinct volcano. returning to the beach we went in bathing and enjoyed it very much.
our party had to get passes and present them to guards on going out and returning. our transport having coaled and made all the necessary preparations for the voyage to manila, we went on board and sailed about four o'clock in the afternoon of october the thirtieth. but few of the soldiers had been sea-sick before arriving at honolulu, but after leaving there many of them were ill for several days.
i think that the native drink called swipes was the cause of much of it. this had been very freely imbibed by the soldiers. it is a peculiar beverage, producing a drunkenness that lasted several days. some of the men getting over a drunk on this stuff, by taking a drink of water would again be drunk. i escaped sea-sickness and, but for the fact that we were living on the transport like pigs in a crowded pen, i would have gone over comfortably and would have enjoyed the voyage.
our rations were very poor, scarcely fit for hogs to eat. they consisted of a stewed stuff of beef scraps, called by the men "slum;" prunes, hard tack and colored hot water for coffee. once a week we had a change from this of salmon or cod fish. i believe those who shared this food stuff with me on this voyage will bear me out in the statement that it was tough fare.
[pg 22]
the soldiers were not alone on board—there were other passengers who seemed to dispute our possession and waged war on us both day and night. these belligerents were known as "gray backs," some of them being nearly one-fourth of an inch long and very troublesome. clothing and everything else seemed to be full of them.
i have seen soldiers pick them off of their bodies and clothing and kill them before the men went to bed, hoping to get rid of them and get to sleep.
i have seen several times almost the whole body of soldiers on board sick and vomiting. there was something peculiar about this sickness. nevertheless, it was true; the men were fed on rotten prunes and fruit, which, after nearly all the supply was consumed, was found by our surgeon to be full of worms. this had been the cause of so much sickness. by refusing to eat this rotten stuff myself i was not ill.
about half way between honolulu and manila an active volcano was passed about four o'clock in the morning. everybody went out on deck to see this great sight. although it was raining at the time the men stood out in it to see this remarkable spectacle. it had the appearance of a round hill sticking out of the water, the whole top burning and falling in.
