Total money receipts, Department of the Visayas, months of February, March, April, and May, 1900, $402.09 United States currency.

PERMANENT LINE CONSTRUCTION, PANAY.1

On December 26, 1899, construction work began on the trunk line from Iloilo to Capiz, north coast. Two detachments were sent into the field, one under Lieut. L. D. Wildman, to build from the vicinity of Jaro, via Santa Barbara and Pototan, into the mountain pass between Passi and Dumarao. A second under Second (now First) Lieut. C. S. Wallace to Capiz by boat to work south via Panitan, Dumarao, and the pass, until it should meet the first party. Second Lieut. Alfred T. Clifton was sent to Bacolod, Negros, as signal officer of that island.

At this time the island of Panay was in a very disturbed condition. Bodies of insurgents or ladrones were prowling about the country attacking trains, firing upon transport canoes and small bodies of men, and into villages, but no large force could be found and attacked. As a consequence, bodies of our troops were stationed at various towns of the coast and interior, and it became necessary to build rapidly a network of telegraph lines to bring these widely scattered detachments into communication with headquarters. Rapidity of construction was the first essential, but a certain degree of solidity was needed to resist storms. It was unfortunate that no insulated wire could be procured for temporary lines and that no naked wire lighter than No. 9 galvanized iron was at hand for the construction of branch lines. Transportation was and has continued to be limited in the Visayas, and the difficulties of carrying heavy wire and large insulators over trails impassable for wheels, and even for pack bulls, were enormous. All the early line transportation was done with bull carts, bamboo sledges (called carusas), or with carriers.

The construction party under Lieutenant Wildman, consisting of 14 signal men and 3 men temporarily attached,2 started with rations, hammocks, and blankets, but no tentage, this being considered unnecessary in a region where bamboo huts fairly line the roads. The occupancy of these shelters, however, brings the risk of smallpox, which is very prevalent in the Visayas, and whenever practicable the men were quartered in the conventual building found in every considerable town and usually unoccupied. These buildings are of brick or stone and are separate from the churches. Many of them were formerly used as schools. Each man was armed with a pistol, but three rifles were carried in the bullock carts, of which 5 were assigned to the detachment. In accordance with the instructions of the commanding general, poles were to be cut from the adjacent lands, and the detachment was at first compelled to dig the post holes themselves. This labor, however, soon proved to be so severe for Americans in a tropical climate that the request of the signal officer for the hire of native labor was granted, and after January 1 a party of 10 natives was hired to accompany each squad in the field in addition to the drivers of the bull teams. Native labor was as a rule easily procured by notifying the presidente of a town or the cabeza de barrio to obtain the number of men required, but wages varied in different localities from 10 cents, Mexican currency, per man a day-about 5 cents gold-in the neighborhood of Pavia, to 50 cents, Mexican-25 cents gold-which became the usual rate, and seemed to be established by an understanding among the natives themselves after they had learned the rates of pay in Iloilo, where wages, first fixed at a dollar Mexican per day without rations, were reduced to 80 cents per day, or 50 cents with rations. A ration was given to each man engaged in line building of 2 pounds of native rice per day, hard bread, and one tin of salmon to six laborers. The men thus employed were the ordinary type of the Filipino-small, spare, but very wiry. When at work they are almost naked, wearing usually merely a breech clout and straw hat, but they probably possess somewhere at home, for Sunday use, a pair of white cotton trousers and a gauze shirt, the latter worn in the native fashiontails out. The hat in the field serves as a plate for the rice, the chief necessity of life, which is simply boiled with a little salt, doled out by the handful, and gobbled standing, or carried, as a dog carries a bone, to some secluded corner and there shoveled from hat to mouth.

At first the natives seemed to care little for meat, but they later grew eager for the scraps left by the soldiers and literally licked the platters clean. Of coffee, too, they became very fond, reboiling the grounds and chewing them after the liquid was gone. Fish is a great luxury, but the main article of food, of course, is rice, of which they prefer the dark native variety to the fine, white imported grain; rice from the beginning of life to the end, if only they can get it, but the 3 or 4 cents a day necessary to buy enough for a man's support is not always easy to earn. When at work the natives eat as hearty a meal as possible before leaving camp in the morning, but

1 Given somewhat in detail as showing methods of construction, character of the people and of the country.

2 Shortly afterwards relieved. The line building in Panay was done by signal men and hired native labor.

when not working the morning meal is little or nothing. They work steadily and
well for long intervals of time, but are silent, almost gloomy, the meanwhile, rarely
speaking, and with never a joke or a song, even in camp when the day's work is
over. Back from the field they gather at dusk around the fire where stands the pot
of boiled rice. Each man takes his share on hat or on a broad leaf, eats it in some
corner, lies down on a bunch of grass or leaves in what shelter he can find and sleeps
till day breaks, without blanket or cover. They are sturdy workers, but it is doubt-
ful if they have the strength of the white man or can carry his burden. In certain
kinds of work, however, such as bearing burdens for long distances, they seem almost
tireless, provided they can so adjust the load as to carry it balanced at the end of a
stick placed across the shoulders. They are capable also of making enormous jour-
neys over bad roads and mountain trails; but they do not seem strong in health and
have a deadly fear of certain regions traversed by the telegraph, such as the lower
slopes of the mountains, where fever is prevalent and dangerous. Of medicines and
doctors they, of course, have none, and even when in the hands of our own physi-
cians sometimes resist treatment, with unfortunate results to themselves. The people
who are willing to work for the pittance mentioned are probably no poorer than their
neighbors. On one or two occasions, indeed, sons of the chief men of the locality
were employed with working parties, a little ready money being a strong induce-
ment to even the more prosperous. With one party, for instance, was the son of the
presidente of a town near Iloilo, a man who owned carabao and cattle and rice fields,
yet who had so little cash that he could not afford to pay the 10 cents per day it
would cost to live in Iloilo even for a few days in order to avoid the robber bands
that were constantly visiting him and forcing contributions. In fact, the people in
the interior of Panay were, at this time, miserably poor; they had little to eat but
rice and yams.
Fruit was scarce; chickens, except game cocks, few, and natives
could not afford to eat their best friend, the carabao. Cattle and horses are never
plentiful and, as for money, a silver piece in the smaller villages could hardly be
found. As a rule, therefore, there was little difficulty in obtaining labor, though on
a later occasion, in Antique province, on account of the hostility of the natives, it
became necessary to employ a show of force to obtain it. No particular danger from
the insurgents ordinarily threatened the natives employed, but these were worked
only in their own province and by direction of their presidente. This, however, was
not the case with native linemen later hired, who at all times ran serious risk of life
or capture. All labor was paid, as nearly as practicable, the market price of the
locality in which men were hired.

From Iloilo to Santa Barbara the country is low and flat and the telegraph line follows the road closely. The latter, a well-built metaled highway, runs through strips of jungle of bamboo, and vines interspersed with banana bushes, and cocoanut and bunga trees, and giving place, as the road runs north toward the Aganan River, to fields of cane and extensive rice paddies, in which at this time the grain was ripening. In this section the poles first set up were the bunga or betel nut, a small, symmetrical palm of just dimensions for telegraph poles, but which experience proved to be useless after three or four months in the ground, for, being soft and fibrous, the wood shrinks away from the outer shell and becomes spongy and friable as punk. However, speed was important, and transportation limited, and the line first built experimentally answered its purposes well, much better than if bamboo, the other available pole for rapid work, had been used. The wire was No. 9, galvanized iron, and the insulators Western Union standard, and the brackets were both nailed and tied on with No. 9 wire, which was also used for tying in. Poles were sunk 33 to 4 feet in the ground, tamped and placed at an average of 50 yards apart, later increased. The poles were afterwards replaced by hard wood, or dul-dul, the native cottonwood, and from the time of its construction has worked practically without interruption, except when cut by insurgents. Occasionally on the route the remains of the old Spanish lines could be seen in a heavy porcelain insulator or fragment of No. 14 wire, but this had mostly disappeared to give place to a stretch of crude insurgent line of No. 14 wire attached to shaky bamboo poles, often without insulators. There can be no doubt, however, that the insurgents employed the telegraph to some extent, using the Spanish printing instruments, but it is said1 that none could read by sound except the chief of the corps of telegraphers. Visual signals were, however, used by them, such as columns of smoke by day and fire by night, and tree tops cut in peculiar forms. Often, too, the line of march of our troops or their presence was indicated by a white flag swung from huts during an advance. A code was, no doubt, employed on Panay, as on Cebu, where a copy was captured and sent to the Chief Signal Officer at Washington.2

1 See report of Second Lieut. Max Wagner, Twenty-sixth Volunteer Infantry, forwarded to the Chief Signal Officer of the Army.

2 By Lieutenant Davies, signal officer, U. S. V.

Lieutenant Wildman reached Santa Barbara January 2, 1900, and an office was there established. But one important river was crossed, and that near Pavia, which has a width of 150 feet between steep banks 10 feet high, but with a depth of water at this season of only about 3 feet. This river was spanned. It is crossed only by a slight bamboo footbridge.

From Santa Barbara a single No. 9 galvanized iron wire was run to Cabatuan, an important point in the foothills of the mountains, and telephone connection established January 8. This line, like the former, follows an excellent metaled highway which, after leaving Santa Barbara, passes over a pleasant, undulating country, well cultivated and lined almost continually with bamboo huts. The road is fringed with trees and passes through frequent thickets of bamboo, and there was comparatively little difficulty in obtaining hard-wood or dul-dul trees for poles. Occasionally a living tree was used, but the precaution was taken by Lieutenant Wildman to run the line through a wire loop attached to insulators and the strain of tree motion was thus relieved, giving a serviceable and strong line, which has since worked very successfully. About two miles from Cabatuan a river is crossed in one span of 320 feet, but the supporting poles are well sunk and heavy. This stream-the Tigon River-has low banks some 300 feet apart backed by slightly higher ground and a depth of water at the ford of about 14 feet at this season. There is no bridge on the main road. Some months later (in May), when garrisons were placed at Janinay and Maasin, Cabatuan was changed into a telegraph office and the telegraph continued to Janinay. Maasin and Cabatuan were then connected by telephone. At various times during the construction the signal officer of the military district inspected the lines and was with Lieutenant Wildman's party upon its arrival at Cabatuan. After the construction of the Cabatuan branch, work was resumed on the main line from Santa Barbara to Lucena. Upon leaving the former village, a considerable native town of bamboo, the telegraph and highway-still a good metaled road-passes for some miles through heavy jungles interspersed with large trees. About a mile from the town a large river-the Tigan again-is reached, which is here about 180 feet wide between heavily wooded banks some 8 feet in height and with a depth at this season of 3 feet at the ford. There is no bridge on road. The river was spanned, and beyond the line continued past bamboo houses-many of which had been abandoned-for some miles through a wooded region gradually growing more open and undulating as the foothills of the mountains were approached. Rice fields became less frequent, but grazing land, somewhat bare of stock, was seen on either hand. Betel-nut poles were used mainly at first, but later replaced by dul-dul or hardwood. At this time it became necessary to obtain strong guards from the nearest detachments for the construction party for the region about Lucena, midway between Santa Barbara and Pototan, which was much infested by ladrones or insurgents. Called by either name, these armed bands wandering over the country were a pest to friends and enemies alike. They levied contributions upon the former in the name of the cause or perhaps walked off with a bullock or a woman they happeded to fancy, and waylaid and shot at the Americans from ambush when opportunity offered, and afterwards dispersed to their homes, hiding their guns and taking to the fields, where they appeared soberly at work, harmless as doves. Usually they wore no uniform, and, dressed in the ordinary white of the country, came into town or walked around the highways unrecognized.1

'The ambushing of trains and small bodies of men and raiding of towns have continued. The very day on which the above was written, June 30, 1900, three small affairs of the kind occurred-one in the vicinity of a working party of the Signal Corps near Leon, where a uniformed band of insurgents attacked and captured 4 of a party of 5 of our people, releasing them afterwards, but retaining their guns; the ambush and wounding of a solitary soldier between Passi and Santa Barbara; an insignificant raid upon the town of La Paz, across the river and hardly a mile from Iloilo, and a serious engagement on the coast near Dumangas.

On January 16 the line reached Pototan, the most important point of the region, containing several stone buildings and a large church. A stone bridge formerly crossed the river-the Suague on the northern outskirt of the town, but it has now disappeared and nothing has taken its place. The banks of the river at the crossing, about 100 feet apart, are high, and though the depth of water was only about 2 feet, it was evident that during the rainy season the stream is unfordable. From Pototan to Dingle the road, a metaled highway as before, crosses a rolling upland, with here and there a thicket. The country was less thickly peopled, deserted houses were more frequent, and the inhabitants seemed less friendly than before. On January 22 the telegraph line reached Dingle. The town of Dingle is a wretched collection of bamboo huts clustering about a stone church that faces a great

From Dueñas to Passi the road, which is followed by the telegraph, continues as before, passing over a rolling country by turns open and brush covered. This region was then, and still is, infested by ladrones and insurgents, who were quiet for the moment on account of the presence of our troops and gave comparatively little trouble while the strong garrison of Passi was maintained, but when that place was abandoned, in May, the line cutting became incessant, and as there is no probability of troops being stationed between Pototan and Dumarao for the present, it is feared that telegraph communication can not be maintained between those places during the rainy season.1 Passi lies on the north bank of the Julaur, which has here low, sloping banks 150 feet apart. There is no bridge, but at the ford the water is only about 2 feet deep—a clear, rapid stream. The town is small but pleasant, with the usual church, convent building, and plaza, but is wretchedly poor. The people, including priest and presidente, seemed friendly. At Passi the wagon road from the south ends and the trail across the mountains to Dumarao begins. This trail is impassable for wagons at all times, and in the wet season nearly so for horses and bulls. It has an evil reputation for fever, and the signal officer was cautioned not to permit men to sleep more than two nights in the pass, but as this caution could not be regarded, the detachment and every signal officer on the island remained in the pass during the continuance of the work with no apparent bad effects. When near Dueñas a cipher dispatch was received from Lieutenant Wallace to the effect that the northern party would reach the Lamunang River, midway of the pass, about January 25, and upon arrival at Passi the signal officer of the military district started with a detachment of the Twenty-sixth Volunteer Infantry, under command of Lieutenant Fales, to make a reconnoisance of the country in advance, leaving a strong guard and garrison for Lieutenant Wildman's party, who was to send his carts and spare material back to Iloilo and follow across the pass, hauling his supplies on bamboo sledges, which were found better than pack saddles for use with the small native bull or carabao, our only transport animal. No trouble was experienced from insurgents, and on January 25 Lieutenant Wallace's camp was reached, about 5 miles south of Dumarao, and next day the signal officer returned with this party south to the Lamunang River, where a temporary camp was established, and near which the two detachments met. The telegraph line running north from Passi follows a rough trail across foothills covered with trees and jungle. Few betel nut trees grow, but a

neglected plaza overgrown with grass.

The town was and is a nest of insurgents, and much of the subsequent line cutting occurred in this neighborhood. At Dingle the signal officer of the military district joined Lieutenant Wildman's party, having ridden from Iloilo along the new line, which was found to be well built and serviceable, and next day accompanied the party to Dueñas and thence to Passi, where an office was established January 25. From Dingle to Dueñas the country traversed by the telegraph is similar to that south of the former place. The road continues the same, but is more shut in by brushwood and crosses higher hills than before. Hardwood trees were fairly abundant. Near the entrance to Dueñas a broad river-the Jalaur-is crossed, the wire resting on two heavy poles. The southern bank of this stream is high; the northern low, flat, and marshy in the rainy season. The river, about 100 feet wide, contained about 2 feet of water at the ford. There is no bridge. The town of Dueñas, on high ground a third of a mile from the river, is a bamboo village of the usual character, with a large plaza, on which stands a really fine stone church and a large building, once a school and convent. The people are very poor, but seemed friendly.

The day after the above was written the following dispatch was received from the operator at Pototan, who had been instructed to send messages by runner if possible across the gap between Pototan and Dumarao, where no garrisons now exist:

POTOTAN, July 2, 1900.

Searched all over town this a. m. for messenger. Offered as high as 50 pesos. No success. Later had talk with vice-presidente and chief of police who stated it was an impossibility to get anyone to undertake trip, even if offered 100 pesos, as the insurrectos have all routes to Dumarao and Sara guarded, and kill and mutilate all who try to pass. Route via Tapas guarded also. One native, just arrived here from Dumarao, states he had hard work to get through, and companion who was with him was caught and hamstrung so he could not get away. Does not know his ultimate fate. States saw large number of dead bodies all along road. Could not induce him to go back to Dumarao for any amount of money. Brother of Searcharias, here other day, says all who try to pass from Passi to Dumarao have been killed. I believe it impossible to secure runner from here.

FOWLER.