As the hand rendered the old war-songs “Yankee Doodle” and “Dixie,” so sacred to the North and the South, the train rolled off for the quaint little city of Annapolis, the capital of Maryland.
The marine barrack at Annapolis is the finest military post in the United States. On our arrival in the city, the battalion was met by the marine band, and escorted to the quarters, where an especially arranged dinner lay in waiting.
The following day, orders were received for the battalion to proceed to Washington, D. C., to participate in the unveiling of a monument to “Frederick the Great,” presented to the United States by Germany. This was the last procession in which the St. Louis battalion was seen intact.
Shortly after our return to Annapolis, an order was received from marine headquarters, detailing all men having two years or more to serve, on the Panama expedition. Having less than one year to serve to complete my enlistment, I was ordered to duty at the United States Naval Academy, until the expiration of my enlistment.
XII.
Topographical Survey in Northern Luzon
The Friars’ Monastery—Headquarters of the Insurgent Aguinaldo—In Charge of the Cargadores—Meeting with Albinos—Among the Igorrote Head-hunters—Enamored with a Beautiful Señorita—Planting Rice to Music—A Midnight Ride Through the Jungle—A Moonlight Fiesta—Quartered in a Cholera Infected Hacienda—The Jungle—The Rainy Season—Return to Civilization.
In the summer of 1908 while stationed at Ft. William McKinley, a military post in the Philippines, I was detailed from brigade headquarters for topographical survey on the Island of Luzon. This assignment was more than welcomed as a departure from the monotonous routine of guard duty, wearisome marches, and military manœuvres. I was instructed to report to First Lieutenant Kenyon A. Joyce of the Thirteenth Cavalry, whose headquarters were in an old Spanish
monastery in the small nippa-shack village of Lolomboy, near the “barrio” of Bocaue, situated along the Manila and Dagupán Railroad between Manila and Baguio, the famous Philippines health resort.