Manila, 10th October.
The usual serenity of affairs concerning the Filipinos has been considerably. disturbed during the last few days, The Intest trouble has been a brush with the English naval men. On Sunday a launch. cand party of men from the Powerful went lish cemetery for the purpose of burying up the Pasig intending to go to the En-
Acoivrade who had died of fever. As is usual in such cases there was an armed escort to fire the salute over the grave. The English cemetery lies within the rebel lines, and as the launch went up the river there was no trouble until the American outposts had been passed and the Filipino sentry sighted; then came the order to halt.
Filipino. sergeant informed the officer in charge that as there were armed men in the {party they. could proceed no further. It Iras explained. that it was merely. a funeral formality and that " salute is always fired jin honour of departed-comrades. How-lever, the sergeant could do nothing but obey orders, and he referred the officer to the lieutenant. The officer went ashore and splashed through paddy fields until he /finally unearthed the lieutenant, but this worthy could not be brought to take the authority upon his shoulders, and could do nothing more than demand an Aguinaldo pass from the Englishman,—which unfortunately he did not possess. All parties were becoming exasperated and after more splashing about and. slipping over paddy fields the naval officer returned to the launch; not, however, before admonishing the lieutenant to see that a pass was on board the Powerful by next morning. The warning did not go unheeded and next morning the launch and bouts landed with marines and sailors out the burial service. tion is felt over the incident.
Aguinaldo seems to have suddenly grown very suspicious of all parties—Atericans well as others. The other day some -Americans were travelling north on the railroad that runs from Manila to Dagupan. They were held and detained for some time seems rather ridiculous, but it is true. on the charge of being Spanish spies. This There isa rumour, apparently well founded, that only those who held passes from waldo could go further north than lolos—the. headquarters. This morning to terviewed Mr. Higgins, the manager of the railroad, who said that no such cases had been reported to him. It is a fact, however, that soldiers enter the cars and carefully scrutinize the passengers. Besides these things, all is not going smoothly in the rebel camp itself. In Pampanga province and about the district San Jose there. xre many natives who still are only on the outer. edge of the new. republic. These have been-giving Aguinaldo's officers a good amount of worry and have never been quite docile. Last week reports reached Manila that they had organised and, urged on by the Spanish and the priests, were making a stand against the local officials. Patties who wished to visit the district and ascertain the truth of the matter were not allowed to proceed. and this seems to lend colour to the truth of the report.
Lieut. Haan's Battalion of Engineers has been busy on surveys and maps of all the river country surrounding Manila, and up to lst Wedvesday were free t" go where they pleased, hut on that day. they were stopped and the men ordered back by the native officers. Lieut. Haan went to Malolos, and laid the matter. before Aguinaldo, who greatly regretted the interference and promised every privilege in the future. And so the story runs, now favourable, now doing. unaccountable acts, apently blown hither and thither, un it really. begins to look as though the affairs of government are becoming a little too complicated, a little too delicate to be handled by those who have been.doing so up to the present.
Thitty-five expert mining men arrived by the transport "candia who will thoroughly investigate the country for mineral wealtit and make reports to the Government; besides these there are several old mining men who me only waiting until something definite is known about protection and property before going into the interior. One man arrived in Manila yesterday who wears a little nugget on his watch chain. He refuses to tell where it came from but merely says: "Oh picked it up on a little trip to the south."
Paymaster Wilcox and Lieut, Sargeant of the Monadnock left for a month's trip into the interior on Saturday. They took with them eight pack-hors-s loaded with provisions, lustraments, and soon. Itis expected that they will take copious notes on the country, the people, government, soldiers, and the general state of affairs, Aguinaldo has furnished them with his best quality. passports and hopes that, a satiafactory report will he given to Admiral Dewey. ment has made ita appearnioe. It isa tort 'A new paper under Spanish manage-
of comic illustrated sheet called the Kon Leche. Dewey, Merritt, Aguinaldo, and soldiers of both sides are caricatured und the witticisms are rather doubtful, but 60 far it has not been disturbed.
'The smallpox is still increasing, but very slowly. Every effort is. being' made to stamp out the disease in the beginning the patients are kept in big hospital tents and around the enclosure a high wire fence has been erected. Fortunately we have had nearly a week of quite cool weather and it has caused the release of over two hundred fever patients.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.