The following interesting particulars'are from a private letter which has been kindly placed at our disposal Every day at one point or other the natives attack the American lines, which now are about 22 miles long from one point +f Manila harbour to the other. As it may be of interest to you I will send you by next mail a plan Ihave had drawn up of the American lines which roughly illustrates the position.
At the moment, the American lines round Manila embrace an area of about twenty square miles, and they also hold the ports of Iloilo and Cebu (about 10 square miles in extent between the two ports) so that, as far as operations have gone, up to date, the Americans are in possession of about 30 square miles of the Philippines and the rebels hold the rest.
You will have seen from the papers that before the rebels evacuated Iloilo they set fire to the place and a great deal of property was burnt.
Fortunately our premises there were, thanks in great measure to——''s efforts, saved as the cohols had already strewn our place with petroleum and set fire to same.
However, with a doucenr of $30 to tivo of the rebels we managed to arrange with them to put the fire out in our premises.
T hear that the U.S, A. will pay for damage done; all the same I much prefer that we have no claim to present, as, even supposing the U. 8. A. do pay, it is certain to be very tardy process.
As above stated, business is quite at a full stop and every day since the 4th of February we have tighting all along the line, and sometimes very heavy.
As our mess house is about one mile from the lines we hear a good deal of it; fortunately the rebels have little or no artillery, but are well armed with Mauser rifles, They also have four or eight Maxims, but as far as Iknow, these have not yet been brought into action, People who should know, calculate expenditure of ammunition (title) at about 2 million rounds since the 4th of February (both sides); machine gun at 200,000. 12 and 10in. shells from men-of-war probably at 100 to 150; mountain guns 3in, 1,000 rounds.
Total supposed to be killed, U.S.A. 100; wounded 300. Natives killed 3,000 wounded, no estimate. So the shooting, as you will seo, has not been very good.
The Americans and rebels have between them burnt bout 15,000 to 20,000 nip shanties all round Manila, at least there is a zone about 20 miles long and about 2 miles wide where there is hardly a nipa (thatch) house left standing.
It is only fair to state that each side accuses the other of this incendiarism and as far asthe man in the street" can form an opinion, if one side sets fire to a village at one end, the other side, not to be left.in the background, fires the other end.
For a war carried on in the cause of Humanity " it is the strangest conflict ever seen.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.