Like all the other organizations which had taken part in the capturing of Manila, the Utah batteries were without a home when they first entered the city. Battery A found temporary quarters in a spacious nipa hut in the Malate district, while Battery B went into barracks in the Odministracion de Hacienda. Several days later Major Young secured the Cuartel de Meisic, formerly occupied by a Spanish engineer regiment, and Battery A was stationed there August 18th. Some days following Battery B moved into the same building. The Third Artillery occupied the south half of the Cuartel, and the batteries were domiciled in the east and west wings of the north half. The Cuartel was a large and stalwart structure located in the most picturesque part of Manila. South of it lay the business portion of Manila, with its Escolta, its Plaza de Cervantes, and its Hotel de Oriente; to the west was the Marcadero teeming with rustic Filipino maids and redolent with its Oriental odors; stretching away to the north were the broad rice fields and forests of bamboo, with the mountains in the distance forming a background. It was a pleasant home and one which the men appreciated.

During the first few weeks of barrack life the men settled down serene in the thought that they would soon be speeding homeward. Their duty had been done and they felt that they were now entitled to the happier pleasures of Utah. But days passed, and were lengthened into weeks, weeks passed and were lengthened into months, and still they remained in the tropics with less hope of returning home than they had at first entertained. The novelty of their surroundings began to wear off and everything which the Philippines could afford became decidedly commonplace. Unable, therefore, to find other entertainments when off duty, as a pastime[Pg 25] the men exchanged reminiscent fairy tales about their late combat. Wearying of these occupations they often sauntered out of the Cuartel in bodies in quest of what little mirth they could get out of the passive and inexplicable natives.

Of course, there were drills and everybody liked them, as they produced such an excellent opportunity for one to give vent to his feelings after the drills were over with. Those were happy hours which the men spent in sweltering under the genial warmth of the southern sun, and learning with a bitter vengeance the tactics of "dismounted drill." And "double time," too, was always a pleasant innovation as it generated a bodily heat to correspond with mental feelings and external influences. Then there was always an appreciative audience of gaping nut-brown maids and matrons who took delight in watching the "soldado" go through his ever-changing evolutions. Yes, those were days which the veteran will always look back upon with rapture.

At first some trouble was occasioned over the inadequate food supply; but that difficulty was soon obliterated. The then acting commissary sergeant was removed and A.L. Williams, familiarly known among his admirers in the battalion by the euphonious prefixes of "Dad" and "Judge," was elevated to this position. Under the judicious management of the Judge a revolution was made in the department and the men waxed fat from the overflowing cornucopia of the commissary.

In those murky days of Manila were other things which served to offset the oppressive blazonry of the tropic sun. In order to make the attire of the soldiers harmonize as much as possible with the requirements of the climate, light shirts and trousers were provided by the quartermaster's department. Every week occurred a general inspection, to which the men were expected to appear housed in this startling white with polished shoes and flaming brass buckles. A very imposing appearance they made when lined up on these occasions.

The advent of the soldier vastly accelerated the trade of the native fruit venders in the vicinity of the Cuartel, and as time wore on this peculiar product of[Pg 26] the Orient increased his sales by the addition of the deadly "vino," sometimes with rather disastrous results to the imbiber. That wondrous monument of human ingenuity commonly known as "army hardtack" formed the standard medium of exchange between the industrious fruit dealer and his overworked customer. The barred windows of the Cuartel became the market ground for all the products of Luzon, and through them many a luscious mango was exchanged for an adamantine biscuit upon which the soldier had vainly expended all his dental energy. The natives had full access to the barracks at this time, and the native washerwoman made the blanco trousers shine iridescently for inspection by beating them against the sunny side of a boulder and afterwards pressing them with a fearfully and wonderfully made flatiron.

Hard by the Cuartel were a number of "tiendas," widely known among the soldiers as "vino stands." The presiding spirit over one of these establishments was generally a pretty "mestiza," who, in addition to her natural charms, was blessed with a high-sounding Castilian name. There were four shops run on the plan, which held pre-eminence both for the character of the "vino" which they supplied and the bewitching charms of their owners. The returned volunteer will remember with keen enjoyment "Juanita," "Juaquina," "Victoriana," and above all "Isabella," the saintly and virtuous, who was equally as skillful in obtaining the nimble sixpence as in raising a brood of mestiza children. There was also "Madre," withered and antiquated, but a born dictator, and through her superior management she came to be known as the top-sergeant. Finally there was Ysabel, with a gentle smile upon her pleasant brunette face, and Estepania, brown-eyed and plump, most beautiful among all the mestiza belles. Isabella's casa was the place to which the eyes of the weary soldier turned after a long and fatiguing drill; afterwards it was the point to which his footsteps inevitably led when he was able to rush in for a few days from the firing line. The house was large and spacious, with polished ebony floors and wide windows through[Pg 27] which the balmy zephyrs blew and kissed the heated brow of the tired fighter. Beautiful creepers twisted their way up the wall and stole in at the extensive balcony to catch a taste of the pleasures within; the broadleafed banana palm surrounded the casa and broke the power of the blazing tropic sun. It was, indeed, the one spot in all the East which made the home-loving Utahns feel at home. When away all his secret longings were centered upon that place and its attractions, and his mouth yearned for a renewed acquaintance with the delicate omelets fashioned by the dainty fingers of Pania and the crab brought from the bay by the ubiquitous Peek-a-boo. His mind reverted with gratitude to the anxious solicitations of "Madre" when she learned that he was suffering from a headache and he acutely remembered the healing balm which she applied to his fevered brow. He knew, too, that should he be struck down in death by the bullet of the enemy, what tears of sympathy would be shed at the news of his misfortune.
 
The one source of worriment about the Isabella mansion was the fact that the thirsty soldiers were frequently[Pg 28] given an over supply of the deadly vino. Such an occurrence was attended with dire results; but as the motherly "Madre" was blessed with an abundant store of remedies, under her care the victim was soon restored to his mental equilibrium. All soldiers seem gifted with special powers to spend money and as a consequence few of them could command the attention of a penny bootblack twenty-four hours after being paid, but this weakness had no weight with the kindly old dame who carried a large credit roll and could refuse nothing to a Utah soldado. So Isabella's mansion forms a part of the war history of the Utah batteries; and it must be remembered with other and more stirring scenes; for when the thoughts of the Utah soldier stray to the domicile of the Isabella family they are mingled with happy reminiscences and strange memories and tragic sights.

One hundred and four weary and footsore recruits arrived in the Cuartel on the 28th of August and deposited their blankets and all other portable property on the greensward. They had been waiting out in the bay four days and had finally reached the Cuartel after having made a complete circuit of the city. Sergeant Arthur W. Brown piloted the new batch of volunteers to their home, and ever since the redoubtable Sergeant has borne a reputation, as a file leader, which would make a Mexican burro grow green-eyed with envy.

Here it might be stated that after watching the fleet of transports, which conveyed the Utah batteries, sail out of the rugged Golden Gate into the broad Pacific, Lieutenant E.A. Wedgewood and Sergeants Arthur W. Brown and L.N. Fehr turned toward Utah bent on the mission of securing 104 recruits, which would give each battery its full quota of 173. Volunteers were numerous but the work of enlisting covered a period of nine days. Recruits were obtained from all points in the State but the majority came from Salt Lake City. On the 28th of June the full number had been enrolled and the following day the small body of men left for San Francisco, after being accorded a warm demonstration at the depot. At Oakland they remained all night of the[Pg 29] 30th and the following morning they marched to Camp Merritt, from which place they were removed to the Presidio two days later.

Late in June Lieutenant Wedgewood was taken ill with typhoid fever but remained with the men until July 6th, when he was taken to the Lane hospital and Lieutenant Diss of the California Heavy Artillery was placed temporarily in charge of the recruits. Orders were for the Utah contingent to sail on the transport "Rio de Janeiro," and as the South Dakota Infantry was the only organization on the vessel Lieutenant Foster of that regiment was given command of the men.

The voyage was uneventful save that the soldiers were ill-treated by Lieutenant Foster, who succeeded in gaining for himself the eternal hatred of the men under his charge. As the recruits were then unacquainted with military practices, many expressions of disgust being made in an unguarded way, reached the ears of the worthy Lieutenant, who heaped still greater indignities upon the men by way of retaliation.

At Honolulu W.A. Kinney, the large plantation owner, entertained the Utahns during their brief stay in that city.

The "Rio de Janeiro" arrived in Manila Bay on the 24th of August, but it was four days later before the recruits set foot on the soil of Luzon and made their phenomenal march up the streets of Manila to Plaza de Felipe II, where they greeted their comrades.

Lieutenant Wedgewood, having recovered from his fever, arrived October 4th on the "Scandia,&quo............