s very fertile
and in case of necessity troops could maintain
themselves there almost indefinitely.
The erection of a permanent post at Zamboanga is
in every way desirable. Troops located at
Zamboanga could be sent to any place in the
department more quickly than from any other point.
After stating that many of the barracks and quarters will not last long,
he comments:
Permanent posts should be built entirely of
concrete or of a combination of concrete and most
durable hard woods.
The khaki uniform furnished by the quartermasters'
department for tropical service is poorly made and
ill-fitting. The American made cotton khaki cloth
is heavy, shrinks badly, fades rapidly and is
almost as warm as woolen cloth. This clothing is
as poor an excuse for a military uniform as can be
imagined. Instead of offering inducements to
soldiers to enter and remain in foreign service by
giving them good-looking and well-fitted clothes,
we force upon them these unbecoming, hot, heavy,
ill-fitting uniforms. The best khaki cloth is of
English manufacture and should be prescribed for
the army. It is light, cool, holds its color and
does not shrink. All uniform cloth ought to be
manufactured by tailors enlisted for the purpose.
He goes on to discuss the water supply, public animals, ships and
drydocks, and pack and wagon transportation, water and sewer systems,
the roads and the works, ice and cold storage plants and also makes
suggestions for the engineering and ordnance departments. He asks for
the construction, for military purposes, of a telegraph line of
communication with the District of Davao. He speaks also of the marked
improvement in the target practice, especially in small arms. He gives
the details of the eighteen expeditions entered upon and has a complete
description of the Subano uprising, which occurred in November, 1909,
among the hill people of Zamboanga. Certain Moro chiefs from Lake Lanoa,
assisted by pagan and Christian outcasts and criminals from the Misamis
Strip, planned to gather the hill people into an inaccessible part of
the "Bolman Country." This plan was carried out by resorting to false
prophecies, and, in many cases, to violence. Thousands of these small
pastoral
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