Dutch Soldiers in Their East Indian Empire
(Copyright, I'M, by Frank O. Carpenter )
JIMAI, Java, Auk. 27 (Special
Cori'Kiiinluiit'i! of Tins Dec ) -1 have
COMIC to TJIttllil to tell VOII some
thing iilmiil I Ik; Dutch colonial urtnv.
1 1 1 1 h Ih onu of their chief garrisons
ll already Includes I. (too Boldlers mid
iiior will lie added until tlilH lic
it huh one of the chief fortlllrd lai:'H of
tliu Kfiflt Indies. It Ih Hltniitcil hIx hours
from tin.1 coitHt, 11 lion t 2.000 tcct nhovo tho
Hi'ii mill nature linn liullt natural formica
tions nbotit If.. 'I'lic enmp lU'H In u plain
Kcvcrnl iiiIIch wido, walled by inountrilliM
li Ich rlHii In lilun gradciir until tiny aro
loHt In llcccy white clouds. The place Ih ;i
natural amphitheater walled by extinct
voloanocH mill roofcil by tint Hky. It Ih ciih
llly leached by magnlllccnt roads ami Inn
trunk Unci of railway from Ilatavlu to
Huerlmyn iiIho goen to It.
I havo born much Interested In tho Dutch
nolillerH whom I havo hcuii In illlfcrcnt partH
of Java. Tho Hollanders among thorn arc
magnificent fellows, tall, Btrnlght anil well
formed. They aro especially well drosHed
ami aro gentlemen. I have talked with
thorn about tho army ami I llml that there
aro only 12,000 soldiers In tho Dutch colo
nial empire of tho East Indies ami of Oioho
only 16,000 are Europeans. Wo havo buv
ernl tlmcH that many AmcrlcnnH In thu
rhlllppliii'H ami thin notwithstanding tho
1 ' 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 n cm havu about one-fourth bh many
peoplo. Tho nutlvo population controlled
by llnllaml In 31,000,000. It embraces nn
tlvim of every variety found In tho far east.
There are savages an wild oh the hill trlhcH
of Mlmloro anil Mindanao and thoro are
alHo half-ciiueated farmers like our I'll I
plnos of l'uuay and Luzon. Tho Dutch havo
iikii n trlbcH to control than wo have anil
thoy iindurHtatnl how to uso tholr Holdlem
no well that they need only one European
lo every 2,000 houIs.
It was through tho klmlnrHH of Lord Van
lleiitlicin van den llerg that I wan admitted
to t 111 h encampment. I came In a carriage
behind u team of Sandalwood poulcH from
Handout;. Thu whole way wuh through
a beautiful park lined with cottages of
woven bamboo filled with llttlo brown people
of all ngcH mid hcxch. Now wo went by a
fliiliiicd and are at tho hiiiiio time airy and
clean.
Wulls of this kind arc nailed to studding
which upholds roofs of galvanized Iron. The
lloorB aro of stouo and tho buildings art
cool and comfortable. Each building Is
about thirty feet wide ami perhaps ISO feet
lung. There Is an alslo through tho center
In which the guns are stacked am) on each
side of this are thu beds of tho soldiers.
Each bed has a good mattress, over which
Ih a rug of woven straw for coolness. The
putty olllcers havo rooms to themselves
npart from the soldiers and thu commls
Hloned olllcers havo houses as comfortable,
us anyone could possibly wish.
I'.ti-rr Solillcr Hum ii illlte Wife.
(lenurol Otis and other of our ollleir'
havo decidedly objected to tho wives of our
soldier going to the Philippines. Here In
Java the men nro encouraged to choose
wives from among the natives. I do not
know Hint the arrangement Is n permanent
one. It Is probably not when tho men go
back to Europe, but It holds good d.irlug
their Htay here. There Is a eiiarlcr of tho
camp which Is devoted to thu wives of tho
Boldlers, Hero they Bleep with tholr chil
dren and here are their qunrturs while tho
men aro on duty. Many of the women llvu
with tholr husbands In the barracks, but
tho children aro always kept outside. The
food for tho women and Bohllertt Is all
cooked In tho garrison kitchens, but tin1
men raut pay for tho rations.
I went through tho kitchens and sampled
tho food, Tho cooking Is done In great
caldrons and It la Burved out at cost. I am
told tho expense of feeding a man or adult
Ih less than ono cent a day, and that n
child can have jnougli rlco and soup to last
It live dayw for lean than two cents. I spent
soinu Hum In thu women's qunrturs making
photngrapliH. Tho women wero not at all
aveiso to posing and they stepped out into
the mm in front of the camera. They wero
all clad In Javanese continue. Nearly alt
had children ; many hnd babies at tho
In cant oi astride their hips.
Hutch .riii) School.
Tho Dutch oIUcIiiIh take good care of thu
wives of the men and see that their chil
V at; WJTViS
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THERE IS A CHINESE SECTION IN EVERY TOWN.
gloat deul on amusements tor them I lure
at TJImal there U a soldiers' club, called
"Thu Canteen," which would bo a credit
to any camp of thu world. Thu cluli house
Ih a largo ono-story stouo structure, which
has cost $10,000 In gold. This represents a
sum eiual to three times that much at
home. Tho ceilings of this building nro
twenty-live feet high. It has magnificent
rooms looking out upon wide galleries up
held by white Grecian pillars. It has n
theater with full Btngu machinery and a
beautiful drop curtain with pictures upon
It, sketched In by the nlUccm and painted
in oils by the men. Tho chandeliers aro
of aluminum and tho Doors aro of marble.
Thu Canteen lias billiard rooms, reading
rooms and card rooms, and tho lawns and
(lower gardens about It are ns beautiful
as those of our millionaires on tho Hud
son. In ll Mllltnrj I'rtxoii.
nu with Acliln and that that war has cost
Holland something like $85,000,000
Mm n llelicllliin diileil.
There aro other parts of Sumatra which
aro very rebellious. I heard tho other day
how tho Dutch resident of I'ulumbang
frustrated a plot In which thu native
chief conspired to kill him and seize the
government. The scheme was to set the
city a 11 re In n quarter wlicro It would do
little damage, with tho expectation that
tho resident and soldiers would run to It.
During tho burning tho natives expected
to capture tho fort and kill the resident
and his soldiers, Including all the Euro
peans. Tho resident, however, was posted by
ono of his spies and did not go to tho (Ire.
Then the chiefs demanded an audience, ex
pecting to kill him when ho came to It.
Thu resident consented, but the night be
fore lie powdered his face until It was a
h.mls they would iiidiii poli.e Hie country
and enslave the i ople. and it is only by
careful restriction that thoy arc allowed
to remain here and do biKlncsa In a talk
with one of the resident governor.", a man
who has many thousands ut Chinese under
him, I was told that it would not do at all
to nllow Chinese immlgiatlon without cer
tain restrictions, and that in this man'
opinion wo had done light in excluding
them from thu Philippines. Here thu Chi
ncse pay twice as much taxes as anv on
else, and they aro clogged in other wavs
The aro subject to police duty and mutt
tnke their Minis as night wat hmen on th
roailK.
Tho Chinese hero Intermarry with the
natives. Thoy seldom bring their wives
with them, and a common sight la a China
During my stay here I havu gone through ghostly white and placed medicines beside
tho military prison. It Is more comforta
ble than Ilillblil, our peuintuntlnry In
his bed. - He then called In some of the
coisplrators and told them he was sick
Manila. It Ih made much the samo way as and that ho could not possibly meet the
tho barracks, save that there la n grout
wall around It, nnd tho entrances aro caro
fully guarded. T)iu prisoners are forced
tn work. I saw fifty of them making clothes
or the army In ono of tho rooms, using
American sewing machines. In another
depnrtmcat wero two score Bhocniakera.
nnd In others there weru juwelers, carpen
ters and workers In Irou. Tho prisoners
appointment. He asked them to havo tho
chiefs come to the palace Instead on the
following day.
Tho chiefs then planned to stnrt tho rev
olution at tho palace, but when they ar
rived they wero admitted ono by one nnd
received at the point of rilles In tho hands
of tho Boldlcis. Tho resident enmo out
nnd ordered that .they bo put in prison.
nro paid about 00 cents a week for their There wero Just enough chiefs to till all
thu cells except one, whereupon the resi
dent's major domo, a native of high rank,
who had secretly been lu tho conspiracy,
said: "Thero Is ono more cell, your excel
lency, who shall that bo for?"
"That Is for you, you rascal," was the
Tho Dutch and tho natives seem to bo on emphatic reply. Ho thereupon gavo a sign
labor They aro well fed and well treated
They have books to read from tho prison
library, and their wives are allowed tn call
upon them once every week.
Dutch anil Nil live Soldier Mix.
nn equality In tho nrmy. They march to
gether In tho samo battalions, many bat
talions consisting of two companies of Eu
ropean soldiers and two of natives, or moro
often ouo of Europeans and three of nn-
t tho soldiers and they took the man to
prison.
Dutch ami thr I'IiIiicno.
I havo spent some time studying the
Chinese question In Java. The Island Is
Uvea. Tho half-castra aro on a footing ef , of colcBtalSi u naB nbmlt tnrc0 tlmes
puricct equality witu win r.ni icaii3, nut
as many as wo havo In tho Philippines and
you find Chlneso quarters In every town
and In every city. The Chinese own prop
erty to the amount of $35, 000,000. Thoy
havo some of tho richest plantations of
rnffnn nnd biiuhp ni,1 nf pnnmil innfa tint
of tho foreign colony and, as a rule, live In uMet, 3l) O0Q
tlno stylo Thero H a mllltnry ncademy ,.. ,. . , ,,. ,,,,, ..,
near Hatavla and tho military clubs at acquired years' ago and would lucrense their
Weltcvrcden would bo considered lino In any hoWngB , U)() ,jltch wou, n,ow thom jo
at least half the noncommissioned olllcers
must bo Europeans. All the higher olllcers
como from Holland. They are line fellows,
well educated and well trnlmd. Together
with tho nlllclnls, they form the aristocracy
European settlement.
buy.
HALF-CASTE CHINESE OIIH. AND MALAY MOTHER.
market a nillo long, where tho women wore
squatting and Belling, nnd wo found
Javanese houses almost to thu very bar
racks of tho soldlerB,
llutv the Outfit Solillcrx I, It .
I havo recently been In tho Philippines
and havo seen how our colonial Boldlers
aro quartered. Sumo of thom are lu tents,
sumo tn bamboo shacks and some lu Fili
pino houses turned Into barracks, Tho
Dutch havo boon experimenting for cen
turies as to thu best accommodations for
their Boldlers In this tropical climate ami
their methods can bu copied In tho Philip
pines with profit, Tho buildings of TJImal
consist of vast barracks mndo of woven
bamboo, Tho bamboo cano Is spilt Into
strips when It 1b green and llattened out.
Each strip Is shaved bo that It Is bh wide
as an ordinary lath and perhaps uu eighth
of an Inch thick, Many of tho strips aro
forty feut long. They nro woven Into great
sheets, bo big that they form tho walls of
the barracks. They aro rain tight when
dreu uro educated. The boys aro regularly
trilled and taught military tactics, with a
view to making uon-commlssloued olllcers
of them when thoy grow up. I attended
one of tho schools and found n limit fifty
llttlo yellow Javanese working away. Kacti
was lu his bare feet and each wore n tur
ban, n Jacket and tmiong.
I heard them recite, and they Impressed
mo with tholr Intelligence. Thero was n
piano lu onu end of the room, nnd I asked
tho native teacher If tho boys could sing.
Hu replied- "Wo will try and see." He
then called nttcutlon and asked tho little
ones to sing tho Dutch national hymn. They
did so; not la words, but In the musical
notes, singing do, re, mo, fa, sol, etc., the
teacher starting them with hli eln, zwul,
drel. Later on I saw tho noys go through
their gymnastics and drill. I think they
aro the equals of any of our own school ca
dets. Tho Dutch government believes In keep
ing the soldiers contented It upends a
I am told mat ttie natives maKo very Tho Chlneso hold about tho samo position
good soldiers, although there In a vast dlf- iCre that they do In the Philippines. They
foronoo In thom, according to tho tribes ro tho middlemen of the country, the
nnd tho locality from which they como. medium of communication between the nn-
The peoplo of tho Island of Ambolna aro uVes and foreigners. They go about over
especially bravo and thero aro now over tho Island and buy up tho crops and they
4,000 of them In tho East Indian nrmy. engage In every business which furnishes
All foreign residents nro required to servo considerable profit,
n certnln number of days every month In The Chinese quarters nro set nsldo for
tho militia. The number of days decreaso thom by tho Dutch olllclals. Tho law pro-
with ago, beginning with seven days n V!des that they must llvo in such sections
month nnd finally falling to four days. Thu nDd prohibits them from doing business
drill Is from 4 p. tn. to 6 p. m. It Is very outBldo them without permission of thu
severe, hut It makes every foreigner, olllclals. The other day tho Standard Oil
whether ho bo English, American or Dutch, company nt Hatavla wanted to employ a
a soldier. Chinese as night watchman, hut they could
This regulation Is, I suppose, to mnko tho not do so until the government gavo htm
foreign population valuable In case of nn permission to leave tho Chlneso quarter,
uprising of tho natives. Tho Dutch have In Uultenzurg the Chlneso section Is one
had such rebellions In tho past nnd nl- 'f the best parts of tho city. It Is fully a
though there Is llttlo danger of It In Java, "i"0 and Is lined with ono-storv
In Sumatra and other places the foreigners buildings heavily roofed. Each building has
must bo nllvo for such nn emergency. a Chlneso sign nt Its bide, and tho mer-
There Is a trlbo known ns the Achlnese In chants within aro Chinese. It Is tho same
northwestern Sumatra which has been In " "nndong, Soerbaya and In every Javan-
rebelllon for generations. Tho Achlneso 080 clty'
havo about BOO.000 people and their country "IIk1 Protect the Nntlvea.
Is about half as big as Ohio. Thoy have Tll0 K0Vernnicnt restricts tho Chinese to
Mwnys been noted for their hatred of ,ht,,r ,nui n,lnrtCr In order to protect tho
foreigners. They fought tho English and natives, for the Chlneso are much better
tho Portugese and thoy are still lighting business men than thu Jnvancso. They aro
tho Dutch. It Is estimated that more than .verywhero money lenders nnd money mak-
10,000 Dutch soldiers and natives have lost ers, If Java was thrown open to them to-
their lives In the war which Is now going day nnd the natives allowed to sell their
ONE OF THE
JAVANESE.
INFANTRY A NATIVE
mau dressed in European clothes, with his
qusue tucked Insldo his coat, riding along
lu a carrlago beeldo a brown Javaneso girl
gorgeously dressed. They treat their wives
well and aro as fond of their half-caste
children as their ancestral fathers wore
fond of them. Many Chlneso marry half
caato girls and half-casto children swarm
everywhere In tho Chlneeo quarters.
Pint ii llruUem of Juvn.
Then aro some businesses hero which are
monopolized by Chinese. Among tho chief
ones nro the pawnbroklng establishments
which aro found by tho score In every nn
tlve city. They are licensed by the gov-
(Contlnued on Eighth Page.)