The fighting in the Philippines continues, but it is necessarily
slow and difficult work, for the insurgents entrench themselves, and when they are driven out, as they always are in the end, they retire and throw up another set of "works." On Wednesday the Americans stormed the town of Calumpit, the resistance being considerable, and cannon for the first time being used in the defence. But though the town was gained, Friday's telegrams show that stubborn fighting is still going on in the suburbs. Throughout these difficult and trying operations the Americans have shown very great bravery, and several conspicuous examples of individual pluck and enterprise have been recorded. For example, on Thursday two men of the Kansas Infantry swam a river under fire in broad daylight, secured a rope to the opposite bank, and then guided their Colonel and two companies across on a raft. Naturally enough, opinion in America is getting rather impatient with the Philippine War, for such operations are never popular with the public, which likes pitched battles. It must not be imagined, however, that this impatience will lead to the work of conquering the islands being abandoned. The Americans—witness their Civil War —talk more during a tough job than we do, but they hold on every bit as doggedly.
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