Evening journal., 1891-03-12

at the fort. The idea of the platform
must have been an inspiration. But for it
4 the fort would have been taken
AS the natives broke cover the loopholes
were manned and the rest Of the force or
dered on to the platform. Running ahead
OF the main line were thirty or forty men,
each with great stick in his hand After
them came as many more dragging rude
ladders, the rungs Of which were made OF
1 vines At the very first dash, and without
l losing over three or four men, the fellows
1 plugged up every loophole, and a minute
later their ladders were set against the
/ wall. Without orders, realizing the situa-
| ton, the seventeen men at the loopholes
/ made Their way to the platform. Each Of
us had over two feet of space to cover, max
ing long, thin line The natives swarmed
up the ladders like so many monkeys, and
| though we had a great advantage in over
| topping them they showed such reckless
ness that we had four men killed and two
wounded before we repulsed them. After
emptylng our muskets we used the bayo-
nets alone, and some of our men killed
seven or eight Of the assailants. As they
became demoralized and started to retreat
we opened on them with the extra mus
kets, and when the last gun had been fired
we counted l23 dead men in sight. But
fer the platform they would have swarmed
over the walls like so many bees.
Now the real siege began. Bodies of
natives were stationed on every side OF rs
within musket range. and steady and
harassing fire was maintained night and
day. After the first tw days artillery was
employed. Although it was not heavy
enough TO break the walls, it answered the
purpose for annoying us. Our killed we
had to bury inside the fort; nor could we
get outside to do anything with the Afghan
dead. All lay upon about half an acre ~
ground, and so near us that after tbirtv-
six hours we began to scent the faint in the
air. 1t was the plan of the enemy to leave
their dead here to work our destruction
and for time it seemed as if success would
attend It,
About noon, while rummaging in the
underground storehouse, came across n
barrel of alcohol, which had been captured
with some other baggage a month before.
II the Afghans knew what it was they had
not touched it. In case beside the barrel
were quantities of quinine. morphine, calo-
mel and other drugs which our hospital
corps had lost at the same time. When
reported the find to the lieutenant / also
made request Of him, and after consider
able argument it was granted.
Night came on with a strong wind from
the north and an overcast sky, and il was
only fairly dark when was let out Of fine
gate with two pailfuls of the alcohol. THE
natives were firing away as usual. and as
walked down among the dead / heard tbe
zip" of bullets all around me. had
saturated cloth over my mouth and cotton
in my nostrils and / could stand the odor
very well. There was considerable grass
aud brush on the field, and / distributed
the alcohol pretty literally over both the
soil and the dead. It took four trims Ia
empty the barrel. 1t was then knocked To
pieces and the material carried out The
last act was to light a match and set fire
to paper, and a minute later / was safe
in the fort, and the field of the dead was
all ablaze. Before midnight we had wiped
out the threatened danger, much to the
chagrin and indignation Of the natives.
The relief came too late, however, for some
OF our poor fellows. Within the next
three days we had five deaths, every one OF
them, no doubt, due to the pestilential
odor; and the constant strain of watching
had begun to tell upon all the living.
We had been afraid the natives would
bring up a mortar and drop shells into the
weeks before they got one into position.
They opened fire one afternoon. but of ten
shells sent into the air to drop down on our
heads all went wild. Then the mortar
burst killing all around it, and we were
safe. On the fortieth day from the hour
we entered the fort the natives made an
other dash at the walls. Our force was now
reduced to thirty one men, and four of these
were down with fever and unable to raise
their heads. We had warning of the dash
and were prepared for it, Every man on
the platform had three loaded muskets.
We took thirteen loaded shells belonging
TO the gun, cut the fuses short, and laid
them on the wall Beside each was a piece
Of lighted punk. It was estimated that
there were fully 600 natives in the attack
ing party, and they carried about fifty lad
ders The fight didn't last ten minutes
1t was the shells we rolled down among 'em
which did the work / believe the dead
and wounded were fully 200, but they could
afford that loss better than the three we
had killed outright.
The cool weather had now come and on
the night of the fight snow fell to the
depth Of six inches. For two DAYS after
not a shot was fired. Then, for the next
twenty, we had no rest day or night. They
did not attempt another assault, but coolly
calculated to wear us out. A few more
days would have accomplished this. "a
the seventy day of our investment we
were relieved by British force, but there
were only eight of us able to stand on our
feet. In all, only twenty-five of us were
alive. On the day Of the relief fifty Afghans
could have scaled the walls and taken the
fort. New York Sun.