The Washington times., 1895-03-12
POINTS ABOUT PILGRIMS.

POINTS ABOUT PILGRIMS.
Capt. NJ. W. Day, of the Ninth Cavalry, Q.
S. A. who is now stationed at Union Col
lege, Alliance, Ohio, as professo or of
rhetoric and military science and tactics,
is at the Ebbitt. He looks in every way the
soldier that ne is. being six feet high, of
a broad and athletic blild, and has probably
had about as much good, hard fighting ex
perience as ever falls to the lot of an Army Of
ficer in the West
Capt Day has a brother who is also at the
Ebbitt, Rev. Loomis G. Day, who, although
he now writes ID. ID. after his name, has had
almost as many thrilling adventures and
hair breadth escapes as his soldier brother
when the news of the wreck of the
schooner LadOna off Cape Canaveral reached
Key westthe underwriters there commission
ed party, headed by my father, TO wreck
the vessel for tnem," said Mr.. Day, las so
many crafts had gone ashore along the coast
that the regular wreckers of the insurance
company could not attend TO them all. So
our party, which numbered, think, about
nine, began a race with about seventy of the
natives tosee who could get the most out of
the vessel.
1T was arranged, for the sake of peace,
that each party should take turns in sending
their diver down with graphing hooks TO
fasten oD to the boxes of goods which they
would dSplace in the hold. If the diver
could stay under the water long enough TO
get out the box and get the hooks Oh all
right, if not he would have to come up TO the
surface and the diver for the other party
would take his turn.
There was one man in cur party though
who was more expert at ii than the men Of
the other crowd, so when their man would
come blowing up to the surface he would
dive down very quickly and removing the
hooks which his rival had fastened to some
box would hook them into a beam and place
his own hooks on the box. SO while the
other men were pulling away like man tug
ging at his boctstraps our crowd would
hostup the box. In this way we got little
ahead of them.
1.-The worst part Of the affair though was
the thirty-two dead sailors We had to bury.
The cargo OF the vessel was mostly made up
OF fine clothes and fabrics"
Speaking of fine fabrics" broke in
Capt Day, reminds me OF a story in which
the rather swell costume of one of the
participants contributed not little 10
the surprise occasioned by the incident it
self. A party of Major Davis scouts OF
the Ninth were out on little expedition
in tue Terras Mountains during the Ger
onimo campaign in 1885. They Were pass
ing from the Yaqui TO the Operto River TO
endeavor TO intercept a band OF hostiles,
and one afternoon one OF the Indian scouts
called the attention of the lieutenant in
command of the expedition TO two people,
man and a woman, coming up the tran
toward them.
"The man was dressed in citizens
clothes and had silk handkerchief around
his head, while the woman was attired in
complete riding habit, silk hat and all, as
though she were about TO take a ride in
Central Park, instead of wandering about
in the mountains where the foot of man
seldom trod, and certainly no womans
ever did before
''She had double -barTeled shot gun and
a satchel. while the man was armed with
a Winchester They came on toward the
company, and il was some time before the
soldiers were noticed by them. VIXEN
they did see them, however, they took out
through the woods toward some washed-out
rocks, which would afford them shelter
against possible hostilities The lieuten-
ant called after them and told them not
to be afraid, as he was an Army officer,
and his men were Indian scouts, but the
woman replied that she wouldn't come out,
and ndhadeYidently maGeup hermind odefend
her position, when the old fellow stole out
and lit up the mountain-Side, looking back
as though fearing pursuit.
The lieutenant finally laid aside his
arms and approached the woman and per-
suaded her that she was under no danger,
and she finally came out and got something
to eat The old man, from far up the
mountain side, seeing how nicely she was
being treated, too courage, and little by
little he also came in, and they told their
| story They had been out with q mining
party, which had been attacked by hostiles
and one OF the men killed and the rest,
mostly MeXicans, fled The woman had
taken the dead mans winchester and held
the Indians off while the old man and one
wounded American got into a fissure worn
into the rocks by water, which afforded
shelter from the bullets of the hostleS, and
then, having expended all her ammunition,
she smashed the Iifle over a rock so il could
not be used by the Indians and backed down
the hill and Tejoined her companions.
They had kept the Indians off for three
days, and il was only the night before the
outfit came up with them that they had
dared to venture out. An escort was made
up and they We're sent back to the settle
ments."
''The Ninth Cavalry was the first regi-
ment to use the Hotchkiss mountain gun