Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-10-20
i, PRIVATE DOOGAN'S BET. F,

fought in the same fights, but gone
halves on the last hardtack, drank
the hot, putrid Santiago water from
the same canteen, lain side by side
with him in the trenches for days and
nights at time, and had your shirt
ripped by the same bullet that grazed
his skin when you have done all this
with fellow you get to have feeling
tor him that is hard to describe; not
exactly brotherly feeling, but
rough, hearty liking, the whole mean
ing of which is conveyed by the words,
''my bunky."
Bunkies are pretty rough with each
other sometimes, in a good hearted
way. When one fellow is lazy and
wants to lie in the tent and let the
other fellow do all the work about
mess the other fellow kicks; he goes
into the tent, grabs his bunky by the
neck and pitches him out. "Get to
work you lazy son OF gun," he says,
Or something pretty nearly like it.
But 1t does not mean anything, that.
The other fellow swears back and puts
up little scrap, perhaps, but he
understands. 1t is the bunky's way.
There is ole case of two bunkies really
falling out and scrapping, however,
that should be put on record. 1t hap
pened when Private Doogan and Pri-
vate Henry of the til infantry
fought an bruised one another ''for
fair" But it was all about Spaniard
down near Santiago, and the like of it
had not happened before and is not
likely to happen again. The story
comes from Private Doogan himself.
Private Doogan and Private Henry
were sitting near the fire at the end of
the company street the other day,
peeling onions. They had good
sized basket between them and were
working industriously at the pungent
vegetables with their knives. A huck-
ster's wagon appeared at the other
end of the camp, and Doogan looked
uF and said: "There's that fellow
that was here the other day. Go over
there and buy some fish for dinner,
Henry"
"Ge YOURSELF" said Henry. 81
don't give continental for fish"
''Go on, yez lazy son OF gun! Git
big wan!"
'l'll be condemned if I do. Go
yourself"
1t ended with Private Henry's
loing. When he was out of hearing
Private Doogan said: "He's mighty
loine fellow, Henry is, only he's too
cussed lazy. He's been my bunky
ever since the war broke out, and
we've got on foine togither. Little
things like this happen now and agin,
you know, but they don't amount to
nothing. But we had the hottest
scrap you ever see onct. We wuz
both mad. How was it? Why it was
down near Santiago in that fight with
the Spaniards. You see we'd been a.
marchin' pretty much all day, in that
terrible Cuban climate The whole
mornin' the sun was blisterin' hot,
md all O. suddint in the afternoon
the rain come down and we wuz wet
Snd chilt through as suddint as you
please. About night-toime we halted.
We ct our hardtack and took out our
knives and scraped the mud off our
legs"
" We're in for good shape the
night, bunky, sez Oh, and we bot on
us stretched out on the ground, not
carin' for not'in' but to shape. The
mkt thing Oi knowed some ono wuz
a-tellin' us to git up and move. 1t
were pitch dark and we hadn't been
shlapin' more'n couple O. hours may
hap.
Git up, bunky,' sez Oh; orders
has come to march. Henry were
a-shlapin' like dead man, so I give
him = shake and say: Git up, you
lazy vagabone,' sez Oi; quit your
shlapin' and git ready to march
" Go wan, sez zee, and leave me
alone, sez ZEE. He was still ashlape,
Henry were, so Oh rubbed his ears
and shouted: Cit up, you son of
gum seZ Oh; what are yez afther ex-
pecting? To shape all night whin
orders has come to march?' Wild that
he give bound UP and wuz ready in
a minute, but he wuz in mighty bad
humor, Henry were. We marched in
lhe neighborhood O. six hours, may
Zap, through the sinking mud that
home up to your middle, and Henry
never said word the whole tonne.
Whin we stopped they set us a-dig-
ging trenches, and about the brak O.
day we were a-shtandin' up to our
necks in 'em, wild the wather around
bur bolts. Henry never said a word
the whole time, though I'd bin are
markin' on things, pleasant-loike.
That's my way, whin things don't go
TO suit-to say something pleasant
and cheerful. But Henry, he shuts
up see by the mum face on him
that he was blamed aggravated.
"Well, just about the brak O. day
the bullets begun to whistle all around
us and we knowed the Spaniards wuz
not far of, though we couldn't see
thing but jungle. Whin it growed
lighter we made out where the Span
ish trenches WIZ, but we couldn't see
wan of the Dagoes. We KEEP a-pump.