The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1898-08-18
ODD FREAK OF A MAUSER.
Bullet That Killed Hamilton
Fish Lodged in CuIyer's
Body.

Breed, vas the New Workers. Comrade az
La Quasina and Received the Bullet That
Passed to Him from Fish and VIII Proba-
bly, Keep il all His Life.
The Mauser bullet that slew Ser
geant Hamilton Fish, the first Amer
can officer to die on Cuban soil, pass
ed clear through his body. Fish at
the time was lying at full length on
the narrow trail. Beside the aristo-
cratic New Yorker lay his chum and
comrade, Private Edward Culver, a
Cherokee half breed from Indian
Territory. Culver's body received
the bullet that passed to him from
Fish. Culver is now a patient at
the United States Marine hospital
and the Mauser projectile is lodged,
perhaps for all time, in the soldier 8
back near the spine.
It is gruesome memeuto to carry
around in ones body but Culver re-
CARDS it as a trophy of war that will
be ever dear to him. He considers
it dying legacy from his sergeant
and says he will take it with him to
his grave
OF the great fight in the pass
of La Ouosina no man ia better
able to write than Private Edward
Culver, who now brings back to
America, lodged in his body, the
first Spanish bullet that killed an
American officer, and who now tells
the story:
Under the kindly and careful treat
ment l have had here at the United
States Marine hospital. 1 am recov-
ering from the effects of the wounds
l received at the battle of the rough
riders, and after q brief furlough ]
shall be ready to go back to the
front. There is much for me to do
in Cuba.
The spaniards killed my best
friend, Sergeant Hamilton Fish, as
he lay by my side and the score is
not settled yet. I have Cherokee
blood in me and 1 carry in my back
the same bullet that passed through
his body, and / will take it back to
the front with me and stay there
until the whole debt is paid and l
get revenge. I know what l haYe
lost and who ID responsible for it
and 1 am going back.
Does any body believe that 1 have
forgotten a moment of that time,
Every day as 1 sit on the edge of my
cot and the hospital surgeons dress
my wounds, t all comes back and 1
can hear Sergeant Fish say to me:
you're all right, old man; but l
am done for. You'll live, Culver.
1t WAS an awful hour and half that
1 spent beside his CHASTITY face after
he turned over and stiffened out.
There was no time lost in that
tight. We got the order to lie down
when the first shots began to spout
from ambush and 1 was on my stom-
ach at the extreme left. Fish was
some distanse from me Pretty
soon I heard his voice ring out
Where's CuveI?"
Down the line a bit" answered
some one, and before 1 knew it Fish
crawled in on my left and threw g
cartridge into his gun. Its tiue
place, Culver he said to me, and
the next instant We were peppsrine
away.
Right ahead of US, not ten yards
lay Capt. Cpron, wounded almos.'
to death. In fact, he was dying
From every conceivable direction
Mauser bullets were flying at US
There was perfect hail of steel anC
the dust was flying up in front o
our faces lise sprays Of gravel.
Fish had fred three shots whel
all of a suddn bis head fell forwaTC
and clutching his side he said slow
ly: Culver am badly wounded,
cannot live
At the sane instant l felt some
thing sting ne in the lower ribs anC
the blood began to flow through u.
shirt. I'm killed too, sergeant,
said I to Fish. He was growing