Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1898-03-22

They knew, these Pathans, what was
| coming.
suddenly In the stiffness of the
night bugle-call sounded on the
| parade ground Of the crater camp
Every one sprang up. II WAS the as
scmbiy. For a moment there was ST.
| lence while the officers seized their
| swords and belts and hurrledly fast
ened them on. Several thinking that
1t was merely the warning for the
movable column to fall in. waited 10
| light their cigarettes. Then from
many quarters the loud explosion OF
musketry burst forth, q sound which
for six days and nights was to know
no intcrmission.
1.-THE attack on the Mainland and
the great frontier war had begun"
Six days and, nights Of fierce Tight
Ing followed and numburless deeds Of
valor were recorded on both sides.
Here Is a sample of the Incidents re-
called:
"Brigadler General MelkleJohn at
once ordered n party Of the 2ith to
retake IL (the captured quarter guard
from the enemy Few men could be
spared from the line of defense. Al
length a small but devoted band col
lected. 1t consisted OF Captain Hol-
land, Lieutenant Chino. Lieutenant
Mnnley, the generals orderly. Sc
pOy OF the i5th Sikhs. two or three
sappers and three men OF the 2ith; in
all about dozen.
THE general placed himself Mt their
head. The officers drew their revolv-
ets. The men were instructed to use
the bnyonet only. Then they adj
vanccd. The ground Is by nature
broken and confused to nm extraor-
binary degree. Great rocks. undula-
tons and trees, rendered all move
fugntg liffipmlfs gha do
and other buildings increased its in
trlcacies. Amongst all this We're the
figures of the enemy, numerous and
well armed. The twelve men charged.
The tribesmen advanced to meet
them. The officers shot down man
after man with their pistols. The sol
diers bayoneted others. The enemy
drew OFF discounted, but half the
party Were killed or wounded
The orderly was shot dead. A
snpper and Il havlldnr OF the cath
were severely wounded. The general
himself was struck by n sword on the
neck. Luckily, the weapon turned
In his assailant's hand and only caused
a bruise. Captain Holland was shot
through the back at close quarters
by man concealed in n tent. The
bullet, which caused four wounds,
grazed his spine. The party was now
too Few to effect anything. The sur
vvOrs halted. Lieutenant Chino took
the wounded officer back, and collect
ing dozen more men of the cath re-
turned to the attack. The second at
tempt to regain the quarter guard was |
also unsuccessful, and the soldiers re-
coiled with further loss: but with that |
undaunted spirit which refuses to ad- |
NIT defeat they continued their efforts |
and at the third charge dashed across |
the open space. bowling over and |
crushing back the enemy. and the post
was thus recovered. All the ammuni- |
ton had, however, been carried off nv |
the enemy, and as the expenditure OF |
mat night had already been enormous,
IL was serious loss. The cummis> |
sariat lines were at length cleared Of
the tribesmen, and such of the gar
rlson as could he spared were EN-.
pioyed In putting up hasty defense
across the southern entrance of the en-
closure and clearing away the cook
houses and other shelters which might
be seized by the enemy.
The next morning no fewer than
twenty-nine corpses Of tribesmen
were found round the cook -house and
In the open space over which the three
charges had taken place. This. when
1t Is remembered that perhaps twice
as many had been wounded and had
crawled away. enables an estimate
to be formed of the desperate nature
OF the fight for the quarter guard"
Some Idea OF the spirit of the British
Indian troops can be formed from this
description:
The Guides Cavalry had already ar
rived their infantryunder Lieutenant
Lockhart reached the Kotal at 1880 y.
IN. on the eth, having in spite of the |
Intense heat and choking dust covered |
thirty-two miles In seventeen and d |
half hours. This wonderful feat was
accomplished without impairing the
efficiency of the soldiers who We're sent
into the picket line. and became en-
gagged as soon as they arrived. An off,
Ger who commanded the Dargai post |
told me that as they passed the guard |
there they shouldered arms with parade
to show that twenty-six miles
under the hottest sun in the world
would not take the polish Off the corps
of guides. Then they breasted the long
ascent to the top of the pass, encour-
aged by the sound of the firing, which
grew louder at every step.
or the eNamplse of heroism contained
in the book just published the follow
ing Is taken. at haphazard:
Lieutenant Ford was dangerously
wounded in the shoulder. The bullet cut
the artery, and he was bleeding to
death when Surgeon Lieutenant V.
Hugo came to his aid The fire was too
hot to allow Of lights being used. There
was no cover Of any sort. 1t was at the
bottom of thecup, Nevertheless the sur
Eeon STRUCK n nlhtch AT the peril OF his |
life and examined the wound The |
match went out amid a splutter OF
bullets. which kicked up the dust all
around, but by its uncertain light he
saw the nature OF the injury. The off,
Ger had already tainted from the loss
of blood. The doctor seized the artery,
and MS no other ligature was forth
coming, he remained under the fire for
tire hours holding a mans life be-
tween his fingers and thumb.
when at length II seemed the enemy
had broken Into the camp he picked up
the still unconscious officer in his arms.