The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-09-11

Judges stand at the middle distance. They
ratified against tho old Capuchin chapel and
ripped through It's iron roof with a noise such
as children make with a stick on a picket fence
running along and drawing the stick Rcrossthe
pickets, or like q man drumming or a window
blind.
BULLETs BEAT A TATTOO ON THE CHAPEL.
Did you ever hear the cook beating up eggs
on a platter with q big spoon2 II that noise
were magniied q thousand times II would
give a suggestion OF the tattoo the bull
lets beat on that old chapel, And all
this time there were the shells. Men who
were In the civil war say the shells came
through the air saying where is you where
is your" oil run together. They sound like
the ripping Of silk, and they awe you the same
feeling down the back that Il does to pull string
through your teeth. The shells smashed
through the poor old chapel and burst inside.
They burst as they struck it's heavy brick walls;
they burst short; they struck our embankment
and burst; they burst over the heads Of our
men: they few high and went down the
fields. bursting sometimes among our men
hurrying up to reinforce the Pennsylvania
ans; they hurst along the Gamma Real; they
were almost as thick as the bullets. and yet.
strange as IL seems, there is record OF only one
man who was hurt by a shell. and he was not
~ W. W. ASo9As " ~ "No 00NSAAN @NASNANs
A.. J. Buttermore. D Company. Tenth Pennsyl-
vania. A shell burst Just In front Of and over
him. A piece OF 1t hit him over the left eye and
knocked him down. II made an ugly cut, but
that was all. He got up and went on about his
work, too busy to stop and hunt in the dark for
the piece that hit him.
LINE OF THE UTAH BOYS.
All this tlme-it seemed long. but IL wasn't
N,tr HolIDwrva w.s,rnr L.. nrwn ~ a 49, rata
and the roar OF our volleys was warning the
officers and men in Camp Dewey that there
was hot work at the front. The Spanish were
giving us a practical lesson OF the value
OF smokeless powder. Every time our
guns cracked a line OF flame ran along
the top Of our embankment. Every sheet
Of flame drew q fresh hail OF Mauser
bullets. Every time a Utah gun cracked a
Spanish cannon was aimed at the flash. There
our boys had as good a mark as the enemy.
and they did their best. II was only guessing
at the range by the time be W ven fash Of gun
and burst of shell. and there wasn'ta stop watch
on the line to give greater accuracy. But they
did good work, and they fred as coolly as II they
were at target practice. Their work was inval-
liable. Not only were they perfectly calm andin
command Of themselves. but they helped to
steady their friends from Pennsylvania. who
were beginning to get excited. Reports began
to 60 along the line that the enemy were get
ting around the right flank. TIL infantrymen
thought they could detect q change in the di-
rection Of the bullets that were whistling over
their heads. More Of them seemed to be coming
from the east. Town our line. instead Of from
the north. across 1t.
CROSSING THE OPEN FIELD.
While this was going on Major Bierer was
taking d and E companies into action on our
right. To do this he had to cross the open
field In rear of our trench. 1t was a perfect
hell he had to go through. a hundred yards Of
open ground. without sign Of protection. swept
by storm of Mauser bullets that came from left,
from front and from right. with shells from the
Spanish guns bursting among and around them
all the time. Then the first American soldier in
the Philippines fell before Spanish bullets. He
was Corporal W. L. Brown Of d Company. A
Mauser bullet struck him through the body and
he fell dead in his tracks. All about him men
were dropping with bullets in the legs or
arms. Some who were wounded kept on to-
ward the enemy. A little beyond where Brown
fell. Private William E. Stillwagon OF E Com
pany got the bullet that cost him his life. Still
the men went on with fine courage. and into
position in the open field across the road at the
right of our line. There they held their ground.
pumping away at the Spaniards as hard as they
could. res
Now a perfectly natural thing occurred with
these green troops. Their pluck was as fine as
man could ask. They were game to try to do
anything they were told. but they had never
been shooted over.' as the English say. and
they got excited. They lost the regularity of
their volley fire and their effectiveness de-
creased tremendously in consequence. They
could not see their enemy In the terrible night,
and they could not see the flash ofhis rifles. They
could not locate him and they were firing abso-
lutely in the dark. With the roar OF your own
gunsi in your ears it is hard to Judge by the crack
ofthe enemy's Mauser where he is. 1t is difficult
to tell where a Mauser is fired when you have
quiet and daylight. How almost impossible it
is in the dark with battle raging about you.
and a bowling wind diving a terrific rain in
eddies and gusts into your face and down
your neck.
CAPT. o'HARA's BRAVE ACT.
For an hour the fight had been going on
1ercely. The noise OF 1t got out to the ships of
the feet. drifting against the wind. and the
searchlights began to wink and to travel over
toward the Spanish position. Blessed relief to
our men. 1t gave them now and then O glimpse
OF the country ahead of them. They could see
something of where they were shooting. but
still they could see no enemy. Camp Dewey
had been awake q long time. Lying in his tent.
almost at the north end Of the camp. Capt.
O'Hara. In command Of the battalion of the
Third Artillery. unable to get sleep, had
been keeping track Of the firing. He
knew our men had but fifty rounds
OF ammunition with them, and he realized
that at the rate they were shooting that
would soon be expended. He didn't know
what the trouble was, but he did know that il
they were attacked they would want help when
their ammunition was gone. and they would
want 1t mighty badly. Battery X OF his battal-
ion was In position as supports. but the orders
were not to go in unless the Pennsylvanians
were in a pinch. Capt. O'Hara counted the vol
legs until the firing became indiscriminate and
he understood that the boys were getting rat
tied. He had no orders. but he took a chance.
and he took 1t Just in time.
He sounded the assembly. As the bugle call
rosa nvar tho nannn orf nP THAR fanfa rum HAD