The evening times., 1898-08-04
THE -STAIN CLEARED.
A. omcer Ii. Dis.r.ee Fights hi.
: Way q Honor Again.

- Honor Again
A year ago Capt. Lowering. of the
Fourth Infantry. at Fort Sheridan. was
found guilty Of inhuman treatment Of a
private sol4ieEe He was tried by court
martial and was .publlshed in orders"
He felt the tiissrace keenly. The Chicago
Chronicle says: Lowering is brave
man. Nobody ever charged him with be-
Ing anything else. But he had more than
mere military ambition to satisfy in that
Lacquer before Santiago. He had to re-
deem himself In the eyes of the world
and the men OF his regiment. Rightfully
or wrongfully. the verdict Of the people
was against him; among the men Of the
Fourth. II Is said. he was known as
"Weyler." because Of his harshness to
the men. He must remove this blot. 1t
must be admitted he did much to restore
himself to public favor at El Caney.
The fighting Fourth got its stomach
full of fighting when the heights Of Ell
Caney were stormed. The regiment form
ed portion Of the column sent against
that position. Its reputation for fierce
bravery and skill In fighting was fully
sustained. The hero of Ell Caney. ac-
cOrding to the reports which have reach
ed this country. was Capt Lowering. Low
ering commands Company Of the
Fourth. His company and regiment were
in the hottest OF the fiercest fight of the
war so far. Mr.. Bernard was killed in
the fight and Mr.. Neary was badly hurt.
Both were men OF much less stature than
Lowering. who Is one Of the biggest men.
physically. In the, army. He was not
touched by bullet or shell. although he
seemed to court death.
Lowering spared neither himself nor his
company in that wild charge. In fact, 1t
has been said that II he had cared to
he might have sheltered his men in ra-
vine while advancing on the firing line.
but that he led them impetuously across
the open under a terrific fire instead. He
had sixty men In line when the advance
was ordered. When the fight ended he
had three dead and eighteen wounded.
This loss exceeded that of any primary
organization in the fight. 1t had been
said that Private Hosfield. OF his COM
pany had sworn to kill the captain In
their first action. II 50. the man never
had the chance. as he was killed In the
first break from cover.
Lowering led his men from their posi-
tion in the regimental line. He went
straight to the front, regardless OF to-
Biography. rifle shots or cannon shells.
He moved on the firing line with all
speed. and then performed an act Of brav-
cry which proved he was and Is a brave
soldier. whatever else may be said of
him. He lost nearly one-third Of his COM
mand in the first rush. but he looked
after the remnant like a careful officer
when the line was reached.
In the charge up the hill of Siboney
the captain was overcome by the heat.
and forced to drop out. Orders were i'm
perative, and his men swept on and left
him there There he lay for time.
but with returning strength he forced
himself forward and regained his COM
pany. now on the firing line and fighting
hard to hold their position. Here Is
where the ;disgraced officer showed his
mettle. as a fighter, at least, and did SO
much to win the good wishes of his men.
He tried 10 protect them. under fire him
self
Lowering saw his men were exposed
to the merciless fire of the enemy. He Is
of gigantic stature. and. physically. at
least. an ideal soldier. But he seized a
camp cooking outfit. which can be used
as a shovel. and in a rain of bullets
cooliy dug trenches with 1t. ordering his
men to take position therein. and thus
be sheltered. He himself was all this
time exposed to the CALLING fire of the
Spanish. concealed behind their intrench-
ments He was not touched. He plunged
into trenches and rescued wounded men.
although Red Cro-s men were hit on all
sides. He fought all day. and fought as
hotly any man, but in spite Of his
enormous stature. he came out with
out mark. while much smaller men
were killed or MANNED.