Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-07-30

BRINGING powN A SPANISH sHAEPSHooTEI
to bring him down with bullet at once
This was done il majority of cases.
Some Americans with n moderation that
was not considered rrGiscworthy by most
Of the army rlotioncd thcM 10 como down
and then took them prisoners. \ few
were caught skulking in the urderbrush.
Some had hidden their weapons. There
was strong temptation to kin such gucr-
rillas, but apparently the inclination TO do
so was i'll every case overcome.
A correspondent of the New York Trib-
une says tl@t the I3arksmen of the First
Volunteer cavalry had especial success
with the Spaniauls in trees. They got
four in one day. One thing that made the
rough riders especially thirsty for the
blood Of these bushwhackcrs was the
wounding OF First Lieutenant Carr. He
was in command Of his troop, ID, when
overcome by tic heat. Four men went TO
the rear with him. Two were walking
with him, the others Just behind. carrying
the four rifles A shot from tree short
distance from the road struck him in the
lower part Of the back, the ball coming
out through the eroin.
The four quickly laid the officer down
by the roadside and started into the forest
They We're .yoodsmcn themselves, keen to
distinguish foreign objects in foliage. In
their terrible carncstness is was 10 long
job to spy out the Spaniard. After that
revenge was easy and simple. The Span
lard fell dead. 1t is now expected that
Lieutenant Carr will get well.
The four sharpshooters who were bagged
in short time by the First Volunteer
| cavalry spent the night in their trees.
They signalod to one another with the cry
of the whippoorwill. Ii was an excellent
imitation, but it did not deceive the train
cd ears Of the western piainsmcn. a little
party started out carly in the morning for
some sport. They had it.
A trooper of ID got information of the
exac: spot in which one OF these Spaniards
was hidden by this same whippoorwill sig
| nal. A wounded man was shot in tire foot
by him. Then came his cry. pDa: emily
OF exultation. The cayalryman made him
out in cocoanut palm some 40 feet above
the ground. Only the man S left shoulder
| and part of his left arm were visible. A
bullet In his shoulder caused him to drop
his gun and clutch wildly with his right
arm for support. His body, however,
| swaycd into better view for an instant.
The second shot was just above his heart
| ard ended him.
Two expert rifiemcn Of the Sixth in
fantry and three of the Sixteenth had u
little hunting PARTY in the woods, in which
four Spaniards were shot from trees. 1t
is strange fact that some of those knock
| ed out OF trees were rot killed, even by
the fall OF 80 or 40 feet from "a cocoanut
palm, but were taken prisoners. Some
captured unwoundcd in mango trees de-
clarcd they Were merely there for fruit
Examined further, they explained that
they merely happened to have their rifles
with them. A few were unarmeii, or at
least their weapons were not found. They
may have been hidden in the dense foliage
of the trees.
Some of the good shots of the United
States army expressed their disgust with
the craftsmanship Of these Spaniards, de-
claring that in the circumstances they
should have killed and wounded far more
than they did. Most otcleir shots seemed
low, striking the legs or the lower part of
the body when effective. There has been
an idea in the army that the Spanish fire
was always high. Perhaps the warning
OF the officers against this fault has led to
an excessive correcting of it. The tree
fighters usually seemed to fancy a range
of 300 yards as the one which afforded the
best compromise between good shooting
and safety from ietecrion. The trained
regulars could Probably do as well at a
distance OF 100 or more yards farther.
They are trained for effective work up TO
500 yards. OF course they shoot at longer
ranges, but at that are fairly certain OF
hitting a man.
1t would be interesting were it possible
to r-ckon up how many of the killed and
wounded were laid low by men in trees
and bushes who were back of the Ameri-
can firing line. The number was certainly
large.