The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1898-06-29
SHAFTER HAS $4,000
TROOPS IN LINE,
All Ready For an Immediate Advance On
Santiago
JOINED BY eARc1A's REBELS.

morning, June 22d. simultaneously the
American fleet made diversion toward
Moro Castle. at Santiago. and westward.
However secretly the plans were kept,
the Spaniards seemingly had full warn
ing Of the hour and place for the landing
Of the troops.
BURNING OF THE Towx.
The transports and their conveys as
sembled off shore during the night. nut
before dawn the houses of the village
were fired, proving that Captain General
Blanop's standing orders, always to burn
a place before deserving it. were being
faithfully carried out With wonderful
fatujty they burned the cottages, house
and factory Of the iron company, but left
Its pier, vital TO the United States author
titles directing the landing. standing and
uninjured.
At dawn the New Orleans, st. Louis.
Detroit, Wasp, Tecumseh and Suwanee
steamed within rifle shot of the shore.
but they were not molested. During the
conflagration ashore there were several
loud explosions, either from dynamite or
ammunition left behind by the Span
iards.
Daylight showed the Spanish flag haul
ed down, and, gathered in a circle of
about six miles, were thirty American
transports wallOwing in the heavy swell.
HURRIED ASHORE IN SMALL BOATS.
At O'Clock Wednesday afternoon 5000
trained American soldiers were encamp-
ed on the hills in and around Baquiri,
and 10000 more rest on their arms on
board the transports of shore; ready to
join those who have debarked as soon As
the available launches and small boats
can carry them ashore.
As the big wsrships closed in on the
shore to pave the way for the approach OF
the transports and then went back again,
three cheers for the navy went up from
10000 throsts on the troop ships, back
again; three cheers for the navy went from
ship after snip as the trOopships moved
in TO take their share in the hazardous
game. II was war, and it was magnifi-
cent.
The Cuban insurgents bore their share
in the enterprise honorably and well.
Five thousand of them, in mountain fast
nesses and dark thickets of ravines, lay
all night on their guns. watching every
road and mountain path leading from
/ Santiago de Cuba TO Guantanamo. A
/ thousand of them were within sight OF
Baquiri.
A little before 9 o'clock the lombard
ment of the batteries of Juragna was be-
gun by the ships of Rear Admiral Samp-
sons fleet This was evidently feint TO
cover the real point of attack. Jaragua
being about halfway between Baquiri
and Santiago de Cuba. The lombard
ment lasted about twenty minutes.
LANDING THE TROOPS UNDER FIRE.
The scene then quickly shifted back
again to the great semicircle of the trans
port fleet before Baquiri. At $40 O'Clock
the New Orleans opened fire with gun
/ that sent shell rumbling and crashing
against the hillside. The Detroit, Wasp,
Machias and Suwanee followed suit, and
soon the hillsides and the valleys seemed
to be ablsze, as shot followed shot in swift
succession. amid the wild and excited
| cheering of the men on the transports.
In five minutes the sea was alive with
! fiotillas Of small boats, headed by launch
es, speeding for Baquiri dock. Some OF
the boats were manned by crews of sail
Ors, while others were rowed by the sol
diers of the service.
I READY TO FIGHT on REACHING SHORE.
Each boat contained sixteen men, every
one in fighting trim, and carrying three
days rations, shelter tent, a gun. and
two hundred cartridges, ready 10 take the
field on touching the shore, should they
be required to do so. The firing of the
warships. however, proved to be a need
less precaution, as their shots were not
returned, and no Spaniards were visible.
General Shafter. on board the Segu-
rsnca, closely watched the landing of the
troops.
Brigadier General Lawton, who had
been detailed to command the landing
party, led the way in a launch, accom- pa
MED by his staff, and directed the forma-
ton OF the line of operation.
The Eighth Regular Infantry was the
first to lard, followed by General Shat
ter's old regiment, the First Infantry.
Then came the twenty-fifth Infantry (col-
ored). the Twenty-second Infantry. the
Tenth Infantry. the Fiftieth Infantry. the
Seventeeth In sntry. and the Twelfth In
fantry. the Second Massachusetts, Regi-
ment, aud a detachment of the Ninth
Cavalry.
The boats rushed forward simultane-
ously from every quarter, in goOd-na-
tured rivalry TO be first, and their ocen-
pants scrambled over one another to leap
ashore.
AS the boats tossed about III the surf
breaking against the pier. getting ashore
was no easy matter, and the soldiers had
TO throw their rifles on the dock before
they could climb up themselves, ard
some hard tumbles resulted, but nobody
was hurt. At the end of the pier the
companies and regiments quickly lined
up and were marched away.
General Lawton threw a strong detach-
ment for the night about six miles west
on the road to Santiago, and another de-
was BoHAr1 W VI NuC
town among the hills. The rest of the
troops were quartered in the ;own. The
town was deserted when the troops land
ed, but the women and children soon ap-
peared from the surrounding thickets and
returned 70 their homes.
The sun bnonzed soldiers, in their
sloueh hats and service uniforms. quickly
searched the vuildings and beat up the
thickets after landing. in search of lurk-
ing foes. and marched into the unknown
country beyoud at nightfall with long.
swinging strides and the alert bearing of
the old frontier army men, ready to fight
the Spaniards Sioux fashion or in the
open, wherever they could be found
! he caeers OF their comrades still wait
ing on the transports and OF the bluejack-
cts and the strains of YANKEE Doodle
from the bands on the troopships sa.uted
them as they disappeared from view over
the hills OF Baquiri.
The landing was accomplished witt out
loss OF life.
Nc Necessity Of Being Blind or Deaf.
Modern science restores the ear 10
healthfulness in hundreds of cases which