El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-07-19
nCi8S of the War.
New YorlTribnl

D frleQQ, CdttLS DoOu utdrQ UQ6 Dull ]
{ let strik nea and thought it lust as
: well to poveo One of them walked
5 lame. ad hi companion asked him
t what tn troie was.
= 81 dot tpw," was the answer,
: "bnt m,lep fes weak" He looked
: down al saw lood streaming from It.
D He had ,een sot without knowing il.
5 Instance of tP kind, where a bullet
} was notliscotred until the blood was
seen, wee nc unusual. Indeed, re-
: markabh festire OF the battles around
: Santiago hasoeen the stolidity and
pluck ofthe FUNDED. The writer saw
J perhaps two hundred of them and
, heard MT gpan. At times, in mo-
! sound ofpain ont it was rare.
p One incidet OF the sort was touch |
ino Four ItIer-bearers were carry
inc a soldier 10 had been shot in the
4 hack. For sone reason he was living
face up. Hsltihg to rest, they, With
: out noticing it, set the litter on q stone,
, which just happened to press in on his
.sFor Gods sake, boys, move me q
llittle: there's 8 stone under me.n
with hesrtlest expressions of re-
gret, they lifted him up and put him
in a more comfortable place. In his
death struggle one cavalryman, a bow
of nineteen, shrieked, Mother. oh.
NV mother" but that was the end.
! The expression that was most COM
mon on the faces Of those painfully or
mortally hurt was one of weariness-
an intense longing for rest. 1t seemed
to proceed not so much from the ply
! steal pain of the wound itself as from q
general depression of the entire vital
bowers The look seemed to ask that
kbe miN be let alone, be not dragged in
81 roug' wagon or a shaky litter, but
simply De allowed to lie in the shade,
with u one to look on or to ask cues
lions or to touch the injured spot. Rest
seemed to be what was craved. But
passing cruelty was lasting kindness,
and the ired frame was moved on to
where tb surgeons could give it prop
Ter attent. IN.
respect foi. the Red Cross flag. They
fred cont hually on litter bearers,
Of course. some cases this was not
intentional, fbut in others it certainly
was. 1t befame dangerous to carry
the wounded out of the trenches, and
for this reason some were left there
until night. Another reason for not
removing thu injured was that it took
so many mee There was great rick in
returning T. the trenches after the
wounded mar had been taken to field
hospital Ofen the soldiers who had
borne away q .omrade remained in the
rear until mig. tall, so the regiments
| would have BEEN unduly weakened had
all who were struck been carried away
at once.
Major Bell, surgeon of the I1st New
York, made the trip along the road
seven times, and was fired at on each
occasion. Several litter-bearers were
shot, and so were some
soldiers who had previously been
wounded.
For the four or FIVE miles from Cen
eral Skaters hes dquarters to the
front there was constant danger from
the shsrpshOoters in trees. Not only
did they infiict many wounds, some OF
them fatal, but they harassed the
troops greatly. Some of the wounds
they inflicted. were almost directly
from overhead. One artilleryman was
shot IN the eyebrow and through the
heart b;5 single Mauser ball. Another
ball pissed through mans skull and
out eE his chin.
Some of the best marksmen of the
r 1arching regiments were detailed tC
walk six PAGES apart and to keep
sharp watch, SO as to shoot whenever
rifle was fired from a tree. Half 6
dozen Spaniards were killed in trees q
long way behind the American line:
in the afternoon. Whenever one could
be seen he was certain to meet his
fate.
These deaths were horribly dramatic
One of the fellows was discovered by
keen-eyed infantryman. His rifle
was brought to the shoulder instantly
There was a pause that seemed tC
L. e
flash aud report. From the tree fell
gun and then man. his leg:
and arms sprawling in all directions
He struck the ground with crash.
Later, Americans we're sent up into
the trees to get q better chance to
catch sight of tie Spaniards. Then
came the danger of them being shot
by their own side. So word was pass
ed along that there were Americans
in the trees also and that great care
should be taken not to shoot them
About dusk four guerillas were top
pied from trees within mile or two o.
General Skaters headquarters.
There was considerable excitement
here about O'Clock. Across the road
about one hundred yards away, stands
a tall palm, with a heavy frond of foil
age. In this5 there seemed some
dark body. Several rifiemen were
a close sent to take
view, and if they discovered anything
to bring it down. They had just load
ed their guns and started off when q
crowd of infantryment thought they
cauld see two men in the tree. A dozer
shots were fired by the detail sent out
but nothing fell. General Shafter go,
angry at the men who insisted on max.
ing out Spaniards in the tree, called
them q pack of fools, and sent them t.
their camp.
An incident earlier in the day illus
trated the nervous tension which these
unseen foes brought on. By accident &
private of the 9th infantry, a negro
discharged his gun into his foot while
sitting beside the road. Instantly sew.
eral OF his comrades loaded their rifles
and fired into the bushes. There arose
an awful following and a negro soldier
came rushing out, scared half out OF
his wits, and begging that he be no,
shot.
One of the minor annoyances of the
fighting has been the failure to build
any bridges, or even to lay stepping
stones, over the rivers. These are not
in any case more than kneedeep, and
half an hours work of few men
would have made them passable dry-
shod. But the soldiers, weary from
loss of sleep, lack of food. and Iono