The age-herald., 1898-06-24
SOMETHING OF
 SPANISH MARKSMEN

eyesight resulting from Chagres fever. He applied for duty imediately upon the out break of hostilities however, and is now one of the instructors of the training ship at Newport. Much of his leisure time was passed in Chicago, where he is widely known and well liked. His acquaintance with Latin-Amerlcan peoples is exten ire. He likes the upper classes of them as c9rn- panions, having found them, he says, unl- formly courteous and obliging, but he ho ds that they have fundamental organic fault which prevents them being or becom- ing fit fighters. They shut their eyes and turn their heads the other way when they pull the riggers, and they cant help it.
 Many years ago., Lieutenant Dent told me, When one of the forgotten South American revolutions was revolting. the old bfante~yed numbering Philadelphia, on which was an ensign, was ordered to Cartagena to protect American interests I never knew what those interests were, nor could see that they were in any dan- ger; but we went. A sailor man would as soon cruise to Ecuador as elsewhere. It is all so many days run and the anchor down and shore leave at the end of it. We found Cartagena invested by the gallant rebels anu ueIcflueu by lHe BdildHl 6ONSihmShN troops.seIt is certain that not any of the gallant prvates knew what they were fighting about, and although tried many times, I could not find out; but they did fight every day. The firing was brisk and the cheering the most enthusiastic and continuous I ever heard. We could smell the burned powder fifteen miles out into the ofing, and long before we sailed into hor fho xyxra 1xa a cession of cat calls. A South American. you know, will scream Viva! and dance .frenzledly about if you let a firecracker go off.
 "We were six weeks at Cartagena, and have never spent a more enjoyable time. It was Fourth of July every day, and when we wanted quiet we had only to go on board, sit down in the messroom and fight cockroaches. This was the order of pro- cedure six days in the week, Sunday be- ing a holiday. There were two or three thousand troops outside the walls and as many inside. They rose at in the morning and breakfasted Then the bands played. Then the rebels outside sauatted behind fences and stumps and shot at the walls. The fellows inside tho walls peeKed over cautiously and shot at the fences and stumps. This kept up until il and then everybody knocked off. Then the bands played They dined from l2 to 1 and smoked cigarettes from l to 2 The siesta lasted until Si3O. At firing was resumed and continued until 6. Supper was eaten and cigarettes smoked. The officers went to the house of the general II in- side, or to the tent of the general, IT out side, and reported that they had been shooting. Then the bands played. l
 
 "At Cartagena I discovered how the flr- ing was done. The fellows along the wall would sight carefully at something out side turn their faces toward me with their eyes closed and jerk the trigger l ob- served that the folks outside did the same thing. Not any of them ever looked to watch the effect of a shot. They knew that 1t didn't have any. The consequence of this sort of thing was that the bullets went anywhere from fifty yards to a quar- ter of a mile wide, dependent upon how far around the chap turned his head and how hard he jerked the trigger. At first we were chary about going around during the fierceness of the engagements, but soon learned that a position on the walls was less dangerous than a seat on Chicago street car. We used to stand and laugh. + sounds like exaggeration, but IS the slm- pie truth. that during the six weeks Of our stay but one man was killed, and nc was a non-combatant Englishman peace- fully walking along the street. He was struck by a nearly spent ball, which in some mysterious manner found It's way over the wall. At the end of the time the rebels had a long and gesticulatory talk with the presidents people. and then they left When they went away all of their bands marched along the walls and footed and all of the loyal bands stood on the walls and footed. To my knowlege the only men killed in that revolution were d lot of rebels who attempted one night to surprise a town. It was carefully planned and some of their number immediately sold out for money They landed on the beach, five or six companies of them, and machine guns were waiting for them. The slaughter is explained by the fact that A machine gun doesn't care whether or not you shut your eyes. It keeps on work ing.
 q have seen other Spanish-Anericans shoot. Cubans among others, and they al did it in the same way. It seems to be an ineradicable trait When I read an ao- court of a bait e betw en Spar ish resuia and Cuban insurgents and learn that one man was wounded it does not puzzle me any. I think it probable that he shot -himf self. or some comrade behind him let off his gun accidentally. I am unable to see how he could have been hurt by an oppo- nent."
 Probably this matter-of-fact statement by Lieutenant Dent explains why Monte5o's vessels could fire at Dewey's squadron for hours and not kill man; why American ship can constantly engage land batteries in Cuba and show only an occasional dent in token of it; why American small boats at Cienfuegos could hang around for an hour within easy rife shot and saw cables in two with redicu.ously few casualtlesi why American vessels of all sizes and ar mors stagger backward and forward with in a half-mile of Spanish Notifications and never lose piece of string. The Spaniards turning their heads when they. press the buttons or pull the lanyards could make no material difference. but probably they shut their eyes before they aim. Of course they are not expectd to shoot lik Anglo-Saxohs. Anglo Saxons and Germans are notoriousy the best marksmen in the world. But one would think that they ought to be able to hit a flock of balloons with a mitrailleuse twice in month, anyhow.
 Do Mules Have seasiclencss"
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