The evening times., 1898-08-13
BOHEMIA AT THE FRONT.
How Desperate Cerrespspdents Are
ArneA and EssiDpea,

A1.C0 on0 ESYohRR(0s
The etribulations. of the war CORES
pondent in the field are always numer-
Gus. In this Cuban campaign they have
been partly funny and partly tragic
Some OF the humorous trials of this
much-enduring individual are described
by correspondent of the Chicago Record
as follows:
His troubles began at Tampa with the
selection of his outfit. There was no one
to provide him with a., uniform and
equipment and to relieve him Of the em-
barrassment of choices. but there were
innumerable experts on outfit willing and
anxious to help him.
when he arrived with his new pass
from the Secretary Of War cracking in
his breast pocket he was usually attired
in some weird costume that he had sup
posed to be the correct thing. Then the
veterans of two weeks who had preceded
him would gather about him and give
him hints.
That lined coat will be Of no earthly
use to YOU one would tell him. The
Cuban jungle would tear 1t into ribbons
in no time. What you want Is khaki
jacket like mine: cool. you see, and pien-
" pOCkGtS III IL Anu you Waat ~ D.
those corduroy breeches to a beil-boy and
get a pair or two Of plain canvas over
alls. Corduroys would kill you In tropi-
cal climate. / notice you are wearing
leggings: of course there's nothing in the
penal code to prevent you wearing them
except constructively. It's suicide, thats
ALL Did you ever see picture OF Gomez
in leggings? OF course you haven't.
Boots. by all means. That piih helmet
afv ~, Ea a Ginning and an
easy mark for every Spanish sharpshoot-
er. A plain army hat with a puggaree Is
the sensible thing.
"Then they would take him down into
the untidy town and make him buy a
thousand or two absolute necessf1es,
of which / remember only few. to WIT:
One large clasp knife for cutting kind
ling wood and general purposes a hunt-
ing knife in a sheath; portable medicine
chest. with a strap to hang to person;
pocket spirit stove; another knife. having
corkscrew, gimlet and saw attachments
canteen, with strap; field-glasses. with
strap; writing case, with strap: comoi-
nation fork, knife and spoon; pocket
flask; haversack; cartridge belt, with
snaps on 1t. handy to hang things on. and
a few things TO hang on it: pocket COM
pass; revolver; flint and steel, with tin
der box: cholera tablets, not contained
abdominal bandages. Then they would
take their victim. load him down with
his ''portables'' and photograph him.
"Of course, everybody bought tents.
camp Chairs. cots and cooking utensils.
but they never found their way to the
front. There was no transportation for
them: no horses or mules could be oh
tanned at any price. For a time-in fact.
for most of the time-every man had to
carry his blanket roll about with him
wherever he went. The Record cores
pondents. however, were particularly for
tunate. Major Brodie. of the Rough Rid
ers, who was disabled by his wounds in
the first fight. was kind enough to lend
me one of his horses, and at Siboney
day or two after Mr.. Malcolm McDow-
ell succeeded in procuring horse He
got up very early in the morning TO do
IL. and he said nothing of his intention
before he started. A little before day.
break he returned, triumphantly leading
Rosina by rope that looked as IL it had
been hurriedly cut. Rosina stood about
eight hands high. and might have scaled
l65 pounds. She was haggard, and had |
dark rings under her eyes. and she was |
evidently suffering from catarrhal af- |
she was undeniably a horse. |
Mr. Billman and 1 inspected her care |
fully and we both came to that conclu- |
sion. 1 must say, in justice to Mr.. Nc |
Dowell, that he never attempted to ride |
her-it would have been madness-but Ro- |
sina packed his blanke; roll and two |
cans of corned beef and two of tomatoes |
10 the front that day, and never stag |
yered."