The evening times., 1898-07-15
Hecht s. Company. SIS Seventh Street.

Ell Caney was a hopeless task, with al
most the certainty of death or capture.
1t was well done, no matter by what mill
tary standard that deed was measured.
At midnight the full moon peeped
through fleecy clouds upon six thousand
refugees. who camped as best they could
J amid the accumulated horrors OF war.
Women dressed in silk gowns. with fin
gers covered with glittering jewels slept
on shawls in the mud. Babies nested in
odd corners. quietly sleeping or vainly
screaming an infantile protest against
mans inhumanity to man. Every house
was crowded. The foreign consular rep
resertatives endeavored to make the
homeless people as comfortable as posi-
BILE. There was little sleep for any one.
About the plaza men smoked and women
lamented and wept
One light hearted young man rum
mayed about in a mass of luggage and
eXtricated a guitar. and soon the strains
of la Paloma'' fioated out upon the
heated air. Hundreds caught the en-
Hvening spirit of the music and hummed
in soft concert. The low voice of the
southern women chimed in. The majority
went hungry. Yet there was no muir
muring. So passed the night.
Upon such a scene the sun rose this
morning. He seemed to gaze fiercely.s as
if angered at the misery below him.
Three hours passed and a dozen COM
missary wagons arrived with provisions.
which for while brought cheer to the
hungry thousands. t.-l -.f -
Ell Caney can afford no adequate shell
ter for the refugees. They are already
abandoning 1t and moving along the
muddy roads toward Siboney. They are
thrust aside every hundred yards by the
ammunition pack trains and the heavy
laden commissary wagons. Women and
children are taken up wherever it is pos
sible by our returning wagons, and the
fatigue of their journey is thus some
what alleviated. In places the road is a
veritable bog and the streams have swol-
len so that it is necessary to wade in
the shadows for half mile. Soldiers in
working dress are trying to make the
road passable for heavy artillery.
Much has been written about the volun-
teer regiment with the army and about
their good behavior under fire. In the de-
scriptions of battles the regular soldier
Is often overlooked. 1t seems taken for
granted that he is brave and will give a
good account of himself under all circum-
stances. l would like to pu; In a word on
behalf of the regulars and the men who
command them. 1t does not detract from
the services of the volunteers to tell the
truth-which is that the regulars have
outfoueht them in every way and per-
formed immeasurably better service.
War is not altogether a question of
bravery. In this quality the volunteers
and regulars rate at par. The regulars
fight better, however, because they have
spent years learning how. Their work is
not attended by the innumerable petty
blunders inseparable from volunteers in
their first campaign.
It was the regulars who carried the
fort at Ell Caney and San Juan Hill. Give
the volunteers all the credit, but the pub
lie should not forget the regulars are
here fighting like devils. These ndeh do
whatever is asked of them and always In
the right way: '
Volunteer regiments have been taken
out of the firing line. This Is not at all