Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-07-21

are absolutely worthless. They never
will be able to conduct a government of
their own, judging from the people we
have already seen. They are a poor
looking people and not more than one
out Of 20 speaks intelligently. Cuba is
the prettiest place l ever laid my eyes
on, and a TAI has every advantage here.
All kinds of fruit grow in abundance.
Bananas, pineapples, cocoanuts, lemons,
oranges, lines, mangoes and numerous
other fruits and berries literally cover
the hills and valleys. Every acre can
be made to be worth its weight in gold
by an American farmer, but do not
think the Cubans will do much with it.
Could our country buy the island or OBJ
tain it in any other way it would be a
gold mine for us. The water here is
fine and thousands of streams with
plenty of water can be found anywhere.
The climate is not so bad as has been
reported, neither are the rains so bad.
Once Il day it ain for about ten min
utes, but it clears up very quickly and
the sun pours down and dries things up
in a short time. Some of the boys have
been sick, from the excessive use of
fruit, but none from any other cause.
My paper has just run out, so will have
to finish my communication. | could
write of many interesting incidents, but
will have to wait until we have cap
tured some paper and envelopes from
the Spaniards in Santiago, unless they
destroy it before we reach there. In
the event that they do the boys would
<hor1r tLoi, MANY fptnn1s of homo
should they send them a few sheets of
paper and an envelope or two. We do
not need stamps as soldiers letters can
be sent c. 0. D. Another thing which
would be thankfully received is the
daily papers. Any old date will do, as
we have seen non for a month. What
is going on in our dear old America we
| do not know, and are anxious to hear.
We have had no mail for a month. The
| New MEXICAN is being anxiously looked
forward to. Send them every day, and
even though they are late in arriving
they are appreciated just the same. The
boys all send their regards. Jim Dean.
f troops only wounded, is nearly well
and will be out again very soon. His
wound was slight.
HARTMAN II. WYNKOoP.
The San Juan Fight.
On July 2, from the same camp, Mr.
Wynkoop wrote as follows:
| have been wounded, but not very
badly, my injury being through the cal
of the left leg. We opened the battle
Friday morning with an attack b,
the American army on Conejos, San
Juan and Santiago, and fought unit.
dark stopped us. We gained a great
deal of ground, capturing Conejos, be-
| sides two lines of Entertainments. just
in the position the firing ceased did We
remain all night. Some of the boys who
were worn out laid down and slept with.
out any covering and not v removing
their belts of ammunition, while the
others of us, who were stronger, worked
all night with pick and shovel throwing
up b~reastworks in order that we could
resist any combined attack Of the enemy
to regain their lost ground. At Bic
Saturday morning they opened fire on
us, and at 4 o'clock | was wounded. II
was a shrapnel shell, thrown from a
cannon, which did the work. The force
of the explosion blew me into the all
about three feet and did not leave
enough of my carbine to know it evel
was one. l was brought in here tc
have my wound dressed, but am going
back to %rejoin the boys just so soon as ]
finish this letter.
The Spaniards Outnumber us five tC
one, but We have them licked. They
also have the position and their trocha
is a veritable death-trap. Our loss the
first day was LOO dead and wounded,
and today 400, making 1,500 dead and
wounded up to date. l remained with
the boys fighting for six hours af' be
ing hit. The dead and wounded in oul
troop are: Clay Green, from Cerrillos,
dead; wounded, Otto f. Menger, Clayton.
who may die; Johnnie Muller, Cerrillos,
shot along the side of the face; Wesley
shot through the right arm at the elbow
Breen, shot through the left arm, shat
tering the bone; Will Detamore, shot
through the stomach; Ed. Waller, Of
Chicago, shot through the head; Mckin.
ley, shot oyer the right eye. Arthur
Skinner is doing %splendidly and has sew.
eral Spaniards to his credit. Wesley
killed three of them and / two. l killed
one of their sharpshooters who was in a
tree and another M who poked his
head we a rock to shoot at lis. Our
regiment is doing great work, but we are
losing lots of men, especially officers and
non-coms. The Spaniards seem to pick
out the men who wear the stripes.
From the Key West Hospital.
J. 7. Newhall has received the follow.
ing letter from James NJ. Dean, who
was wounded at the battle of La Quasi.
ma, and is now in the military hospital
at Key West for treatment:
Key West, July 6.-You have heard
melodious quartettes and basso profun-
dos sing Crooked in the cradle of the
Deep" That is fine because it soon
dies away. But cooped up in a trans
port one can hardly conceive how the
author gained his inspiration. On the
22nd of June the monotony was broken
and we steamed in close to shore at a
little place called Baiqueri. The land
ing was difficult owing to a continual
ground swell, which made the surf O
little dangerous for life boats, many be-
ing disabled and a few capsized. The
last of u regiment landed about dark
and were Immediately met by scattering
groups Of Cubans, all on ''the bum" /
saw nearly all of what is known as Gar.
cia's army, and while some were almost
destitute Of clothing, but few gave any
evidence Of physical hardship. The
American army cannot depend on them
for assistance. The ground we gained
never was held by Cubans. They talk
of lots of dynamite (meaning mines)
Spaniards mucho malo, and altogether
/ have made up my mind that they are
poor warriors.
We never think of Cuba in our prog
ress; 1T is revenge on q people for COW
ardly blowing up u boys in Havana
harbor.
On June %, at 3 q. M, the first call
sounded. We>Made up Jul rolls, rs our
horses are all at Tampa, fried some