The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-08-17

Booml from the right again, and booms
at regular intervals of half minute or so.
We laughed as we listened.
Boom!
Il bet dollar they amt dom thing but
SILVER in Santiago"
Booml
Don't the band play good"
Boom,
ut won't take much of that to make them
quit
Where's the best front-row seat?" I
asked staff officer who passed me on
horseback
lei Poso." he answered. 1.-The hill to the
left at the end of the lane-a mile and a
half farther on"
L committed my shelter tent to a ditch
with a sigh of regret for the tin of beef
rolled inside it; the rest of my belongings,
d water pottie and handful of biscuits. /
managed to drag along.
The lane as it wound down into the val
icy grew muddier and muddier. In heaps
along the side were the soldiers BELONGINGS
thrown down IS regiments had moved for
ward. AT last the road reached a ford
the ford of the Aquadores river, clear water
bubbling briskly among stones, decousy
cool TO my feet as l waded ii. And there the
descent ended A road led along to the
right another to the left, still another went
straight on. l turned to the left. as di-
rected, and came to a ruin of stone and
wood which. in the course of it's career,
had been a church and sugar mill, had
apparently failed dismally in both employ
ments, ana was now infested by Cubans.
This was lei Poso, and in front of it rose
steep, bare hlllock, with one stunted live
oak tree at the top. around which 1 could
make out group of staff officers.
LIS was my front-row seat. l climed up.
There was a battery in posit;on-four
8 2-lO-inch guns, under the command of
captain Grimes. There also was a perfect
general view of the valley through which
our men were to advance. A broad. level.
green plain carpeted with the tops Of giant
trees; above 1t shot up here and there King
ram plumeS; here and there break in the
carpet marked a clearing OF. road One
break leading directly ahead marked the
read to Santiago, the white line of the fort
showing plain at little over a couple of
miles on rising ground against the dark
background of a distant mountain range.
On the extreme right. resting at the feet
or the main chain of mountains, was dark
patch that looked like a stubble field That
was the tile-roOfed village of Canea. Furth-
er pack on the projecting foot of a noun
tam or the same range a puff of smoke and
boom told whence came the firing we had
heard before. 1t was Capron's battery plug
Cling away at the stone bloekhouse Of
Canea, whence came no response, since no
guns were there.
From Canea road led to Santiago. which
joined the direct road some little distance
In front of the town
we couldn't save Santa. or the Fourth -
On the left the little IL on which we
stood, chained on with another higher hill,
beyond which was another, the chain form
ing spur of a high ridge between us and
the water Behind us more mountains with
one cleft down which wound the one single
Zane along Which, in one long procession,
our troops had marched from the base.
From the direction of Caney came the
sound of the cracking of thorns burning
under pot; We could see nothing-smoke-
less powder has sadly deteriorated war from
the spectators point of view. The battle
had begun on the right
A CHANGE OF BASE
Now for our side. Another military novice.
with whom I found myself on the battery,
was bewailing our ill-fortune for being here,
and denouncing the officer who had recon-
mended us to come, when we heard the off,
| Ger in command give orders to clear every
one off the battery. Our battery was about
to open fire. After all, my friend and were
| in luck's way.
| why, of course" said he, eff we'd known
thing about war we would have come
| here right away. Where the artillery goes
there guns going to be let off. sure"
We moved out of the way with the rest
| of the spectators, but we moved about five
| yards down from the crest of the hill into
| the shadow of the single scrub oak. BY way
| OIL recovering something of the lost five
| yards climbed up into the first cleft of the
| tree, and waited for the curtain to rise /
| heard the order given to fire, and then came
rumble and the whack of the heaviest
| door-knocker in Bloomsbury on the drum
| of my left ear and then a Darkness of
sound, broken at last by the voice of the
| officer OF the gun adjusting his range-26O0
yards.
| AS. soon as had quite recovered from the
| shock of our first gun 1 slowly but deter
minedly climbed down the tree.
Bang! went the second gun. We saw the
shell burst directly behind the blockhouse
twenty-five hundred and sixty yards. 4"
cried the officer, and bang! went the third
gun; Bravo! Hurrah! Clean through the
n fhn Ia Islxo
| shooting. The blockhouse was one of the
chief outlying defenses of the fort of San
tiago. We slung few more shells around
1T, Just for luck, and then stopped.
by CAD, said one of the officers who
was watching the operation. 'I don't be-
Iieve the beggars in there have got anything
Our guns opened out in another direction
to the right and front Of the blockhouse
a line on the slope of the HILL l fixed my
glasses to observe the effect Of our next
shot upon it. Bang! went our gun. 1
clapped my glasses to my eyes, and watched
the distant trench to see the Spaniards
hustle away. Boom! went some other gun
at a distance. Before there was time to
wonder what or where it was there came a
sound in the air like the hiss of some awful
frework serpent. 1t filled the entire atmos-
phere. AS 1t approached the hiss became
shrill whistle, and the whistle a terrifying
scream.
Shrapnel" cried an officer. as he threw
Crack went something overhead, and
cries of CONSERVATION came from the Cuban
rendezvous in the ruined mill at the foot Of
the hill; Boom! again, scream. whistle,
crack; down all went on our faces as
close to the ground as we could.
Field hospital, quick" yelled some one
from the battery.
Screechi again; this was too awful.
The little cluster of spectators had sep
arated at the first shot. We ran round for
such shelter as the leeside slope of the hin
afforded AS speedily as was possible con-
sidering the difficulties of the ground and
the burning heat Of the sun. | made my
way back to a spot which, while not ex-
actly front-row seat, was not quite the
center of the Spanish shrapnel field.
The lane was still choked up with troops
impatient and uneasy at hearing so much
of the lighting without taking any part in
1t, or being able to see anything of ii. Pres
emily they began TO get sort of reflected
view OF il, when there came back from the
front a group Of ragged. black Cubans car
rying a sort of hammock litter made of old
sack cloth suspended from pole. Inside
the hammock was a bundle of man-you
just got a glimpse of blood and hair as il
passed. You observed, also that it took
about ten Cubans to carry the wounded
man back to hospital. In minute or two
there came by another groun. then anothar