The times., 1898-06-26

Turn out the guard the sentry says,
''Fur amt he jist a strapin;"
'-No. never mind the guard Gays l.
But just turn out the chaplain
Lays Of Camp Alger.
"Say, dis is medicine-show ighting."
said Private Hooley. as he threw his rife
into corner of the tent and glared a
his comrades.
Il amt trowin' no kicks about bein'
kept away frum where dey's scrappin',
but wen dey rings in a bluff dat yer fight
in Spanyards and den calls y down fur
KILN DEM dats where me license gets
grated. Say, me face has a pain wotl
why, dey comes round an dey pokes
some Of dem brass bullets in yer belt an
dey saz: Company, prepare fur skirmish
ing. SO we truns our guns up an leaves
our rags wit d. tent an goes into d
woods just a-scentin' for Spanyards. An
before me smelled any. d captain sez,
sez he. 'Wot man hez white rags on der
hash forks is all d enemy, an dems d
marks wot y csptures-'
$50 ] sez t a lad, sez I. 'Wot's d enc
N.Y.
Wat enemy?' sez he.
our enemy sez L
Ivy d Spanyards.' sez he.
$50 / just shuts me phonograft an /
thinks. thinks ]. Havana helps de Span
yard wot / seesr
so We crawls around d woods. an
sometimes we runs like we wus afraid,
an den we digs holes wot dey calls rifle
pits, an den lies in d pits an rubbers
around like dey he'd bicycles fur sale.
Anyway, de guy pipes retreat wit d
trumpet an We retreats: an, say. dere
wusn't 20 Spanyards comm at all. ony
deys ratty an thinks Gere is.
4Den We crawIs through d jungies till
our fronts wus fierce an some soaks wat
W-us in front runs back an tells US dat
dey sees d Spanyards. An. S help me
Dewey. dere wus d enemy wit d white
tiRgs on, right IN front of US. pipin' round
d trees.
'Ges. sez ]. denis Spanyards- An dey
WIS lots Of dem. So don't like some of
dem. bat ] marks one lad not looks like
d wOrkhouse an thinks. thinks ]. Oats
d feIIer wat piped d Maine, an l lays for
him.
Anyway re lays ourselves on d
ground an commences t plug dem brass
bullets into d enemy. An Wen dey sez
L fire, ] fires at q pirate guy wat wUs
sky pilot An, wot! me bullet never faxed
him 50 sez wot tel, and l soaks him
another. An I'm q liar Il he even know
ed 1 WIS KILN him Co I spits in me
gun an sees 1t amt got no appendyci-
ties clorifOrm or anything, an 1 sends
him a peach wot must hev put a bung
hole in his keg. an. say. dat pirate jist
KEEP on firin' al me friends like he Wus
tr0win' beers
Tell sez J. I amt no gun scrapper
anyway. but If / flaps me wing again his
lantern he'll wish he wus dead corpse
so I don't do nuttin till d. marks quits
f1rin' an d. smoke looks like a foundry
an wen dey sez L charge l runs fer d
pirate An d pirate he keeps on hrin
an runnin. But he don't trot in me
class an ] ketches him.
! surrender" sez he.
Surrender sez ]. wy, Y bloody
dogs" An wild dat I gives him bat
wit me rife. An he falls an yells like
he wus hurt. An / sees dat pirates
finish, fur he wus easy tumpin' an wus
groggy with me first hiff.
y VIII blow up d Maine, viii W
sez I, an I walks on his face so he can't
talk Spauyard L me
Y bloody Sanu'go swordfish,' sez I,
an / opens his mout' so kin put me gun
in il. Wid dis he yells more, an first
ting ] knows TWO marksw'ot wus in me
company grabs me an stops me.
IVY y bloomin' freak sez they,
'w'ot tells the matter wild y?
'Lemme kill dat Spanyard,' sez L
a
American, an he's a soldier. too.
American nOJhin,' sex l. Don't v
see d white on his dn2'
Wy. yer bughouse.' sez they. we
Wus oay kiddin' dat desc wus Span
yards.
/" K3dd:n'" sez, I. -Wot wus we shoot
in dem fur?'
'W'y. dat wusn't sheotn'.' sez they.
we wus firm blank cartridges
$50 ] sees dat / Wus conned right, an
ducks me nut An dey brings d citizen
wet I thinks wus a SDanyard an Duts
him in d hOsDital-but. say. If lle wus a
real Spanyard he wouldn't need no hos
pital per no stiff-handler. neither
"Ah dis rinkey-dinkey biz gives me a
pain in me t'ird story. Wy don't dev
give US our dough an lets go home2
Desc hlgh-sch0ol-cadet WiIlies kin do dis
c5mic-ODry nghtin' as easy as we kin an
desc officers never killed no Spanyards
Wv. j knows one wot is nuttin' but a
plumber fer / worked fer h m. / don't
h-lieve dey want Z kill d Spsnyards any
way. Wen dey shoots bullets widOut any
bullets IN dem.
An dis camp, Wv. dis is a. last sta
shun on a. road I nowhere. Dis country
is So bum dat d crows hez I carry
lunches Wen dey's flying acrost il
Woti''
p And Private RooIey kicked the COM
pany mascot out Of the tent in disgust.
Ninety-iive degrees in the shade and
sixty dust baths minutei This describes
Camp Alger as Il YVES yesterday Life
was actually burden 10 he 25.00j dirty
sweating soldiers wha- populated the
sJra.ts Of >ae white dry The intense
heat opened every pore 10 the fine sandy
f1us1 whlch tortured the eyes. clc@g ID
the ncstrils ana made the teeth gritty
So intense was the heat during the af-
ternOoa THAI many OF the regiments were
excused from drill. The few squads which
dared the weather were driven from the
parade grounds on the "double-quick''
by a dust cyclone which ragged for over
an hour.
II was more easy 10 imagine that Camp
Alger was situated at Santiago than in
Virginia yesterday. All the circum-
stances OF war re4gned in the tented city.
while the day was a solid round of close
and distant firing. The woods all about
the camp were alive with eager troops-
squads companies and battalions-and
they fought a long. grim battle What If
the cartridge were blank-the spirit Of
the engagement was as powerful and the
fire as deadly as though in real conflict.
When battalion met battalion. a round of
1ncessant firing would last for an hour.
while the scattered volleys of companies
cut on from their commands would spit
fOnih every few moments
Now and then the bugles rang oflf the
charge. and the swarning soldiers
would rush for the enemy. yelling like
demons. A repulse might follow. with re-
treat or a victory with scores of prison.
ers. Rife pits were dug to repei the
enemy in short half-hour skirnish.
while determined charges were made in
effective by means of barricades.